Profile 2020 by Shelby County Newsmedia, Inc.

Profile 2020

PROFILE 2020

I don’t know about you, but I my to-do list goes into mental play as soon as I wake up on a weekday. What’s the weather going to be like? What will I wear? What will I eat for breakfast? What time is my first work commitment? And the questions don’t stop as I check off meals and meetings, professional and personal life to-dos, mostly all centered on my little world. But as I hit play on my daily routines, on streets not too far from me farmers are feeding pigs and goats, school bus drivers are starting their routes, basketball teams are practicing. As I’m checking emails, pastors are preparing sermons, judges are reviewing cases, school landscaping is being maintained. And even as I am sleeping, the National Weather Service and police and fire departments are not. Doctors are on call, nurses are tending to their patients, food is being prepared. This world is much bigger than our individual comings and goings, and that’s why we are bringing you this 24 Hours in Shelby County issue of Profile—to give you a glimpse at what’s going on in the county around you at each hour of the day. On the pages ahead we take you everywhere from the lunch slam at Chick-Fil-A on Highway 280 to a Birmingham Bulls game in Pelham to

a Montevallo prop farm (yes, that’s a thing). And better yet, we introduce you to the people we met at each place—not just in a cursory meet-Len-Ward-he-started-this-prop-farm kind of way, but with a here’s-what-thisperson-and-their-craft-is-really-about-andwhere-they-came-from depth our reporters gathered from spending extended time with each person and then even more time capturing them in narratives. It’s made for a set of stories I’m extra excited to share with you! Of particular note is our feature on our 2020 Person of the Year, County Manager Alex Dudchock, who is retiring at the end of March after 26 years leading the county. My reporting for that story started with a giant list of his projects from over the years, but the story really came to life as I talked to the colleagues who know him best to uncover the stories—and the personality— behind them. My biggest, and potentially the most rewarding, challenge as a writer is to capture a person “right” and fully, and it’s my hope that my set of words does a small bit of justice to the tribute he deserves. So after you’ve chased your kids out the door to school, gone about your work day and hustled to get dinner on the table, when the day finally quiets down for you, sit down and get to you know some of your extended neighbors and what they’ve been up to today. I think you’ll be glad you did!

Profile 2020

SHELBY COUNTY EDITORIAL Graham Brooks Stephen Dawkins Alec Etheredge Briana H. Wilson Madoline Markham Keith McCoy Scott Mims Emily Sparacino

DESIGN Angela Caver Jamie Dawkins Kate Sullivan Green Connor Martin-Lively

MARKETING Darniqua Bowen Kristy Brown Kari George Caroline Hairston Nick Heady Rachel Henderson Rhett McCreight Kim McCulla Viridiana Romero

MADOLINE MARKHAM, EDITOR madoline.markham@shelbycountyreporter.com

Briana Sanders Lisa Shapiro Jessica Steelman

ON THE COVER

Kerrie Thompson

ADMINISTRATION The stories of Shelby County Arts Council Executive Director Bruce Andrews, Shelby Baptist Medical Center chaplain Victor Lewis, 10-year-old Abby Turner, Jefferson State nursing student Katie Newton and Calera retiree Bernice Griffith can all be found in this 24-hour edition of Profile.

Hailey Dolbare Mary Jo Eskridge Daniel Holmes Stacey Meadows Tim Prince

COVER DESIGN: KATE SULLIVAN GREEN PHOTOGRAPHY: MARY FEHR

SHELBY COUNTY NEWSPAPERS, INC.

FIND US ONLINE + ON SOCIAL MEDIA SHELBYCOUNTYREPORTER.COM 8

PROFILE 2020

P.O. BOX 947 COLUMBIANA, AL 35051 205.669.3131

24 HOURS 8

The Freedom to Live

Road of Opportunity

16 20

Chasing Mother Nature

Farming on Faith

Forged by Fire

Space to Create

Where They Are

Double Duty

An Immersive Faith

66 70

Our Pleasure

80 84

Active + Engaged

The Right Way

Chasing Greatness

Their Best Chance

Meet Donut Joe

55 58

Giving Hearts

IN SHELBY COUNTY

County Chief PERSON OF THE YEAR

A Bright Light

Finding Her Voice

Welcome Back Captain

100 104 108 112 Taking a Leap of Faith

Collectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Paradise

Healers & Hearers

Always Welcome

PROFILE 2020

MIDNIGHT

PROFILE 2020

Bridget Wyatt, left, and Abby Turner, right, are best friends who both have Type 1 Diabetes.

THE FREEDOM

TO LIVE

TEN-YEAR-OLD ABBY TURNER STRIVES TO LIVE LIFE FEARLESSLY AS SHE MANAGES HER TYPE 1 DIABETES.

BY BRIANA H. WILSON | PHOTOS BY DAWN HARRISON At midnight, Amanda Turner enters her daughter’s room, flashlight in hand or strapped to her forehead, to check her blood sugar level. Does she have low blood sugar? A juice box will do the trick. Is it too high? A carbohydrate snack will help keep it steady. This routine is so commonplace now that 10-year-old Abby stays asleep through the entire transaction – even eating and drinking in her sleep. Today Amanda and her husband, Shane, might repeat this process several times throughout the night, but just after their daughter’s diagnosis, they were checking Abby’s blood sugar every two hours. “We would be up throughout the night at midnight, 2, 4 and 6 a.m. to do checks,” Amanda says. “Sometimes we’d just watch her sleep to make sure she was breathing. It’s something that’s always in the back of your mind, and honestly it took us several years before we felt like we could live our lives and that diabetes wasn’t our life.” The Turners aren’t alone either. This nightly routine may be a reality for the 200,000 Americans under 20 years old who have been diagnosed with Type 1

Diabetes (T1D), a chronic autoimmune disease in which the pancreas produces no insulin. If not monitored, T1D can be fatal because insulin is necessary for survival. In Alabaster where the Turners live, a tight-knit community of parents lean on each other for support. For Amanda and Abby, that support has meant the world to them. Abby was diagnosed with T1D shortly before turning 2 years old, and after that moment Amanda said caring for Abby was like having a newborn baby again. It wasn’t until the family was able to get a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device through their insurance company that they were able to reclaim some sleep. The device beeps if Abby’s blood sugar drops too low or rises too high. Amanda says the CGM is a godsend, but that technology fails sometimes and these devices cost a lot of money. “Not everybody is lucky enough to have access to these things like they should,” she says. Because of issues with Abby’s insurance, she was without her CGM for most of October 2019 and the beginning of November 2019, and

her parents were back to waking up periodically throughout the night. Amanda, who is also the mother of 15-year-old Sarah, says caring for Abby can still be overwhelming, but it helps to have friends who can relate. Case in point: The Turner family connected with the Wyatt family through a Facebook group for parents of kids with T1D. Best friends Abby and Bridget Wyatt, both students at Meadow View Elementary, were diagnosed within months of each other. “My child can’t just go spend the night at a friend’s house because most people don’t know how to care for someone with T1D,” Amanda says. “And not everyone is willing to get up and go check your child at 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. – that’s why we were so ecstatic when we found each other because our kids can have sleepovers.” Wherever the girls go, they always have their diabetes bag with them. It holds juice, gummies, a protein bar, crackers, their meter, test strips, a device to prick their finger and a glucagon injection, which is an emergency medicine used to treat severe low blood sugar. It’s there just in case

PROFILE 2020

DEBUNKING T1D MYTHS & MISCONCEPTIONS n T1D occurs when the immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. It is not caused by eating too much sugar or lifestyle choices. T1D is an autoimmune disease that cannot be prevented. n T1D is different from Type 2 Diabetes in that it cannot be controlled by lifestyle, diet or exercise changes. T2D can be treated with a healthy diet and exercise, but medication and/or insulin is sometimes needed too.

n With T1D the body canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t produce any insulin, whereas with T2D the body can make some insulin, but not enough, or the insulin it produces doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work properly. n Although T1D is usually diagnosed in young adults and children, it can start at any age. n Being diagnosed with T1D does not mean that a person cannot eat any sweets. Whatever they eat, those with T1D need to regularly measure the glucose levels in their blood and have insulin injections.

Everywhere Abby goes, she takes her diabetes bag with her. It holds gummies, a protein bar, her meter, alcohol pads, test strips, a device to prick her finger and a glucagon injection, which is an emergency medicine used to treat severe low blood sugar. OPPOSITE: The tight-knit Turner family: Sarah, Shane, Abby and Amanda. 12

PROFILE 2020

someone with T1D passes out or is having a seizure as a result of low blood sugar. When Bridget’s blood sugar is low, she says she feels sick, like her legs will collapse underneath her. For Abby, she feels sick and grumpy and experiences a stomachache and headache when her blood sugar is high. T1D makes it difficult for the girls to participate in sports and school activities as well, but both families have found ways to make it work. Abby plays soccer, Bridget is a cheerleader and they sing in the school choir together. The mothers say they’re open and honest with their daughters about their diagnosis and are careful not to project their own fears onto them. “We do have to make sure they know the consequences of their behavior, but we also want them to live their lives,” Bridget’s mother, Heather, says. Before and after P.E., lunch, snack time and before leaving school to go home, a nurse checks the girls’ blood sugars and cares for them according to instructions outlined by their respective doctors. Sometimes they have to miss fun activities, and they won’t ever go on a field trip without a parent or a nurse. Abby says she

gets the most nervous about attending school at the beginning of each school year and worries that teachers won’t understand her situation. Heather and Amanda say it’s harder for some people to understand the urgency required when the girls experience low blood sugar. However, both moms say they’re determined to raise children whose lives are not defined by T1D. The goal is for Abby and Bridget to be independent and not afraid to live their lives. “Part of that is making sure that you as the parent are not scared,” Amanda says. “Or that at least they don’t see it,” Heather adds. So Amanda is teaching Abby the

importance of eating sensibly and making good food choices. “Really, it’s just like any other person should be living, whether you have T1D or not,” Amanda says. “The only difference is you see or feel the effects immediately if you have T1D.” Sometimes, Amanda will allow Abby to learn from her mistakes as long as she’s not doing something lifethreatening. “If she wants to eat that cookie after I’ve told her that it might make her feel bad, I might let her make the decision for herself,” she explains. “Ultimately, only she knows how she feels, and if she eats it and she does feel bad, then the next time she’ll be more likely to make a different choice.” Today Abby is thriving and not letting anything stand in her way, “feeling the fear and doing it anyway,” like her mother tells her. One day she plans to go off to college and live on her own as her family holds firm hope that the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation—whose research the family works to raise money for—will find a cure for the disease. But no matter her daughter’s course in life, “I want her to have the freedom to live,” Amanda says.

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PROFILE 2020

A.M.

CHASING

MOTHER NATURE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS ARE ON ALERT CLOSER THAN YOU THINK ALL DAY AND NIGHT. BY SCOTT MIMS | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY 14

PROFILE 2020

A wall full of monitors flickers as blip after blip of information crosses them to greet the eyes of desks full of meteorologists. Some screens display weather information, others show news or an infomercial. But none ever turn off, even at 1 a.m. Such is life at the National Weather Service (NWS) Birmingham headquarters right off the Shelby County Airport exit in Calera. This night is a relatively quiet one, but had the slightest possibility of a snow flurry been in the forecast—or even hinted at on Twitter by some self-proclaimed weather guru—the phones might be ringing off the hook. “Our daughter is getting married four weeks from now. What’s the forecast?” a caller might ask. “Do I need to go to the grocery store now or wait till tomorrow?” another might pose. The newest weather models often come in between midnight and 1 a.m. with a fresh set of data. In that time frame you’ll find meteorologist Nathan Owen poring over the reports, comparing local data with that from other locations, sometimes for hours on end. It takes a cold front about six hours to travel from west to east Alabama, and during that time Owen is hyper-focused. He calls times like this “short-fuse events.” “You haven’t reached for a glass of water, you haven’t gone to the bathroom, you haven’t done anything because you’ve been waiting for that next bit of information,” he says. “We get a new radar scan almost every minute. It’s all about getting the forecast 100 percent correct or as correct as we can.” New information could mean he has to issue a warning. Or, it could mean nothing. Before he knows it, his shift is nearly over. Sometimes his “lunch” is at 3 a.m., others he never gets to eating or even taking a break. Regardless of meal time, every day at 5 a.m. and 5 p.m., weather balloons are released into the sky just as they are from NWS stations across the globe. Once airborne they record atmospheric conditions like temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind direction and speed. All this data then is ingested into the supercomputers, which in turn start running and crunching the numbers—a cycle that repeats every 12 hours. APPROACHING DANGER Other parts of the day are far less like clockwork as certain signatures on the radar screen can stop a meteorologist in his tracks. What indicates real danger is a debris signature from a tornado—which is caused by debris in the air scattered by the storms. Some natural phenomena, such as birds taking flight from a wildlife refuge early in the morning, can resemble a debris signature. It’s when the imagery comes in conjunction with a hook-shaped weather radar signature as part of thunderstorms that Owen takes notice. “Whenever you see it, you warn, but you kind of have to take a step back,” Owen says. “If the debris keeps getting bigger and bigger, you know it’s doing a lot of damage. That can be a humbling thing you can see on the computer screen, knowing what it means.” In that moment, the NWS notifies emergency managers first. “If it’s heading toward a population center, that’s when PROFILE 2020

NWS COVERAGE MAP THIS MAP SHOWS NWS BIRMINGHAM’S COVERAGE AREA.

Meteorologist Gerald Satterwhite, Meteorologist Nathan Owen and Meteorologist-In-Charge Chris Darden discuss the daily and nightly goings-on of the National Weather Service. OPPOSITE: Monitors display weather information to keep meteorologists informed of up-to-theminute weather patterns.

our senses really get heightened,” fellow meteorologist Gerald Satterwhite says. That said, if you want to catch a meteorologist at their busiest, just listen for the key word: snow. Meteorologist-In-Charge Chris Darden knows this all too well. “If there’s a forecast of winter weather, that’s probably when the public calls ramp up the most,” Darden says. But if the chance of snow is still a week away, don’t take what the weatherman says as the gospel. “The forecast is always changing, and realizing that every weather

PROFILE 2020

event that comes through, it may not impact you,” Satterwhite says. “It may impact people 15 miles away. The next time it could impact your neighborhood.” Regardless of the forecast on a given day, everyone from emergency professionals to football announcers live-by information from NWS. Case in point: Darden recalls a UAB versus Rice football game taking place alongside a soccer game. Thanks to information from NWS, an announcement was made for attendees to take shelter before lighting strikes began. “Any one of those strikes could have posed a danger to people on the field, the people in the

stands,” Owen says. “The forecast doesn’t stop with us at the computer. We have to take that and message it and key in on things that would be important to the average person.” Even incidents that aren’t directly weather-related—like a train derailment or an issue with a pipeline—could turn disastrous without weather updates. “We need to make sure we’re giving them microdetailed information because a wind shift could be disastrous for first responders,” Darden says. Even on quiet days, weather information is vital. Pilots taking off and landing at airports in Birmingham, Shelby

County, Tuscaloosa, Anniston, Talladega, Montgomery and Troy all rely on up-to-theminute information from the Calera station regarding cloud cover and wind direction. If there is no precipitation, fire threats arise. Once a construction crew was working on a major project in downtown Wetumpka. The crew foreman who was monitoring the weather got an alert on his phone. Because of this, the lives of the crew were potentially saved from an approaching tornado. “He was incredibly appreciative (because), number one, obviously the liability of having a crew out there, (and) number two, his crew was his family,” Darden recalls. he says. “It’s one thing to want to take action, but do you know how to take action? GETTING THE WARNING OUT Are you able to get to a safe location? Do you have a safety kit? The warning lead time Technology is ever shaping how Darden might be 10 minutes, but if it takes you five and his colleagues do their jobs too. In 2007, minutes to get the information, that leaves NWS transitioned from a county-based you only five minutes.” warning system to a polygon-based Then there are the times when Mother system—a term arguably popularized by Nature seems to make a fool of science. ABC 33/40 meteorologist James Spann. Darden recalls an incident when he was an Before, severe weather anywhere in Shelby intern in Burlington, Vermont. On a spring County would result in a warning being night, a cold front was dumping cold rain issued for the entire county. Now, that suddenly changed to a sheet of white. It meteorologists can tailor the warning to the started snowing when the surface specific area where the event is happening. temperature was still 51 degrees. While technology is helpful, though, “They say it’s part science and part art, Darden indicates there is no substitute for but it is. That’s the human side of common sense. forecasting,” he says. “Otherwise you could “It’s just a matter of people having a plan,” just flip a switch and have the computer

models generate a forecast.” Humans are also key to spreading weather information to the public. “For the one person we can reach, (someone on social media or TV) can reach 100,” Darden explains. “Yes, the people got alerts on their phone, but the local media person they know, they helped personalize to them that something was coming.” And while the blips on the NWS monitor are vital, so is communication. “Our last word is service,” Darden says. “What we do inside the building probably doesn’t matter a whole lot if the people in the public don’t know what to do with our messages. Really, our job is to protect life and property, and that’s how we can mitigate a lost life from weather events. Our mission is saving lives.”

PROFILE 2020

2 18

A.M.

PROFILE 2020

FORGED

BY FIRE THE BROTHERHOOD AT FIRE STATION 31 IN CHELSEA DOESN’T GO AT THEIR JOB ALONE.

