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2016

What’s inside:

A special publication of Shelby County Newspapers, Inc.

Person of the Year Playing by sight Catching up with Jeremiah Castille

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CHELSEA COMMUNITY CENTER

GROWING

TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITY

it's all about family

FITNESS

COMMUNITY

FELLOWSHIP

RENTAL

First class gym, track and exercise room

Join the fun and fellowship of our seniors or other groups

Need a space for your next meeting? Check out one of our two community rooms.

We have many rooms and different sizes available for rent. Please give us a call.

OUR CITY Chelsea really is all about family. Chelsea was ranked the number one city for families in the entire state of Alabama.

With its unique neighborhood developments, quality schools and business community, Chelsea stands out as one of Shelby County’s most desirable cities.

OUR LEADERSHIP Mayor - Earl Niven, Sr.

Mayor and City Council

City Council - Juanita Champion. David Ingram, Alison Moore Nichols, Tony Picklesimer, Dale Neuendorf

w w w . c i t y o f c h e l s e a . c o m 2

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Thanks to our $9 million investment, he’s breathing a little easier.

Our recently completed $9 million upgrade to our North Shelby Water Resource Reclamation Facility has dramatically reduced the amount of phosphorus in the clean water we return to the Cahaba River.

That means we haven’t just met or surpassed all state and federal health standards. We’ve also helped lower the likelihood of algal blooms, which rob wildlife of life-giving oxygen in the water.

And that’s just one of the ways we’re working to make ours a better, healthier community, along with supporting organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby County, and SafeHouse of Shelby County, among many others.

Our pledge to you: we’ll keep working for a healthier river, and a healthier community. Which means we can all breathe a little easier.

To learn more, visit CleanerCahaba.info

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very year, the staff of Shelby County Newspapers, Inc. spends countless hours preparing to tell the top stories our great county has to offer through our annual Profile publication.

Through this magazine, we will take an in-depth look at the people, places, history and organizations that make Shelby County such a wonderful and unique place. This year’s Profile represents a variety of stories I hope will inspire all of us to become more involved in our incredible central Alabama communities. uOur person of the year this year is outgoing Chelsea Mayor Earl Niven, who currently is serving his final year as Chelsea’s first and only mayor.

Everything Chelsea has experienced since it was founded in the mid 1990s is due, at least in part, to this man.

Thank you, Mayor Niven, for your decades of service to one of the fastest-growing cities in the state. We hope you and your family enjoy some well-deserved time off. uWe’ve all seen movies depicting

the heroism and valor of the men and women who served our nation in World War II, and Columbiana resident Nathan Smith is living proof of these traits. Life hasn’t always been easy for Smith, but he has overcome significant hardship – and a few bad decisions – to become an inspiration for everyone he meets. uPlaying football is difficult, especially in the largest high school classification in the state. But for Oak Mountain High School’s Kai Christenberry, it all comes naturally, even though he is unable to hear. Read about Kai’s amazing journey beginning on Page 87. uHelena’s Leslie and Heath Bartlett live a life of faith. After answering a heavenly call to become foster parents, the Bartletts have had a profound impact on creating a better life for many children.

As you can see, our county has plenty of fantastic stories to tell. We hope you enjoy getting a more in-depth look at our county, but more than that, we hope you are inspired to make Shelby County a better place for all. n

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Shelby County EDITORIAL Graham Brooks Molly Davidson Baker Ellis Jessa Pease Emily Sparacino Neal Wagner CONTRIBUTORS Barry Clemmons Dawn Harrison Amy Jones Eric Starling PRODUCTION Jamie Dawkins Layken Gibbs Robyn Holm Keith McCoy MARKETING Kristy Brown Christy Coleman Emily Klein Ashley Duckett Kari George Daniel Holmes Nicole Loggins Rhett McCreight

Neal Wagner, Managing Editor

Meagan Mims

Neal.Wagner@ShelbyCountyReporter.com

Kim McCulla

on the cover Kai Christenberry was adopted from China as a deaf 14-year-old.

While the adoption has changed his life, it has also dramatically affected the lives of his new family as well.

Cover design: Jamie Dawkins Photography: Dawn Harrison

April Spivey ADMINISTRATION Tim Prince Katie McDowell Mary Jo Eskridge Hailey Dolbare

Shelby County Newspapers, Inc. P.O. Box 947 Columbiana, AL 35051 205.669.3131 4

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PERSON OF THE YEAR Niven leaving big shoes to fill at Chelsea City Hall

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BREAKING THE STORY Donna Francavilla paves her own way in the business news world

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MAN OF THE CITY Helena’s Zodie McCall makes history while serving community for decades

FROM SINNER TO SAINT Jeremiah Castille is an inspiration for a generation

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PELHAM CITY SCHOOLS Dedicated to providing excellent instruction and opportunities that cultivate the well-being and success of students every step of the way

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‘COMPLETE REVERSAL’ After arrests, veteran turns to faith

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ALABASTER CITY SCHOOLS Champions of our future

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THE KAI CHRISTENBERRY STORY How a family changed a boy’s life, and vice versa

SHELBY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION Prepared for the journey

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BREAKING THE MOLD UM art professor and sculptor retires after 42 years

FEED THE PEOPLE Restaurant owner helps after childhood struggles

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ELEVEN AND COUNTING Franchise owners share Newk’s Eatery success story

A SERVANT’S HEART Helena woman shares love through service

IT TAKES TWO Kearleys work together for weight loss success

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THE HUNTER Coker documents hunting experiences worldwide

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THE MUSIC MAN Bubbett has been the face of the THS music program for decades

CONSTRUCTING A DREAM John O. Freeman Sr. builds Mt Laurel

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Earl Niven and a group of other residents formed an incorporation committee in the mid-1990s to establish Chelsea as a city on U.S. 280.

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Earl Niven Person of the Year

Story by EMILY SPARACINO Photographs by DAWN HARRISON

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erving his hometown as its first elected mayor wasn’t always Earl Niven’s plan.

For the last 20 years, though, Niven, 72, has dedicated his life to leading Chelsea, the place where he was born and raised, and where his family’s roots extend as far back as five generations.

On Oct. 31, 2016, Niven’s fifth consecutive term as Chelsea’s first and only mayor will end, and he will not seek re-election.

As his retirement draws near, Niven reflected on how Chelsea has grown since its incorporation, and how the unexpected opportunity to play a key role in the city’s progression has changed his life.

IN THE BEGINNING

Born Samuel Earl Niven Sr. on July 22, 1943, Niven is the son of the late A.P. and Nannie Niven of Chelsea.

“I’m a fifth-generation Niven,” he said.

He is the seventh of eight children. His father worked as an ore miner for U.S. Steel, and his mother was a homemaker.

His father and brothers owned a logging business and filling station, but Niven worked his way through college at the University of Montevallo with plans to pursue a career that didn’t require manual labor, according to his wife, June Niven.

“He said, ‘I was determined I was going to go to college,’” June, 68, said.

After graduating from the University of Montevallo with a degree in business administration and a minor in math in 1965, Earl was hired as the first math teacher at Chelsea High School. He also operated an income tax business for many years and served in the U.S. Army National Guard from 1968 to 1974.

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He has served as the school’s booster club president, PTO president and as a trustee of Chelsea’s school system.

“I have always supported the community,” he said. “I’ve always been active.”

Earl and June have been married for 50 years in March and have two children, Earl Niven Jr. and Brandon Niven, plus six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Earl and June knew each other as children. June and his sister Louise were good friends, and June’s mother taught Earl in the sixth grade.

“She said, ‘I knew in sixth grade that he was going to amount to something because he always put others first,’” June said of her mother talking about Earl. “He was the most well-liked person in the room.”

June said Earl’s classmates repeatedly chose him for “best personality” and “most likely to succeed.”

It wasn’t until June and Earl were in college that their dating relationship began.

After their first date, the two spent time together every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday for a year.

“As the months went on, we knew God had something there because we wanted to be together all the time,” June said.

After they talked to each other about their desire to be married––and after Earl received June’s parents’ blessing––Earl proposed to June in her living room.

The couple married on March 26, 1966 in the Liberty Baptist Church chapel, before family, friends and “every child he (Earl) taught in school,” June said.

June graduated from Samford University with a degree in elementary education and landed a teaching job. In the beginning of their marriage, Earl insisted on placing June’s paychecks in savings and living solely on his income. Though the sacrifices weren’t always easy, the couple reaped the rewards of their strict saving regimen, as 7

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Chelsea Mayor Earl Niven is recognized

by Forest Oaks Elementary School students as an American hero during a Super Citizen Program assembly Nov. 12. Earl Niven, center, takes his oath of office in 1996. He is pictured with thenShelby County Probate Judge Patricia Fuhrmeister and his wife, June Niven. Chelsea officials break ground for the city’s new community center on May 20, 2014.

started to incorporate and had great support.”

The incorporation committee – Earl, Joe Garity, Chuck Lewis, Jay Jerman, Col. John Ritchie, Rita Smith and others – held meetings and appointed certain people to be in charge.

“I’m sure they included Earl because of his ROAD TO INCORPORATION knowledge of the community,” June said. “They trusted him. He sort of was the one they all came to.”

By the 1990s, the growth potential U.S. 280 held The incorporation committee had to get signatures for communities clinging to its concrete corridor was of people in the area and of registered landowners. To too great to ignore. incorporate, four qualified voters had to occupy every In 1995, Earl and a group of other locals spearheaded efforts to incorporate Chelsea to secure quarter-quarter (40 acres) of land.

The committee had to file a list with the Shelby its grip on 280, keep other municipalities from taking land and “to provide and protect what was Chelsea’s,” County probate judge with the intent to incorporate.

After all voters were verified, the judge set up an Earl said. election for the area encompassing registered voters, “We wanted to try to provide for our people and who could choose to vote yes or no to incorporating. protect the area we consider to be Chelsea,” he said.

“The vote was about 94 percent in favor of “We wanted to keep revenue on 280 for Chelsea. We Earl said they would.

“He always had a good financial head,” June said.

Little did they know Earl’s financial savvy would be put to a 20-year test.

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incorporation,” Earl said. “We incorporated with 906 developments to the area, along with the need for a waterline on the highway. people in our area. From that point forward, our city The council decided to borrow $5 million, $3 began to look like a plate of chicken fingers; it just million of which would go toward the waterline started running out in every direction.” installation. The other $2 million funded the After the judge declared the election valid on construction of the new city hall.

March 1, 1996, the first council was formed.

“That opened the door for the commercial “We had a meeting of those who wanted to run for development on Highway 280,” Earl said, noting a office,” Earl said. “A majority of the people wanted private sewer was also installed. “It’s all because of me to run for mayor. A good many people knew me the growth and the investment we made with the and knew my leadership roles I had had, and I think waterline down Highway 280. Our philosophy so far they felt comfortable with me being the first mayor.” in the city of Chelsea is to plan.”

Council members included Ritchie, Glen Autry, The Chelsea Community Center and the Chelsea Bob Combs, Shelby Blackerby and Earline Isbell.

Sports Complex are two large-scale, multi-millionAll were elected to a term from March to August dollar capital projects Earl has overseen. with no opposition. In August 1996, Earl and the “With the economy firming up, we council were elected a second time to look for future development,” Earl serve four-year terms. said. “We have seen that residential “Our first budget was for $32,000 in development brings commercial 1997,” Earl said. “The budget for 2015 is development. $7.3 million.”

“I think the next mayor and council The city council met in what is now will have a great opportunity to look the Chelsea Middle School lunchroom. at what has been done as a foundation The mayor’s office was in Earl’s house.

Earl Niven has served as Chelsea’s only mayor to a fast-growing city,” Earl said.

Then, First National Bank of for the past 20 years.

“Financially, there should be about $2 Columbiana, now Renasant Bank, million in retained earnings to carry on allowed Chelsea to use the upstairs the city.” level of the bank as its city hall until the new city hall In last four years, Chelsea has averaged 150 building was built in 2004. Chelsea started out with fewer permits. In 2006 alone, the city issued 650 permits than 1,000 acres of land to its name. The first series for new homes. Over the years, the city has given of annexations included land where Chelsea High more than $2.5 million to education or educational School is located on Shelby County 11 to prevent the projects, and is donating $125,000 to the five schools school from being in another municipality.

Over the last 20 years, Earl has been elected mayor in Chelsea.

“Our intent was to lay a foundation to establish six times, including his partial term immediately after Chelsea as a family city (and) to encourage families to the city incorporated. move here,” Earl said.

Chelsea has grown from a population of 906 Chelsea Fire Chief Wayne Shirley has worked for to about 12,000, and the economic landscape Earl and the community for 15 years. has bloomed into a healthy, stable place for “I’ve known the mayor for around 35 years, but commercial and privately owned businesses alike. As didn’t really ‘get to know him’ until I interviewed for predicted, 280 began to draw commercial business

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the fire chief position. Working with Mayor Niven has been a challenging and educational experience. We may not always agree on each budget priority, but I do firmly believe he has always kept the best interest of Chelsea as the basis of each issue I have brought for his consideration.”

Shirley said Earl is a “numbers” man and has served the community well.

“Mayor Niven gave me an opportunity to serve as fire chief, in my home community, and for that I am grateful,” Shirley said.

Earl cited the relationship between him and each council as a reason Chelsea is a strong city.

Councilwoman Juanita Champion will have served three terms (12 years) with Earl when the current term is finished in October 2016.

“I have known the mayor since 2003 and have worked closely with him since 2004,” Champion said.

“During this time I have found him to be a man who loves the city of Chelsea with all his heart and who is willing to do whatever it takes to manage the city. Under his guidance, our city has grown from a small country town to a city with a population close to 12,000 citizens, and he has absorbed all the inherent problems of this growth with dignity and a good sense of humor.”

Earl and June read scripture and pray together every day.

“Not a day goes by that we don’t share our time with God,” June said. “We’ve always been faithful in church. I thank God every day for my husband.”

Earl also dedicates much of his time to his family.

When the couple’s sons were young, Earl insisted on the family taking trips each summer to different states.

“We got all 50 states covered before our sons graduated from high school,” June said. Her daughters-in-law often tell her their husbands talk about the annual trips frequently.

Earl Jr. served with his father on the city council in 2004.

The couple’s 43-year-old son, Brandon Niven, said his dad is someone he admires and tries to pattern his life after.

“Dad has always been there for his family,” Brandon said.

“He has shown us not just by words but also by example of living your life for God first, family second and work third. I am not only proud of my dad — Earl Niven for everything he has accomplished, but I am most proud of him for the Christian example of a husband and father he has been to our family.”

The stress that came with campaigning for and serving in an elected position wasn’t easy to manage at times.

“You’ll never please everybody, and I know that in life, but it’s harder because people think that you’re the mayor, you can do anything in the city,” Earl said. “(As) the mayor, you can’t get out of being around people that you represent, and you don’t need to. If you don’t love the city and love the people, you don’t need to be an elected official.

“Just like we’re called to be a servant of God, we’re called to serve the people as mayor of council.”

With each municipal election, June said she and Earl maintained the belief that God would only place him in the mayoral seat if he were still the best person for the job.

“I know God still wanted him in that position,” June said, referring to Earl’s re-election to his final term.

“That’s the only reason.”

June said he is “at peace” with closing his chapter as mayor this year.

“I told him, ‘Just be sure the Lord is turning you

“We wanted to try to

provide for our people and protect the area we consider to be Chelsea.”