BY BRIANA H. WILSON | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY

Imagine you are asleep with a resting heart rate of about 40 beats per minute, and in less than five minutes you’re in the flames of a house fire, adrenaline pumping, with a heart rate of 180. It’s not an unusual shift in pace at 2 a.m. if you are firefighter in the city of Chelsea, but Lt. Stephen Gunnels and firefighter Zack Lee say you never really get used to it. “That’s why this job is so terrible for you,” Lee says as they both erupt in laughter. It’s apparent from their back-and-forth banter that these men are more like brothers. “It’s a very physically taxing job,” Gunnels says. “You never really get a good night’s sleep at the station.” Once firefighters have been in the profession long enough, their bodies won’t allow them to drift into a deep sleep. Instead, they are always in standby mode—listening and on edge. “There are those rare times when you’re in that window where your body is trying to get into that deep sleep, and then

you get awakened by the tone in the middle of the night. And…it will startle you,” Gunnels says. “It’ll take your breath away and scare you to death, and then you realize where you’re at.” “You’re trying to listen and hear where the call is and who’s supposed to be going, and you just woke up so you’re confused anyway,” Lee quips. In just a few short minutes with the men, it’s clear that Lee has a knack for finding the humor in his job. When the alarm sounds, those responding to the call are expected to be out of bed and on the road in less than three minutes. Gunnels says it’s not as difficult as it sounds. It’s just one of those things firefighters have to get used to, but it helps that every firefighter on a shift does not respond to every call. Routine medical or basic life support calls only require a transport unit and shift commander to respond. An event of significance, like someone going into cardiac arrest, requires more assistance

though. In addition to the shift commander, a pumper truck that requires an extra three people responds as well. Over time, firefighters develop their own routines to get dressed at night. It helps that the they aren’t expected to put on their full uniform for certain types of calls; instead they wear pants, a T-shirt and work boots. Most of the men sleep in their physical training shorts and a Chelsea Fire and Rescue T-shirt, which makes it easier for them to slip on their uniform and go. You’d think all the commotion that surrounds a call would make it hard for the men to get back to sleep when they return to the station, but Lee and Gunnels say that’s not the case. “Yeah, I knock right back out,” Lee says without hesitation. After 14 years in the profession, Gunnels says he can go right back to sleep in the blink of an eye: “It’s just one of those things where your body just learns to adapt and overcome and you take what you can get.”

PROFILE 2020

CHELSEA FIRE AND RESCUE CALLS BY HOUR

For the men at Station 31, working 24-hour shifts means they have formed tight bonds.

This graph shows the average number of calls Chelsea Fire and Rescue received per hour of the day in 2019. 12 A.M.

1 A.M.

2 A.M.

3 A.M.

4 A.M.

5 A.M.

6 A.M. 7 A.M.

33 77

8 A.M.

9 A.M.

103

10 A.M.

106

11 A.M.

106

12 P.M.

1 P.M.

115

2 P.M.

3 P.M.

133

4 P.M.

125

5 P.M.

124 113

6 P.M. 7 P.M. 8 P.M.

81 77

9 P.M.

10 P.M.

11 P.M.

Just as essential to the sleep patterns of a firefighter is their comradery. Working 24hour shifts followed by 48 hours off means they spend about as much time with their work “family” as they do with their actual families. A lot of the them work at two fire departments too, which means instead of spending 24 of 72 hours together, they spend 48 out of 72 hours together. “I’m with this guy two out of three days,” Gunnels says in reference to Lee. “You could even say it affects you at home sometimes too because you live with all guys two out of three days most of the time, and then you go home to your family and it’s not like living with a bunch of dudes anymore,” Lee quips again. Currently all of the firefighters at Station 31 are men, and they’ve formed a brotherhood like no other. Much like family, everybody knows what’s going on in everyone’s personal life, and they love to joke around with each other. But they know how to get serious when the time calls for it. It can be hard for a civilian to comprehend what firefighters see on the job, but if firefighters ever need someone to talk to, they need only look around. “When you see something and it ends up bothering you, you’ve got nine other guys to talk to who just saw the same thing with you,” Lee says. With so much time spent at the fire station, the men think of it as their second home. The living quarters at the station have individual bedrooms for each person working the shift, and each room has three closets that are split between the three shifts. At Station 31, six people work on each shift and are responsible for cleaning, doing chores, grocery shopping

“WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING AND IT ENDS UP BOTHERING YOU, YOU’VE GOT NINE OTHER GUYS TO TALK TO WHO JUST SAW THE SAME THING WITH YOU.” -ZACK LEE and cooking meals for themselves. “We go into some nasty places and less-than-clean environments, so the turnout gear does not come in the station,” Gunnels says. “It stays out in the bay. You just don’t want to bring all of that into your space.” The men also take off their work boots before entering their rooms. When their shift is over, they shower and change clothes before going home to their families. Those worlds aren’t always separate though. It is normal for a firefighter’s family to visit him at the station, Gunnels says. When they have to work on a holiday, they make sure to have a big celebration with their families, and everyone at the station tries makes make sure that the men who have children get to go home on holidays like Christmas, even if it’s just for a few hours. That’s just the kind of thing you do for family.

PROFILE 2020

A.M.

Eric Byrd now serves as manager of the Pelham doughnut shop his dad Richard opened when he was in high school. 22

PROFILE 2020

MEET

DONUT JOE WANT A MAPLE-GLAZED DOUGHNUT BY 6 A.M.? THEN THE DONUT JOE’S WILL START HOURS EARLIER.

BY MADOLINE MARKHAM | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY

Jose Rodriguez has his hands busy as a train rumbles by the corner of Shelby County 52 and Lee Street in Pelham. At 3 a.m. he’s an hour into his workday as he mixes up yeast dough that will transform into Donut Joe’s sugary confections fresh for customers by the time the sun rises—all in all a 3-hour process. After the dough rises, Rodriguez rolls it out into a flat sheet and cuts out circles that will soon meet the fryer. Over the six years he’s worked there, Jose’s work has gotten increasingly consistent, with all the doughnuts coming out a remarkably similar shape. It’s a key role. If he’s not starting when he does, “everything else is just shot,” general manager Eric Byrd says. But Eric doesn’t worry. Jose’s as reliable as he is consistent—the “backbone of the ends at 4:30 a.m. That’s when the shop’s kitchen,” Eric will tell you. chief decorator Osirus Ruiz starts to add icing, sprinkles and candied toppings to AN EARLY START glazed doughnuts. Next up Eric enters the When the doughnuts are cut out, it’s scene around 5 a.m. and takes the scrap time for proofing as a humid box activates yeast dough from Jose to make cinnamon the yeast to rise again. Meanwhile, twists and, with the addition of cinnamon Rodriguez mixes up a cake batter for a and apple pie filling, to fry up apple fritters. By 6 a.m. the shop’s glass cases are full different variety of doughnut—no rising necessary—and wraps the yeast dough and customers start filing in. The around sausage and cheddar cheese to bestsellers—chocolate glazed and maplebake into savory “Smokey Joes” much like frosted topped with pieces of bacon— occupy the most real estate on the top left, a traditional kolache. Rodriguez’s lone ranger role in the shop and just behind it in popularity are a

blueberry cake that’s much like a frosted muffin and an Old Fashioned Sour Cream that tastes like pound cake, both sitting on the bottom right shelf. In between you’ll find options with whatever season of sprinkles is on deck, specialty apple fritters, doughnut holes rolled in sugar, plus classic shapes topped with Fruity Pebbles, coconut, Heath bar or M&Ms. The daily scratch-made process was all started by the shop’s mastermind, Eric’s dad Richard Byrd, who opened Donut Joe’s 10 years ago. “I came in here one day after baseball practice, and (my dad) gave me a

PROFILE 2020

glazed doughnut,” Eric recalls. “And I thought, ‘This is the best doughnut I have ever had in my life.’” Folks in Pelham, Alabaster, Helena and beyond took note quickly as the shop served up ideas they’d found on the West Coast for flavors like maple bacon and Fruity Pebbles—telling of all the fun varieties to come from the shop for years to come. The first customer on opening day was a police officer, who radioed some colleagues and before long six police cars were in the parking lot. “It was definitely a God thing because the first day we opened we had people lined up. It’s been that way for 10 years,” Richard says. “That’s not something you can plan.” Today there’s a steady stream of customers on weekdays, but on Fridays and Saturdays, “We’re running and gunning,” Eric says, with doughnuts frying in extra batches until 8 or 9 a.m. as customers line up out the door at peak times. And perhaps just as notable as the doughnuts themselves is the shop’s namesake, Joe, as in “a cup of joe.” Donut

MAPLE BACON

Joe’s coffees are all roasted locally—with the O’Henry’s brand behind their Southern Pecan and Jamaican Me Crazy flavors and Royal Cup behind their House Blend. A FAMILY STORY Although he spent a few years in Troy earning a business degree, Eric, a 2010 Thompson High School graduate, has been managing the shop’s day-to-day operations ever since, while Richard works behind the scenes on branding, social media and other business operations. Any piece of marketing or branding in the shop was designed and printed by Richard too—with a look so professional that people often ask if Donut Joe’s is a chain when in reality it’s a single-shop family business. Richard’s artistic knack comes from his mom, painter Joyce Byrd, who worked at the shop its first few years and captured it in a painting that now hangs on the far left wall of the storefront. Throughout the shop you’ll find a Donut Joe character with his signature orange and green brand everywhere from signs to

a figure parachuting in on the ceiling of the shop. After all, branding is so key to how Richard—an entrepreneur who previously ran a power equipment shop, a bike shop, a sign business and a hunting gear business—does business that he had all of it completed before he ever fried a doughnut. Back in the shop, look closer beyond their vintage sign collection and you’ll find more markers of the Byrd family too. Behind the cash register sits a snowboard that Richard bought in Colorado not far from a license plate from the Centennial State on the wall. After all, the Rocky Mountains are their favorite family vacation destination, and you’ll likely find Eric wearing an Estes Park hat too. Just to the right of Joyce’s painting is a Red Hot Chili Peppers poster with a Donut Joe’s logo. Customers sometimes ask how they got the band to make them a Donut Joe’s poster, but the true story is Richard just personalized an existing Red Hot Chili Peppers poster since he and Eric are such big fans. Speaking of fans, off in the right corner

TOP-SELLING

FLAVORS RED VELVET

BLUEBERRY

CHOCOLATE-COVERED

OLD FASHIONED

of the shop hangs a BCS National Championship sign the father and son picked up in Pasadena in 2010 as they watched the Crimson Tide take the national title. To its right sits a University of Alabama print signed by one of their regulars, Thomas Rayam, a former offensive lineman who now coaches at Thompson High School. And for holidays, “We do it up big,” Eric says. With the seasonal sprinkles for Halloween or Christmas or Easter comes décor into the shop too. Come February they bring on the red and pink for their second busiest day of the year, Valentine’s Day—bested only by National Doughnut Day on the first Friday in June. What might even loyal customers not know about though? The seasonal Caramel Apple doughnut, filled with apple pie filling and topped with caramel icing, is “top shelf kind of good,” Eric will tell you. For the past year, they’ve also been serving up lattes, cappuccinos, espresso shots and cold brew from their espresso machine—and hot chocolate too. Donut Joe’s is also perfecting the art of customer orders. Want a “prom-posal” doughnut? You can order that in advance. What about an outer space theme or footballs and baseballs? They’ve got that covered too. And it’s not just locals taking note. Often when summer traffic backs up on I-65, travelers on their way to the beach, will detour and stop for a sweet treat. No matter where they come from, often the staff knows a customer’s orders before they even walk in. “I like to meet as many people as possible and learn a lot of people’s names so when they are walking in it is like they are coming in to see a friend and get a coffee and doughnut at the same time,” Eric says.

Osirus Ruiz arrives at the shop at 4:30 a.m. each day to start icing and decorating freshly fried dougnuts.

PROFILE 2020

Randy Rosetta drives from his home on the Coosa River off Lokey Ferry Road in Wilsonville to the work site where firewood is prepared and loaded for delivery to homes and businesses across the Birmingham area.

THE RIGHT

WAY

RODNEY ROSETTA HAS BECOME BIRMINGHAM’S GO-TO GUY FOR FIREWOOD—AND HE’LL DELIVER IT HIMSELF.

BY STEPHEN DAWKINS | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY 26

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A.M.

In the winter, when business is really booming, Rodney Rosetta rises as early as 4 a.m. at his home on the Coosa River off Lokey Ferry Road in Wilsonville, hops in one of his seven work trucks—all Chevrolets—and makes the short drive to the two acres of property where the work goes down. This time of year, with the leaves gone from the trees, Rosetta can almost see his home from the work site, which is good because it means he can get an early start loading up firewood that will be delivered to residents and some of Birmingham’s most respected restaurants. The story behind how 67-year-old Rosetta turned into perhaps Alabama’s

most trusted firewood delivery man is more practical than romantic, but it gives insight into the qualities that have made him successful. Rosetta was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but his family moved to the Cahaba Heights area when he was 3 years old—too young to remember the move. In his 38 years as an employee of American Cast Iron Pipe Company in Birmingham, he was no stranger to hard work, including taking on odd jobs for a few extra dollars. One such job was lawn care. Rosetta would throw his mower in the back of his truck, and when his shift ended at ACIPCO, he would spend evenings and weekends mowing lawns. But his full-time job often

included longer hours and overtime that made him miss planned yard work. So he decided to try selling firewood. He could split firewood and load it in his truck the night before, he figured, and no matter how late he had to work at ACIPCO, he could still make his deliveries, even in the dark. Business grew organically by word of mouth, and because of Rosetta’s commitment to doing things the right way. Eventually, he retired from ACIPCO in 2010 and focused on firewood full time. Without enough regular customers to fill his days with deliveries, Rosetta spent a lot of time sitting beside busy roadways with available firewood and a sign, often near

PROFILE 2020

Rosetta estimates his customer base grows by about 10 percent each year simply through wordof-mouth.

the bridge over the Cahaba River just off U.S. 280. It was there that Rosetta settled on a name for his company. “I would see trucks go by, Two Men and a Truck or whatever, and I said, ‘Hell, why not One Man and a Load of Firewood?’” he recalls. Today Rosetta runs his business as he

PROFILE 2020

always has, making all the deliveries himself—10-12 a day depending on the volume and locations of the stops, but with a growing customer base, he needs help. Two to three workers split wood eight hours a day, five days a week, at the Wilsonville work site.

Wood comes in by the 18-wheeler load, about 25 loads a year. Cultivating a list of contacts—loggers in Wilsonville, Harpersville, Maplesville and other locations—has been important to ensure Rosetta never runs out of wood. “When folks call, you’ve got to have it,” he says.

ONE MAN AND A LOAD OF FIREWOOD CLIENTS

Rosetta also goes out to cut trees and gather wood from time to time, but that is not his primary source. At the work site off Alabama 61, the wood is split and allowed some time to “season” before being loaded n for delivery at $180 for a full n load or $100 for a half load. Rosetta estimates that his n revenue is split pretty evenly n between residential and commercial customers. Someone from Carrabba’s Italian Grill just up the hill from the Cahaba River bridge on U.S. 280 found Rosetta posted up there when the restaurant’s regular supplier could not fulfill an order, and Carrabba’s has remained a loyal customer since. Another is Saw’s BBQ. General Manager Anastasia Menefee, who goes by “Ms. A” at the Homewood location of Saw’s, says Rosetta has been delivering firewood to the restaurant longer than her 13 years on the job. In fact, he provided wood back when it was called Broadway BBQ. As sure of a thing as death and taxes, Rosetta makes sure Saw’s has plenty of fuel for its barbecue pit that produces mouth-watering pork and chicken. “We’ll call him when we need him, but he’ll come by and check to see if we need anything,” Menefee says. “He’ll deliver early in the morning or late in the evening, whatever we need.” Rosetta’s commitment to making it as easy as possible for his customers has served him well. Folks know that when they call him in need, he’ll be there. That’s why those who have worked with Rosetta in the food

Hot & Hot Fish Club Carrabba’s Italian Grill Firebirds Wood Fired Grill Saw’s BBQ service industry are usually eager to share positive reviews of his service with their peers. Word-of-mouth spreads among residential customers also. “People visit and see how good the wood is burning in their fire pit, and they tell them where they got it,” Rosetta says. “Then we have new customers. I have about one customer a year that’s not happy. If they’re not happy, I go pick up the wood and give them their money back.” Rosetta estimates that his customer base grows about 10 percent each year. He’s up to 25 restaurants, including Birmingham’s Hot and Hot Fish Club and Firebirds Wood Fired Grill. No matter how many people call, Rosetta is committed to delivering their wood the same day or the next day. “I don’t make them wait,” he says. “I’ve run wood all night long and only got two hours of sleep.” That is why Rosetta says that anyone wanting to sell firewood for a living must be prepared to work hard: “I’ve never been scared of work. I enjoy it all. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing it.”

YOU'LL FIND MORE THAN A COLLEGE ON

the hilltop YOU’LL FIND A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY.

PROFILE 2020

A.M.

Mark Sanders drives bus No. 05-06 each morning and afternoon for Helena Middle School. 30

PROFILE 2020

ROAD OF OPPORTUNITY

MARK SANDERS’ DAY OF DRIVING, TEACHING AND COACHING IN HELENA STARTS WELL BEFORE DAWN.

BY GRAHAM BROOKS | PHOTOS BY JEREMY RAINES AND CONTRIBUTED

Sounds from the Burns and Allen Comedy Show of the 1940s can be heard coming from the speakers of a 2010 Toyota Corolla as it makes its way onto the I-20 west ramp near Lincoln, Alabama before dawn. At 5 a.m. Mark Sanders is already a solid 30 minutes into his commute from Jacksonville. The first hour and 45 minutes of his day are spent driving 93 miles to Helena Middle School—a drive he’s been making each weekday for the last three years. Technically, though, he first opens his eyes at 3:45 a.m. before bridging from I-20 to I-459, and then to I-65 and finally Valleydale Road before reaching his final destination. “In my mind, I had decided to do the commute for one year, and I was nervous about commuting that far at first,” Sanders says. “I wanted to try it for one year and I did good with it, and now I’m three years from being able to retire so I’m not going to change it now.” Sanders admits he could’ve gotten a job closer to Jacksonville when his and his wife’s house sold in Pelham a few years ago, but now he considers his commute back near his hometown of Alexandria and alma mater Jacksonville State as just part of his normal work day. “Everyone typically has a

beginning, middle and end to their work day, and it’s just kind of how I look at it. It’s the start of my day,” he says. Since 2008, the middle of his day has been filling the minds of seventh grade students with the knowledge of civics and

geography, which happens to be the same year that the school opened. He’s also the head softball coach of the program he started after coming over from Riverchase Middle School. When he’s not teaching or coaching,

PROFILE 2020

Sanders has been the head coach of the Helena Middle School softball program for several years, helping the program win a number of championships.

Sanders can also be seen greeting his riders that step onto bus No. 05-06 whose route he runs each morning and afternoon, before and after his drive from Jacksonville. With all these different roles, he uses the alone time on his commute to help prepare him for his job and how he can improve the lives of his students and softball players. “I do a lot of thinking about the day and what I need to do,” Sanders says. “I think a lot about my coaching duties, areas our team needs to get better in, but I also have devotions with my players.” In addition to the Burns and Allen Comedy Show, you might hear an audiobook by John Maxwell, The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, on his speakers. “There’s a lot of leadership training stuff he talks about, and I put that into a presentation format,” he says. “We have breakfast brought in by parents and do that once a week.” Has Sanders always been an early riser, you might wonder? The answer is no, and it’s something he had to get used to when moving from Pelham back to Jacksonville. “For a long time, I was more of a late-night person, and I’ve had to adjust to being an early morning person,” Sanders says. “When we lived in Pelham, I probably didn’t go to sleep until about midnight.” 32

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By the time Sanders rolls up to Helena Middle School around 6 a.m., he’s already been awake several hours and he prepares to change keys from his Toyota Corolla to a big yellow school bus. By 6:40 a.m. he’s departing from the HMS parking lot. His relatively quick route takes him to a neighborhood that connects to the school property. “I love to be the first one to greet them,” Sanders says. “I ask every kid how they’re doing and how their day is going. I just like to be the first person to talk to them. At that point, I’m wide awake and I’ve had my coffee. I’ll ask kids how they did as far as football goes if there was a game the night before, and I like to interact with them.” Between both morning and afternoon, Sanders usually has about 72 riders on his bus, and come spring time, his schedule will change even more with the arrival of softball season and its afternoon games and practices. Some days bring a doubleheader, or there could be a game beginning early on a Saturday morning for a tournament; this is where Sander’s good friend and co-worker Bruce Howland comes into play. “Me and my wife just kind of have an open-door policy for him because we’ve

become such close friends,” Howland says. ”He’ll bring a change of clothes, and if we have a tournament on the weekend, he’ll stay just to eliminate any commute issues.” Howland has known Sanders for the last nine years and actually served as a student teacher under him when he changed his career path to teaching. “Mark was instrumental in helping me get started in teaching and a big reason why I’m at Helena,” Howland says. Now, Howland also serves as a seventh-grade social studies teacher and an assistant softball coach alongside Sanders. In a way, hosting Sanders overnight is just helping him, much like Sanders helped Howland nine years prior. “My initial reaction when he told me about his commute was, ‘You’re nuts,’ but when you hear him talk about the opportunity he has and the joy he has for being in Helena it makes sense,” Howland says. The 186-mile roundtrip commute might seem like a chore or hassle, but Sanders wouldn’t have it any other way. “He loves this school and he just enjoys teaching here,” Howland says. “He loves the kids (and) the environment, and he wants to stay here until he decides to retire.”

A.M.

FARMING ON

FAITH

FOR AN ALABASTER COUPLE, RAISING ANIMALS ISN’T JUST A PART-TIME JOB—IT’S HERITAGE AND PASSION. BY SCOTT MIMS | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY 34

PROFILE 2020

Cam Frye fills a trough with feed for the Oberhasle dairy goats.

Nestled below a steep hill just over two miles from Alabaster, a circular sign marks Alleluia Acres Heritage Farm just off Shelby County 26. Though you can’t see it from the road, Ahna Frye is up at work on the property each morning around 6 a.m.—by this time her husband, Cam, is busy welding at Saginaw Pipe. But before Ahna welcomes her first graders at Pelham Ridge Elementary, she is throwing feed out to the cows and goats, and letting the chickens and ducks out so they can free range for the day. The first house you see as you drive onto the property belongs to Ahna’s parents. In fact, the land was farmed by Ahna’s grandfather and her great-grandfather

before that, and the property’s ownership goes even further back in the family. Keep going past some woods and you might see a turkey or two roaming around near the “Breakfast Barn,” what the Fryes affectionately call their chicken house where they harvest eggs. Next to it sits a building they plan on turning into a store to sell their products, and beyond it is the Fryes’ house itself. The Fryes are unlikely farmers, one might say. When they first married in 2014, they didn’t even own livestock. When they were dating, though, Ahna often fantasized about running a farm on the land where her greatgrandfather grew corn and peas amongst the rolling hills and roadbeds that went all

the way to Calera. There, atop some of the oldest buildings in old downtown, you will find wood from Ahna’s great-grandfather’s sawmill. For a while, Ahna’s fantasies were just that. She didn’t think Cam shared her vision. “He was everything but countryfied when we met,” she says. “He didn’t want a truck, didn’t want cowboy boots. He thought everything was silly when we initially met.” One day, though, Cam was looking out at her parents’ property and thought he’d like to have cows. While he had never owned livestock, his mother’s property in Montevallo was a dairy farm in the 1800s. Dairy goats and chickens were cheaper, so the Fryes decided to start there about a year

PROFILE 2020

into marriage. As the couple prayed about their future and the potential of operating a farm, Ahna happened upon a scripture passage, Deuteronomy 28:11: “The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.” That verse, which parallels Ahna’s family story, became the basis for the entire operation. Then, the name came to her one Sunday at church. “We were singing a song. I don’t remember what song it was, but the chorus kept saying ‘Alleluia,’” she recalls. At first, the name was simply Alleluia Acres, but later on it became Alleluia Acres Heritage Farm to fully credit her family’s history on the land. “We added ‘heritage farm’ not just to simplify and help people understand what we are but to help understand who we are,” Cam explains.

“We like to be different.” THE FARM’S RESIDENTS The first animals to join the farm in 2015 were Gypsy and Daisy, a breed of dairy goats from Switzerland by way of northwest Georgia called Oberhasles. Then came Doc, a large male, and others like Delilah, who sports an all-black coat that comes from a rare recessive gene found only in about 15 percent of goats. Today the Fryes have four generations of Oberhasles. From the goats’ milk, Ahna makes nonGMO goat’s milk soap and lotion. Gypsy’s face graces the labels of their Glitzy Goat Essential Soap. “We bond to (the goats) more,” Ahna says. “They’re a lot more personal because you have to help them more with labor.” Next came the chickens, proud residents of the Breakfast Barn. The Fryes care for nearly

40 Buckeyes, a breed started by a woman in Ohio in 1896. Others are Houdans, which originated in France, and Dark Brahmas and Buff Brahmas that yield a little larger egg. Now that the couple has had time to build up their farm, Cam has the cows he first envisioned when looking out on the fields of the property. Their Galloways, which have only four known breeders in the Southeast, come from Montana and North Carolina. “The Galloway is one of the founding breeds of what people know as the Angus now,” Ahna explains. The females have a name theme: Zafriah, Zia, Ziggy and most recently Zanna, which means “God’s promise.” The bull, Earp, will grow to 2,200 pounds. “He’s so gentle,” Ahna says. “Whenever Cam feeds him he will let him twirl his hair around.” Down from the dairy goats, in the fencedin area most distant from the house, things get a bit dirtier. Their Tamworth hogs

The Galloway cattle that roam Alleluia Acres Heritage Farm are a breed from which the famous Angus originated.

PROFILE 2020

ALLELUIA ACRES HERITAGE FARM PRODUCTS ALLELUIA ACRES CAN BE REACHED AT 205-835-9500 OR AT ALLELUIAACRESHERITAGEFARM.COM.

Pork chops

Grilling link sausage

Nitrate-free smoked ham

Pork bones

Goat milk soap bars

Ribs

Osso buco

Goat milk lotion

Tenderloin

Eggs

Apparel

(flavors: medium, chorizo, farmers, spicy Italian, bratwurst, garlic bratwurst, apple bratwurst and jalapeno bratwurst)

Natural sea salt-cured, nitrate-free smoked bacon

Boston butt Mild ground breakfast sausage

PROFILE 2020

Ahna Frye milks a dairy goat. The milk can be used to make soap or lotion, both of which the Fryes make and sell.

originated in Tamworth, England but came from a breeder at the Alabama-Georgia line who is an original member of the Tamworth Swine Association of Indiana. Three-year-old boar, Wilbur, is pushing 900 pounds. The Fryes lost Charlotte, his original mate, in summer 2019 but still have her daughters Fern and Nelly. (Are you catching the Charlotte’s Web theme? It applies to all the hogs except the other sow, Lulu, who was named by Ahna’s late grandmother before she passed away). No matter the breed, the Fryes are choosy when it comes to the substances they use around the animals. They don’t keep many chemicals in the house because of the field lines running underground—they even use organic car wash because of the runoff that could potentially affect the animals. And they don’t use antibiotics or growth hormones. “You can go to the grocery store and buy

PROFILE 2020

tending to the animals after work. “It’s hard,” Ahna admits. “My job is already mentally exhausting.” Ahna says the balance is more difficult for her because she can’t leave her work at work. Once arriving home, she has to manage the books and social media sites. Somewhere in there, though, she writes on a weekly mini blog, “Blessings from the Barn,” which includes facts about the farm as well as faithrelated subjects. Farm life isn’t slowing down anytime soon for the Fryes. They are planning to open their onsite store to sell pasture-raised meat and eggs, goat milk soap, goat milk lotion and apparel in early 2020 and want to host tours WORK-WORK-LIFE BALANCE as well. “It’s evolved from doing it for If you’ve been tallying up the animals on ourselves to now neighbors helping this farm tour of an article, you’ve no doubt neighbors. We’ve developed a really good noted that farming is no easy moonlighting relationship with all of our customers,” job. From around 3:30-5 p.m. the Fryes are Cam says. something that’s labeled organic, but you still don’t really know where it came from,” Cam says. But when it comes to their animals, they do—including the Saxony ducks and Cayuga ducks that lay a purplish black egg and a breed of American chinchilla rabbit (the name refers to the grayish, blackish, brownish coloring) used to help develop all the other domestic breeds of rabbits that exist today. “We only have a male right now but we’re searching for a female so we can repopulate that breed, which is our purpose with all our breeds but especially with him,” Ahna says.

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A.M.

PROFILE 2020

Coach Mike Chase helps show his team what to work on by diving into the drills himself.

CHASING GREATNESS

MIKE CHASE IS SETTING THE STAGE FOR SPAIN PARK HIGH SCHOOL’S GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM.

BY ALEC ETHEREDGE | PHOTOS BY DAWN HARRISON

The light of a computer monitor illuminates his face. Glasses propped on his forehead and eyes locked on the screen, Spain Park head girls basketball coach Mike Chase decodes game film for the third time following his team’s 49-45 loss to Madison Academy hours earlier. A day that started at 7 a.m. on Tuesday with the Jaguars’ early morning practice has now trickled into the wee hours of Wednesday. “It’s harder for me to overcome the losses,” he says. After finally calling it quits, the coach of 24 years drags himself home and into bed. Chase gets three hours of sleep before making his way back to the site of the previous night’s four-point loss for Spain Park’s next 7 a.m. practice. WAKEUP CALL Donning a blue hoodie, grey sweatpants and black sneakers, Chase crouches near the midcourt line to plug in the scoreboard operating machine. At 6:30 a.m., the sun has just risen and peeks through the glass doors above Spain Park’s gym. Chase is one of the first in the building ahead of his team’s practice. Despite the lack of sleep, he’s got his glasses back up on his forehead. He’s alert and on the tips of his toes pacing back-and-

forth as he explains his morning. Admittedly, he says six hours is about the best he can get sleep wise. “It all depends on if we win or lose,” he says before letting out a chuckle knowing what had just happened against Madison Academy. Having lived and breathed basketball his entire life, the sport revitalizes Chase more than anything. Drawing up practice plans and game plans for games that won’t take place until January so that his team is prepared for every team and every situation isn’t just his job, but his passion. “I’ve coached every team my kids have ever been on, I coach AAU and this is my 24th varsity team this year,” he says. “It’s all been different, and I think I’m getting softer the older I get. But I have high expectations for myself and my players. Right now, my players have trust in me, so it’s easy and I love it. I’ve found my niche and I’m not giving that up.” His appetite to be the best for his team shows in his preparation. Chase doesn’t go into practice with a blind eye, he goes into it with a plan because of his preparation and film study into the wee hours of the morning when his team needs improvement. Looking back over the film a day after he originally was stuck in his office until 1:30 a.m., Chase pulls it back up and sets the offensive plays to roll through. “Let’s take a look at our first offensive possession against

Madison Academy,” he says. After fast forwarding, he sees the first mistake, “Look, right there, do you see that?” he asks before explaining a play where star senior Sarah Ashlee Barker missed a proper read. “SA is a four-year starter. She’s going to the University of Georgia and is one of the best high school players around, but this is her first year running the point as the primary ball-handler,” Chase says. “When she’s bringing the ball up the floor, we’re trying to get her to read the defense and know her reads before it even happens.” He explains the proper read, and before the clip of the first offensive possession of the game is done, he finds two more mistakes that need to be fixed. It’s going to be an intense practice. Just before it starts, Chase wheels out a ball cage full of Wilson Wave basketballs and stops it at midcourt right next to the scoreboard operating machine he had just set up. “The clock is set for 15 minutes, they’ll keep an eye on that and every one of them will be down ready to go before then,” he says. TALKIN’ BOUT PRACTICE As the clock dips inside of five minutes and the time nears 7 a.m., players start filing down the stairs at the far end of the court and

PROFILE 2020

COLLEGIATE PLAYERS CHASE HAS COACHED SPAIN PARK COLBY RYAN Saint Leo University DENISE NEWTON Shorter University VICTORIA BALDWIN Lander University KEYASHA GORDON Wallace State Community College JAMAIYA LEE Auburn University Montgomery ELIZABETH PHILPOT Earlham College CLAIRE HOLT University of Richmond BARRETT HERRING University of South Carolina Upstate SARAH ASHLEE BARKER University of Georgia

PALMETTO HIGH SCHOOL (FLORIDA) KATRINA ROSS Auburn University SHEILA JAMES University of Miami

CLAY-CHALKVILLE HIGH SCHOOL AMIE CAHILL Rhodes College COURTNEY SHIELDS University of Montevallo MARGO ROSE University of Mobile MARIA GRIMES Columbus State University JASMINE BOTHWELL Centenary University MORGAN BROOKER Southern Union State CC SIERA DORITY Stillman College LAUREN BAXTER Snead State Community College EMILY LANDERS Snead State Community College CYLENTHIA KENNON University of South Alabama ALEX STRICKLAND University of Montevallo

Chase cracks a smile after a practice full of getting the most out of his team.

through the double doors leading onto the court. Each walks over to the ball cage to grab one of the balls and get a few shots in before the rigorous practice begins. Barker, who was injured with cramps in the opener a week earlier, says the earlymorning practices aren’t bad. “I love it!” she says. “It’s tough at first, but once you get used to it, it’s so much better.” But on this specific day, coming off a loss, it won’t be a fun, cheery practice. It will be one that sees Chase on his team throughout and the players trying to fix mistakes. Right off the bat at 7:05 a.m., Chase jumps right in with a drill in which he squat into defensive position to show his players how to dribble with a more physical edge without turning the ball over. Now pacing back and forth across the giant SP logo on the middle of the court, the team shifts into a drill that brings three groups of three players together to try to make the most 3-pointers in a competition. The goal is to help the team get in a rhythm after struggling to hit threes in their previous outing. But once they transfer into a different instruction with three defenders and three offensive players around the arc, the Jags get no more than three passes before trying to find an open shot. Throughout the 15 minutes of doing that, only one three is made. “I need 55 points a game,” Chase says bluntly. “I need 25 from (Sara Ashlee), I need 20 from the rest of my guards and I need 10 from my post players. We have to make shots under pressure. You can’t win if you don’t

make shots. Your energy today, honestly, isn’t very good. We have someone here watching our practice today, and if I were him, I’d say y’all are practicing like crap.” From that point forward, Chase hammers away at the team for rest of the practice, harping on what to do in different screen situations, getting offensive rebounds, having shots blocked, lack of effort and playing to the level of competition. While Barker starts to be more vocal as a mediator the rest of practice, she too is getting frustrated. At one point, Chase can’t handle what he is seeing when his varsity team was scrimmaging against the junior varsity team. Squatting down between the 3-point line and the SP logo, Chase has his head in his hands as he shakes back and forth. “Stop, stop, stop!” he says. “You guys are playing to the level of your competition right now. There is a reason we are sucking right now and it’s because you can’t, no offense JV, even put the ball in the basket against the JV team.” The rest of practice, his team shows some urgency and starts to find a rhythm. Chase will note this afterward, but he isn’t going to pass up the opportunity to ride them and give them some adversity to face. “You got to see them at their worst today,” Chase says after practice. “It wasn’t as good as it needed to be. Once we started struggling a little bit, we couldn’t get out of our own way. They got a little better near the end, but today was a good chance for them to face adversity. In tough practices like today, we only have one senior leader in SA, and it’s

easy for her to get frustrated sometimes. So these days are a good chance for everyone to learn.” And the only reason Chase feels comfortable enough to use the choice words he uses and to not be relentless with them is because the trust his players have in him and the trust he has in them. “I can coach them that way because they trust me,” Chase says. “Used to, I couldn’t get on them. I couldn’t teach them. But with this group, I get to coach because they handle it the right way and the parents trust me with their kids. Everyone knows if I get on them, it’s not on one specific player, it’s the entire group.” And while he’s hard on his players on the court, he describes it as business. Off the court, however, he likes to say “contrary to popular belief, I think I’m a pretty fun guy to be around.”

Star senior Sarah Ashlee Barker gets a pointer from her head coach.

A DAD ON AND OFF THE COURT Camille Chase sits crouched down at the free throw line of one of the side goals in Spain Park’s gymnasium looking on as her dad barks out orders to her teammates. At one point, her dad looks over after hopping up to explain a missed opportunity off a spring by another guard. “Isn’t that right Camille?” he asks. Camille looks back, nods her head eagerly. “Yes sir!” she replies. As the daughter of the head coach and a sophomore on the team, Chase is in an unusual role, but one she takes advantage of as a starting guard for the Jaguars. Born when her dad was 35 years old, she is now 15 and has been both parented and coached by her father for close to that same amount of time. “I’ve never really experienced any other type of style,” Camille says. “I know what his

expectations are, I know how he’s going to coach, I know what he’s going to say when he’s yelling at us and when I see something on the court, I know exactly how he is going to react. I want to say I should predict what I should do, but I’m not quite there yet.” But Camille cherishes that relationship. With a smile on her face despite sitting out practice, she turns to her dad with a smile. “I think we’re closer because of that,” she says. “It’s a part of our relationship. Him coaching me and being a dad to me are two different things.” Chase admitted he used to not separate his job from his home life very well, but with Camille and his son Parker, who is in eighth grade, he’s done a better job of leaving basketball talk to when he is at work for the

most part. “I try not to ride them too hard after a game in the car or when we get home,” Chase says. “Everybody else, they get in the car and they go home away from me. We’re going to make corrections and do stuff the next day, so I just wait until then.” But that doesn’t stop him from being just as hard or harder on her. The third of the mistakes on that first offensive possession in the film from the Madison Academy game was one from Camille. And that next morning at practice, that mistake is turned into relentless work and that relentless work every morning turns into success in each game, making Chase one of the best at getting the most out of his team each of his 24 years as a head coach.