MAN OF FAITH, FAMILY In addition to being mayor, Earl is perhaps best known for his faith and church involvement.

He has served as a deacon for 48 years at Liberty Baptist Church in Chelsea. He and June work with the senior adult ministry, and she plays the organ at the church.

Mike May, minister of music at Liberty Baptist Church, has known Earl for 14 years and complimented his historical knowledge of Liberty.

“Earl has been around here for most of his life,” May said. “He’s a very good historian on our church history. He always keeps us reminded of our heritage.”

May described Earl as “very faithful” and “encouraging.”

“All those things you would want in a church member, Earl is very strong in that, very supportive,” May said. “He is great.”

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loose, not you turning you loose,’” she said.

June has remained a steadfast supporter of her husband, even through her own trials. Five years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent treatment. As soon as she was healthy enough, June resumed her attendance at the council meetings to support Earl.

“I like to go and be a part so I can understand what he’s trying to say to me about different things,” she said. “As soon as I could, I got right back up and went.”

On Nov. 1, the day after Earl’s term ends, he and June will leave for a month-long beach trip to relax and visit with family.

Their long-term plans include traveling and focusing on family even more.

Although he is stepping out of the municipal government spotlight, Earl will continue his involvement in––and support of––his hometown.

“Our lives are the city, the church and family,” Earl said. “I was a supporter of the city before I was elected mayor, and I will be a supporter of our city and community after I leave office.” n Earl and June Niven are longtime members at Liberty Baptist Church, where Earl serves as a deacon and treasurer, and June plays the organ.

Summit Pediatrics

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From to

sinner

saint and everywhere in between

Story by BAKER ELLIS Photographs by DAWN HARRISON and CONTRIBUTED

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LEFT TO RIGHT: A young Jeremiah Castille at the University of Alabama.

Castille’s eyes are full of kindness and compassion.

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eremiah Castille is a familiar face across the state of Alabama for a couple different reasons. One of those reasons, most assuredly, is football. The former Alabama and NFL star first made a name for himself at Central-Phenix City High School back in the late 1970s, where the then-scrawny defensive back drew attention from the legendary Bear Bryant at Tuscaloosa, who Castille went to play for after he graduated in 1978.

He continued to turn heads and draw attention as the only sophomore starter on Bryant’s 1980 team that throttled Baylor in the Cotton Bowl. When he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the 1983 NFL Draft, Castille left Alabama as the career leader in interceptions with 16, a record that stood until 1993.

That’s one side of the Jeremiah Castille narrative.

Jeremiah the Football Player. It’s the side most who were around during his playing years will assuredly associate with his name, and rightfully so with the career he had. But there’s more to the man than the game of football.

Much, much more.

Castille is now a 54-year-old father of six. He and his wife, Jean, live in Shelby County and have sent all of their children to Briarwood Christian School, two of whom went on to follow their father and play in the NFL. Castille is a devout Christian who runs the Jeremiah Castille Foundation, a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization based out of the Woodlawn area in

Birmingham. He still carries himself with an athlete’s gait, and walks with the same lightness and grace that made him so fun to watch on the football field. He has a kind face and thoughtful, intelligent, probing eyes set into narrow sockets on either side of his light brown nose.

However, that face has not always been kind, and those eyes used to be filled with rage, not generosity.

This is his story.

CHAOS Castille was born in 1961 in Columbus, Ga. From as early as he can remember, his house was a breeding ground for alcoholism and domestic violence. His parents had a violent, alcohol-infused relationship with each other, which affected Castille in exactly the way that type of an environment could Profile 2016

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be expected to affect a child.

“Chaotic is the word for it,” Castille said. “When I say ‘domestic violence’ I’m talking about serious domestic violence from my mom and my dad. You can imagine the trickle-down affect that that’d have on children. I’m talking about every week; alcoholism was the igniter of it. It affects you in a very negative way.”

As a natural byproduct of the violence he was exposed to, Castille was angry from an early age.

Violence tends to breed violence, and Castille was the walking embodiment of that reality. He was a surly, confused, emotionally abandoned kid who was in danger of failing out of school before he turned 15 because he just didn’t care. It was precisely through this anger and consternation that Castille believes God worked to radically change his life.

Castille got suspended from school when he was 13 for fighting. An eighth grade basketball player tried to jump in front of him in the school bus line, and Castille was having none of that. The two fought, and a suspension ensued.

It was not the suspension by itself that caused Castille to reexamine his life. Fights were common, and school was not important to him. It was when he took the suspension letter home.

“When I took the suspension letter home, my mother had to sign it,” Castille recalled. “And when I gave it to her it was a day she was sober. And my mother said something, she said, ‘Son, I’m so disappointed in you.’ And man, I’m telling you, for whatever reason, that touched my heart.”

Castille has a two-inch scar running across his left forearm to this day from where his mother pulled a knife on him in a drunken rage and cut him when he was 11. When he said the violence he saw and endured as a child was serious, he wasn’t exaggerating. If there was anyone who ever had good reason to not care whether or not their mother was disappointed in them, it was a young Jeremiah Castille. But something about that moment of

FAITH AND FOOTBALL Castille did not grow up going to church. His father had grown up Catholic but religion played essentially no role in his early upbringing. That summer however, the summer before his eighth grade year, his life changed while serving his suspension from summer school. He attended a revival at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, which is where he found what he didn’t even realize he had been looking for.

“I heard the Gospel for the first time,” he said simply of that experience. “I heard, for the first time, that God loved me. That’s what I had not experienced. I had not experienced a human love.

Even though there was shelter for me, I had never experienced a father-son love or a mother-son love, I hadn’t experienced that.”

It was this moment of realization and acceptance, even all these years later, that Castille points to as the defining moment in his life. He couldn’t get enough of this new concept of redeeming love. He had been searching for a vessel to fill a yawning gap in his life that he couldn’t even fully describe, and had finally found it.

“When that was communicated to me, — Jeremiah Castille man I jumped right on it,” Castille said with a smile.

“I left that church a different person. I went in a sinner and came out a saint. The power of the gospel was resonant in me. I left there empowered.”

As Castille was being given the gift of spiritual renewal, he also began to realize he was gifted in other ways as well. He began to play football his eighth-grade year, and quickly developed into one of the state’s brightest young stars.

There was never any doubt in Castille’s mind where he wanted to play college ball. It was Tuscaloosa or bust for the young, gifted defensive back. Even now, 30-some-odd years later, Castille still vividly remembers the first time he got a letter from the Crimson Tide. It was his junior year in high school, after the season was over. He was in the cafeteria and his positions coach brought him a letter from Alabama expressing interest in him.

“I was sitting in the lunchroom, and my position coach brought me the letter. I started reading the letter and I jumped up and ran out of the cafeteria yelling,” Castille said, laughing. “It wasn’t even

“I left that church a

different person. I went in a sinner and came out a saint. The power of the gospel was resonant in me.

I left there empowered.”

disappointment, as a 13-year-old, touched him.

RIGHT: Jeremiah Castille prays with former Florida State University head football coach Bobby Bowden.

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“What I’ve learned from this is that God puts in every teenager a desire to please their parents,” Castille said.

In that moment of clarity, a 13-year-old Castille knew he had to make a change.

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ABOVE: Jeremiah Castille and his wife Jean started the Jeremiah Castille Foundation in 1999. Castille and his wife live in Shelby County today.

RIGHT: Jeremiah Castille chats with sons Simeon and Tim Castille before an Alabama football game.

offering me a scholarship, it was just saying they were interested in me.”

That letter took Castille’s work ethic to another level, and after a stellar senior high school season, he was off to Tuscaloosa.

ALABAMA, THE BEAR AND THE NFL As a freshman, roughly two weeks into his tenure as a member of the Crimson Tide, Castille had an encounter that shaped the rest of his football career.

The most prolific and esteemed college football coach in the country, Bear Bryant himself, had requested an individual meeting with the young, skinny defensive back.

A nervous, homesick, 18-year-old Castille made the trek across campus to Bryant’s office in Coleman Coliseum, where Bryant was waiting for him, Chesterfield cigarette in hand, to talk to his newest protégé. Castille walked into the hazy office and sat on the black and white checkered couch Bryant kept in his office, and immediately sunk to the floor.

“That couch doesn’t have any springs by design,” Castille said with a grin creeping on to his face, reliving the moment in vivid detail. “He took the springs out of the couch, so when you sit on the couch your butt’s on the floor and you’re looking up at him.”

Bryant looked at Castille, right in the eye, and told him in his gravelly, matter-of-fact voice that he could play for the University of Alabama. Not in two years, but right then. Bryant had seen enough out of the 155-pounder to know Castille had what it took to play

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on the national level.

“He could see what a guy had.

Whether or not you had what it took,” Castille said. “He was also the most encouraging coach I ever had. I left that meeting and he said, ‘Jeremiah you see that door? If you ever need anything, that’s always open to you.’ I left there feeling like someone cared about me.”

Looking back at his record-setting career in a crimson jersey, Castille points to that moment, that meeting on a sunken couch in a cigarette-smoke-filled office, as the catalyst that propelled him to have the career he had.

Castille graduated from Alabama in 1982 and was drafted in the third round of the NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bryant died soon after Castille left Tuscaloosa, in January of 1983. At the funeral for the legendary man and coach, Castille was one of the eight pallbearers that led Bryant to his final resting place.

ALL-ENCOMPASSING MINISTRY Castille spent six seasons as a pro. He was in Tampa Bay for four years before being traded to the Denver Broncos, where he helped lead the Broncos to Super Bowl XXII with his play in the AFC Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns. He recorded 14 interceptions in six years, including seven in the 1985 season. But, after just six seasons, Castille felt he was being called away from the game that the world had come to associate him with.

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He felt he was being called away to start something new, which was one of the hardest decisions he has had to make. He had agreed to a contract with the San Francisco 49ers after being released by the Broncos, but felt the Lord call him away from the game.

“There was a battle between He and I,” Castille said. “Internally there was a struggle. I’m a very competitive person and wanted to keep playing.

In that process, the Lord stripped me of all that competitiveness.”

He felt called to continue ministering in other ways, and has done just that since his playing days.

He coached at Briarwood for seven years where his children went, and at the same time started the Jeremiah Castille Foundation, which incorporated in 1999. He stepped down from his coaching position in 2001 to be the team chaplain at his alma mater, Alabama, a position he still holds today.

That’s the pattern for Castille’s life. Transition is easier for him than most because he views whatever he is doing in any given moment through the lens of ministry. Playing football, coaching, running an outreach program, it doesn’t matter. The act itself is significant only in light of the ministry opportunities it brings. And the opportunities have been plentiful.

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BLESSING THOSE AROUND HIM

Jeremiah Castille’s kindness and love for people exudes from his eyes.

Castille’s mom is 30 years sober now. She still lives in Central-Phenix City and is actually in one of the videos on the Jeremiah Castille Foundation website with her son.

His children are old and grown. Caleb recently starred in the independent film Woodlawn while Tim is now coaching football at Thompson High School.

The Foundation has been running in the Woodlawn area of Birmingham since it incorporated 17 years ago.

It is partnered with Cornerstone Schools of Alabama and is in the process of developing property in that area of Woodlawn. It has not been uncommon for Jeremiah and his wife, Jean, to welcome wayward youth into their home for months at a time to help them get through school or nail down an elusive job.

There is no way to quantify how many lives the Jeremiah Castille Foundation or the man responsible for its inception has already helped to change. But the man who is the foundation’s namesake has no plans to stop his work soon.

Through it all, what is most impressive about Castille is not in the ways he has been touched and blessed on the field, but in the ways he has been able to touch and bless those around him off of it. n

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PREPARED for the JOURNEY

the mold

UM art professor and sculptor retires after 42 years Story by EMILY SPARACINO Photographs by DAWN HARRISON

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orty-two years have passed since Ted Metz stepped onto the University of Montevallo campus in Shelby County as a new professor in the art department.

“I was so fortunate to get a teaching job,” Metz, 66, said on a bright September morning, nearly four months before retiring in January as the longest-serving faculty member at UM. “I’ve always considered myself fortunate and blessed. I was one of the real lucky ones.”

After graduating with a master’s degree in sculpture and ceramics from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., in 1973, a 20-something Metz was looking for a job in which his art and a stable income were not mutually exclusive.

“Our culture doesn’t support artists the way other cultures do,” Metz said. “The vast majority of us have to find employment. It seemed to me that teaching at a university was a great way to make a living.”

During his college years, first earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., and then completing graduate school in South Carolina, Metz said he began to see the benefits of teaching –– of imparting his knowledge of sculpture and ceramics to students and reaping the rewards of their growth and contributions to his own work, as a professor and an artist.

“While I was in school, I looked at faculty (members) that were teaching me and realized what a wonderful job that was,” Metz said. “We (students) challenged our faculty, and that kept them on their toes.”

Metz, who was born in Ohio and raised in Virginia Profile 2016

Beach, had started to enjoy living in the South during college and “applied to every school south of Virginia” for a chance to teach.

It was Montevallo that came calling, and he answered.

MORE THAN A JOB In 1973, Metz became one of three faculty members in the UM Art Department.

“I came here and ended up loving the place,” he said. “It was like my creative practice and my teaching weren’t separated; it was all one lifestyle. It was kind of seamless.”

In his early work, Metz made abstract sculpture and experimented with ceramics and steel to create pieces based on geological concepts such as the cyclical life of clay, which he learned about in a geology course he took in undergraduate school.

“The information in that class became the core of my creative output for almost 20 years,” he said. “My work was geologically inspired.”

Metz had always wanted to do public art. In 1990, he seized his first 23

Metz’s workspace has expanded from his basement to a new home studio he constructed next to his house in 2015.

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“This is a really remarkable opportunity opportunity: To create an outdoor public for sculptors, to have a locale that is public,” sculpture commissioned by the Bluff Park said Scott Stephens, UM art department Art Association for the Hoover Municipal chairman and professor of art.

Center.

Stephens, who has worked with Metz The piece, a 43-foot-tall stainless steel at UM since 1983, described him as “an structure called “Becoming,” is symbolic of incredible colleague” with a leader’s spirit. the city’s potential to grow and looks like a “He’s really a leader in all of his building that has not yet been completed, relationships,” Stephens said of Metz.

Metz said.

“That’s something that layers on top of In order to design and construct the what he does. He’s been acting chair of the towering sculpture, Metz elicited the department before. Everything he does, he help of a professional engineer and other takes on a leadership kind of role. He’s very construction professionals.

He went on to build commissioned pieces helpful.”

Stephens said part of Metz’s at the University of Alabama at Birmingham contributions to the UM art (“Strata,” a 30-foot outdoor department was forming public sculpture for the top-notch facilities for faculty campus made of steel, cast and students to utilize, and on steel, cast iron, aluminum and a low budget, by fabricating asphalt, 1992); HealthSouth many of his own tools and corporate headquarters in purchasing used materials Birmingham (“Diagnostic from government surplus.

Image,” a 10-foot high Metz collaborated with Another part of his bronze and stainless steel nearly 50 students over the course of three contributions, of course, piece, 1997); and Aldridge years to construct is the 16-foot cast bronze Gardens in Hoover (“On The “Becoming,” a 16-footsculpture perched on the Nature Of Building,” a public tall bronze figurative sculpture of two hands, edge of the main quad on the sculpture commissioned by one representing the UM campus. the Bluff Park Association, university and the other “I have never known art 2012). representing the student. at Montevallo without Ted But perhaps one of the Metz,” Stephens said. “He most meaningful pieces for has been so instrumental in forming what Metz is a sculpture he constructed with UM students for Bowers Colonnade on the I know as the department of the arts at Montevallo. He has been instrumental in UM campus (“Becoming,” 16-foot bronze making us who we are, and I think we are a sculpture, 2003). great department.”

As the university approached its 100th birthday, the UM president asked Metz to THE EARLY YEARS design a sculpture to commemorate the event.

As a child, Metz enjoyed physical “I was fearful to put a sculpture basically activities––building forts, taking things in our back yard,” Metz said, “I felt incredible pressure to come up with a good apart, building erector sets and anything else he could tinker with. concept.”

Even so, Metz didn’t know until college Metz collaborated with 40-50 students he would pursue a career in sculpture. over the course of three years to construct “I was very worried about my future in “Becoming,” a 16-foot-tall bronze figurative high school because I didn’t know what I sculpture of two hands, one representing wanted to do,” he said. the university and the other representing With advice from his guidance counselor the student. to go to college, Metz started out in “My students and I built it together,” Metz said. “That was very special for them business at Old Dominion.

“This was the height of the Vietnam and very special for me. I think it was a War, and I was floundering in college good experience for them; it was for me.”

Wendy

Consigned Design

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Over the years, Metz has collected metal signs, tools, scraps and other odds and ends with the thought they might someday appear in his work.

that class is there are several major areas of art.” because I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” he said.

A sculptor named Victor Pickett became a mentor “I thought I might join the service. I felt like I was for Metz for nearly two years of his college career. wasting college if I just stayed there.”

“He acknowledged my passion for sculpture and Metz took a “battery of tests” and found his invited me to work in his personal studio, which was aptitudes and interests aligned with engineering, an amazing opportunity,” Metz said. “I credit him drafting, sociology, art and forestry fields. with my professional success related to art. He’s a He took a class in all of these areas.

“After just two weeks, it felt like I was home when teacher that I would like to be to my students.”

In 1971, Metz started graduate school in South I was in the art class,” Metz said. “I knew that’s where I needed to be. I didn’t know if I had any talent Carolina, where he continued his work in sculpture and worked on a minor in or not, but knew I was able to ceramics. connect with these people.”

He was in the first class of Metz said he was inspired by students who had the option of his classmates’ commitment to earning a Master of Fine Arts at their work, evident in the long the university. hours they logged of their own Metz said selling his pieces accord, and he connected with has never been his motivation to the creative nature of the class As the University of Montevallo create and construct, and he is and assignments. approached its 100th birthday, Metz was asked to create a sculpture to “notoriously bad at marketing.”

“The emphasis was on tapping commemorate the milestone.

“I’ve been blessed to have a into who you were creatively,” job as a faculty member, so I’ve he said. “It was all new (to me).”

Metz credited the Old Dominion staff and students never made art with the thought that I have to sell it, which is nice,” he said. “I feel like I can take creative in the art department for being supportive of each chances. I’m not trying to please any particular other. person except for myself.”

“Art is a lot of hard work and demands a great amount of commitment on learning skills and MAKING DIFFERENCES AT MONTEVALLO processes and developing creative potential,” Metz said. “It becomes a very serious course of study.”

Metz has influenced many of his colleagues and His first art class was a 2D design class, followed by 3D design, essentially an introduction to sculpture. students, and the UM Art Department as a whole, in his 42 years on faculty.

“I came naturally to sculpture,” Metz said. “I’m a Clint Green, a graduate student in the Alternative builder of things. I like materials. What I realized in

100

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Masters program in Art Education, was in Metz’s Metal Casting and Mold Making class as an undergraduate student in 2002.

“Ted’s presence as a professor was one to be admired,” Green said. “It was an inspiring time for me and I was greatly influenced by the work Ted was doing then. After graduating, I moved to Wyoming but returned annually and always made it a point to come back to Montevallo to see Ted.” Cherish Roodhouse, 26, is a senior at UM and took Metz’s Introduction to Sculpture, Metal Fabrication and Public Sculpture classes.

“In introduction to sculpture Ted taught us how to utilize different materials to make a variety of sculptures, how to pour metal and how to speak critically and eloquently about art and the message we are trying to convey through our artwork,” Roodhouse said. “In metal fabrication he taught us how to use a wide range of welding and blacksmith techniques, and how to plan and conceptualize a work of art in a professional manner. I would describe Ted as a professor who is passionate about his art and teaching, and as someone who is professional while still maintaining a sense of humor and empathy for others.”

Roodhouse noted Metz’s willingness to help

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students work through issues and bouts of “artist block” with their projects.

“I always remember him telling me that I was a better artist than I gave myself time to be,” Green added. “Ted could recognize potential and encourage it in the most subtle of ways.”

Shannon Turek, a 22-year-old senior at UM, took Introduction to Sculpture, Environmental Sculpture, Stone Carving, Metal Fabrication, Metal Casting and Public Art with Metz.

“Ted has taught me too many things to list but I think the greatest thing he passes on to his students is his wealth of knowledge,” Turek said. “If there is anything you can’t figure out Ted always knows how to make it work. Ted is an amazing human being and the best professor I’ve ever had. He helps us to grow and mature as artists but he definitely has a humorous touch. I feel like our classes have been more like a family.”

Dr. Scott Meyer, a professor of art at UM, interviewed with Metz and was hired for a job at the university in the fall of 1986.

“When I got here, I saw Ted capable of building just about anything,” Meyer said. “Basically, he’s a MacGyver as a university sculptor.”

With his “can-do spirit,” Metz excelled in his own

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What people love about Ted Metz...

“I have never known art at Montevallo without Ted Metz.”

— Scott Stephens

“Ted is an amazing human being and the best professor I’ve ever had.”

— Shannon Turek

“Ted could recognize potential and encourage it in the most subtle of ways.”

— Cherish Roodhouse

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artistic arena, attracted like-minded people to the art department and sparked progress for its resources.

Meyer said Metz, with then-art department chairman Frank McCoy, spearheaded the installment of a faculty studio on campus.

“One of the things I noticed from the beginning of my time here is they had a high priority of giving studio space for art faculty,” Meyer said.

“We’re there teaching and also doing our own part.”

Meyer described Metz as a “tremendous role model,” a professor who had good rapport with his students and who contributed to the camaraderie among faculty members.

“It’s serious fun,” Meyer said of working with Metz. “I’m happy for him that he’s retiring and I hope it’s a wonderful chance to do what’s in his heart to do, but boy, it’s hard.”

EDUCATIONAL AND ARTISTIC HONORS Metz has been honored in his educational and artistic endeavors.

In 1980, he was named a University Scholar and Distinguished Teacher of the Year in the College of Fine Arts at UM. He was named Distinguished Teacher of the Year again in 1986.

He was inducted as a faculty member into the UM chapter of Phi Kappa Phi and received the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award from the University of Montevallo National Alumni Association in 1995.

In 1997, the Carnegie Foundation Council for the Advancement and Support of Education named Metz Alabama Professor of the Year.

Metz’s artistic honors include Visual Artists Fellowship awards for $5,000 each in 1986 and 2014 from the Alabama State Council for the Arts, and a National Endowment for the Arts Building Arts Program Grant for $5,000 to develop architectural panels in concrete in 1982.

His work has been featured in more than 150 exhibitions.

In addition to his time as a UM professor, Metz served as a professor of art for the University of Georgia Study Abroad Program in Cortona, Italy, in 1987.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE COMMUNITY Metz is a founding board member of the Montevallo Sister City Commission and has been actively involved in Montevallo’s relations with Echizen, Japan, since 1995.

“This commitment has allowed me to travel to Japan on seven occasions leading various delegations to establish a Sister City relationship and setting up several educational, theatrical, musical and artistic exchanges,” Metz wrote.

Metz worked with Montevallo’s current mayor, Dr. Hollie Cost, to establish Montevallo as a Sister City of Echizen in 2008.

“He approached me during my first or second term as a council member to talk about the relationship he had established with Echizen,” Cost said.

As part of the Sister City agreement, Montevallo presented to Echizen a gift of 10 sculptures that originated from Echizen children’s drawings and were sculpted by UM art students in a collaborative exchange.

UM students installed the sculptures in a public park in Echizen in 2009.

Cost called Metz a friend, and said, “I feel like I’ve known him all my life.”

She noted his willingness to help others. For example, his public sculpture class designed bike racks to be installed on the UM campus, she said.

“We got to work on that together,” Cost said. “He’s always open and interested in working on really whatever projects we need him to be involved with.”

Cost said Metz works with children on sculpture, too.

“I think he impresses upon them how powerful these sculptures can be, or art can be, in the community,” Cost said.

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Metz completed a sculpture project for Montevallo Elementary School, phase 1 and 2, in 2007 and 2008. MES students’ drawings were selected by UM art students and translated into large public sculptures, which were installed on campus.

His community service also includes Habitat For Humanity, Montevallo then Shelby County Board of Directors from 19922001, and construction foreman in 1996.

NEXT PHASE OF LIFE The “Becoming” sculpture Metz and his students constructed for the UM campus more than a decade ago will continue to serve as a reminder of Metz’s dedication to his craft and his lasting impact on the university, its students and the employees who spend many of their waking hours teaching––and practicing, after hours––what they know.

“It was important for him not just to make the piece but to make the piece with the equipment we had generated at the school, and with students,” Meyer said of Metz. “I think that, and a million things like

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said of the couple’s work. “He won’t be that, really typify Ted’s approach retired at all. He will be working more.” to that and to teaching.”

Metz views UM as having been “the Metz said he is “happy as a absolutely perfect place” for him. As his teacher,” but is excited about the career in the university’s art department time retirement will give him to progressed, so did his friendships with fellow focus on sculpture, in his newly faculty members. constructed home studio that he “We’ve just been given the freedom to dubbed a “mini industrial site.” develop the program the way we want to,” “I’m finally going to be Metz said of the department. “It’s been a able to practice what I teach very good and happy experience. It’s not like with 100 percent focus,” he a job; it’s like a part of my lifestyle.” said. “Frankly, I was afraid to do Although his life’s work deals with it. I started to aggressively equip structure, Metz said he is not myself (and) get to concerned about not having a a position I could set schedule every day, noting leave the university retirement “just feels good.” and continue my “It feels like it’s the right work without too time,” he said. “I’m not many interruptions.” worried about the lack of Retirement also Ted Metz was a structure in my life because gives Metz and faculty member in the I’m going to be real busy here. his wife, Robin, University of Montevallo “I’m healthy. I have a lot a painter and Art Department for 42 years before retiring. of energy. I didn’t want to illustrator in teach so long that by the time her own right, I retired I would be too infirm or feeble to more time to collaborate on continue my creative output.” ceramics.

Metz said he was ready to relinquish Metz, who taught ceramics his position to another person who, like for 20 years at UM, said him, was searching for a foothold in the he loves to throw on the potter’s wheel but dislikes the sometimes-slippery world of art careers.

“The coolest part of retiring is giving decorating process, which is someone else a chance to do this,” he said. where Robin comes in.

“These jobs are scarce. I had an opportunity “It’s a very rewarding 42 years ago because someone left, and I collaboration,” he said. get to pass it on.” n “It’s so much fun,” Robin

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11 and counting Franchise owners share Newk’s Eatery success story Story by JESSA PEASE Photographs by DAWN HARRISON

N

ewk’s Eateries were a completely foreign concept to the Birmingham area eight years ago. The fast-casual restaurant was based out of Oxford, Miss., with only three locations nationally.

Eight years ago, Helena residents Sonya and Todd Jackson brought this new franchise to downtown Birmingham, not knowing what to expect. Now the couple owns more franchises than anyone else in the country, with ambitions to continue opening stores.

Not only has the couple managed to become the most successful Newk’s owners, but the Jacksons have also maintained humble hearts and a dedication to quality.

“Everything from their generosity in community to employees is really unsurpassed,” said Paige Gilliand, who served as the Jacksons’ director of marketing for five years. “I consider them some of my very best friends and mentors.”

and Todd signed on with Brinker, the parent company that owns Chili’s.

After travelling all over the south, they settled down in Baton Rouge after finding out they were pregnant with their first child, Gracie. They lived there for six years, but after working for Chili’s for 10 years, the Jacksons knew it was time for a change.

“We knew it was time to do something different,” Sonya said. “We could kind of see the writing on the wall at Chili’s. We could see that fast-casual concepts were the way to go. It was the new wave of the future in the restaurant industry.”

Enter Sonya’s father, Dennis Hey, who heard about a brand new concept: Newk’s Eatery. At that time there were only three Newk’s in existence.

Hey said his financial advisor in Oxford, Miss., was interested in opening a franchise, and Hey knew the perfect team to pair him with. Although the Jacksons said they were skeptical about it, they went to Oxford to discuss the opportunity.

“Then we tried the food,” Sonya laughed. “I’ll never forget, I had the Newk’s Favorite Salad and a cup of lobster and crab bisque, and I was totally sold.”

GETTING STARTED OVERCOMING OBSTACLES There was no question that Todd and Sonya were destined to get into the restaurant business. For Todd, it was a matter of tradition dating back to his great-grandparents, and Sonya’s family also had a background as restaurateurs.

She met Todd in the University of Missouri’s hotel and restaurant management program. The college sweethearts got married after graduation, and both got jobs in the business. Sonya got a job with Panera Bread 32

The day Gracie started first grade and their youngest, Tyler, started kindergarten was the same day Sonya went back to work after spending seven years as a stay at home mom.

It was Aug. 7, 2007 and the Jacksons opened their first Newk’s Eatery in downtown Birmingham.

“They worked day and night to get the concept started,” Hey said. “They did a great job. Both of them Profile 2016

are just hard workers and they put their heart and soul in it.”

Hard work might not be a strong enough word for the time and effort the Jacksons put into Newk’s. They had taken a pay cut to start this new endeavor, they moved from Baton Rouge to Helena and they worked close to every day of every week as store managers.

Todd worked seven days a week, Sonya worked six and their parents even helped out. They were hiring people, getting into the swing of things while also learning the area and preparing for the opening of their second store.

Four months after the Birmingham Newk’s opened, the Jacksons opened the Mountain Brook location.

“There were a lot of tears,” Sonya said. “I remember me trying to balance the work life with family and making sure that my kids weren’t (feeling it).”

Todd said it was more to overcome than the balancing act between work and family. Four months after the Mountain Brook location opened, Todd said they were ready to open another, but the financial crisis in 2008 prevented them from doing so.

The couple went from opening two Newk’s Eateries in 2007 to opening their next two in 2011. Todd said they had to face challenges in real estate, banking laws and an economic downturn.

Amidst all that, they also dealt with a change in financial partners. Sonya’s father and brother bought the partner, and have been a part of the team ever since.

Every Newk’s location takes about $1 million to open, so the Jacksons have multiple financial partners, three for the Birmingham locations and two in Texas, to help them expand.

In addition to financial partners, the Jacksons also

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have operational partners in Texas. Colby Kaminer is the Jacksons’ partner in Texas who handles the Houston and Austin locations just like Sonya and Todd manage the Birmingham ones.

Growing into Texas started when another franchisee was having problems with his Houston Newk’s location.

Todd and Kaminer stepped in to turn the eatery around, which resulted in the location being transferred to the Jacksons. Because it was the only Newk’s in Houston, Todd and Sonya saw an opportunity.