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DOUBLE

DUTY

CARNELL BUFORD’S FOCUS IS ALWAYS ON PROTECTING BOTH MT LAUREL STUDENTS AND HIS COUNTRY.

BY ALEC ETHEREDGE | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY

Deputy Carnell Buford slips on his neon yellow vest as he steps out of his patrol car on a crisp fall morning with a backdrop of vibrant red and yellow trees. He then turns toward the stacked stone entrance to Mt Laurel Elementary School ahead of the rush of students about to show up for the 8 a.m. start to school. “Good morning,” Buford says, eyeballing a strange man he has never seen before. “I’m Officer Buford,” he continues before taking his bright orange glove off to shake hands. “Let me get the kids in safely and I’ll meet you inside.” Buford then turns his attention to the mass of cars growing between the entrance of the school and the parking lot as parents drop off students for the school day. Sandwiched between two lines of vehicles, he and a few of the teachers from the school direct traffic. The officer makes it a point to smile and

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wave at each car that drives by, but he also bears an intent look of focus for anything suspicious. Six years into the job, he certainly knows what to watch for. As the cars come to a stop, he blows his whistle, and the mad dash to the front door commences. As more and more cars pull into the school’s turnaround, excitement to see Buford builds. Some students wave enthusiastically from the backseat, while others immediately wrap their arms around him for a hug when they step out. He also shares a few hugs and laughs with the

parents, who then thank him before driving off and leaving their trust in the school resource officer’s hands. Buford continues to engage with the arriving students, and even walks a few down the stacked stone walkway leading up to the entrance of the castle-like school. As he

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Mt Laurel Elementary School Resource Officer Carnell Buford takes his job of protecting students seriously, while he also is a member of the United States Air Force. PROFILE 2020

WHAT STUDENTS SAY ABOUT THEIR SRO “You’re special because you help our country and we love you.” “You’re special because you’ve served so hard for all of us.” “You’re special because you help our country.” “You’re special because of what all you do for our country.” “You’re special because you help us every single day.”

Buford walks a group of kids to the front door, while carrying on a conversation.

engages in conversation, he hopes to start each person’s day off with a smile before leaving them with a high five. “When you’re face-to-face with them, you get a feel for how the morning is going for them,” Buford says. “Sometimes you can tell they’re having a tough morning, so I have an opportunity to try and brighten their day before it really even gets started.” A FAMILY ATMOSPHERE Buford holds a chocolate covered cricket in his palm. In front of him, the entire school looks on as he lifts the unique sweet to his mouth, tosses his head back and eats it. Screams of “ew” and laughter ensue as Buford holds up his end of the bargain for the students meeting their coin drive fundraiser goal. Reluctant at first, Buford could have pretended to eat it, but laughing through it all, he gained the confidence as the kids look up to him.

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That’s just one of many examples of Buford’s determination to make the kids smile and the school a happier place. He’s been slimed and taken pies to the face at other times—never one to turn down the opportunity to help the students have fun on his watch. “He’s a part of our family here,” says Mt Laurel Instructional Leader Sheila Alaniz. “This is his family. He interacts with all of the kids and loves them all. He wants them all to know that they can come to him and he tells them that.” Everything Buford does is to show his love for each specific person under his watch. “My third child has dwarfism and they always do a day where the students wear green,” says parent Kristen Peterson, who has had four kids come through the school. “He always makes sure to have on the bracelet to represent that. It just shows how much he cares and that these are his kids too.” But it’s also a two-way street. Anytime Buford needs the kids or the staff, they’re there

to support him as well. After his sister passed away a few years ago on her birthday—a moment that is still hard to talk about and brings emotions to his normally bright and cheery face—the school was there for him. “When I lost my sister, to see the support that came in from the parents and everybody in the school, I was just overwhelmed,” Buford says. “It got me through a tough time. To still be able to come here and them giving me hugs and letting me know everything is going to be alright, that created a lot of emotion, but it was special to my heart.” PROTECTING GOD’S PEOPLE As he winds down the hallways he’s protected for several years, Buford heads to the same gym he reported to a year earlier to eat a chocolate covered cricket. This time, on October 1, 2018, Buford thinks he is on his way to take care of an issue. Just back from a deployment to Kuwait with

the United States Air Force, Buford opens the door to a gym full of kids yelling and screaming with excitement as smiles beamed across the entire room. “All of the emotions hit me at once,” Buford says. “I had no clue that was coming. It honestly can be overwhelming to process that when you’re getting so much love from so many people” Buford, already happy to be back in a comfortable setting, was overcome with joy to see the faces of the kids and faculty he cared about so much. But the eight previous months weren’t easy. With a look of pain reminiscing about his time serving, Buford digs deep before he speaks: “I don’t really show emotions, but when I’m overseas it’s tough.” As he recalls the conversations he had with the staff when deployed and the letters he received from students, those emotions can’t help but overcome him. Every day Buford is deployed, he’s around 300-400 strangers and there is the unknown that each day could be his last. “Your guard is up extremely high for seven to eight months,” he says. “It’s tense. I’ve been in the military for 13 years and the unknown is always the most stressful part. Any given day, your life can change.” But Buford signed up for both the military and his post as a police officer because of his love for people and wanting to keep them safe. “Life is at the top of the list. Nothing can

replace life,” he says. “Here the kids and the faculty are the asset when I’m on the civilian law enforcement side. During my military time, the asset is every person beside you and the country and military we are fighting for.” Seeing the horrors of the military and also spending hours on end inside pf a school, Buford knows that every kid can be going through a difficult time. Some “just need that

one person that will listen to them,” he says. He makes a point to make the students and parents feel comfortable so they’ll trust him, not just to confide in him or make his day with a hug, but in case that day does come where he has to jump into action to protect the school he loves. “After all,” he says, “what better job to have on this earth than protecting God’s people?”

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W.J. Posey was baptized by P.E. Kidd when he was 6 years old, in Spring Creek near Vincent, and he says he was first called to minister just a few years later not far away.

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AN IMMERSIVE

FAITH

W.J. POSEY’S LIFE STORY HAS BEEN TIED TO COOSA VALLEY BAPTIST CHURCH FOR MORE THAN FOUR DECADES.

BY STEPHEN DAWKINS | PHOTOS BY JEREMY RAINES

Each Sunday the routine is the same for Pastor W.J. Posey. The 80-year-old arrives at Coosa Valley Baptist Church in Vincent about 9 a.m. The before Sunday School at 9:30 and the worship service at 10:45 , just as he has done for the last 43 years. Though he has brought more messages from the pulpit than he can remember, the services at the small, rural church still mean much to him. It’s a chance for people to refresh themselves spiritually, to put aside or seek help with the week’s worries, to sing and to hear God’s word. Sundays are a time of fellowship at Coosa Valley Baptist Church. For most people, it’s the only time each week they spend physically at the church, perhaps other than Wednesday night Bible study. Posey, of course, is more involved. He stops in every so often to check on things, and more frequently if a project is going on that requires his attention, such as one of the church’s many renovations and additions during his tenure. But Posey’s faith is even more immersive. In fact, it’s all-encompassing. “There’s not really anything I do other than church,” he says. “People ask me why I don’t do this or that. I don’t have time to do that. I spend time studying (for messages I will deliver), but that’s about it.” And his story has tied to the land, and waters, around the church his whole life too. Posey was baptized by P.E. Kidd when he was 6-years-old, in Spring Creek near Vincent.

Baltimore, helped connect him with the community. Posey also worked at a textile mill and drove a taxicab while in Baltimore. Later, Bishop Leo K. Caesar of the First Mt. Olive Freewill Baptist Church established a Second Mt. Olive church and installed Posey as pastor. Posey left the Starlights after about five years but continued his work as pastor. Meanwhile the pastor who baptized him had been serving at Coosa Valley Baptist Church for about 39 years while he also pastored Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Pell City, where a young Posey attended with his mother and where he is still a member. “The members of this church don’t know no other pastors,” Posey says about his and Kidd’s long tenures. “I must have been a pretty good fellow for them to keep me around this long.” Posey returned home in 1976 to care for his ailing mother without a plan for where he would work. “I didn’t know what I was going to do when I came back,” he says. The folks in Baltimore wanted him to stay, but Posey knew what he had to do. “I said, ‘There’s a lot of pastors in Baltimore, but I’ve only got one mama.’” His tenure at Coosa Valley began on the third Sunday in April, and in less than a year, RETURNING HOME he had been hired at a second church, Posey’s formal ministry began in 1968, Wilsonville First Baptist, though he would when he stepped out on faith and moved to later give up that church so he could focus on Baltimore, Maryland. It was his first time Coosa Valley. Posey has become a patriarch away from his Pell City home, but church and of sorts for pastors in the area, and he can a gospel singing group, the Starlights of attribute at least some of his effectiveness He notes that subsequent baptisms have been conducted on the east side of the Alabama 231 bridge over Spring Creek, but he was dipped under the water on the west side of the highway, closer to where the creek feeds into the Coosa River. He says he was first called to minister just a few years later not far away. As a 9-yearold, he was outside playing with siblings and friends when he sat down on the side of a dirt road, on the root of a tree where the soil underneath had been washed away. “All of a sudden, everything in my view changed,” Posey says, gesturing his hands out before him. “I had never seen anything like it. I ran and told my mama that something had happened. She said, ‘The Lord wants you to be a good boy.’ From that day on up to now, my life has changed.” Posey considers his life-changing experience more important than any degree. “I think every preacher ought to have some kind of testimony,” he says. “I went to school for a little while when I was in Baltimore, but I didn’t finish because I had to leave. School doesn’t make you; the Lord has to make you.”

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“I RAN AND TOLD MY MAMA THAT SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED. SHE SAID, ‘THE LORD WANTS YOU TO BE A GOOD BOY.’ FROM THAT DAY ON UP TO NOW, MY LIFE HAS CHANGED.” -W.J. POSEY and longevity to his support system, including the late Mary Ellen Kidd, who current church member Bridgette Jordan Smith remembers as “the epitome of a Southern lady.” “She was the kind of person that did everything at the church—a lot of stuff that people didn’t know of,” Jordan Smith says. One thing people did know about was Kidd’s role as director of the annual Easter program. “She would give you your lines, and you better know every word of it,” Jordan Smith says with a laugh. “She was tough, but she taught us a lot.” Jordan Smith grew up at Coosa Valley. Her great-grandfather, Nash Hardey, was chairman of the church’s deacons, and she had the unenviable task of replacing Kidd when she passed in the late 1990s. As church secretary, she keeps Posey’s calendar, maintains financial records, distributes announcements—and has had a first-row

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seat to witness Posey’s time leading the church. “He’s a God-fearing pastor,” she says. “He has so much knowledge and wisdom. You can sit down and talk with him, and the conversation will always end up in the Bible. He always has a word for you.” NO PLACE LIKE HIS CHURCH HOME Over the years Posey has seen his congregation age—and pass away. “There’s been a lot of funerals,” Posey says. “That’s what really gets to a pastor is doing funerals.” And though church attendance is about half of the 300 people who regularly showed up when he started at Coosa Valley, the church has grown in other ways through the years. The original church building was constructed in 1907, but a major addition and renovation project was completed in 1989. The existing building received new benches, new stained glass windows and a new sound system. New construction included Sunday School rooms, a pastor’s study and a dining area with kitchen. Also, at the front of the building, a new covered entrance was built with a wide wheelchair ramp that is conducive to hosting funerals. It’s in that study that Posey spends his last few moments of quiet time before church officially begins on a Sunday morning. Once he’s comfortable with the message he will deliver to the congregation, Posey selects the appropriate robe from the closet and shuts off the light of the study as he walks out. After 43 years, there is certainly a routine, but he doesn’t see it that way. For Posey, it’s another opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives.

In SCHOLARSHIPS offered to the Class of 2019

GIVING

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HEARTS BY BRIANA H. WILSON | PHOTOS BY DAWN HARRISON AND MARY FEHR

FOR BERNICE GRIFFITH, GLORIA HUDSON AND CALVIN GUNN, GIVING BACK TO THEIR COMMUNITIES HAS BECOME A WAY OF LIFE. EACH OF THESE RETIREES ARE DIFFERENT, YET THEY HAVE ALL FOUND WAYS TO LEVERAGE THEIR STRENGTHS TO SERVE THOSE AROUND THEM.

THE SERVANT LEADER Calvin Gunn is usually out the door by 10 on most mornings and headed to his first meeting of the day to brainstorm ways to fundraise for various charities. Since he retired from AT&T in 2018 as a manager of finance and accounting, he’s thought of as the ideal person to have on a team charged with raising money for a cause. “I’ve never been afraid of a no,” he says. Over the years he has leant his time to organizations that serve kids, because often times children don’t have a lot of control over the things that happen in their lives. That explains why he sat on the boards of directors for Family Connection and Pelham Parks and Recreation for more than two decades. Now he serves the area’s youth on the YMCA’s board of directors and can also be found working behind the scenes with Leadership Shelby County and its alumni association. Getting involved and helping whenever he can comes natural to him, so much so that his nickname growing up was “Brother.” The eighth of 13 children, he was always the brother that others could rely on. “For whatever reason, I was always tapped to do something, whether it was go take the credit for this or go take the blame for that,” he says with a chuckle. Whatever he does, Gunn tries to live his life according to one of his favorite verses in the Bible, Matthew 20:8: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” Gunn’s leadership style means that most people may not realize the extent to which her serves his community. Most times he’s

Calvin Gunn uses his career experience in finance to help raise money for organizations that help local youth. the person organizing and delegating duties for golf tournaments that raise thousands of dollars for nonprofits, but he prefers to stay out of the spotlight. He’ll often call on someone else to carry out the

event. “If I can, I always want to be a servant,” he says. “I don’t want all the credit or the accolades. I just want to do it and make things better for those coming up behind me.”

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A HELPFUL NEIGHBOR Life as a retiree has its perks. For 69-year-old Bernice Griffith, that means she’s often sitting at a table at the Calera Senior Center by 10 a.m. putting together a puzzle or playing a word game. As she took a break from her puzzle to sit down for an interview one afternoon in November, everyone stopped to speak to her as they entered or exited the building. It’s easy to see that she’s the life of any party. Dressed in an embellished denim outfit and wearing intricate rings and jewelry, some of which she made herself, Griffith struggled to understand why anyone would be interested in talking to her about her life. You see, she doesn’t view her actions to help others as anything extraordinary. Since retiring as an insurance clerk at USAA in 2003, she has focused on doing things that make her happy and helping others. This way of living was instilled in her at a young age by her now 90-year-old mother who is still an avid volunteer. “She’s still up and running and thriving,” Griffith says. As a little girl, Griffith can recall wrapping some of her own Christmas gifts with her mother and giving them to two neighborhood children who otherwise wouldn’t have gotten Christmas presents that year. “Helping people is something we’ve always done,” says Griffith. “I don’t even think about it, really. When people say they need help, I just do it.” And these days Griffith has been doing a lot. Whether it’s making jewelry and replacing watch batteries for area seniors or just spending the day with someone so that they’re not lonely, she is the person people call for needs big and small. She transports her friends to and from doctor appointments and the grocery store, and picks up her grandkids and other people’s children after school and babysits them until their parents get off work. Through her church, New Mt. Moriah, the deaconess helps prepare 1,200 food bags to be distributed to families in need throughout the county. Griffith expresses her creative side by crocheting, knitting and making special occasion cards. Her quilts are often donated to area hospitals as gifts for newborn babies. She also enjoys making cards for others for their anniversaries, birthdays, baby showers, graduations and weddings. “I do it for me, they just get lucky enough to benefit,” she says with a chuckle. “But honestly, most of these people are my friends, or over time they become my friends, so I just do what I can out of kindness.”

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Bernice Griffith spends a lot of her time helping others. Whether it’s taking someone to a doctor’s appointment or babysitting their child after school, she’s always willing to lend a hand.

THE DANCING QUEEN AND KING At 10 a.m., Gloria Hudson’s day is usually just getting started. On days when it’s not too cold, she likes to sit in a patio chair and spend some time in her relaxing backyard that overlooks Buck Creek. The space is great for kicking up her feet and unwinding after a night spent dancing. Hudson’s quiet mornings are balanced by her lively nights with her husband, Dick Paxton. At 97 and 93 respectively, Hudson and Paxton spend every Monday night at senior dances held in Vestavia Hills, and for the past 13 years, she has volunteered her time to organize dances at the Pelham Senior Center that feature classic southern fare from

Gloria Hudson and Dick Paxton have been dance partners for the last 14 years.

Dale’s Southern Grill in Hoover and musical selections by Chuck King and the Swing Kings. After dinner, the rest of the evening is spent swing dancing and jiving. “They have a beautiful dance floor. We use real dishes and silverware, and we have the best band around,” she says. In fact, Pelham Senior Center dances are so popular that tickets always sell out. For Gloria, dancing has always been something that brought her joy. She recalls that her parents loved to dance, so she picked it up from them and has been dancing all of her life. About four years after the death of her first husband in the early 2000s, she

found herself in a line dancing class looking for a little joy. It just so happened that Paxton was in her class, and he was also widowed and in search of a way to stay active and busy. “We started line dancing together, then going ballroom dancing and going to all of these others dances,” Hudson says. At 82 and 78, Gloria and Dick got married. “We met in April and got married in December,” Hudson says. “I didn’t ever want to get married again and I’m not sure he did, but we did and we’ve been married 14 years. We have lots of fun.” As Paxton points out, “at a certain age, you can’t put things off. If you’re going to do it, you just have to do it.”