“That’s when we made the decision to grow in Texas,” Todd said. “I think that’s probably when it got to be, I wouldn’t say easier, but it got to be more

Although Sonya and Todd Jackson were skeptical about choosing Newk’s as their franchise, after tasting the food and visiting the Oxford, Miss., location, the couple was hooked.

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exciting and new things were growing.”

“It’s always exciting to open a new store to see how they are going to do and the estate,” Sonya added.

One of the biggest differences between the Texas and Birmingham markets is the time people eat. Sonya said people in Texas eat much later in the afternoon than people in Birmingham do.

For the Jacksons, flying back and forth posed the most challenges in the move, but Sonya said they have handled it well.

449 and real

The Jacksons currently employ 449 people in Birmingham and Texas.

TAKING ON NEW ROLES Flash forward to 2016 and the Jacksons are the largest Newk’s franchise owner with 11 locations. In addition to the five Birmingham locations—Inverness, Mountain Brook, downtown Birmingham, Hoover and Vestavia— the Jacksons own four locations in Houston and two in Austin.

“They are the pillars of the Newk’s community,” Gilliland said. “They are first and foremost the largest franchise owners, but in my opinion, are the most highly respected in the Newk’s community.”

Hey said he has never heard one complaint from any of the Jacksons’ employees or the other business partners who help with the franchises.

He said it is their work ethic that makes Sonya and Todd so successful.

“I am so proud of them,” Hey said. “They are just doing such a great job. I really did know it would grow as rapidly as it has. They are just doing great.”

The job has morphed into something completely different now, though.

Sonya works as the quality assurance leader, focusing on the operations in Birmingham. Every inspection a Newk’s store is subject to, including the city’s health inspection, an EcoSure inspection and an additional corporate inspection, Sonya conducts herself.

She conducts weekly EcoSure and health inspections to ensure quality in the restaurants.

“There’s lots to inspect to make sure we keep our standards high because, if we don’t, it’s our lives, it’s our jobs that it affects,” Sonya said. “Not only that, it’s all of our employees.”

Todd spends most of his time in the office dealing with real estate, 34

the construction of new restaurants, budgeting and planning. He also travels to Texas about every three weeks to maintain those locations.

The team also stays focused on what they call a three-legged stool: Quality, people and profit.

Todd explained that the reason they have been able to grow is because they maintain balance between those three items. “(We make) sure that decisions don’t focus too much on money, they don’t focus too much on our own selfish desires,” Todd said.

“There is a fine balance that you have to have to keep the place running, and we, of course, tilt one way and we have to try to bring it back,” Sonya added. “That’s kind of our passion right now is to make sure that we are balanced.”

STRIKING A BALANCE Balancing work and family has also gotten easier, according to the Jacksons. When they opened their office in Hoover a year and a half ago, it allowed them to separate home and work.

Sonya said that even at the office, they try to be flexible with their employees because they know family is the most important thing.

“We try to make it to every one of the events our kids have,” Sonya said. “I don’t think we have missed anything in a long time.”

Todd said the kids also grew up traveling and visiting restaurants; the kids even enjoy attending all the restaurant openings.

“You balance it by addressing it when you need to, but also being able to put it aside and step away from it to keep yourself sane,” he

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said.

Sonya decompresses by gardening, refinishing furniture or going for a pedicure when she has time.

Todd said he finds movies relaxing and will often catch a matinee so can get back to work after.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the balancing act is that Todd and Sonya love what they do, according to Hey. While most people might get angry with each other in a similar situation, Hey said the Jacksons have a great time doing what they do.

“The people side is being able to see people that start in one position and see how they grow within the organization,” Todd said.

“We have people who have worked with us since day one and it’s been eight years,” Sonya said. “You grow to love them as your family.”

As a former employee, Gilliland has seen first hand how the Jacksons instill an infectious sense of pride and ownership in their employees. Sonya and Todd treat employees like family, and Gilliland said she expects every other employee would agree.

“I really enjoyed my tenure there,” she said. “They are absolutely fantastic people to work for. They value their employees’ quality of life more so than anywhere else I have ever worked.”

The red figures represent the Jacksons’ 249 employees in Texas.

The black figures represent the Jacksons’ 200 employees in Birmingham.

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ABOVE: Newk’s Eateries serves up sandwiches, soups, salads, pizzas, desserts and more at every location. RIGHT: Sonya and Todd have called Helena home since 2007, when they opened thier first Newk’s location in downtown Birmingham.

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GIVING BACK The care and compassion feeds into the Jacksons’ passion for giving back to the community as much as they can. Gilliland said the community involvement at the operation was one of the things that attracted her to the company.

Because Tyler is in the band at Helena Middle School and Gracie is part of the show choir at Helena High School, Sonya and Todd work to support those organizations. Gilliland said the Jacksons try to support any need they are approached with.

“They are just very kind and generous people,” she said. “Working for them was very special.”

They have purchased many small ads to support local teams, the 25-second clock at HHS is sponsored

by Newk’s and the band concession stand also has a Newk’s logo.

When the Inverness Newk’s store opened, Gracie’s choir sang Christmas carols the night of the ribbon cutting. Ten percent of the sales that day, about $750, were donated to the choir.

Todd said they have fed guests before a Hoover High School football game, as well as supporting all the local high schools.

“You have to take care of the community because

they are the ones that are taking care of you,” Todd explained. “I think it’s important for people to see that their money is going to something that will return back to them.”

In October, the Jacksons offered pink cups for breast cancer awareness, and other Newk’s franchises began following suit. The eateries also offer teal cups for ovarian cancer throughout the year.

From a rough beginning weathering the recession to becoming the largest franchise owners with the corporation, Sonya and Todd have made it through it all. They’ve adapted to new roles and grown rapidly, but the couple never lost sight of what was most important to them.

“I feel totally blessed that this has happened to us, and we just hope that we can always keep our standards as high as possible,” Sonya said.

“We are very proud to have the restaurants, and like I said, it’s a team effort,” Todd added. “It has nothing to do with the two of us… it’s most importantly the hourly partners, the managers and everybody else that helps us get where we are.” n

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Constructing a

dream

John O. Freeman Sr. builds Mt Laurel

Story by MOLLY DAVIDSON Photographs by DAWN HARRISON and CONTRIBUTED

J

ohn O. Freeman Sr. knows Mt Laurel like the back of his hand, probably because he built it.

Freeman came to Mt Laurel in 2001 when the town was merely 12 homes and an incomplete town center. Now, 15 years later, Mt Laurel is thriving, with two schools, a bustling town center and 12 active home construction sites.

Mt Laurel’s success is not only due to Freeman’s craftsmanship and building expertise, it’s also due to his personality.

“I’ve known Mr. Freeman since 2002... he’s the kindest, gentlest man of integrity,” Mt Laurel Sales Manager Della Pender said. “It’s a rare person that you meet with those qualities.”

Although he is technically the vice president and general manager of EBSCO Development Company, Inc., many know Freeman as the ‘unofficial mayor’ of Mt Laurel. Freeman not only oversees every home construction project, he also looks out for the day-to-day functioning of the town, addresses any neighborhood concerns and attends to residents’ personal requests.

“He is right there to build a ramp or build stairs on his own time to help a neighbor,” Pender said. “This community is his home, this community is his yard... he wants this place to thrive.”

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FROM THE BEGINNING Freeman has been in the building industry for more than 60 years, and at the present time, he is the oldest licensed builder in Alabama.

“He’s so proud of that (license) number,” Marie Freeman, John Freeman’s wife, said.

While he is known across the state as a master homebuilder, it was not always that way.

John Freeman originally started out at a Birmingham-based pipe and supply company. He built his first home for himself at age 22, while he was still a steel smelter.

“I built my first home in Clay County on 32 acres, it took me a year and one day,” John Freeman recalled.

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“I decided I really liked to be in the building business.”

John Freeman followed his passion, leaving his job and benefits and to set out on his own as a builder.

“Of course they thought I was crazy back then, and I probably was,” John Freeman said with a laugh.

Business started out slow, with odd jobs here and there. John Freeman’s big break came when he was hired to build an addition to a former coworker’s house. The $4,000 job included construction of a bathroom and a master bedroom.

After that first big project, business quickly picked up. In the following year he built 11 homes.

John Freeman got his first commercial job in 1960 when his church hired him to build a chapel and Sunday school wing. After that, John Freeman

LEFT: John and Marie Freeman enjoy the family oriented community in Mt Laurel. Their son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren live just steps away. ABOVE: From his office atop the Mt Laurel Sales Center, John O. Freeman addresses residents’ requests and oversees the day-to-day activities of Mt Laurel.

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CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: With tree lined streets and traditional neighborhood feel, Mt Laurel was recently selected as a Southern Living Inspired Community.

John O. Freeman isn’t just the general manager of Mt Laurel, he and his wife, Marie, are members of the community. The two attend church and enjoy the resaturants and shops in the town. Mt Laurel hosts numerous community events in its quaint town center.

turned his attention to commercial projects, schools and apartments. He constructed 22 new schools and school additions, and at one point he estimated he owned or was part owner of 1,800 apartments in the Birmingham area.

Throughout his career, John Freeman has operated under an individual building license, pinning his reputation on the quality of his craftsmanship.

“You’re putting it all on the line (with an individual license),” John Freeman said.

John Freeman was in semi-retirement, helping his son John build in the Greystone community, when Mt Laurel founder Elton Stevens Jr. called him back into the business.

COMING TO MT LAUREL “Elton Stevens Jr. called me up on a Friday... about the possibility of doing some work in Mt Laurel,” John Freeman recalled.

“The following Monday, Elton called me and said, ‘Where are you? I thought you were going to be at work today.’”

Freeman accepted the job offer and went to Mt Laurel.

“That’s his passion, he loves to build, he — Della Pender never really retired,” Marie Freeman said. “(Coming to Mt Laurel) was his excuse to do a little ‘temporary’ work.”

“He’s an amazing guy... he’s the kind of person you want to go the extra mile for. I know it sounds like I think he’s a superhero, but he really is in my book.”

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Freeman first came to Mt Laurel in 2001 as the head of the Mt Laurel-exclusive Town Builders company. The town looked a little different back then, with just 12 houses and the beginnings of a town center under construction.

“When he first brought me out here to see (Mt Laurel), I said, ‘Who in the world would live here,’” Marie Freeman recalled. “It was just so far (out there) to me.”

Although Marie Freeman was originally apprehensive, the couple moved from their Greystone residence to their current home on Mt Laurel Avenue.

John Freeman quickly put his building skills into action, adding homes to the budding community and finishing the quaint Mt Laurel town center, complete with restaurants, medical offices, shops and boutiques.

“He brought in a sense of, certainly, outstanding quality,” Pender said. “He changed the very fiber of building that house.”

In addition to his experience, what sets John Freeman apart from others in the building industry is his care and attention to the “little details,” Pender said. From small changes to make a home more energy efficient to special customized features, John Freeman ensures everything is done to create a homeowner’s ideal house.

“We want them to feel good about (their home), love their home, love the quality of it and the decision they’ve made,” Pender said. “It’s their dream, and because it’s their dream Mr. Freeman wants to help them fulfill their dream.”

John Freeman maintains a close relationship with each future homeowner while their house is being Profile 2016

built, and continues that friendship even after the project is complete.

“He’s not just a builder and go home, that’s not Mr. Freeman,” Pender said. “When the house is closed and the keys are given to the homeowner, Mr. Freeman doesn’t go away, he’s their friend...He knows literally every neighbor.”

THE ‘MAYOR OF MT LAUREL’ As the vice president and general manager of EBSCO Development Company, Inc., John Freeman manages Mt Laurel and is the general manager of Moss Rock Building Company, which has commercial projects throughout the greater-Birmingham area.

Managing a town is no easy task.

“There’s no time off... there’s always something,” Marie Freeman said. “He gets up, first thing in the morning and he’s on the phone, getting dressed and shaving at the same time.”

Every morning before heading into the office or doing any other task, John Freeman drives through Mt Laurel. He circles the town to ensure the streets are clear of downed trees or branches, garbage has been collected and everything is as it should be.

“He rides in that car a lot, I bet he circles this neighborhood 50 times a day,” Marie Freeman said with a laugh.

Each day, John Freeman stops by every single home construction site in Mt Laurel. He makes sure the project is on track, shipments of materials have arrived and each construction team has the tools they need to complete the job.

“We are doing a lot of development right now... (and) he is continually driving and checking on the jobs,” Pender said. “He’s a team player, always has

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been... I’ve seen him go personally to Home Depot and pick items up (for builders).”

John Freeman also keeps an eye out for Mt Laurel’s businesses and works closely with both of the town’s schools, doing what he can to help them thrive.

“I’m more or less in a rolling office in my car,” John Freeman said.

But being town manager extends far beyond the confines of office walls and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. business hours. John Freeman selflessly gives of himself, fielding residents’ concerns on the weekends and even lending a hand to employees in a time of need.

“He’s an amazing guy... he’s the kind of person you want to go the extra mile for,” Pender said. “I know it sounds like I think he’s a superhero, but he really is in my book.”

Mt Laurel is more than a job to John Freeman, it’s his passion, it’s his community and it’s home to him and his family.

“We’ve been married close to 40 years, and let me tell you, he lives to work,” Marie Freeman said. “It’s his passion, it’s not work to him.”

Like her husband, Marie Freeman is also a pillar of the Mt Laurel community. She volunteers at both the town’s schools, Hilltop Montessori School and Mt Laurel Elementary School.

Marie Freeman also makes sure the town is decorated for Christmas each year, organizes the town’s annual Christmas tree lighting and helps with the Fourth of July celebration and parade.

“My favorite thing (about Mt Laurel) is the community events,” Marie Freeman said. “That’s what brings everybody together... and gets people involved.”

HOME SWEET MT LAUREL

John and Marie Freeman stand on Mt Laurel Avenue, in the center of the town that John O. Freeman built.

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Marie and John Freeman still live in their home on Mt Laurel Avenue. Every Sunday, they attend Double Oak Community Church down the street, and on Nolen Street, just steps away from their home, they can visit their son Brian and two of their 15 grandchildren.

“He will (take a break from working) if it means a hug from a grandchild,” Marie Freeman said of her husband.

In the 15 years since being introduced to Mt Laurel, the town has become the Freeman’s community and their home.

“It’s so much more than building a house,” John Freeman said.

“I cannot think of any place that I would want to live other than here,” Marie Freeman said. “It’s a safe haven... it’s heavenly.” n Profile 2016

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Shelby County Alabama

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Breaking

the story

Donna Francavilla paves her own way in the business news world Story by MOLLY DAVIDSON Photographs by DAWN HARRISON

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onna Francavilla vividly remembers the first time she was told she would never have a career in journalism.

“At KYW one of the male new anchors told me, ‘You’re probably just going to get married and have a child,’” Francavilla recalled. “That was the expectation.”

Now, several cities, many breaking stories and countless awards later, Francavilla has clearly proven this anchor wrong. Francavilla has reported across the east coast, and even from abroad, and her voice is recognizable to any Birmigham-area radio listener.

However her journey to success was not an easy one.

THE EARLY YEARS

Francavilla was born in Camden, N.J., the fourth and last child of two first-generation Italian immigrants. Francavilla’s mother had the equivalent of a fifth grade education, and she and her siblings were the first in their family to go to college.

As a high school senior, Francavilla was excitedly looking forward to leaving Camden and pursuing journalism with a full ride scholarship to Tulane University in New Orleans. But this dream ended before it began.

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Francavilla’s father was shot in the leg during a mugging while visiting the school. Although he survived, Francavilla’s parents deemed the city too dangerous for their daughter.

Instead, Francavilla enrolled at Rutgers University in her home state of New Jersey. She lived at home and was driven to class everyday by her father.

Although Rutgers didn’t offer a journalism major, Francavilla pieced together classes she felt would give her the knowledge she needed for her dream career, including history, sociology and political science. And without a full scholarship, Francavilla worked to pay for her education.

During her time at Rutgers, Francavilla got her first taste of the radio newsroom as an intern at WWDB, the only FM talk news station in neighboring Philadelphia in the 1970s.

“I saw (the job) on a bulletin board,” Francavilla recalled. “I worked weekend overnights, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.”

Francavilla worked whenever she could, filling in for producers when they were away or out sick. Her dedication to the job paid off, after two semesters of interning for free, she was hired by WWDB. “I got to work with some of the legends,” Francavilla reminisced. “To meet them in person was 45

ABOVE LEFT: Donna Francavilla began her college career at Rutgers University in her home state, New Jersey.

Although the university did not offer a journalism major, Francavilla pieced together a schedule of classes that would help with her future career.

ABOVE RIGHT Throughout her career, Donna Francavilla has covered stories from Philadelphia to Birmingham, and interviewed important figures, such as Donald Trump and Rev. Jesse Jackson.

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so empowering and fun.”

Francavilla’s next stop was the Philadelphia-based station, KYW, at the suggestion of her Rutgers professor, Frank Hall. At the time, KYW was the most listened to all-news station in the country, Francavilla said. “(Hall) took me to KYW and told the news director to hire me,” Francavilla recalled with a laugh. And the news director did just that.

Just days into her new job at KYW, Francavilla was thrust into the world of breaking news. On March 30, 1981, an assassination attempt was made on President Ronald Reagan.

“I cleared the wire, ran it past the editor’s desk and he said, ‘Here, run it to the anchor,’” Francavilla recounted. “I remember the pandemonium in the newsroom, how it came alive and how I was an eyewitness to history, and I was hooked again.”

As a junior in college, just a year away from graduating, Francavilla got married, had a son and moved to Boston. But even with the challenges of a new city and the responsibilities of motherhood, she never lost sight of her career goals. She promptly enrolled at Emerson College.

“I hated that I did exactly what (the KYW anchor) said, but I did not drop out of school,” Francavilla said. “I was determined to do whatever it took to get through school and get my degree. I came from an immigrant family, and education is paramount.”

Francavilla also did not stop working. While at Emerson, she took a job at Boston’s news talk radio

station, WRKO. Life as a student, radio journalist and new mother was not easy, but Francavilla persevered and completed her degree.

“My baby was 2-and-a-half when I graduated,” Francavilla said.

By the time she graduated from college, Francavilla had experience at three major radio stations, but the challenges were not over. Being a woman in the maledominated world of business news broadcasting in the 1980s was a tall order.

“It was still very much a man’s world,” Francvilla said. “Back then, women were just starting to make headway. You had to prove yourself.”

A ‘GO-GETTER’ IN A WORLD OF GO-GETTERS The news industry is tough and competition is fierce. It requires initiative and drive to find the important stories, persistence to get the facts and quick thinking to develop breaking news.

“It’s pretty demanding,” Harvey Nagler, vice president of CBS Radio and Francavilla’s longtime colleague and friend, said of the field. “(Francavilla) does a really good job of thinking on her feet and always making sure she’s a credible reporter.”

Time and again, Francavilla has proven herself in the news industry from Boston to Birmingham through her talent, integrity and smarts.

“She’s extraordinarily talented,” Nagler said. “Her Profile 2016

success lies in her overall humanity, how she treats people with respect, yet at the same time she’s a leader... I can’t say enough nice things about her as a reporter and as a person.”

In this fast-paced world of breaking news, Francavilla has made a name for herself as a go-getter, finding and covering the big stories and securing the big interviews, such as Donald Trump and Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Francavilla solidified this reputation during her years as a radio broadcaster and news director at WPGC Business Radio Network in Washington, D.C. “I interviewed Donald Trump, he was in Washington, D.C., to tout his new hotel, and I wanted publicity for the radio station,” Francavilla recalled.

Francavilla remembers approaching Trump and

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ABOVE: Donna Francavilla slipping him a note to read during a press conference. has earned numerous awards and recognition for Trump looked down at the paper, then read clearly her skill as a reporter. into the microphone, “Hi, this is Don Trump, and when I’m in Washington, I listen to WPGC All Business Radio 1580 AM.” The next morning WPGC’s name was splashed across the major Washington, D.C., newspapers, from the Washington Post to the Washington Times.

“It was written about,” Francavilla said. “It gave me a reputation as a go-getter in journalism.”

Francavilla has also never shied away from getting in the action to get a story. She has covered a plethora of natural disasters, from flooding in Peru, to tornados, to Hurricane Katrina.

“Katrina was really scary,” Francavilla said. “In a disaster, people become very insecure and afraid, and that makes them very dangerous.”

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Donn a voice Franca v over is broad illa’s c 4 ast 0 0 acro ss th stations e co untry .

Francavilla was dispatched to Pascagoula and Biloxi, Miss., to cover the aftermath of the hurricane. While there, she drove through some of the most devastated areas to expose the true impact of the storm.

“I went by myself, and the sun was beginning to set,” Francavilla said, recalling the scenes of destruction and the feeling of unease and fear while driving through an unfamiliar place. “It wasn’t for wimps.”

NO SLOWING DOWN

With four adult children and an infant grandchild, Francavilla has stepped away from the newsroom, but not away from the news industry. On the second floor of her quiet Greystone home is Francavilla’s home office—a fully-equipped recording studio.

In the case of a big or unexpected event, CBS often calls on Francavilla to cover it. In the past few months alone, she covered Pope Francis’s first visit to the United States and the federal trial over police use of pepper spray in schools.

Francavilla records the stories in her home studio, then sends them to Nagler at the CBS headquarters in New York City. From there, Francavilla’s voice is

broadcast over 400 stations across the country.

When she’s not out covering stories for CBS, Francavilla can be found immersed in research for her position as the Italy chairman of the Birmingham Sister Cities Project or donating her time to her church, St. Mark the Evangelist Parish.

“At church, she’s really involved with a lot of ministries,” Robert Sbrissa, a fellow member of St. Mark’s, said.

Sbrissa approached Francavilla several years ago to see if she’d be willing to help him put on the annual Feast of St. Mark Italian Food Festival.

“She jumped on board right away,” Sbrissa said.

“The feast, in particular, is something she’s quite connected to on a personal level.”

Francavilla lent her skills, honed in the news world, to the event. Sbrissa estimated she put in more than 10 hours each week recording and coordinating advertising, and creating news releases to promote the event.

Francavilla’s perseverance, skill and go-getter work ethic that earned her success in the news industry carry over into all she is involved in.

“When she gets involved with something, she’s all in,” Sbrissa said. “When Donna does something, she’s not going to do it half way. n

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Restaurant owner helps after childhood struggles Story by NEAL WAGNER Photographs by DAWN HARRISON

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ill Cholewinski glanced toward the restaurant’s front door, pausing a conversation with one of his customers as a smile spread across

his face.

“Hey man, I’ll be right there. I’ve got to clean off a few tables real quick,” Cholewinski, a man who never seems to run out of energy or friendliness, said before shaking the customer’s hand and rushing to retrieve a rag to help clean up after the lunch rush.

It had been eight days since Cholewinski celebrated the grand opening of his newest restaurant venture in Alabaster: Sun and C’s Seafood Spot on U.S. 31 slightly north of Shelby Baptist Medical Center.

As with his other local ventures, the restaurant’s business was already booming, and had gained a loyal following of customers.

After wiping down the tables, Cholewinski – the

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restaurant’s phone receiver in tow – took a seat at a table near the business’s front door as he prepared to explain his life up to that point. Every person who walked through the door for the next hour greeted Cholewinski with a personal story or

ABOVE: Will Cholewinski opened his newest restaurant, Sun and C’s Seafood Spot, in 2015.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Will Cholewinski, right, named his newest restaurant after his aunt, Sun Cholewinski, left. Will Cholewinski prepares a customer’s entree at his newest restaurant, Sun and C’s. Since opening his own restaurants, Will Cholewinski has been collecting canned food items from customers and matching them with food from the restaurants and donating them to local food banks.

a glowing review of the new restaurant.

Over the past few years, Cholewinski and his family have built a reputation throughout Shelby County through their Chubb’s Grub Station restaurants in Alabaster and Chelsea and Sun and C’s in Alabaster.

Community support for those restaurants has been strong, and the family is not shy about returning the favor by making it a mission to always give back to those who are struggling to get by.

For Cholewinski, supporting folks in need comes naturally – Not only because he was raised in a family of givers, but also because he has experienced firsthand what it’s like to rely on the generosity of others.

PUTTING OTHERS FIRST Cholewinski was born on Nov. 18, 1975, in Wintersville, Ohio, which is about 40 minutes west of

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Pittsburgh. From the day he was born, Cholewinski has been raised with a servant’s heart – Something he attributes to the example set for him by his parents.

The most profound of these examples came early in Cholewinski’s life when his father, despite his best efforts, was unable to earn enough to make ends meet for the family.

“There was a nice part of our lives where dad did all he could, but it just wasn’t enough to make ends meet,” Cholewinski said matter-of-factly. “So he went to the food bank, and we were on food stamps for a while.

“Never in a million years did he think he would be the family using those services,” Cholewinski said. “It was a very humbling experience to watch him humble himself and say ‘OK, my family comes above my pride.’”

Living with the support of government assistance was somewhat of a sudden change for a family who, Profile 2016

ABOVE: Sun and C’s features a plethora of seafood offerings, such as crab cakes.

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while not extremely wealthy, had never dealt with such hardships.

“We weren’t rich by any means, but dad had a really good job,” Cholewinski said of his father, who passed away in 2011. “He started his own business, and it went really well for a while.

He did a wrong business deal, and everything went downhill Cholewinski said his from there. We restaurants have donated lost everything, several thousand meals to local charities and food basically, except banks since beginning the our house.”

“Feed the People” program on Oct. 3, 2013.

While it was a potentially traumatic event for young Cholewinski, he and his family members credit the experience with shaping the future of their lives.

“He understands the trials that some people are going through because we have been through them,” Cholewinski’s mother, Rose, said.

But even in the midst of the most challenging time in their lives, the Cholewinskis still put others before Cholewinski experienced a heavy themselves. After loss in 2011 when his using their fist batch father passed away. of food stamps, the family realized they had more than they truly needed.

“We had so many food stamps that we actually were able to supply them to three Cholewinski became interested in cooking after receiving an Easy Bake Oven when he was 8 years old.

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1000s

1975 Will Cholewinski was born in Ohio in November 1975.

2011

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other people,” Rose Cholewinski said. “I think that made him understand that you give what you have.

Even if it’s not a lot, you share it.”

Throughout the hardships, Will and his family were regular fixtures at their local charities. As a child, it was sometimes difficult for him to comprehend the life lessons he was developing.

“My old man played such a big role in developing that servant’s heart. A lot of times he took me – Or, I guess I should say drug me kicking and screaming – to help put together Christmas toy baskets for other kids,” Will said with a muffled laugh. “I saw all these toys there and I would say ‘You mean I have to give all of these away to other kids?’ I thought I was getting the short end of the stick, but I didn’t know that I was learning a good lesson.”

BETTER TIMES Will still remembers the day his father told the family the hardest days were behind them.

“I will not forget the look on my dad’s face the day he realized we were going to be OK,” Will said. “That had just as much impact, if not more, than when he told us we were going to have to go on food stamps.”

The family transitioned off of government assistance, and moved from Ohio to Alabama in 1986.

After landing in Eastaboga, the Cholewinskis moved to Center Point, then to Inverness, Irondale and eventually to Alabaster.

Although Will is decades removed from the hardships his family faced when he was a child, the impact of the experience is still with him to this day. As he grew older, Will decided to give back the best way he knew how.

At the age of eight, Will became interested in cooking after he received an Easy Bake Oven as a gift from one of his cousins. Because his father had six brothers and sisters, Will’s house often served as a congregation area for the entire family.

“My family was always cooking. My mom would sit me up on the counter and let me throw ingredients in the bowl, and I learned a lot from that,” Will said.

“The first thing my dad taught me to cook was overeasy eggs.”

Using his Easy Bake Oven, Will and his friends created a neighborhood business selling small cakes to their neighbors: 15 cents for a plain cake and 25 cents for a cake with icing, his mother said.

It was a modest beginning for a man who has had a hand in opening and running multiple successful restaurants over the past several years. But Will’s success has never come without a charitable aspect.

“Somewhere, when I was a child, God told me Profile 2016

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PAGE 57 LEFT: Will Cholewinski and his wife, Stephanie, have been giving back to the community for many years.

PAGE 57 RIGHT: Sun and C’s is one of the only fresh seafood restaurants in Alabaster. ABOVE: Will Cholewinski’s right arm showcases the name of his charity program.

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feeding the people would be my job,” he said. “Going through those hard times when I was younger has given me so much perspective now. I tried so long to not be like my dad, and now I can’t wait to get a little older to be just like him.”

BUILDING BONDS When Will opened the first Chubb’s Grub Station in Alabaster in 2013, he advertised his “Feed the People” program just as heavily as he did the restaurant’s menu items.

Through the program, Chubb’s and Sun and C’s customers who bring two non-perishable food items to the restaurant receive a free drink with their meals.

At the end of each month, Will matches customers’ donations with perishable food items from the restaurant and donates them to local charities.

Chief among the recipients is the Alabaster-based Manna Ministries.

“He just called me out of the blue one day. I didn’t know who he was,” said Manna Ministries Director Phillis Harbin. “He told me he had opened Chubb’s, he gave me his testimony and he asked me how he could help.”

Each Saturday, Manna Ministries opens its doors to those in need and provides them with perishable and non-perishable good and grocery items. The Feed the

People program has provided significant support to Manna.

“Once or twice a month, we will receive a full cart of groceries from him,” Harbin said. “He even wanted to feed the volunteers every Saturday, and he would personally show up with food from the restaurant for them. He’s just an awesome guy, and he really goes on his word.”

Will said the Feed the People program has received much support from the community.

“Numerous times, I’ve had young kids come in with boxes of food they have taken it upon themselves to go door-to-door to collect,” he said, the “Chubb’s” and “Feed the People” tattoos lining the inside of his right arm. “Everyone knows our primary goal is to give back.”

Will’s relationship with Manna has grown, and he is now on the charity’s board of directors.

His charitable heart – Not to mention his restaurants’ delicious offerings – has cemented Will’s status in his new hometown, which he views as one of the greatest blessings in his life.

“The more I give to the community, the more the community gives back,” Will said. “This city has been fantastic to me. I’m going to cry if I think about it too much. They make me want to serve them.

“This is the first place since we left Ohio that I have no hesitation about saying ‘This is my home,’” he said. n Profile 2016

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A servant’s

heart

Helena woman shares love through service

Story by JESSA PEASE Photographs by DAWN HARRISON

ABOVE: Leslie and Heath Bartlett have 18-year-old Claire, 11-year-old twins Macie and Conner and they adopted 4-year-old Cydney. RIGHT: Four-yearold Cydney Bartlett shows her love for a newborn baby. The Bartletts adopted Cydney from A Angel Adoptions because they felt they were the right family for her.