THEIR BEST

CHANCE

FOR JUVENILE JUDGE JIM KRAMER, IT’S ALL ABOUT HELPING CHILDREN GET THE CARE THEY SHOULD.

BY ALEC ETHEREDGE | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY

Cloaked in a black robe with his glasses on the bridge of his nose, Juvenile Court Judge Jim Kramer sits behind a mahogany desk on the judge’s bench sifting through docket after docket. “That’s two of the first three that are going home with their parents,” he pronounces. Kramer looks back down at the remainder of the dockets, and continues examining each one carefully, while also carrying on light conversation with attorneys in the courtroom representing clients. After sending each attorney on their way just after 11 a.m., Kramer looks up. “We closed 12 of 14 cases this morning, a very unusual morning,” he says. But as he utters those words with delight, his eyes show the disappointment of the two that were unable to be closed. Sadly, most days, that’s reality as Kramer has to make the stressful decision of a juvenile returning to the home of a parent or not, and that’s just one of many difficult decisions he has to make as Shelby County’s juvenile court judge. A JUDGE WHO CARES Sitting in his office chair, Kramer reclines back surrounded by University of Alabama memorabilia, and sifts through a pack of cards bearing the words “Happy Birthday” in cursive writing in a cheery purple. “I fill these out for foster kids and send the cards to them on their birthday just to remind them that I care about them and how they are doing,” he explains. “Each card says ‘thinking of you’ on it,” he adds. “On the back, it says, ‘People say

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it’s the best time of your life being young,’ but I make sure to let them know that it’s not and it will get better.” Kramer wants to make sure these kids know they are loved even as they have been displaced from their homes because of parents who couldn’t care for them for a variety of reasons, including crime and drugs. DHR shares a list of foster kids and their birthdays with him each month, and he takes it from there. Reminiscing about the cards he has filled out over the years, Kramer also recalls his reason for wanting to become a juvenile judge. “One of the first cases I ever took when I first started practicing law was a juvenile dependent case,” Kramer says. “That one went all the way through the termination of parental rights, and I was a part of that case from the very start. I

basically knew that was the area I wanted to practice in at that point.” He pauses as emotions from that day 35 years ago resurface before he continues. “We’re not trying to lock them up or put them away, we’re trying to train the child to do right,” Kramer says. “I hate when people refer to the criminal laws as they apply to juveniles. The juvenile is never convicted of any offense. They are found to be a delinquent child. That’s the offense. We want them to get a second chance to do right.” THEIR BEST CHANCE As Kramer sets the birthday cards back down on his desk under his computer, he starts to explain his daily routine and determining whether a parent gets to keep

Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge Jim Kramer has a stressful job of presiding over cases involving youth and their parents, but giving children their best shot to succeed continues to drive him. OPPOSITE: Kramer is known for wearing eccentric ties when meeting with kids for Character in Action awards.

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Kramer keeps several letters and fond drawings in his office.

a child if they’ve messed up and how to find a safe place for a child who has been abused or neglected. Some of the hardest days for Kramer involve dependency cases where he decides whether a child will be allowed back in the care of the parents or whether to place them with another relative or in foster care. And, as Kramer says, it’s not just the decision of possibly tearing a family apart that’s always the toughest part; it’s seeing parents not care. “Parents have a responsibility to do their part,” Kramer says. “I had a truancy case recently where the parent wanted to make it all about the child. I had to keep cutting her off and tell her we weren’t focusing on the child, but her. It was a younger child that had to rely on the mother.” And with dependency cases as two-thirds of Kramer’s docket, he sees parents that aren’t fit to take care of children every week. “I was doing a termination of parental rights case one time, and there are people that are going to be affected not paying attention to what I’m saying because they’re on their phones texting,” Kramer says. “I’m deciding whether or not they’ll get to keep their child, and they aren’t even paying attention to what is being said. “It’s frustrating when you know you can get a good result if one person would just do a

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little more, but they just can’t get there. It’s never easy, but I think particularly for the drug users, it’s hard for them to give it up. I truly believe it’s harder to give up the drug than their kid sometimes.” For Kramer, that’s a hard reality, but he is proud of his staff and Shelby County for taking the initiative to place kids in the proper care. “Every county has children that are abused and neglected, and we are identifying those so we can do better for the children,” he says. “I had a judge from Hale County tell me several years ago they only had one child in foster care. He said, ‘That scares me to death,’ because in Hale County, he knows there are children that are abused and neglected and nobody is looking at them.” That’s one of the main reasons Kramer says he got involved in juvenile court after deliberating his future choices 36 years ago. “We want to make sure the kids are getting what they are supposed to be getting,” Kramer says. “Whether that’s care or instruction. If everybody does their part, then the system will work.” UNDERSTAND RIGHT FROM WRONG With the light shining through the pane of his office window, a ray of sunshine hits one of many letters that surround Kramer on his

Kramer stands with a group of Character in Action award winners.

bookshelf in his old office. The letters haven’t made the move to his new office yet, but the sentimental value still holds true. “I basically get a letter every time I have a delinquent docket from a kid in detention that says, ‘I learned my lessons and I want to go home,’” Kramer says. “I address something from that letter to them in court so they know I’ve read it.” From the bench Kramer lets the child know he’s glad they are doing better, but also makes sure they know there are consequences and the punishment is for that consequence. “My main hope when I see them is that they understand what they did and that it was wrong,” Kramer says. “I don’t see that a lot in society today, particularly in the younger generations. That entitlement is like ‘If you don’t give it to me, I’m going to do this.’ A lot don’t realize they have to earn things.” Kramer says video games, virtual reality, social media and cell phones are the number one problem right now because of what they do to form the mind. All of those platforms give a false sense of what life is actually like. “I see domestic violence cases with kids actually fighting parents, one because they see that from their parents a lot of time, but the number one starter of any argument in the home right now between kids and parents is when their cell phone is taken away. They can’t live without it and have that technology in their hands from a young age. It’s dangerous.” The first time he sees a juvenile on an alcohol- or drug-related charge, he gives them a deferred prosecution, which requires six months of supervision by a probation officer and several classes that help with building character and teaching the dangers of drugs and alcohol. If the juvenile completes that, the case is dropped. If it happens a second time, they get put on the docket and come before the court, where

the option of a consent decree is put on the table. Again, at the end of six months, they will have the ability to have the case if they do what is asked of them. At that point if they violate, probation becomes the next step, but the last resort is the Department of Youth Services, which can serve as a boot camp or a general juvenile facility. “It’s our nature to want to help them,” says Chief Probate Officer LeAnn Rigney. “We see kids all the time that may break the law, but a lot of times when you peel that back and look at why, it’s because there’s something broken that needs to be resolved.” Watching so many struggle with doing wrong, Kramer decided to be proactive—one of his favorite parts of the job—by bringing the Character in Action awards to Shelby County. The awards honor one student from each school in every school district in the county that have displayed respect, courage, responsibility and kindness throughout the year. Standing with a select group of children, Kramer looks at each in the eye and tells them how much he appreciates the good they are doing before shaking their hands and taking a picture in a moment of happiness for all of them. “I love it!” Kramer says. “It gives me the ability to see that there are kids doing great things on their own. They’re voluntarily doing Special Olympics or they’re working with underprivileged children or they go to special needs classes and care for those kids. That’s what society needs. I get to see those making good decisions. “I like to try and let them know I appreciate that. I see a lot of kids that have done wrong, so I want to reward those that are stepping up to do good and make their community and school a better place to be.”

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NOON

The drive-thru is an integral part of Chick-filAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business, especially during the busy lunch rush hour where U.S. 280 commuters need to quickly grab a bite to eat. OPPOSITE: Mark Meadows has been the owner and operator of the Inverness Chick-fil-A for more than 30 years where he helps keep the restaurant running smoothly by acting in a variety of roles. 64

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OUR

PLEASURE SHELBY COUNTY’S FIRST CHICK-FIL-A IS NO LESS BUSY, OR WELL ORDERED, AT LUNCH TODAY THAN AT ITS START.

BY GRAHAM BROOKS | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY

Mark Meadows wears a number of different hats as the saying goes, but on this particular day, he’s traded in his business casual attire for a bright yellow traffic safety vest. But he’s not a public safety officer or a construction worker. He happens to be the owner and operator of the Inverness Chickfil-A located along U.S. 280 in North Shelby County, and he is gearing up to help direct parking lot traffic during the lunch rush. On the day before Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, 2019, Meadows transitions from the inside of the restaurant to the outside, where a line of cars, trucks and SUVs begin to fill both lanes of the drive-thru as the peak lunch rush hour arrives at 12 p.m. “This is arguably one of the busiest days of the year for us because people are traveling and nobody is cooking because they’re all cooking tomorrow so there’s just a lot of right things going on,” Meadows says. “School being out also makes a huge impact.” For 30 years, he has been the owner and operator of a franchise that is near and dear to the hearts–and stomachs–of those who live, work or even travel through Shelby County. While he tracks profits and oversees the overall success of the restaurant, he also directs traffic, buses tables, grabs refills and more. For Meadows, this is how things work

at Chick-fil-A. “What makes Chick-fil-A different is they are individually owned and operated,” Meadows says. “When Truett Cathy started Chick-fil-A, he wanted someone that wanted to be in business for themselves, but not by themselves and their income is based on the performance of the store. The secret and the difference in Chick-fil-A is me—not so much

me personally, but the operator itself and the concept that Cathy had with the owneroperator deal.” The Inverness Chick-fil-A restaurant just past Grandview Medical Center was actually the first Chick-fil-A restaurant to come to Shelby County 30 years ago. Not only that, but it was also the first freestanding Chickfil-A outside of Georgia and the second one outside of Atlanta. Flash forward to present day, and Chickfil-A is on many more corners of Shelby County, with future locations on the way in places like Helena, and there’s no slowing down in the foreseeable future. “The craziest thing is just how the overall volume of the business in not only this Chickfil-A but all of them across the board have grown significantly in the last 30 years,” Meadows says. “You go back 30 years, and I think there were around 12 free standing units and several hundred mall stores. But now, it’s changed, and there’s not very many mall stores and there’s 2,000 plus freestanding units.” While online ordering and mobile ordering have helped Meadows and his team keep up with the high demand that comes with a noon lunch rush, the success of the restaurant ultimately boils down to the people, he says.

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“AS FAR AS PREPARING FOR THE LUNCH RUSH, ONE OF THE BIGGEST PARTS IS JUST MAKING SURE WE HAVE ALL OUR BEST PEOPLE IN THEIR BEST PLACES AND WORKING WHERE THEY WORK THE BEST.”

says. “We shift people around so it’s not so crowded in some key areas.” One of the ways she shifts employees around is by placing them both inside and outside the restaurant doing a variety of tasks. “We have people working the drivethru from the back of the restaurant during lunch instead of the actual drive-thru so we can keep down the congestion and the amount of people up front,” Pitt says. Pitt helps assign certain tasks to employees, so together Chick-fil-A’s team can achieve the ultimate goal of satisfying its customers. “We have someone who is just dedicated to the dining room during lunchtime to keep things flowing and clean, someone is outside directing traffic during lunch, and we have a manager who’s dedicated just to watch an overall view. It’s called being on the wall. They just watch and help people to keep -AUDREY PITT things moving.” Depending on the day of the week, there One of those people happens to be his could be anywhere between 23-26 employees right-hand man, or woman in this case. who work the lunch rush. Surprisingly, Audrey Pitt serves as the catering director, Meadows says for his employees that time is one of the marketing directors and an office more laid back, similar to a game for a manager, and she’s been at the Inverness football team compared to the actual Chick-fil-A for the last 15 years. As customers practices. “Arguably the easiest hour of the day is begin to flock into the store in droves and vehicles wrap around the restaurant as noon 12-1 p.m. and I’ll tell you why, it’s because we approaches, Pitt readies her team to make have one focus,” Meadows says. “Before that, we’ve got like 10 things going on because we things run smoothly. “As far as preparing for the lunch rush, one have people going on break, people coming in of the biggest parts is just making sure we and there’s just a lot of moving parts. From have all our best people in their best places 12-1 though, this is it because we know we’re and working where they work the best,” Pitt going to be busy and we’re focused on

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Employees at Chick-fil-A are hard at work filling customers orders at the restaurant located along U.S. 280 in North Shelby County.

handling it.” Why do customers love Chick-fil-A so much? Meadows says it’s a number of things, including the customer service and the food— which still appeals to him all these years later so much that when he leaves town for several days, the first thing he wants is a Chick-fil-A sandwich and sweet tea. At any Chick-fil-A, it’s almost rare to go without hearing an employee utter the two words “my pleasure” when dining in or swinging through the drive thru, and this further illustrates why top-notch customer service is on point with the quality of the food at each restaurant. “The food is good and if the food were not good then the customer service and values wouldn’t matter,” Meadows says. “This is a restaurant and people come here to eat and they come here because the food is good. If we had great customer service and values but the food wasn’t good then it wouldn’t do us any good.” After moving to the top as a fan-favorite for food in Shelby County the last 30 years, the Inverness Chick-fil-A should no doubt continue to fuel the people that make Shelby County one of the top places in the state. In the last 15 years, Pitt says one of the biggest changes she’s seen at Chick-fil-A has been the complexity of the menu. Despite these certain changes or tweaks, the restaurant has not wavered from its core values of customer service, food quality and closing on Sundays. And that’s what it plans to do for decades to come.

A BRIGHT

LIGHT

STEVIE MCGINNIS IS DOING MORE AT VINCENT MIDDLE HIGH SCHOOL THAN WHAT MEETS THE EYE.

BY EMILY SPARACINO | PHOTOS BY DAWN HARRISON

Vincent Middle High School would not be as bright without maintenance technician Stevie McGinnis. When a lightbulb burns out, he’s the person on the ladder replacing it with a new one. He’s also the one cutting the grass on summer evenings, and the one making sure the gym is ready for a home basketball game. He can fix almost anything, and he’s known for that talent (and for his ribs and nine-cheese potato casserole, but more on that later). His knack for keeping things working around the school—and literally keeping the lights on—isn’t why staff members and students admire him the most, though. It’s his infectious laugh, warmth and compassion that truly make the hallways of VMHS so bright, new lightbulbs or not. McGinnis, 64, maintains the school building and grounds with as much care as he would his own home. Then again, the school is like a second home for him. He knows his alma mater now as well as he knows the web of roads spun through Harpersville, where his family’s roots trace back to the 1850s. McGinnis was a child when the desegregation of schools in the

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1960s brought all students together into one elementary school, Vincent Elementary. After graduating from Vincent High in 1973, he joined the U.S. Air Force, and he later made his way back to Alabama, attended community college and became a welder. He went on to work at a shop in Vincent called Shelby Steel for about 27 years before the business closed its doors in 2004. That’s when McGinnis applied for and landed a job with the Shelby County Board of Education’s maintenance department in Columbiana. It was a natural fit for him. “I always tinkered and fixed on things all my life, he says. “Me and my dad used to do all that stuff.” McGinnis started out as a floater doing different jobs each day. Three months later, he accepted the position of maintenance technician at Valley Intermediate School, a role he enjoyed until a new opportunity arose at VMHS in January 2005. But in 2009, a major health setback stopped McGinnis in his tracks. He suffered a stroke while cutting the grass at the school and spent the next week at the hospital. As

he underwent rehabilitation at home, all he could focus on was returning to work. His doctor was surprised to hear him talk about work so soon after the stroke, but McGinnis was adamant he would return as soon as he could—which ended up being about seven months after the stroke. “I lost my mobility on my left side, but thank God, I’m pretty much back to my whole self now,” he says. “Coming to work is just like me coming to my own house. I guess I’m just programmed to get up and go to work every day.” It’s not just the work itself that gets McGinnis going in the mornings; it’s the prospect of seeing people he cares about and making a difference in their lives, even if that looks like changing a lightbulb or hanging blinds or cutting grass or solving a plumbing issue. He enjoys working with custodians Al Bradford, Margarita Datcher and Holly Horton to keep the school in good working order during the day. “If it’s something I can’t get to in the daytime, I’ll stay after,” McGinnis says. “If the coaches need me to help them do something, I don’t mind helping them for games.” McGinnis will lend a hand, no matter the issue, often

Stevie McGinnis works on one of the school’s overhead lights. It’s one of many tasks he completes every week at VMHS.

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MCGINNIS’S LIFE 1973 Joined the t U.S. Air Force

1974

u Returned to Alabama

1976 Started work at t Shelby Steel

2004 Started job u with Shelby County Schools Maintenance Department

2005 Accepted maintenance technician position at t Vincent Middle High School Vincent Middle High School Maintenance Technician Stevie McGinnis pauses his afternoon rounds to speak to Anna Claire Klingenbeck and Jenna Jiles.

without even being asked. Lucas Weatherford, head football coach at VMHS, had planned to cut the football field after practice one day. But during practice, he looked up to find McGinnis and his mower moving across the field. “After practice, I walked out and asked him what he was doing,” Weatherford says. “He said he heard me mention my son had a ball game that evening, and he was trying to help me get a head start so I could be finished in time to make it to his game.” This is just one of many examples of McGinnis putting others before himself, something Weatherford noticed shortly after coming to VMHS in May 2018. “From day one Mr. Steve has been there for me,” he says. “He always goes out of his way to help teachers and students. He has one of the most caring hearts of anyone I’ve ever been around.” Josh Burcham, a senior at VMHS, echoed these statements about McGinnis. “If you are having a bad day, that’s the man that can cheer you up just with a few jokes and a couple of laughs,” he says. “And the knowledge he’s got from just being a maintenance specialist is awesome. He’s always got something new to teach you. He’s just a great man and friend.”

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When he finally clocks out for the day, McGinnis often can be found at choir practice with fellow members of the Unity Male Chorus, a group of about 22 men from local churches who perform every few months to raise money and canned goods for people in need. He also sings with the men’s choir at his church, Evangel Temple Deliverance Center in Vincent, and he likes to cook in his spare time. McGinnis is wellknown for his smoked meats—particularly his Boston butts and ribs—and his potato casserole, a dish he touts for its nine different types of cheeses on top. Even when he’s off the clock, though, he offers to look at and try to fix people’s appliances. “If I can’t fix it, I know someone that can, or I tell them they need to get a new one,” he says, chuckling. McGinnis is fine with the extra calls. Like the ongoing maintenance requests that he fields at the school, these calls keep him moving, meeting people and doing what he loves to do. “It’s challenging some days, but it’s good for me,” he says. “It’s just good to have a job you really like and care about, and the people I work with make my job a whole lot easier. We say this is our house, and I want to make sure it’s taken care of.”