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eslie Bartlett woke up in the middle of the night, fighting with a thought God put in her heart. She’d woken up the same way almost every night for a year.

He wanted her to foster children. A mother of three with a passion for children, it made sense for Bartlett to be a foster parent, but it was also that passion that kept her struggling with the idea.

She wanted more children of her own, and Bartlett knew there was no way she could bring a child into her home, adore it with love and then let it go. As the thought continued to weigh on her mind, she decided to give it a try.

“I loved it and just prayed that when the time came for them to go back, or go wherever they are going, that it would not be something I felt I couldn’t do,” Bartlett smiled. “I have not had, out of all those babies, any of them that I couldn’t give to the adoptive family or to the parents.”

Her passion for service helped Bartlett foster 112 newborn babies since 2009 while also balancing a fulltime volunteer position with APH Radio, a seat on the Helena City Council and four children of her own.

Bartlett truly has a servant’s heart.

ADOPTION ANGELS After researching adoption agencies, the 14-year Helena resident found one close to home: A Angel Profile 2016

Adoptions at 911 Creekside Court.

The day she reached out to executive director Suzanne Peden six years ago, Peden told Bartlett that one of the regular foster families no longer felt they could foster children.

Feeling things had fallen into place, Bartlett and Heath, her husband and longtime firefighter in Helena, started taking classes and gaining the necessary certifications. In eight months, they had their first foster children.

“I would describe her as fiercely passionate about children, whether it’s her children or a child to be adopted from the agency,” Peden said. “With Leslie it has a lot to do with her desire to do good in the community whether it is as a council woman, caregiver or mom.”

Heath and Bartlett have 18-year-old Claire, 11-yearold twins Macie and Conner and they adopted 4-yearold Cydney, one of the foster children the adoption agency had more trouble finding the right family for.

Under Alabama law, a birth mother has five days to change her mind and get her child back. Between day six and 14, the mother can potentially get the baby back through probate court.

It is in that time that Bartlett’s family keeps the newborns, and Bartlett keeps in touch with the adoptive parents, emailing about the baby’s personality and routine.

Bartlett has fostered three babies for Sheila Swanson, who lives in Minnesota. A Angel Adoptions paired Swanson with Bartlett by chance with her first baby, and Swanson requested Bartlett for the other two.

“I knew I wanted Leslie to foster them,” Swanson said. “I knew that she just loved those babies to death.

It was nice to know they were in good hands.”

In addition, Swanson said Bartlett was always available for a phone call, and they talked every day.

Bartlett kept Swanson’s youngest for 21 days. Neither woman had Skyped before, they both learned how so

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ABOVE: Even when Leslie Bartlett does not think she has any additional love to give, she said God always gives her more.

RIGHT: Leslie Bartlett and her family pray over each baby, cover it with love and continue to get excited about every baby they receive.

Swanson could see the baby.

“She was always full of info of all the little things about the baby you wouldn’t think of,” Swanson said, remembering a time Bartlett told her about the baby’s hair getting curly after a bath.

Bartlett and her family pray over each baby, cover it with love and continue to get excited about every baby they receive. Even after the babies leave, Bartlett keeps up with them through email, Facebook, yearly recaps and cards for birthdays and Christmas.

“I can’t explain it, I can’t,” Bartlett said. “I would have kept every one of them, and we always laugh if there is a baby we cannot find a home for, we have room for them here ... When I think there’s not anymore (love to give), God always provides more.”

Peden said there is rarely an occasion when the Bartletts turn down a newborn, and Claire is also very involved in taking care of the babies. Peden described Bartlett as caring, nurturing, very intelligent and keenly intuitive about children.

“I thank those adoptive parents and thank that birth mom for allowing us to be able to take that child into our home, love on it and pray for it for the time that it’s needed,” Bartlett said. “I don’t know who gets more blessing out of that, them or me.”

APH RADIO “She is extremely passionate about the work she does with the foster kids,” said Gene Rowley, founder of APH Radio. “I think that’s where her heart really lies. Through the radio station, she’s able to expand on that.”

Bartlett was the first interviewee on the Gene Rowley Show, discussing her work with A Angel

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Adoptions. The two knew each other because Claire played softball at Hope Christian School with Rowley’s daughters.

One game, Barlett mentioned to Rowley that she would be happy to help out at the station in any way that she could, answering phones, returning emails and other administrative work.

She joined the team as an unpaid volunteer in August 2014, and has been with APH ever since.

Every day, she wakes up at 4 a.m., co-hosts Rowley’s three-hour show and stays in the office until about 5 p.m. each evening.

“He keeps saying, ‘I want us to be able to pay you eventually,’ and I keep saying, ‘That’s not what I’m here for. It’s not the money I am here for,’” Bartlett said.

She’s there so she can pick up that phone call from a nonprofit asking for help promoting an event. It’s what Bartlett does. She helps the community by linking people together, making connections between businesses and nonprofits.

APH is different from most business models and instead accepts donations from local businesses and organizations in exchange for on-air advertising slots and support from the radio station. The station then distributes donations to local charities, civic projects and nonprofit organizations.

“She is passionate about giving, and I think that’s what makes her a perfect fit for the radio station,” Rowley said. “We don’t say no to people. We are in the yes business. So whenever anything needs to be done, whenever any extra work needs to be done, when any opportunity opens up she is always the first person to say, ‘Yes, I’ll do it.’”

APH supports organizations that are changing people’s lives, and Rowley said they couldn’t do that without Bartlett. She realizes how important her job is, and he said APH Radio would not operate at the level it does without her.

“She’s just a giving soul. People have that heart for service, and that’s who she is,” he said.

CIVIL SERVICE Even from a young age, Bartlett has had a heart for service. Her soft face and kind eyes smiled as she remembered wishing she was old enough to drive herself to church so she could teach Sunday school, lead vacation Bible school or help in the nursery.

The stay-at-home mom wanted a way to get involved in the Helena community, but wasn’t sure how to do so. She started talking to city leaders about the issues they faced, learning that some community members didn’t feel like they had a voice.

She campaigned in 2011 as the person who would Profile 2016

fill that void on the city council, and she took office in 2012. Now, Bartlett is the liaison for streets and the library in Helena, and she is also on the Beautification Board.

“We’ve really focused on making the city better than it was the day before by upgrading some of the aesthetics of the city, working on some of the streets that need to be paved, and I’m also able to work in all the other areas as well,” she said.

She’s helped plant thousands of daffodils throughout the city, purchase vehicles and equipment for the fire and police departments, create a new football and soccer field and clean up the city parks.

“That’s the part that I love: Being able to go out,” Bartlett said. “I don’t need you to follow me around and take pictures. I avoid the camera like crazy; I don’t want any of that. Just let me do, let me help, let me serve.”

In short, Leslie Bartlett is a mother, a city councilwoman and an operations manager, but most of all she is passionate.

“She’ll never admit it, but that’s one of those traits that you’ll see it in the people around her,” Rowley said.

“We all see it…If you want to see what kind of person Leslie Bartlett is, you go and you see what kind of children she has. That’s where you see the key.” n

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The

hunter

Moose Canada

Coker documents hunting experiences worldwide

Deer

Canada

Elk

Canada

Deer

Black Bear Canada

United States

Story by GRAHAM BROOKS Photographs by DAWN HARRISON

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any people have heard the phrase “hunting is a way of life,” but not many people have gotten the opportunity to experience what Shelby County resident Bob Coker has seen and felt in his years of hunting.

Coker and his family have lived in Wilsonville for the last eight years and one step inside the Cokers’ residence, and it’s evident that hunting and the outdoor lifestyle is a big part of who they are. Coker was instrumental in starting the annual World Deer Expo in downtown Birmingham 35 years ago and his TV show, Outdoors with Bob Coker, has aired on various outdoor and sportsman channels for the past 15 years.

In the show, he is shown hunting in various parts of the world.

HOW A PASSION WAS BORN

Coker grew up in Mableton, GA., and began hunting at a young age. His interests in hunting grew more and more as years passed.

“My dad took me small game hunting when I was 10 or 11 years old, and then when I turned 13 he started letting me deer hunt,” said Coker. “Back then, there wasn’t a whole lot of deer, especially not in Georgia, and I hunted six years before I ever even saw a deer. The first time I saw one, it was 66

just a doe and a yearling but it made my heart jump up into my throat. I was about 16 when that happened and I didn’t shoot my first deer until I was 17.”

Before he made a name for himself in the hunting industry, Coker had an interest in computers and graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and an associate’s degree in nuclear science.

“I put together a trade show for the industrial control industry about 36 or 37 years ago,” said Coker. “It was a non-profit organization and I was on a committee that put it all together. Me and another guy did 99 percent of the work and it was very successful and we made a lot of money for that non-profit. I thought ‘You know, I can do this and make a whole lot more money than what I’m making at my regular job, but I could do it in the hunting industry because at the time I was eat up with hunting.’”

FROM COMPUTERS TO TELEVISION After working in the computer industry for 21 years, Coker retired and switched his focus to hunting and the World Deer Expo.

Coker said ever since he was a teenager his long-term goal was to start a TV show, and the avenue that led him to beginning that career was through the World Deer Expo.

Turkey Mexico

“Since I was 16, that’s what I wanted to do for a living was a hunting TV show,” said Coker. “The avenue that allowed me to do that was the deer expo because I had been doing it for over 17 years. Through that industry, I had developed a name with the manufacturers of hunting products. When I asked them to sponsor me I had already developed a relationship with them.”

Coker started the first consumer hunting show and today, the World Deer Expo is the oldest and largest three-day consumer hunting show in the world. As far as his TV show, which began in 2000, Coker’s first 10 years included filming 26 episodes in a year and every single episode had a minimum of two kills, while some had four. To get that amount of footage, Coker had to hunt year-round to take into account when hunts weren’t successful. This included hunting Profile 2016

Grizzly Bear Russia

Zebra Africa

Elephant Africa

Wildebeest Africa

Lion

Africa

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RIGHT: Coker has taken the majority of his animals with a bow.

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going on,” said Coker. “It’s strictly hunting and there’s no drama or comedy or anything planned.”

Coker and his wife, Tami, have three daughters, Channing, Ciara and Savannah and all three have been heavily involved in hunting as well.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

ABOVE: One of Coker’s most exciting hunts was his trip to South Africa to hunt a male lion, which was successful.

all over the world, and Coker’s Wilsonville home has different rooms dedicated to different regions of the world and types of animals he has hunted. Some of the animals include whitetail deer, turkey, elk, various animals from Africa, a mountain goat, a Russian brown bear, a lion and many more.

GO BIG OR GO HOME Coker’s most memorable hunts have involved dangerous game.

“The most exciting hunts I’ve been on have been my lion hunt, my buffalo hunt and my Russian brown bear hunt,” said Coker. “Those were very exciting and they were dangerous. There were situations that got your adrenaline and blood flow up to the maximum.

My elephant hunt was just as exciting even though I was not successful.”

Coker said one of his biggest accomplishments as far as taking an animal came when he killed his first mountain goat.

“I went four different times before I finally killed one and it’s a very grueling hunt,” said Coker. “You’re climbing the side of a mountain that takes seven hours to get to the top and you’re doing that every day once you spot one. It’s very taxing on your body physically and mentally, and it’s one of the biggest accomplishments I’ve made as far as taking an animal.”

Coker has had celebrities on his show including the guys from the hit A&E show “Duck Dynasty” to guys from the “Lizard Lick Towing” reality show. On hunts that don’t include dangerous game, Coker will incorporate some drama or comedy in his TV show, but he made it clear that when it comes to hunting dangerous game, extra precaution must be taken and the show only includes raw hunting footage.

“When I go after dangerous game, it’s dangerous enough without trying to put drama and other things

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Coker’s oldest daughter Channing and her husband Zack, are now in charge of the World Deer Expo, while Coker is still one of the biggest promoters.

“I’ve been blessed with three daughters and I did my best to turn them into tom boys,” said Coker. “I think I did a pretty good job of it and all three of them bow and gun hunt. I strictly bow hunt. They’ve all been to Africa multiple times and they’ve all taken animals including whitetail deer, turkey and African animals.”

Coker said when he goes on hunts around the world, the meat always goes to various families for food whenever Coker runs out of room in his own freezer.

“The meat always goes to a good cause,” said Coker. “Once my freezer is full, I have different organizations that I give meat to and I also have other families who I give meat to.”

Currently, Coker has trimmed down his TV show to four episodes a season while joining forces with another hunting TV show to cut down on travel time.

Coker envisions doing the TV show for a few more years and if it gets to the point where hunting becomes more of a chore than it is fun, that’s when he will stop filming. Before that comes into play however, Coker still has a few things on his bucket list.

“I still have two major animals on my bucket list,” said Coker. “I want to shoot an elephant and a leopard with my bow and once I accomplish that I will have taken the big five with my bow.”

Coker has never considered himself a “city boy,” but when it comes to what Birmingham and Shelby County offer, he considers it the best of both worlds.

“Always having lived my adult life in rural cities, it was nice to be less than 30 miles from downtown Birmingham where you have the life and entertainment of being in a big city,” Coker said of moving to Wilsonville. “We’re able to still live in a rural environment where my closest neighbor is a hundred yards away but still in a short amount of time I can be looking at skyscrapers and taking in a dinner theater.

The school systems, such as Chelsea, are also why we chose Shelby County. We love it here.”

The World Deer Expo will be held at the BJCC July 15-17, in which Coker and his family will once again play a big part. To see footage of Coker’s hunts, visit Outdoorswithbobcoker.com. n Profile 2016

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McCall was the first black police officer hired in the Helena Police Department.

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Man of the city

Helena’s Zodie McCall makes history while serving community for decades Story by GRAHAM BROOKS Photographs by DAWN HARRISON

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hen the name Zodie McCall is mentioned within the Helena city limits, most residents think of a kind-hearted, genuine man who loves his job and loves the city of Helena.

McCall grew up in a family where he had 18 siblings and graduated from Wenonah High School. After graduating, he lived in Bessemer before coming to Helena to work a number of different jobs.

“I was living in Bessemer and I met a girl down here and we got together,” McCall said. She was a very religious type person and we prayed that God would clean our hearts and make us a different person.”

McCall is a man who believes in the Lord, and he is one who is grateful for everything the Lord has provided for him in his life. Helena has been a big part of that.

“In 1948, I strayed away a few times, but I got back on track with the Lord and I’ve been there ever since,” said McCall. “I never drank, I never smoked, I never did any of that.”

Today, the 79-year-old McCall is retired but still very active in the Helena community.

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ABOVE: A picture of McCall and the Helena Police Department from the 1970s. RIGHT: McCall receives numerous waves from Helena citizens throughout the day while working for the city.

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McCall has a job with the city where he can be seen riding around on his golf cart three days a week picking up trash and helping in whatever way possible to keep the city clean.

“I’m on a golf cart picking up trash and waving at people. That’s a gift the good Lord gave me and I wouldn’t take anything for it,” said McCall. “I do

that three times a week. I have my house going up for sale for commercial, but I’m still going to live in Helena because I believe Helena saved my life.”

McCall currently lives in Helena with his wife, Amelia McCall, and they consider church and family to be a big part of their lives.