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County Manager Alex Dudchock delivers a State of the County address each year. 72

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PERSON THE YEAR

COUNTY

CHIEF

FOR NEARLY THREE DECADES ALEX DUDCHOCK HAS PAINTED A LONG-LASTING VISION FOR SHELBY COUNTY.

BY MADOLINE MARKHAM | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY AND KEVIN MCKEE

Mid-afternoon for Shelby County Manager Alex Dudchock generally looks like answering emails and looking at reports, but invite him into a meeting at that time and his hands and speech will escalate in animation. Even if, say, the purpose of your meeting is to ask him about his 26 years managing 808 square miles and more than 215,000 residents of the county, he won’t speak in first person. Instead, he’ll tell you about what the COUNTY has done and share stories of others, like recently when a building technician snaked a set of car keys out of the sewer system in the county services building after a woman flushed them down the toilet by accident. It’s moments like this, he says, that his dad and mom George and Betty would be proud to see—people going the extra mile when no one is watching to serve the citizens in Shelby County. But talk to anyone who has worked with Dudchock, and they’ll say that’s just what HE has done—and that his parents sure would be proud. FIRST IMPRESSIONS At 6-foot-3, the former Auburn defensive lineman makes a strong first impression as he speaks intensely about any project at hand, waving his hands as he articulates detail after detail. Dudchock’s energy level is high, and his personality is big. And so is his

heart—those around him say they see his heart in the way he interacts with anyone around him, and how he deals with difficulties. In their presence, and anyone’s presence for that matter, Dudchock is fully present, and genuinely wants to hear updates about their families too. For Chad Scroggins, former county chief development office and Dudchock’s replacement as county manager when he retires come March 31, it was Dudchock who made him even consider coming to work for Shelby County from working in consulting back in 2003. “I realized very quickly that Alex did not manage Shelby County like a stereotypical government office,” Scroggins says. “He managed it like a business.” And the other qualities he noticed first? Dudchock’s unrelenting energy, along with his desire to do what is right. Community Services Manager Reggie Holloway started his position with the county after retiring from the military in 1999, but the way Dudchock ran things was familiar. The county manager had a goal and objectives, and he expected you to meet them and gave you what you needed to get there. Along the way, Dudchock would notice the details of any project, all of them, and store them up in his memory. He’d likely bring them up a year later in a meeting, “so you had to make sure you knew what you were doing,” Holloway says. Likewise,

county department heads always had to be prepared for the moment when Dudchock would whirl his chair around in county commission meetings and gesture to one of them to ask them to share more information on the spot. Through it all, Dudchock made it his policy, and the county’s, to respond to any member of the public in 24 hours and preferably the same business day. “I love that direct contact with folks,” Dudchock says, “and everyone should know the importance of that even if the answer is no.” Sometimes that took him to unconventional places too—even underwater in the Coosa River in scuba gear (he’s a PADI-certified diver) to check an intake screen and weld at a plant before he signed off on it for Shelby County Water Services. County Commissioner Lindsey Allison says she has seen Dudchock riding tractors and digging ditches with highway department employees. Those who know him will tell you he truly thinks he’s no better than anyone else—and won’t expect anything of you that he’s not willing to do himself. Case in point: Harkening back to how his father-in-law, the department head of fisheries at Auburn University, taught him how to trap, Dudchock at one point trained staff in the county facilities department in the practice when structures were being inundated by beaver dams.

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COUNTY CAPITAL PROJECTS DURING ALEX DUDCHOCK’S TENURE AS COUNTY MANAGER n 1996 SportsFirst 1996 Fields Developed n 1996 Shelby West Corporate Park General Development Plan n 1998 County Services Building n 1998 Chilton-Shelby Mental Health Building / Health Department n 1998 Sheriff North Office n 1998 Regional Juvenile Detention Center n 1999 Heardmont Park Developed n 2000 Almont Park Additions n 2000 Fun Go Holler Park Developed n 2001 Historical Society/Original Courthouse n 2001 Regional Library and Museum n 2001 Gorman Park Developed n 2002 Animal Services Building n 2004 Sheriff’s Operation Center and Jail n 2005 Shelby County Airport Runway & Taxiway Extension n 2005 George W. Roy Recreational Park n 2006 County License Office Building Columbiana n 2006 Vandiver Park n 2006 Westover/Shelby Park Project n 2006 Hoover/Shelby Spain Park Projects n 2006 County-Inverness Corners License Office n 2006 Columbiana Sports Complex Columbiana n 2006 Wilsonville Park n 2007 National Computer Forensic Institute n 2007 Columbiana, Gorman/Coosa & Dogwood/West Shelby Storm Shelters n 2007 Chelsea Recreational Park Developed n 2007 Cahaba Lily Park Developed n 2008 Visitor’s Center at American Village n 2008 Cahaba River Park Additions n 2008 Montevallo Trail Connecting Orr Park to Downtown and the University of Montevallo to Stephens Park n 2008 Orr Park Montevallo Additions n 2009 American Village – Visitor’s Center & Tavern n 2009 Sterrett Community Park – Phase 1 n 2009 Buck Creek Trail Phase 1 n 2009 Montevallo Trail Phase 1 n 2010 Inverness Nature Park & Inverness Trailhead Improvements n 2010 Dunnavant Valley Trail Phase 1 n 2010 Helena Trail Phase 1 n 2011 Inverness Trail n 2013 Shelby County Airport – New Corporate Aircraft Hangar n 2017 Cahaba Wildlife Public Firing Range Complex n 2018 Cahaba River Park Trails and Trailhead 74

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Dudchock has worked with mayors like Hollie Cost on the county-city partnerships.

Also delving into the past, the Shelby County Dudchock started managing back in 1993 is a far cry from the Shelby County of today, and not just because of the growth in population numbers. At that time the county was bankrupt and had defaulted on a sewer bond of $21.5 million when a new governmental system with a county manager was adopted through state legislation. “Who would want to step into that mess?” Allison asked at the time when her tenure as county commissioner had just begun, but Dudchock, then a 29-year-old who had formerly served as the county’s personnel manager, came to mind. “Don Armstrong, a county commissioner at the time, said we needed to hire Dudchock, and he was the best hire we ever made,” Allison recalls. “We wanted someone new, high energy and innovative to get us out of this mess, and what he had exhibited under the other commission is he stood up to bad hires.” Today, 26 years later, Dudchock is “the most go-to person in the county for anything,” Allison says. “If you want to get the pulse of something, you run it to him first because he’s everywhere.” A COUNTY TOUR Ask Dudchock about the highlights of his

three decades leading the county, and his response will once again be all that the county has done under the 32 county commissioners, four probate judges and four sheriffs during his tenure—and what you can see as you drive around the highways he knows like the back of his hand. In Columbiana there have been two courthouse expansions, in Pelham they built a county services building, and on Highway 70 there’s a landfill operation that will soon be producing power from capturing methane gas. On McDow Road in Columbiana, you’ll drive past a whole set of buildings the county brought to life—all built without financing because of how the county managed its money under Dudchock’s leadership. Over in Calera you’ll see a Fire and Emergency Medical Training complex with the same five-story fire tower used in the largest cities in the country on either coast. Because of his dad, a volunteer firefighter in Graysville on top of his job with what today is U.S. Steel, Dudchock knew what it takes for a firefighter to be trained and vetted. Another thing he learned from his dad: To be successful, you’d better surround yourself with people smarter than yourself, and that you had better be resourceful too. So resourceful Dudchock was, and is, everlearning and ever-researching. According to

Allison, he’s “smart as a whip and he will master a topic”—even when it comes to legal matters that Allison, a lawyer, specializes in. Holloway emphasized that same trait: “It always amazed me how he could move with ease from intricacies of putting in the water main to discussing asphalt to the needs of an animal shelter. From topic to topic he knew all the details. Man, that was powerful for me.” Also powerful was his passion for countycity partnerships. “Each time (we work on a partnership), I am hopeful he will just give us a pat on the back or the greenlight instantly,” Montevallo Mayor Hollie Cost says. “What actually ensues is that he responds with an inquiry for much more detailed information, engaging many others from his team. The result has been that we typically end up with a much more impactful project than I had originally envisioned. Alex sees potential around every corner.” Dudchock also has a “knack for addressing issues before anyone else could see them coming” Allison says, which is exactly how Compact 2020 was formed. It was Dudchock’s idea after seeing an increase in drug-related deaths in the county and thinking, “We’ve got to be better than this.” And he wanted to start at the front end with drug prevention efforts prior to becoming justice-involved cases, taking intel from dealers and purchasers and then going to the parents first before it became a law enforcement matter.

Under Dudchock’s leadership, the county has provided annual funding for regional players, and he knows much of the county commutes into Birmingham for work, and the area is an “exporter of talent”—including his own sons, at least for now. Davis, 27, works for SAP in San Mateo, California, and his younger brother Russell, 22, is in school in San Jose, California. THE HEART OF IT ALL Even when Dudchock had to be firm with employees over the years, there’s always a

“IF YOU WANT TO GET THE PULSE OF SOMETHING, YOU RUN IT BY (ALEX) FIRST BECAUSE HE’S EVERYWHERE.” -LINDSEY ALLISON

Community Services Manager Reggie Holloway, left, discusses county projects with Dudchock in their offices.

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Alex Dudchock, right, with his wife, Natalie, left. heart beneath it. “People that I know that he’s had to be tough with even tell me they respect him and would do anything for him,” Allison says. “He has that toughness but he genuinely cares about people and knows he will do right by people.” And that was true even when the recession hit in 2008 and the county saw almost a $5 million reduction in its revenue, but Dudchock was there, steered his ship steadily through the murky waters. He

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didn’t cut jobs. He didn’t cut services. He just led the county to manage its finances well, just as he’s always done. It took eight years for the county to recover, but, regarding this, Dudchock speaks in first person for once. “I am very proud of that,” he says. Speaking of priorities, Dudchock also learned what he calls the “human side of decision making” from his parents, and the importance of trying to be personal in an

impersonal world. In fact, for him, it’s the most important thing he can do. It’s that mindset that he brings to his work on the board of Chilton-Shelby Behavioral Health and other entities. He and his wife, Natalie, lost their middle son, Blake, when he was 18, and Dudchock’s mom suffered from Alzheimer’s the last six years of her life. “I have experienced tragedy so I can connect with people who have had tragedies,” Dudchock says. “I understand how people who are grieving and every aspect of their life changes when they have a trauma. All of those life experiences no matter how tragic and still raw they are mold who you are and who you can be empathetic with.” Through all of his work Dudchock is more than humble and doesn’t want any recognition, but since his retirement is coming up, “we told him he had to suck it up and take it,” Allison says. “He earned it. He‘s just doing what he’s called to do.” Dudchock’s legacy can in some ways be summed up in an eight-page Word document listing the capital projects the county has accomplished during his tenure, but it’s perhaps best seen by looking at those around him—the management structure he built, all the staff members he has mentored, and the countless others who serve the county like he’s served the county. All in, as if no one is looking.

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SPACE TO

CREATE

THE ARTISTS BEHIND THE SHELBY COUNTY ARTS CENTER WANT TO SEE CREATIVE SPARKS LIT IN THOSE WHO ENTER.

BY STEPHEN DAWKINS | PHOTOS BY KEVIN MCKEE

Rae Lynn Dodson walks quietly between the rows of painters. It’s 3 p.m., two hours into Dodson’s weekly Tuesday class, with one hour left. Dodson’s classes at the new Shelby County Arts Center are billed as “relaxed, creative, productive,” and she ensures they are just that. The space and those in it are calm and focused as Dodson uses her expertise to foster creativity, encouraging this student that she is headed in a good direction, then offering another student a different way to think about their subject. The result is productivity that leaves the students feeling positive as they wrap up their days’ work. From humble and stressful beginnings, Dodson has made a career out of art, thanks in part to the Shelby County Arts Council, the organization that partnered with others for the construction of the Arts Center. The Council provides an outlet for and promotes local artists, giving them opportunities to learn new skills, teach others or perform and display their work. More than anything, the SCAC is focused on the artists, Executive Director Bruce Andrews stresses, just as it’s been since Terri Sullivan founded it in 2005. Andrews loves giving firsttime visitors tours of the new 30,000-squarefoot facility in Columbiana that will surely transform the arts scene in Shelby County— offering even more people opportunities to turn their artistic talents into successful careers, or just learning more about a pastime they enjoy. Upon entering what is the front door for the Arts Council side of the building, a slight right turn takes you by the front desk/ ticket office. There, people can find information

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THE MUSICIAN

Bruce Andrews serves as executive director of the Shelby County Arts Council. about the Council’s offerings and purchase tickets for art exhibits and shows at the Black Box Theater, which hosts musical concerts in an intimate, audiophile-quality space. A left turn at the front lobby takes you down a hallway lined with instruction space, including music performance and practice suites, a visual arts teaching studio, pottery and sculpture studio and foundry/metal arts studio. There is also a large multi-purpose venue that is managed by the city of Columbiana, one of the agencies who partnered on the project. Take a step outside and you will see an outdoor amphitheater where the city could hold its annual Friday night musical series, and the Old Mill Square Park that will be available for all to enjoy.

Although many people and organizations came together to make the Shelby County Arts Center a reality, the man at the center of it all was Andrews. Prior to being hired for the role in 2014, he owned a gallery/coffee house, and worked in sales and at Starbucks. Andrews was born into a home filled with music and art. His father was a musician and his mother an artist, so it was no surprise that Bruce inherited their passion for creativity. The family moved to the Birmingham area in the 1970s, and Andrews, playing guitar and harmonica, performed with bands throughout high school and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It was there that Andrews met his wife of 31 years, Joy. He took her to a concert on their first date and asked her to dance. The couple settled in Alabaster, where Joy started a dance company where she taught for more than 30 years. Andrews knew he wanted to pursue art professionally, though it was difficult to make that a reality with a steady income. He later opened a gallery/coffee house attached to Joy’s Dance Company, which he operated for more than six years. Joy’s Christian Music and Coffee attracted other artists and musicians, including Jack and George Dudley, who, with Andrews, are three of the five members of 2 Blu and the Lucky Stiffs, a Shelby Countybased blues band. Andrews and Dudley have been performing together for more than 20 years now, both the

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Artists across Shelby County will benefit from the opening of the Shelby County Arts Center in Columbiana, which includes a black box theater, fine art gallery, arts studios and more. PROFILE 2020

SHELBY COUNTY ARTS CENTER LAYOUT

ARTS CENTER CLASSES n Foundations of Drawing with Katlyn Coley n Jewelry Making: Beginner/ Intermediate Level with Patti Sippola n Artists in Action: An Adventure in Art n Palette Knife Minimalist Landscape Workshop with Alisa Koch n Relaxed, Creative, ProductiveStudio Painting with Lynn Dodson n Intro to Digital Photography with John Pocopanni n The Art of Wildlife Photography with David M. Frings n Click! Basic Digital Photography for Adults with Paris Farzad n Pottery: Wheel ThrowingEvening Pottery Classes with Nita Terrell n Pottery-Hand Building-Build, Throw, Fire! with Nita Terrell n Intro to Wheel Throwing with John Pocopanni n Kids Pottery Class with Katlyn Coley n Pottery-Beginning Hand-Building with Candye Lundy n Writing Class for all levels with Deb Kemper

ROOM BY ROOM 1. EBSCO Industries Art Gallery 2. Black Box Performance Theater 3. Municipal multi-purpose venue 4. Outdoor stage/amphitheatre 5. Main stage 6. Music performance and practice suites 7. Visual arts teaching studio 8. Pottery and sculpture studio 9. Foundry/metal arts studio 10. Ticket foyer- west 11. Ticket foyer- east

band and their blues duo, 2 Blu. George Dudley writes music, plays guitar and provides vocals for the band, while Bruce plays harmonica and provides lead vocals. All the while, Andrews found time to pursue painting and drawing. He has illustrated a few books, including “The Christmas Angel,” and “Toby the Turtle Who Can Sing.” He often exhibits at galleries in the Birmingham area, and describes his style as “impressionistic with tendencies toward realism.” It should come as no surprise then that Andrews got involved with the SCAC soon after it launched. He began by teaching classes, and even helped develop a few programs, such as a musical outreach program for students at the Shelby County Juvenile Detention Center. The Dudleys visited the center and taught the students ages 13-18 years old how to use a harmonica. “We just started thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to get this in front of kids who are more at a crossroads, who are at a kind of place they

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2 4

1 7 11 6

Rae Lynn Dodson teaches painting through a partnership with the Shelby County Arts Council.

access to arts education – and that all can benefit from it. “I think on a really simple level every kid has an artistic spark in them,” he says. So, when the SCAC was looking for a new executive director, it seemed like a perfect fit. THE PAINTER

Dodson remembers the time she went to the doctor about the twitch that had developed in her left eye. She was sure it was just a nerve or something else minor, and besides, it would probably go away. But considering everything else going on in her life, she needed to get it resolved before it became a bigger problem. And wasn’t that why she was here in the first place? She knew all the stress was surely to blame for the twitch. can either turn their lives around or not?’ I was Dodson had gotten married during her thinking, ‘Wow, these kids could really benefit freshman year at the University of Montevallo from something like this,’” he says about the and then dropped out before she completed program. her degree requirements. People said she Andrews believes all children should have would never go back and graduate. Then came

good on her promise to herself to earn a degree, some women she knew asked if she would give them lessons—something she had never considered. After years of instruction on her own, she learned of the formation of the new Shelby County Arts Council and jumped onboard. THE POTTER

Sandra Annonio is the office manager for the Shelby County Arts Council and flexes her creativity through pottery. three children, and Dodson wondered if those people may be right. She was determined to prove them all wrong, but the responsibilities of wife and mother, and then student at night after everyone went to bed, felt like too much. To top it all off, she was pursuing an art degree. What would she even do with that? Was it possible to make a career of painting? Dodson’s husband, Greg, calmed her fears. “He said, ‘Lynn, if you finish out your art degree, if you want to just go and dig in the flower beds, you can do that,’” Dodson recalls. She got the twitch under control, earned her degree in fine arts and did, in fact, make a career out of painting, thanks in part to her partnership with the Shelby County Arts Council, which she joined shortly after its inception in 2005. The painting studio in the new Arts Center is a far cry from Dodson’s humble beginnings. She grew up in Homewood but moved to Shelby County before her ninth-grade year. She had looked forward to attending the new Homewood High School but instead was thrust into the then-tiny Chelsea High School, where she knew no one. Dodson’s mother, looking for something to help her daughter with the difficult transition and knowing of her propensity to sketch in her free time, remembered a friend of the family who gave painting lessons. Orrville Allen, a retired firefighter, taught himself to paint so well that he then began teaching others, all out of his home studio in Montevallo. After her first few visits, there was little reason to believe Dodson was a prodigy. “I am proof that the more you practice something, the better you get,” she says. But Dodson enjoyed it well enough, and when it came time to pick a course of study at the University of Montevallo, it seemed as good an option as any. After she made

Not all artists grew up destined for creative genius, and some even found their inspiration much later than high school or college. Sandra Annonio, the SCAC’s office manager, did not consider herself an artist until her daughters were in high school and college. “I thought, ‘What am I going to do with my time?’” Annonio says. So she enrolled in pottery classes at the Arts Council with Susan Gordon, who has since opened her own production pottery studio in Homewood. The wheel-throwing class was her first experience with pottery. Annonio, an Augusta, Georgia native, says she enjoys the process of creating a piece. First, the clay is shaped into a ball and then literally thrown onto the wheel. Then, the potter starts pulling up on the clay and shaping it. “Sometimes clay tells you what it wants to be,” Annonio says. After the shape is completed, the clay dries, and then is trimmed and undergoes its first firing in a kiln. A glaze is placed over the piece, and then there is a second firing. “What I love is the process,” Annonio says. “If you miss a step, if you don’t have the process right, your piece doesn’t turn out.” Variables such as the temperature of the kiln and how the glaze interacts with the clay combine to determine how the piece turns out. “You think you know what you’re going to get, but you don’t know until you open it up,” Annonio says. “It’s not a predictable art.” Annonio was later hired to do marketing work part-time for the SCAC, and now as business manager handles bookkeeping and many other duties, including working with artists. “It’s a very creative and stimulating community,” Annonio says. Like others involved with the Arts Council, Annonio is excited about the new Arts Center. For her, it will allow the Council to bring in more instructors, and thus more students who will find inspiration to better their lives—whether they be an arts degree holder wondering how to make a career, a lifelong devotee to arts looking to enhance their standing in the community or a mother searching for a way to spend her free time. “Everyone has some kind of artist hidden in them,” Annonio says. “You just have to find what it is.” PROFILE 2020

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The Greystone YMCAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Afterschool Academy gives kids daily opportunities to learn something new and to burn off energy in organized sports. 82

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ACTIVE + ENGAGED

THE SCHOOL DAY IN SHELBY COUNTY ENDS AT ABOUT 3 P.M., BUT A WHOLE NEW SLATE OF ACTIVITIES AWAITS CHILDREN AT LOCAL AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARD. KIDS IN ALL GRADES CAN SPEND THE HOURS BETWEEN SCHOOL AND SUNSET ENGAGING IN TEAM SPORTS AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES AND HANDS-ON CRAFTS TOGETHER—ALL WELCOME ALTERNATIVES TO SCREEN TIME FOR PARENTS. BY EMILY SPARACINO | PHOTOS BY DAWN HARRISON AND BRIANA H. WILSON

TO LEARN, GIVE & PLAY Wednesdays in the Greystone YMCA’s Afterschool Academy are as lively as they are enriching. Each week, children work on a special project and participate in clubs on crafting, sports, sign language, coding, entomology and many other topics. “These special days really allow students to work in an area that they are passionate about or explore new interests,” Youth Development Director Tonya Fewell says. And that’s just one day. Fewell and her staff utilize every minute of the Y’s afterschool program on weekdays to engage kids in kindergarten through eighth grade in activities that foster learning, physical activity, creativity and a

healthy approach to eating. As soon as children arrive by bus from their respective schools, they receive a healthy snack and have time to do homework and free play in the gym. Then, counselors divide the kids into groups by grade levels to start on an academic enrichment exercise. “Last week we made catapults, and we had a catapult party at the end of the week,” Fewell says. “This week they’re creating gift bags for homeless shelters to provide warm things for the holidays and cold season. It’s always a good time for them.” Fridays are reserved for STEAM challenges, and every day includes a brief

period of free play in the gym. About 50 kids from eight schools in the Inverness, Mt Laurel, Oak Mountain and Chelsea areas attend the Afterschool Academy, which follows the Shelby County Schools calendar each year, breaking for the summer. Parents whose children attend the program know where they are and what they’re doing until they pick them up from the Y at 6 p.m. “They’re getting a healthy snack, they’re being physically active and they’re getting some mental stimulation in a wholesome environment,” Fewell says. “They’re being cared for. They’re getting all the things parents want them to do. It’s definitely a good thing.”

PROFILE 2020

Kids who come to the Montevallo Boys & Girls Club after school participate in a broad mixture of indoor and outdoor activities together.

TO EXPLORE NEW THINGS Once a month, children at the Montevallo Boys & Girls Club take an imaginary trip around the world through a special game and craft “to broaden their worlds,” Director Freda Shivers says. In December, for instance, she “took” the kids to China, even treating them to authentic Chinese candy. The interactive lesson was particularly meaningful to Shivers, who adopted a little girl from China years ago. Her daughter was 13 years old when the club opened and Shivers was named director—a position she has embraced wholeheartedly ever since. “I think my gift I came to earth with is children, to make a difference for kids in this community,” she says. “I don’t know how it would get any better than that.”

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Nearly 80 children from the Montevallo and Calera areas go to the club after school each day to find out what the staff have planned for them, whether it’s an activity in which they can stretch their minds and bodies, or practice good sportsmanship and teamwork. They also learn about community service. Just before Thanksgiving last year, they made turkey decorations for the local senior center, and Shivers led them on a “top-secret mission” to place the decorations as a surprise for the seniors the next day. No matter the time of year, the Boys & Girls Club facility is well-equipped for indoor and outdoor activities alike. “We love to be outside as much as we can,”

Shivers says. “I tell them at the end of the week, if you haven’t found something you love to do, come tell me because I’m not doing my job. I haven’t had a kid come to me yet.” Above all, Shivers wants to nurture the gifts and interests each child possesses, whether they align with a future career in software development or on a football field in the NFL. She and her staff are simply trying—one day, one hour, one activity at a time—to open kids’ eyes to possibilities they might never have considered. “I always say to my staff that you just never know what’s sinking in,” Shivers says. “We’re planting seeds every day and trying to provide the water and the sunshine. You never know which seed is going to grow.”

TO TUMBLE & CLIMB Students at Pelham Ridge Elementary School don’t have far to go after school to learn how to tumble, climb a rock wall or traverse a ropes course. That’s exactly what Legacy Gymnastics owner Brianna Mitchell had in mind when she decided to build Legacy’s new facility across the road from the school. Mitchell says PRES kids come for afterschool activities as well as specialty camps Legacy holds regularly. “On Monday, we did a P.E. class, so all 800-plus students came for a 30-minute P.E. block. It was the first time we had done that, and it went awesome.” For Legacy’s afterschool program, Mitchell’s office assistant picks up students who are enrolled in the gym’s open classes at 3:30, 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. Kids can take cheer tumbling classes and ninja classes, and they can try out a ropes course, rock wall, trampolines, foam pits, beams, bars and other equipment in the gym. “We incorporate obstacle courses and different setups each week,” Mitchell says. “We also have boys’ and girls’ recreational classes.” About 30 kids are currently enrolled in the program, which has grown steadily since the new facility opened last year. “We were excited to see the enrollment boost from the school,” she says. “It’s getting more kids to be active after school.” Mitchell’s hope is that more kids

Legacy Gymnastics’ location just across the road from Pelham Ridge Elementary makes it easy for students to attend the after school activities. continue to enroll in the afterschool classes, even if they just come one day a week. After all, one day is better than none. And maybe some of the young kids in the afterschool classes

now could end up in Legacy’s competitive gymnastics program in the future. “We have some really talented young athletes,” Mitchell says.

“We care because Shelby County is our home, too.” Cathy Ingram, Branch Manager

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PROFILE 2020

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WHERE THEY ARE

LAKESHA WILLIAMSONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MINISTRY IS PUTTING SUPPLIES INTO THE HANDS OF THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST. BY EMILY SPARACINO | PHOTOS BY LAUREN USTAD 86

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Check messages. Open delivered boxes. File receipts from past orders. Schedule sorting day. Call Wanda about donations. Review distribution numbers from last serve day. What’s left to do before Saturday? Thoughts and questions are scrolling through LaKesha Williamson’s mind even before she arrives home from work in the late afternoon. Like a one-woman relay team, she crosses the finish line of a full day’s work as an advocate for sexual assault victims at SafeHouse Shelby County, only to leave the starting line of another night dedicated to the homeless ministry she founded in 2019. LaKesha works, works some more and then serves on the weekends. Rest is an afterthought. She goes without rest because she knows

LaKesha relies on help from volunteers to assemble toiletry bags for the Hands and Feet of Jesus Ministry distribution days in Birmingham once a month.

there are people only miles away from her who are going without food to eat and a roof over their heads—and she desperately wants to help them. “I used to come in contact with somebody homeless and was hesitant or standoffish, probably because of fear,” she says. “I’ve done a 360. Now, it’s like I’m drawn to it. It’s always been in me to help people, but about two years ago when we started doing a sock drive downtown at Christmas, I knew my heart was totally toward homeless ministry.” FOLLOWING HER CALLING LaKesha’s experiences from a mission trip to California in 2018 further solidified this

calling she felt toward homeless ministry. Her small group from Church of the Highlands in Alabaster delivered meals to people unable to leave their homes, passed out toiletry bags to the homeless and ministered to whomever they could on the streets of Los Angeles, and in the midst of it the tagline “hands and feet of Jesus” came to her as a summation of their efforts. They were trying to meet people’s immediate physical needs and, in the process, pour hope into their lives. LaKesha returned to Shelby County with a shift in perspective and a yearning to continue the mission locally. She knew the concept of meeting people where they are geographically to render help could be applied to any area where homelessness is prevalent, especially

PROFILE 2020

in cities like Birmingham. And when she started to make plans for her ministry, she knew exactly what its name would be. Hands and Feet of Jesus achieved nonprofit status in April 2019, allowing all donations to be tax deductible. Under LaKesha’s steadfast leadership, the ministry gives out 150 to 200 bags filled with donated toiletries such as soap, deodorant, hand sanitizer and lotion to the homeless on the fourth Saturday of every month. Volunteers help LaKesha assemble the bags at her storage unit in Calera on weekday afternoons prior to serve days, where she and about 20-30 of her volunteers distribute the bags and other supplies to people in downtown Birmingham. They normally set up at public parks to distribute the bags, but if LaKesha has learned anything in the past year, it’s that not everyone who needs something will find the group. Sometimes, the group finds them. Meets them where they are, on their terms, no questions asked. One day, the group encountered a man who was sweeping the ground under a bridge. The man told them he was cleaning up because that’s where he lived. They had a sleeping bag and supplies ready to give to him. “It’s

heartbreaking,” LaKesha says, adding, “They are the most humble people. I could give a man a pair of socks, body wash and a can of Vienna sausage, and it’s like I fed him at Golden Corral.” She and other volunteers have started to go downtown on Sunday evenings to hand out supplies as they drive around. She keeps a stash in her car all the time, just in case. Sometimes after church she and her son buy a batch of cheeseburgers to pass out. They watch weather forecasts and make sure they give out hats, gloves and blankets ahead of cold weather. “It’s more people who are in need but who are not chronically homeless that come by our serve day,” she says of the Saturday events. “I have found by us just randomly going down there…we can give sleeping bags to somebody who really does live on the street.” LaKesha sees the effectiveness of the Saturday serve days, too. The team started out taking about 100 prepackaged toiletry bags, but the demand doubled this past summer. “Sometimes, we even run out of bags,” she says. “We will need more items to be donated.” The Amazon.com wish lists she made of items people can purchase and donate to the

PROFILE 2020

Hands and Feet of Jesus Ministry Founder LaKesha Williamson, left, stands with volunteer Fernanda Bell at the Thanksgiving dinner the ministry held for the Birmingham community in November 2019.

HOW TO HELP n Monetary donations to Hands and Feet of Jesus can be made at paypal.me/ handsandfeetministry. n Donations of clothing, food, water, Gatorade, deodorant, soap, lotion, sunscreen, washcloths, hand sanitizer, Kleenex can be shipped to 601 Waterford Lane, Calera, AL 35040. n To see updates and current needs from the Hands and Feet of Jesus team, follow @handsandfeetministry on Facebook. n For more information about volunteering or donating to the ministry, contact LaKesha Williams at handsandfeetofjesusministry8@gmail.com. 90

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ministry have been a big hit. The best part is the items ship directly to LaKesha. “I have two big boxes of sleeping bags and blankets in my living room right now, and I’m just waiting to give them out.” POSITIVE RESPONSE One of LaKesha’s prayers as she worked to get the ministry off the ground was for God to show her somehow that she was doing what he wanted her to do. She got confirmation in how easily she achieved nonprofit status for the ministry. Within two months of filling out and submitting the paperwork, LaKesha got the good news. “People were like, ‘This is unheard of,’” she says of the quick turnaround. “I feel like if it’s meant to be, God will make it happen. All you have to do is take the first step.” She says she prayed for the financial aspect of the ministry to work out, too. “I said, ‘God, I will not pay anybody for something you’ve given me wisdom to do. I’m not going to pay somebody to do something you will talk me through.’” And Hands and Feet of Jesus has been able to pass out supplies every month since January 2019 with donations alone. Private and corporate donors have contributed generously and consistently to the organization. LaKesha was even able to purchase an SUV to pull the supplies trailer using Facebook fundraising donations

stuff to. I don’t have to worry about doing it all.” Wanda Naylor, LaKesha’s aunt, says LaKesha is always working and thinking about the next serve day. At a free Thanksgiving dinner the ministry held at Kelly Ingram Park on in November, for example, Wanda says LaKesha was constantly looking around to make sure everyone was getting what they needed. “She’s just awesome. She wanted to really make sure that everything was going right, that everybody was being fed, that they got what they needed. She’s very hands-on.” Wanda has been an integral part of the ministry as an avid volunteer and supporter of LaKesha’s vision. “I tell her all the time that I am so proud of her,” Wanda says. “I have always wanted to do something like this, but I totaling $3,500. “I can pray about something never knew how to go about doing it. She has and wake up the next morning and somebody really done good, and the Lord has just been has donated,” she says. “If I just put the word blessing us.” LaKesha’s long-term goal is for Hands and out there, people respond. It’s been awesome. That lets me know I’m doing what I’m Feet of Jesus to have a building where the group can invite people to come and eat and supposed to be doing.” The past year has not been all smooth relax. She also wants to be able to purchase sailing for LaKesha, though. Running a 100 bus passes to hand out with the toiletry nonprofit on the side of working a full-time bags. And if the success of her efforts thus far job has been a learning experience in itself. “I are any indication, the ministry likely will not have to take mental health days,” she says. “I only meet but exceed these goals. She will just was dealing with anxiety pretty bad. I just had need reminders from her aunt, her mother to learn how to balance it all, along with my and anyone else who knows her to stop and family too. Now I have people I can delegate rest once in a while.

PROFILE 2020

FINDING

HER VOICE

ABIGAIL HEUTON LIVES BY WHAT SHE SAYS: THAT YOUNG PEOPLE’S ABILITIES SHOULD NOT BE UNDERESTIMATED.

BY EMILY SPARACINO | PHOTOS BY DAWN HARRISON AND CONTRIBUTED

Eighteen-year-old Abigail Heuton is not someone a newcomer to Montevallo City Council meetings would expect to see sitting at the dais on Monday nights. But she is exactly where she is supposed to be—in the chair on the far left, behind a nameplate that reads “Abigail Heuton, Junior Mayor.” The 4-foot, 11-inch teenager is not your typical addition to a council meeting, much less seated next to the councilmembers. At 6 p.m., you might find her leading the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the meeting, unfazed by the large audience filling the floor seats in the Council Chambers. She has done this and other tasks many times before. But those who know Abigail know she doesn’t take her duties lightly, and she doesn’t take for granted the confidence she has gained in a prestigious role that, years ago, she wouldn’t have thought she could handle. Shy by nature, Abigail isn’t one to hog the spotlight. She loves to sing and act, but beyond the artistic confines of a song or play, you wouldn’t find her jumping at the chance to command an audience’s attention. That started to change four years ago after her family moved to Montevallo from West Virginia. For starters, Abigail made the leap from a small private school to a larger public

PROFILE 2020

school. “I was terrified,” she says. “I came from a class of 25 to a class of 100. When you’re coming from an even smaller school, that seems pretty big.” It was an adjustment, but Abigail turned it into an opportunity for growth. “She came out of her shell, made friends, set goals and accomplished them,” says her mother, Mary Ellen Heuton. “Overall, the move was very beneficial for her, and she has thrived in the new environment.” Abigail quickly noticed people’s friendliness and diversity in Montevallo, and the strong sense of community they created together made her feel at home. “I fit in more here, I feel like,” she says. As she felt more and more like she fit in, she started to stand out. She just didn’t know what leadership role awaited her. Abigail went to her first Montevallo Junior City Council meeting four years ago as a guest of a friend who was a member of the organization – a group of middle and high school students whose mission is to improve and promote civic engagement among their peers. “I thought, ‘I want to be a part of that,’” she says. So she went through the interview process and was selected to join the MJCC as a freshman. The next year, a friend encouraged her to run for junior mayor, the highest officer

position of the MJCC. Any member who wants to run for office must stand and give a one- to two-minute speech during the MJCC’s retreat at the beginning of the year, so Abigail rose to the challenge, standing before her peers and delivering hers off the cuff. “That’s not something I would have done in middle school,” she notes. “I didn’t talk a lot, so it was out of my comfort zone.” Even so, she was elected junior mayor. Montevallo Mayor Hollie Cost knows how much this achievement meant to Abigail since she saw her potential even before Abigail saw it herself. “When I first met Abigail, she was a little shy and didn’t have much confidence, but she always had a little glimmer in her eye, conveyed a great deal of intellect and was eager to grow and learn,” Cost says. And grow and learn she did. As the new junior mayor, Abigail was expected to represent the MJCC at Montevallo City Council meetings and read a report aloud of the group’s activities. “The first couple times I did, it was very nerve-wracking,” she says. “You don’t want to mess up. I remember being very scared.” But with each meeting, she became more sure of herself—and more comfortable with the council members. “We’re all wanting the same thing—to better

High school student Abigail Heuton left her comfort zone to run for Montevalloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s junior mayor position, a decision she is grateful she made several years ago.