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MAKING HISTORY

Police Department.

“Mr. Penhale talked it over and he said ‘Zodie, you seem like a real nice person,’ and he said I want to put you on the police department,” said McCall. “Back then, I was hired through the grandfather clause so it wasn’t that you had to go to school or nothing like that. So that’s how I was hired. I drove a car and patrolled the highway and everything but back then it was different than it is now.”

McCall said in time working with the department he only wrote one traffic ticket.

“The girl cussed me out but I didn’t get mad with her,” McCall said of the traffic ticket. “People would usually respect me and I would respect them. I didn’t let that badge or that gun make me think that I was more than anybody else.”

When he finished his time serving with the Helena Police Department, McCall moved on to become an owner of a convenience store in Helena for a couple of years where he would do a little bit of everything at the store, but McCall enjoyed it because he liked meeting and interacting with people.

“I liked it. Meeting people is my hobby and it’s what I like,” said McCall.

McCall has a long history with the city of Helena that dates back to 1972 when he began working as an auxiliary police officer.

When McCall began working as an auxiliary police officer in 1972, he also made history.

McCall was the first black police officer hired in the Helena Police Department and McCall said his time there was great. He was treated fairly and with respect for the eight or nine years he was on the force.

A FRIENDLY FACE McCall served as the “When you’re full of Jesus Christ, first black police officer in the Helena Police you don’t think about nothing like After his time owning a convenience Department, where he that,” said McCall. “It was great, I store, McCall once again moved on worked for nine years. was treated nice and I couldn’t ask for to two separate professions where he anything else.” could be around people.

McCall discussed how he was hired on with the McCall went on to serve 29 years on the Shelby HPD and even showed off a plaque he received for County Board of Education as a school bus driver guarding the late Gov. George Wallace when he followed by working at the local Winn Dixie. visited the city of Helena one time.

While working at Winn Dixie, McCall said he Former Helena Mayor Sonny Penhale, mayor of would always treat people with respect and always Helena from 1968 to 2012, was a big reason McCall had something to give to the kids who came in the was given the opportunity to work with the Helena store.

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McCall loves being around people, and previously served 29 years on the Shelby County Board of Education working as a bus driver.

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“When I worked at Winn Dixie, children used to come by there and I used to always give them a quarter or two or a dollar to buy something, and I still will do that now,” said McCall. “It’s all about how you treat people. One boy one time told his mom ‘Hey that’s the money man!’”

It was one day working at Winn Dixie that Penhale approached McCall to ask him if he wanted to work for the city again.

“Mr. Penhale came by one day and said ‘Zodie do you want to work for me again?’ said McCall. “I looked at him and just thinking about my age I said ‘What?’ He said ‘All I want you to do is work three days a week, keep the town clean for me and I’ll pay you good money,’ and so I accepted and that’s what I’m doing now.”

For the past seven years or so, McCall has continued to keep the city of Helena clean while always waving and keeping a smile on his face.

When asked how long he wants to continue working for the city, McCall responded by saying “as long as the good Lord lets me.”

McCall and his wife continue to reside in Helena and McCall said some of his hobbies include watching Nascar, baseball, football and working around the house.

29 McCall served 29 years on the Shelby County Board of Education as a school bus driver.

McCall also spoke about memories of his grandson, Montez Billings, who was a standout receiver at Pelham High School and then went on to play wide receiver for the Auburn football team.

“The town and the people are great, God knows I wouldn’t take nothing for them and that’s how I feel about it,” said McCall. “I don’t meet any strangers and I love to wave at people and do it all the time.

I call the ladies sweethearts and I call the men my brothers.” n

ABOVE: McCall stands in front of Helena City Hall, where he has worked for the past eight years cleaning up trash around the city.

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‘Complete reversal’ After arrests, veteran turns to faith Story by NEAL WAGNER Photographs CONTRIBUTED

ABOVE: Nathan Smith’s 1944 Marine Corps photo.

Smith saw combat in the Pacific islands during World War II.

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he word “Faith” is clearly visible atop a framed Bible verse hanging in a small frame next to the living room window in Nathan Smith’s Columbiana home, followed by a succinct, accurate description of 92-year-old Smith’s life up to this point.

“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence,” reads the framed copy of Ephesians 3:12, hanging only a few feet from a collection of U.S. Marine Corps books sitting atop the metal meal plate Smith used while serving in the Corps during one of the most violent conflicts the world has ever seen.

It wasn’t always this way.

For a significant portion of Smith’s life, faith did not play a major role in his decisions, and he has the criminal record to prove it. But since a fateful dinner with his son nearly a half-century ago, he has made the decision to more than make up for his past wrongs.

“He says, ‘I was the chief sinner in Birmingham, but when Christ came into my life, it changed all that,’” Smith’s wife, Patricia, said with a smile as she looked toward her husband sitting in a rocking chair on the other side of the room. “It tells people that you can always make a change. It’s never too late.”

Nathan was quick to agree.

“My thought back then was ‘How can I scam people?’” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Now, it’s ‘How can I tell them about Jesus?’ It’s a complete reversal from the way I used to be.”

FIGHTING SPIRIT Nathan grew up in Woodlawn, and was raised by parents with differing outlooks on life. While he described is mother as “completely devoted to the Lord,” he had a different description for his father.

“My dad was an alcoholic,” Nathan said, making the only reference to his father during a two-hour conversation. “One day, he got up under the porch and drank kerosene, and it killed him.”

Soon after his father’s death, Nathan, like most of the nation on Dec. 7, 1941, received a shock he will never forget when the Japanese military carried out a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

From then on, he knew he was destined to fight.

“I saw the Marine dress blues and all the headlines that read ‘Be the first to fight,’” Nathan said.

“Fighting sounded good, but once we found out the Japanese were shooting back at us, it got a little Profile 2016

more realistic.”

Nathan joined the Marine Corps in 1942, and attended boot camp in 1943 in San Diego before moving on to Camp Pendleton.

His first deployment was to the Marshall Islands, where he saw little action before moving to Pearl Harbor.

Although Nathan later was involved in some of the bitterest combat of World War II, his experience at Pearl Harbor still stands as the scariest day of his life.

On Sunday, May 21, 1944, Nathan was preparing a landing ship known as an LST for an assault on Japanese-held Pacific islands when one of the LSTs exploded.

“They were all loaded with ammo. When the third one exploded, I counted and saw that I was on the seventh one,” Nathan said. “I went down below and saw that I was the only one still on there.”

Nathan then jumped off the ship and swam to the eighth LST, which was on fire. After climbing up a rope ladder to the eighth LST, Nathan manned a fire hose to help the crew put out a fire near where the ship’s ammunition was stored. When the fires were extinguished and the explosions stopped, — Chris George more than 160 men died in the incident.

“We always believed it was sabotage,” Nathan said quietly. “It was probably the most afraid I was in the Marine Corps.”

“Everything he

has done from 52 to now has been led by Christ”

COMBAT EXPERIENCE After the harrowing experience at Pearl Harbor, Nathan and his 4th Marine Division began their tour of duty by traveling to the Japanese-held island of Saipan.

While there, Nathan and his fellow Marines were engaged in several firefights with the Japanese, including one battle for which Nathan earned a Silver Star, which is the third-highest combat decoration a member of the United States armed forces can earn.

In the battle, the Japanese army had pinned down Nathan and his fellow Marines on a rocky hill.

“We couldn’t see them. We lost a lot of men,” Nathan said, recalling the battle. “We lost that battle, we got driven off the hill. But I was the last to leave, and I tried to keep them pinned down.

“The lieutenant put me in for the Silver Star. The Marine Corps made him write it up like we had won the battle, and we didn’t,” Nathan said.

After a stop at the island of Tinian , which was “not nearly as bad as Saipan,” Nathan and his division made it to Iwo Jima.

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ABOVE: Nathan Smith, back row, third from left, with his fellow Birmingham Police Department officers in 1949. Smith faced criminal charges after he was charged with stealing while with the BPD. PAGE 79 TOP: The LST-480 ship lies in ruins after a series of explosions at Pearl Harbor’s West Loch in May 1944. Nathan Smith survived the incident, and called it the scariest experience of his Marine Corps career. PAGE 79 BOTTOM: Two LST ships burn after a series of explosions at Pearl Harbor on May 22, 1944. Nathan Smith, a Marine during World War II, survived this incident.

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promotion to platoon commander because all of his superiors had been injured or killed.

Three days after Nathan landed, he suffered a bullet wound to his left leg, right above his ankle. He credits his faith – and some prayers from his mother – with helping him to survive the ordeal.

“God took over again. The shock made me throw my BAR (firearm) away, so I started hopping trying to get underground. My foot was flopping, but I don’t remember it hurting at all,” Nathan said, noting he was able to safely hop to a set of stairs leading to underground trenches. “After I got down low enough to get out of the line of fire, I took my belt off and made a tourniquet.”

As Nathan laid in the stairwell “waiting to get killed,” a Marine tank crew pulled up and rescued him.

After recalling the story, Nathan uttered one of his favorite Bible verses: Philippians 4:19.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus,” he said.

INTO DARKNESS Following his injury, Nathan was carried off Iwo Jima to a hospital ship, which transported him to Saipan and then back to Pearl Harbor.

“He was on the hospital ship when (the Marines) raised the first flag on Iwo Jima,” Patricia said.

From Pearl Harbor, Nathan was transported to San Francisco, and eventually to a hospital in Pensacola, Fla. He was granted an honorable discharge from the Marines because of his injury, and soon took a job with the Post Office in downtown Birmingham.

After about a year with the Post Office, Nathan took the exam to become a Birmingham police officer, and recorded the highest score of anyone who took the test with him.

“The supervisor with the jail asked for the guy with the highest score. He thought I could type, so I went to work with the Birmingham Jail for 18 Profile 2016

months,” Nathan said with a laugh.

It was a fateful career change, as entering law enforcement soon placed Nathan on the wrong side of the law.

Following his stint working in the city’s jail, Nathan worked his way up to a patrol position with the department. Not long after taking to the streets in his blue uniform, the green officer became aware of something sinister.

“I found out that the Birmingham Police Department was doing all the burglaries. They could crack safes and break into businesses easily,” he said. “Everyone was involved, and I didn’t want to be a snitch.”

The police-conducted burglaries continued for about a year after Nathan hit the streets. He said he never took an active role in the crimes, but he never did anything to stop them.

One night, the scheme came to an abrupt end when they got tangled up with the wrong people.

While on patrol with Nathan, one of the department’s officers broke into a business and stole a boat motor. The officer gave the boat motor to Nathan, who had no use for it, so he gave it to an acquaintance who was an avid fisherman.

As it turned out, the acquaintance was the nephew of the Birmingham assistant police chief, and was arrested when he was found in possession of stolen property.

“They arrested him and brought him to police headquarters,” Nathan said. “I said ‘If y’all will let him go, I will say I had the motorboat.”

As a result, the entire shift faced criminal charges for their actions in the burglary ring, and Nathan spent five years on probation for burglary and grand

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ABOVE: Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chris George, left, with his good friend, Nathan Smith.

larceny charges.

Nathan’s lifestyle then led him to become a bookie for about a decade, which caused him to become involved with the local mafia. This led to investigations by the FBI, and eventually federal gambling and conspiracy charges against Nathan.

“My attorney got me off somehow,” Nathan said.

CHANGE OF FAITH Having already been placed on probation for the burglaries and facing an ever-narrowing FBI investigation, times were not good for Nathan in the 1970s.

But one dinner served as the beginning of a new chapter for the man who had at one time fought for America and fought crime on the streets of Birmingham.

“There was a guy who worked at a Christian radio station, and he witnessed to (Nathan’s) son over the fence one day. His son came and witnessed to us at dinner one night,” Patricia said.

“My son started telling me how he had invited Christ into his life,” Nathan said, noting he was 52 years old at the time. “I couldn’t wait to get back to my apartment and invite Christ into my life.”

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Since then, Nathan has led a much different life.

“Everything he has done from 52 to now has been led by Christ,” Nathan’s friend, Shelby County Chief Deputy and retired Marine Chris George, said.

“For the first 52 years, he dealt with all those things, but it has been a total transformation.

“You’ve got 450 people in that (Shelby County) Jail who think they’re lost,” Chris said. “All is not lost if you give it all to God. Nathan is a testament to that.”

Today, Nathan enjoys spending time with family and friends at his Columbiana home, and regularly publicly speaks on the power of faith in changing a person’s life. Today, he is actively involved in the Marine Corps League and the Tres Dias Christian organization, and he estimates he has “probably introduced hundreds of people to Christ.”

The 92-year-old has no intentions of slowing down, and has a Bible verse at-hand to apply to nearly any life situation.

“There is nothing in the Bible that says it’s time to retire,” Chris said, patting his friend on the back.

“We shouldn’t ever stop witnessing to people.

Nathan is a shining example of that.”

“All the answers to life are in the Bible,” Nathan said with a nod. n Profile 2016

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MEADOW VIEW ELEMENTARY

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THOMPSON SIXTH GRADE CENTER

THOMPSON INTERMEDIATE

THOMPSON MIDDLE SCHOOL

THOMPSON HIGH SCHOOL

The Kai Christenberry story How a family changed a boy’s life, and vice versa

Story by BAKER ELLIS Photographs by DAWN HARRISON and BARRY CLEMMONS

full of the type of energy only found on high school football fields in the fall. It’s a good night to be alive.

Among the horde of Eagles warming up is No. 32.

He’s quick, has an explosive first step and glides like t’s the best kind of Friday night at Oak Mountain an athlete who’s been playing the sport for years.

High School. One with a home football game.

He’s locked in, focused on the task at hand, just Cars clog up the two-lane Cahaba Valley Road like everyone around him. No one would have any on the way to Heardmont Park Sportsplex well reason to suspect anything is different about this kid before the 7 p.m. kickoff, and people begin to pour compared to everyone else. into the stadium in anticipation of the upcoming game As the clock ticks down, and players matriculate while the sun still has room to fall in the sky. This is a over to their respective sidelines before kickoff, No. big one, as the Eagles are taking on Hewitt-Trussville 32 looks over to an assistant coach who is moving in a crucial region game. It’s been a rough start for his hands furiously. No. 32 responds in kind. At Oak Mountain in 2015, and the Eagles have stumbled first, it won’t click with a casual observer simply out of the gate to a 2-3 start and a 1-2 record in because there’s no frame of reference for what’s region play. This is the biggest game of the season to going on. Soon though, it becomes obvious. They’re date for Oak Mountain, as it tries to keep hope alive communicating, signing. No. 32 is deaf. for a playoff berth.

This is Kai Christenberry, senior defensive back The Eagles, a sea of white and red, warm up prior and special teams gunner who was born, to kickoff. Position players run through footwork drills, some 7,000 miles away from linebackers fine-tune their hitting, linemen explode Heardmont Park, without out of three-techniques. The weather is crisp, music the ability to hear. is booming through the sound system and the air is This is his story.

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The Christenberrys.

Front row from left, Selah, Johnny, Elise and Poppi.

Back row from left, Bill, Kai, Kim.

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Kai Christenberry tracks a punt during Oak Mountain’s Oct. 2, 2015 contest against HewittTrussville.

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CREATING A FAMILY Kim and Bill Christenberry have eight children.

They have three biological sons, two adopted sons and three adopted daughters. Their house has been full of noise and chaos, organized and otherwise, for some time now. However, there was a time when they weren’t sure children were in store at all.

“Originally, when we were trying to adopt, we did in vitro (fertilization) and were told we would never have kids,” Kim said. “But then we had the boys.”

Wilson came first, followed by Boyd just a year later and Steele two years after that. While their three sons came and were a blessing for the young family, the two still felt compelled, called, to adopt.

When Bill came back from a mission trip to the Ukraine in 2004, having “fallen in love” with a boy that was unadoptable for a variety of bureaucratic reasons, that was the final sign in a multiple-year journey of prayer and meditation that adoption was their calling. So they returned to the Ukraine, three sons in tow, for their first adoption experience.

“Ukraine, you go there, hoping you’ll be there for a month or two, hoping you’ll be matched with a child,” Kim Christenberry said. “We went over there, and our paperwork said a four or five year old little girl. And it’s just, it’s like the Wild West over there, adopting.”

As was common with the Christenberrys in their adoptions preceding Kai’s, as soon as they saw the two girls they ended up adopting, they knew they had found their daughters. In Elise and Selah’s case, sisters just 18 months apart, 10 and eight at the time, Kim and Bill were particularly reassured because of the fortuitous timing.

“In Ukraine, certain paperwork has to be filled out for a child to be adoptable,” Kim explained. “And if their director doesn’t fill that out, they could be in an orphanage their whole life and never be adoptable.

Their (Elise and Selah’s) paperwork was filled out the day that we got there, and that was the first day they were adoptable.”

The girls had been in the orphanage for five years before the day their paperwork was filled out, the same day Kim and Bill entered their lives.

A year later, the Christenberrys adopted Johnny, the youngest of their eight children, now 14, from central China. Johnny is deaf, as all three of the Christenberrys adopted children from China are, and

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although Kim is a licensed sign language interpreter and everyone in the Christenberry household can sign to varying degrees, the adjustment was difficult for their youngest.

“It’s hard being the only deaf kid in the family,” Kim explained.

The desire to help Johnny assimilate led to the quest to adopt yet again. And the family turned back to China to adopt their third daughter, Poppi. In that process, Kim and Bill were turned in the direction of a teenage boy who was in danger of aging out, a fate that usually ends on the streets. At first, they were skeptical. “(Adopting) teenage kids from China? You hear horror stories about that,” Kim said.

Enter Kai. Any trepidation the Christenberrys had about adopting yet another son, this one much older than Johnny was when he was adopted, melted away when they got the opportunity to see him over Skype. What they saw was not a surly, openly aggressive teenager, but rather a boy exuding calmness, kindness and a remarkable sense of peace.

“He is a remarkable kid, which has nothing to

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do with us, because he was 13 when he got here,” Kim said. “But just Skyping with him and every person that we could have information from and have contact with said the same thing, ‘He’s just amazing.’”

A declaration from Steele, the youngest biological Christenberry, that Kai simply had to come home, sealed the deal. Kai was coming to America.

Three weeks in China to get Poppi from the Southeast and Kai from the Northeast portion of the country, and the Christenberrys returned with the last two members of their family.

LEARNING THE ROPES Kai didn’t have much opportunity to play sports in China. It wasn’t much of an option at his orphanage.

When he arrived here, the decision to start playing football was not something he pondered over for a while. It was, like most decisions made by 14-year-old boys, just kind of an impulse.

“I wanted to join my freshman year, I just thought maybe I’d try it,” Kai said, with his mother interpreting. “Really, I watched it on TV,

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and that was the year Auburn won the National Championship, so I thought I’d try it.”

That is not a dramatic or profound introductory story to the game, but it is indicative of the way Kai has been raised and how he views himself. At 14, everyone makes those kinds of decisions on impulse, so that’s what Kai did too. He had no reason to give it any more thought than that.

While football was the first American sport he got involved with, his first love has always been track and field.

“My absolute favorite is hurdles in track,” Kai expressed, through his mother. “Before the decathlon I practiced the pole vault and did pretty well in that during the decathlon so I really like that now, too.”

The decathlon, a 10-part event, is one of the most athletically difficult competitions in the world, necessitating a unique competitor who is proficient at all facets of track and field, not just an expert at one element. The decathlon, and more specifically the pole vaulting Kai referred to, was a moment in time that his interpreter and coach, Chris McGaha, the same man Christenberry communicated with during football games, points to as verification and validation

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of Christenberry’s athletic ability.

“He only got like four days to practice it, “McGaha said. “He hit a hurdle in the 110-meter hurdles in the decathlon. That was his strong event; we were worried about his score at that point. Then, he goes and pole vaults and gets a better height than the pole vaulter on the track team.”

McGaha played football in college at Presbyterian College in South Carolina and got introduced to sign language after graduation as a grad assistant. He came to Oak Mountain when Kai decided to play football and has worked with him all through his high school career.

During that time, McGaha has gotten to know Kai on an intimate level. Kai relies solely on McGaha for his instruction on the field, but more than that the two have developed a personal relationship during his high school tenure. No one is more qualified to speak about the challenges and tribulations Kai endures to play football, or any sport, than McGaha. It is ironic then, that the handicap that has allowed the two of them to interact is not a nominal disadvantage on the football field, according to McGaha.

“Personally, I don’t know (how challenging it is),”

CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Kai stops and smiles in front of his house with his dog.

Johnny and Kai are like any pair of brothers, always competing. Kai displays his athleticism messing around in the front yard of his house. Kai tries to catch a football over his little brother, Johnny. Kai Christenberry chats with his interpeter/coach Chris McGaha during warm ups before a football game.

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McGaha said. “He’s overcome a lot. The only thing he can’t do is hear. A lot of the game is dependent on hearing, he knows that. But there’s so much noise in 7A football (hearing doesn’t always matter). I think the biggest challenge for Kai has been acclimating to American football, which has nothing to do with him being deaf.”

‘MAKE MY FAMILY PROUD’ Kai’s eyes are an ocean of emotion. The slight boy from the other side of the planet who can’t hear a thing relays more through a glance than Hollywood actors. There is an eagerness in his eyes, a concentration and a focus present in his gaze, that is both instantly recognizable and also undeniably likeable. Talking to him, it’s easy to see what the Christenberrys saw in that 14-year-old boy on a grainy computer screen from across the world.

He’s a normal kid in so many ways, this Kai Christenberry. He was worried about his pre-cal class before the school year, he drives, he doesn’t have a girlfriend (even though he jokes and says he’s dating his math book), he really enjoys going to his deaf church service that meets at Green Valley Baptist on Sundays and he’s nervous about graduation but excited about attending Gallaudet University in the fall, a prestigious college for the deaf, where he will also play football and run track.

The most telling response, the most insightful look into the heart and mind of Kai Christenberry, comes when responding to a question about his goals for his senior year.

Kai thinks, pauses, his eyes expressing so well the concentration that his ears won’t allow his mouth to.

He takes a minute, unsure how to answer.

“I want to make history as a deaf guy playing football,” Kai said, finally. “I really want to go to state (in track). I just want to do a good job and make my family proud.” n

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Kai with his adoptive parents, Kim and Bill.

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It takes

two

Stephen Kearley and his wife, Christy, worked together to lose a significant amount of weight.

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Kearleys work together for weight loss success 125 pounds and Stephen losing about 135. And they did it the old-fashioned way — with a better diet and daily exercise.

They changed their diets to include wo years ago, Christy more high-protein foods, more fresh Kearley finally decided fruits and veggies and fewer processed enough was enough. and high-carbohydrate foods. They Christy and her husband, started working out every morning.

Stephen, had tried various diet plans The family also runs together — in through the years, but nothing ever fact, they are so devoted to living a stuck. But in June 2013, the Kearleys healthier life that they’ve started planning visited the beach with their two sons, vacations around different runs. They’ve and Christy knew something had to done two half marathons in Panama change.

City, two in Mobile, one in “When I saw a picture Yellowstone National Park of me in my swimsuit, and one in Grand Teton I decided I had to do National Park. They also something soon. I knew I have several runs already was a wreck physically,” planned through next said Christy, who is a special Together, Christy and Stephen Kearley have spring. education teacher at Elvin lost about 260 pounds Christy also took the Hill Elementary School. “I the old fashion way — step of having gastric sleeve had high blood pressure and with a better diet and daily exercise. surgery in March 2014. diabetes, too. I was taking “The sleeve isn’t some too many medications, and I magic fix like many people think it is. If didn’t want to take them anymore.”

I don’t work out and eat mostly protein, Stephen, who weighed almost 340 I still don’t lose weight,” she said. “The pounds at the time, said he couldn’t do sleeve just helps me not to be hungry all anything physical — including tying his the time. I still crave junk food and can own shoes — without getting winded. eat any type of food I want. I just can’t “My cholesterol was out of control,” eat as much of it in one sitting.” said Stephen, who is the library media Those are some big changes, but those specialist and administrative assistant big changes have brought a happier life. at Wilsonville Elementary School. “My doctor told me it was reaching dangerous Christy is off all her medications, no longer suffers from high blood pressure levels.” or sleep apnea, and her diabetes is dietNow they’ve both become weight loss success stories, with Christy losing about controlled. Stephen no longer has issues

Story by AMY JONES Photographs by DAWN HARRISON and CONTRIBUTED

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260

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3 tips for a healthier lifestyle

1.

2.

Don’t diet. Change your eating and exercise habits for good.

If you have a bad day, you can’t give up. Just try again the next day.

3.

Use the technology at your fingertips. The Kearleys use the “Lose It!” app to track their eating habits, the Nike app to track how much they run and the Map My Fitness app to keep up with their fitness goals.

with asthma, sleep apnea or high cholesterol.

“We can hike, ride bikes, run and play ball with our boys. Stephen can even outrun the boys now. Family time together used to be a high-fat, high-calorie dinner and a movie, but now we go to a park and hike or go swimming,” Christy said.

“We never imagined our daily lives would include training for marathons and triathlons, but we are forever changed by this new attitude.”

Allison Brewer, a workout buddy for the Kearleys, said the couple helps to motivate her as she goes on her own weight loss journey.

“I started talking to Christy and asking her for advice. I always find myself too tired in the afternoons to exercise, so she and Stephen invited me to join them in the mornings, so I gave it a try,” she said. “I don’t want to do it alone, so I know they don’t either.”

Brewer said the Kearleys help her stay positive even when she hears negative comments.

“Sometimes major weight loss intimidates others. They try and say things to bring you down,” she said. “I think having each other to talk to and relate takes the sting out of someone saying 96

something.”

The Kearleys said they’ve gotten plenty of support from their workplace communities.

“It is always so encouraging to hear someone tell us how fit or slim we look,” Stephen said.

“It’s always encouraging when people around Columbiana tell us ‘Looking good’ or ‘Keep up the good work’ as we are out on one of our runs.

We get lots of pats on the back — even from high school friends via Facebook.”

However, for the Kearleys, the most important source of support is each other.

“It’s been great having each other’s support. We keep each other motivated to get up at 3 every morning to go work out,” Christy said. “There are mornings when we would probably sleep in if we had to get up and go alone.”

Brewer said the Kearleys are an inspiration to her.

“I am so proud of the two of them. I think it is wonderful that they support each other. That is a major problem in some marriages when both are not in it together,” she said. “I have never seen a couple who truly motivates and inspires each other the way they do.” n Profile 2016

FROM ABOVE: Stephen and Christy Kearley before they began working to lose weight. Stephen and Christy Kearley with their sons shortly after finishing a race.

Christy and Stephen Kearley show off their new look after losing a significant amount of weight together.

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The music man

Story by AMY JONES Photographs by ERIC STARLING

J

on Bubbett has been the band director at Thompson High School since 1993. In that time, he’s shepherded the band program’s growth from 75 members to 200, guided the program to national recognition and helped countless students grow into young adults ready to leave a positive impact on the world.

But Bubbett himself is a humble man. Ask how he’s grown the band program, and he’ll say, “The best recruiters for the band are the students themselves.”

Ask him what he’s most proud of achieving at Thompson, and he’ll say, “That’s kind of like asking which of your children you love the most. I’m very proud of all their accomplishments,” before going on to mention how the band has been selected twice for the Music for All National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis, one of the best-known band festivals in the country; and how the National Band Association recently honored Thompson as a Program of Excellence.

He also praises parent volunteers, saying “We have the absolute best band parents in the world, who support and maintain the band program.”

Bubbett doesn’t make a lot of “I” statements, but that’s OK — the people around him are happy to shower him with praise.

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Jon Bubbett directs a THS wind ensemble concert at the school in November 2015.

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Daniel Steele, who worked with Bubbett for four years at Thompson High before becoming principal at Thompson Sixth Grade Center, said Bubbett’s attitude goes beyond the band program.

“Bubbett’s passion and enthusiasm has helped to develop a band that is recognized nationally, but his positive energy and work ethic have infused the school with pride and has created a standard of excellence that transcends every program,” Steele said. “Jon Bubbett has never been interested in adequate. His goal is to be awesome.”

Steele said Bubbett “refuses to have a bad day.”

“I learned from working with Jon Bubbett that I never have the right to be cynical. I know there had to be times when he was having a bad day, but he never showed it,” he said. “There were times when I’m sure I made mistakes, but he always supported me. And on those days when I was down, he always brought the sunshine.”

Alan Buckelew, who was Bubbett’s student from 2007-2011, said a strong band program is important because music can connect anyone.

“I’ve often said that (music) is like a second language, but what’s amazing about it is that you

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could sit down with a group of people from across the world that do not speak the same language as you, but all be able to read music and create something incredible,” he said.

Studying under Bubbett helped Buckelew find his future, which included a band scholarship to Alabama and a job.

“I played in the band here for two years, where I performed in two BCS National Championship games and have been on the band staff as a logistics manager for the past three years. I’ve been a part of many things with this organization that most people can only dream of,” Buckelew said.

David and Kelly Drake saw their children, Katharine and Taylor, go through the band program at Thompson. Katharine was in the program from 2008-2012 and Taylor from 2011-2015.

Kelly Drake said her children had a “college-level band experience” at Thompson.

“They truly understood the level of musicianship they were being taught when they heard upper level college wind ensembles playing music they had performed as high school students,” Kelly Drake said.

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David Drake said both his children pursued music at Alabama, with one enjoying two years in the band program and the other majoring in music.

“Would the children have succeeded without Jon and the band program?

Probably. But it would not have come as easily and certainly wouldn’t have been as satisfying,” David Drake said. “Jon sets extremely high expectations, but he also set the example.

He works harder than any of his students, stays longer, cares more and exudes more passion. He lives out the characteristics he wants the musicians to be, and my kids benefited from his example.”

Bubbett said band can have an enormous impact

“Music is a lifelong

skill. Through that, we can spend a lifetime of expressing who we are and how we feel. We can experience who others are and how they feel through their music.”

— Jon Bubbett

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on students’ lives.

“It’s everything. It becomes who you are, your identity. For students in this day and age, that is more important than ever — a sense of belonging and of being accepted, being a part of something that is bigger than you are,” he said. “Music is a lifelong skill. Through that, we can spend a lifetime of expressing who we are and how we feel. We can

experience who others are and how they feel through their music.”

Bubbett said he plans to continue impacting students’ lives in Alabaster for a long time to come.

“We are about to move into a brand new, $84 million facility in the fall of 2017. Why would you leave?” he said. n

Jon Bubbett has led the Thompson High School wind ensemble for decades.

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