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PROFILE 2020

Abigail loves to sing and act, so much that she entertains dreams of auditioning for Broadway.

Montevallo Mayor Hollie Cost, right, invited Abigail to start presenting the education awards at the city’s annual Hometown Heroes Breakfast. Abigail has risen to the occasion each year since then. our community,” she says. For Mary Ellen and Paul, Abigail’s father, watching Abigail tackle challenges and find ways to engage others in the community is inspiring. “I’ve seen her speak up several times in a regular City Council meeting, and I’ve been so pleased to see her have the confidence to share her thoughts on a matter and delighted that the council members have treated her with respect in listening to what she had to say,” Mary Ellen says. Her responsibilities as junior mayor run the gamut. She creates the MJCC meeting agendas and makes sure meetings run efficiently so that all members have a chance to voice their ideas. She also keeps tabs on

PROFILE 2020

the organization’s finances and communicates any funding needs with city leaders, along with helping to organize events like the MJCC’s first color run in 2019. Last but not least, Abigail is asked to speak on behalf of the group at various public events, including Montevallo’s annual Hometown Heroes Breakfast. “About three years ago, I invited her to start presenting the education awards, knowing this would be a bit nerve-wracking for a person her age,” Cost says. “From the first time she stood in front of that microphone, she commanded the room. She prepares her own introductory remarks and presents the

awards to the recipients with incredible poise. The only problem with this is she steals the show! My very own mom told me this year that Abigail outshined me, and I absolutely loved it.” After three years in office, the nerves are still there for Abigail before her speeches, but for good reason. “There are so many people I look up to, and I want them to be proud of me for speaking and proud of what I’m saying.” Even so, she says speaking for the MJCC on so many occasions has made her more confident in who she is and what she stands for—and that her values are more set in stone now. “You learn more about yourself through it.”

She credits Cost for encouraging her to join the MJCC in the first place and being a mentor to her as she navigated her leadership role. “With Mrs. Hollie’s help, I morphed into a leader,” Abigail says. “If I have any problems, she’s somebody I can go speak to and she’ll help me in any way she can.” And the MJCC has afforded Abigail opportunities not only to practice public speaking, but also to hone her organizational skills, networking and community involvement. “Even more importantly it has shown her how to listen, understand and appreciate different perspectives both among her peers during MJCC meetings and from sitting in the meetings of the City Council,” Mary Ellen says. Cost echoes this, noting Abigail is able to get along with many different types of people. “She has great control of her emotions and she has a thirst for knowledge and growth,” she adds. “She has a great ability to self-reflect, alter her course of action when needed and move on.” Nothing seems to hold Abigail back from reaching her personal goals—not even physical disabilities that set in at an early age. Abigail has glaucoma, a condition in the eye that leads to gradual vision loss. She applies eye drops multiple times a day and wears glasses, but otherwise, you wouldn’t know she faces these issues. “She has never used them as an excuse to not pursue the goals she sets for herself,” Mary Ellen says.

Abigail also has a strong grasp of time management, balancing her schoolwork with her involvement in the MJCC, National Thespian Society, Future Business Leaders of America (she is the secretary), Mu Alpha Theta (she is the president), Parnell Memorial Library (she is assistant librarian), broadcast team and many other groups—all while submitting college and scholarship applications. She wants to major in musical theatre and entertains dreams of auditioning for Broadway and moving to New York City. If that doesn’t pan out, she says she might go to law school. Regardless of where she goes after high school, Abigail says she would happily move back to Montevallo if she can. “I do love it here,” she says. The mark she has made in every local group she’s involved with won’t be forgotten. “As much as she says she has been motivated by me, I have learned a tremendous deal from working with her,” Cost says. “At times, I even feel that she is a colleague rather than a mentee of sorts. I am so proud of the young woman she is becoming and honored that I’ve been able to work with her for so long.” Perhaps no one has championed the MJCC’s purpose of fostering greater community involvement among young people more than Abigail. “Everybody has a voice,” she says. “It’s our job to allow the youth to have a voice because we’re going to

A CHAT WITH ABIGAIL n What she wants to be when she grows up: Happy with my job and what I’m doing. n Favorite subject in school: English, because it’s what I’m good at. I love writing and creating stories. n Favorite music genre: Soft pop (chill and relaxing) and musicals (Anastasia, Phantom of the Opera, Wicked) n Who she wants to meet: Queen Victoria. I read a book about her. She’s my height. I’ve always been fascinated with royal people. They have such interesting lives. n Where she wants to go: Scotland or Paris. I have always wanted to go to Paris since I was little. I feel like Scotland would be so cool. be here in the future, running the city and government.” And she is quick to remind you that young people should not be discounted as “just kids.” “We also have ideas and want to do better for our community,” she says. “Don’t underestimate the young people; we can do stuff too. That’s my whole message. And, spread positive vibes.”

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Bulls players lace up their cleats ahead of taking the ice for puck drop at 7 p.m. OPPOSITE: Coach Jamey Hicks addresses his players before walking to the ice for the game. 96

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WELCOME BACK

CAPTAIN

JAMEY HICKS’ JOURNEY HAS TAKEN HIM FROM CAPTAIN TO COACH OF THE BIRMINGHAM BULLS.

BY ALEC ETHEREDGE | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY

Jamey Hicks inches toward the ice inside Pelham Civic Complex as he emerges from the locker room and through the black curtain separating him from the ice. Standing in a turquoise shirt with a paisley turquoise and grey tie to match, he directs an inquisitive look on the visiting Quad City Storm warming up on the other side of the ice. Just 10 minutes before the puck is dropped at center ice at 7 p.m., the Birmingham Bulls head coach locks in on the Storm’s starting goaltender to evaluate last minute adjustments and finalize his starting lineup. With fans on both sides of the tunnel leading from the curtain to the ice, Hicks doesn’t break focus. “I watch the starting goalie warmup for two minutes,” he says. “That gives me the mindset on how we are going to attack.” The coach then walks back up the tunnel, sweeps the black curtain out of his way and heads into his office. There, he texts his starting lineup to the parties that need it just five minutes before the game starts. “His brain works like no one I’ve ever seen,” says David Koonce, the Bulls’ vice president of communications and marketing. That strategy has paved the way for a successful trek for the Bulls the last two years in their return to the Birmingham area after a 16-year hiatus. And though his approach is different, it’s a tactic that has worked as he was named the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) Coach of the Year last year after leading the Bulls to the league’s

the SPHL. Living in his hometown of Peterborough, Ontario, he was unsure of what to do. So he called a family meeting with his wife and two daughters at a local restaurant to weigh his options. “I wasn’t sure how my family was going to react to the news,” Hicks says. “But it seemed like the right time to make the move for me and for us as a family.” Sitting around the table and looking at his family expecting a tough decision, Hicks’ oldest daughter spoke up quickly. “They want you there and you want to be there, so what are we eating tonight?” she said. And quickly the conversation shifted from difficult to easy, while what to eat became the more challenging decision. Clarkson, who passed away the week championship series in just their second before Birmingham’s 2019-20 season, told year. Hicks in that same phone call that there was no backup plan. Hicks was his guy. WELCOME BACK CAPTAIN “I had opportunities over the years, but none were the right fit,” Hicks says. “My kids “Do you think bringing hockey back to were growing up. When you make that Birmingham will work?” former Bulls’ decision, you have to pick your family up and general manager Art Clarkson asked Hicks move and change your life. When the Bulls back in 2016. called, everything sort of aligned.” “Yes!” Hicks responded emphatically. “With the amount of time it’s been away and STARTING FROM THE GROUND UP the success it had, I think it’s a great idea.” “Good,” Clarkson said, roping him in. Standing front and center in the middle of “You’re going to run it.” a Bulls logo inside the locker room, Hicks After Hicks hung up the phone, he gives his pre-game speech to his players contemplated the decision of being part of ahead of their matchup with Quad City. As he the Bulls’ return to minor league hockey in speaks, words just as powerful rest on the

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wall over his right shoulder. “Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.” Those words were painted on the wall by Hicks in the locker room after he took over the job, knowing the building process ahead. “I knew nothing about the SPHL. That wasn’t the driving force,” Hicks says. “There was going to be a team here and they wanted me to run it. There was a lot of logistic work to move. What kind of players am I looking for? What’s our locker room situation like? “That’s what drew me here. Picking colors of rooms, picking quotes in the locker room. There was so much to be involved with and I wanted to start from the ground up.” Hicks’ heart never really left Birmingham when he departed from the Bulls after their first run came to an end close to 20 years ago. He moved back to his hometown in Ontario to become a scout, trainer and coach, but every summer, Hicks and his family made the return to visit friends because of his love for the area. “We never really left mentally,” he says. “I always hoped hockey would return to Birmingham because of what it meant to me both on and off the ice.”

Now that he was back and the foundation was starting to be set, Hicks put his attention on building his program. And despite knowing nothing about the SPHL, slipping on his pullover with the Bulls logo plastered on the chest was as powerful to Hicks as Clark Kent exposing the Superman insignia. Nothing was going to be half done because he

had the weight of a city and young aspiring hockey players on his shoulders. “The logo means so much to me,” Hicks says. “When you take a look at it, how many former players get the opportunity 20 years later to lead the franchise they captained? I know how lucky I am and how special it is to me. Anytime I see the logo before each match, it’s a special feeling that nothing will replace.” With a team to lead following the expansion draft, Hicks focused on studying the league, eventually landing on taking three years to build and be competitive in the second year. After a first season that saw the Bulls finish second to last in the SPHL, in year two, the team went on to finish second in the SPHL regular season standings, before finishing as runner-ups in the league championship series. ONCE A LEADER, ALWAYS A LEADER Back in the locker room ahead of his fifth game in year three, Hicks addresses his team. “How you doing gentlemen?” he asks, looking at players lined up both sides of the locker

Inspirational quotes were chosen and painted all over the Bulls’ facility by Hicks and his staff. ABOVE: Jamey Hicks, No. 14, was the captain of the Birmingham Bulls from 1999-2001.

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LEAVING HOME TO CHASE A DREAM BULLS ROSTER AS OF JAN. 29, 2020

CANON PIEPER- Roseville, Minnesota AARON HUFFNAGLE- Marlton, New Jersey RUSSELL JORDAN- Aurora, Illinois KASEY KULCZYCKI- Laval, Quebec, Canada JACOB BARBER- Dardenne Praire, Missouri COLE STALLARD- Woodstock, Georgia

J.M. PITROWSKI- Dallas, Texas MIKE DAVIS- Newark, Delaware JOSH HARRIS-Torrance, California COLE GOLKA- Ardrossan, Alberta, Canada LANE VALIMONT- Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin TYLER MAYEA- Burlington, Ontario, Canada

ARTEM KURBATOV- Republic of Georgia MATT FULLER- London, Ontario, Canada KAREL DRAHORAD- Prague, Czech Republic ALEX JOHNSON- Watertown, South Dakota AUSTIN LOTZ- Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada ARTT BREY- Yorba Linda, California

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The Birmingham Bulls compete in a game during the 2019-20 SPHL season. They’re currently 12-14-5 on the season as of Jan. 29. BELOW: Hicks sits in the middle of the 1999-2000 team photo with the captain’s ‘C’ on his jersey.

room. He proceeds to relate the night’s game plan after seeing the goaltender’s tendencies in warmups. “We’re going with…” he says before naming his starting lineup with a clap at the end of each name. As soon as the last name is announced, Hicks walks straight to the door without another word, knowing it was time to drop the puck and settle it on the ice. After edging his way onto the ice and up the board to the Bulls’ bench, Hicks slides in and stands with an almost comfortable demeanor. He watches intently, while pacing up and down the bench as his guys are introduced before heading to the bench for one last word of encouragement. Then, the puck is dropped, and what’s inside Hicks’ brain is on display. During the period, he paces perched up on a slight ledge behind the players. Anytime he sees something on the ice that his team can take advantage of, he pulls out the replica hockey rink white board he lugs around with him and draws up exactly what he’s seeing. At one point, 6-foot-5, 225-pound forward Shaquille Merasty comes flying to the bench,

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and Hicks meets him with the white board where he draws something up and whispers to one of his star players. Just a few minutes later, Merasty found the back of the net. As soon as the goal is scored, he chuckles and meets Merasty at the bench with a fist bump and a smile, vindicated in his claim for Merasty to clog the net area for a rebound opportunity. That intense level of coaching and focus continues throughout all three periods, while the two intermissions give a very statistical minded coach an opportunity to make necessary adjustments. “At the end of each period, we look at ice time,” he says. “I know giveaways, face-offs won or lost. You take that as quick as you can

and you bring guys in. We show video right away. Visual learning is the way of the world now.” The game leaves little time for adjustment. Snap decisions must be made throughout the action. But as he continues to make walk up to players and mark down changes on his white board before erasing it with an attached towel, his players listen and respond, eventually winning against the Storm by a final of 3-0. As he walks off the ice for the final time that night, Hicks high fives fans lining the tunnel and claps his hands emphatically as he walks into the locker room to address his team after the victory. Walking across the hall from his office and into the dressing area, he is greeted by a boisterous cheer from his players before giving one last word of encouragement. As players crank up the music and celebrate the Saturday night win, Hicks’ smile beams brightly as he enjoys a dream he never knew was possible.

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Through her journey to become a nurse, Katie Newton said her son Sawyer learned what it means to work hard and persevere.

TAKING A LEAP

OF FAITH

KATIE NEWTON DIDN’T LET BEING A SINGLE MOTHER PREVENT HER FROM BECOMING A NURSE.

BY BRIANA H. WILSON | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY AND COOGAN PHOTOGRAPHY

As bedtime encroached Kindergarten-aged Sawyer could be found with an arts and crafts project. But his mom Katie Newton wasn’t folding clothes or prepping lunches, at least not at that hour. Instead, she was right by his side at the kitchen table with a pile of nursing school homework. Other times he would help her study by going through some flashcards with her. By

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default, Sawyer probably knows more about the human body than the average 5-year-old. But that’s just one snapshot into Newton’s life. On any given evening, she could putting her son to bed, writing a paper, studying for a test, working or at clinicals. As someone who lives life by two planners, one paper and one digital, learning to take life as it comes was a bit of a challenge as a full-time student.

Before going back to school at Jefferson State Community College in 2017, the Chelsea resident was the type of person who liked for her days to be thoroughly planned out, but throughout her journey she learned the importance of being able to adapt to unexpected changes. From having to take Sawyer to class with her to Ubering to school when her car broke down, she knew that if

she really wanted to succeed, she had to find with oncology patients to manage their care. “Being able to educate them and walk them a way to make it happen. through a difficult time in their lives was just THE DECISION THAT CHANGED HER LIFE such a blessing and so rewarding for me,” Newton says. “I went back to school knowing At the time of her divorce when her son I always wanted to stay in oncology.” One particular patient she met while Sawyer was a year old, Newton had a promising career in healthcare working in healthcare administration had a administration, but she didn’t feel content. particularly profound impact on her. The She knew there was more she was meant to patient was a woman in her 30s who had just do. After her divorce, she wanted to channel given birth to a child and was diagnosed with her energy into something positive for her breast cancer. “Just being able to walk son and herself. “I had seen so many people through that with her, educate her and love around me get divorced and just start to on her, and then to see how she came out of spiral out of control for a little bit,” Newton it on the other side is something that has always been a driving factor for me,” she says. She refused to let that be her story. Although she already had an says. Whenever nursing school and the undergraduate degree from UAB in pressures of life felt like more than she could healthcare administration, she had always bare, Newton thought about this woman and wanted to further her education in nursing. it reminded her of her purpose. She took a leap of faith and decided to pursue a master’s in nursing at Jeff State. “People MAKING IT THROUGH NURSING SCHOOL probably thought I was crazy for doing it What started out as a class of 50 aspiring right after my divorce because my son was 2 when I actually started the program,” nurses in Jeff State’s Registered Nursing Newton shares as she rounded out her two Program dwindled down to just 19 by years of the program. “Honestly, it’s been graduation, but Newton says her classmates tough but it was absolutely the best decision are now like family. “We went through a lot together,” she says. “There are other single that I could’ve made for the both of us.” Even though Newton longed to be a nurse, moms in our class, people have dealt with she was especially fond of one aspect of her the deaths of their parents and other job in healthcare administration: working traumatic events, and we all really could not

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have finished without each other. At times we may not agree, but we have each others’ back.” Together she and her classmates struggled through the day-to-day stress of figuring out ways to make ends meet financially. Being a full-time student meant Newton couldn’t work full-time. Instead she worked various odd jobs that fit into her hectic schedule. Luckily for Newton, her tuition was paid through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which awards education grants to those who qualify, but she still needed to earn money to pay other bills. During the two years it took to complete the nursing program, she worked as a caretaker for elderly people, at an urgent care center, as a substitute teacher and as a student nurse at St. Vincent’s Hospital. She would be the first to admit that the challenges that came with nursing school tested her resolve. A students became B students, and B students became C students. Anxiety levels were high, especially at the end of each semester. To pass a course, students had to earn at least a 75. A grade of 74.4 meant you failed. “We really had to learn how to stay positive and keep our heads in the game,” Newton says. Even in the classes that were hard, Newton now realizes how much she actually learned. She says the nursing instructors at Jeff State

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A JOINT JEFF STATE-UAB PROGRAM For those looking for a way to go to nursing school, joint admission with Jeff State and UAB might be the answer. Newton says itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great way for adults to ease back into school. Students who are not immediately eligible for traditional UAB admission can participate in a joint enrollment with Gadsden State, Jefferson State, Lawson State and Wallace State-Hanceville. While enrolled in a partner community college, the student will pursue an associate degree and have access to UAB facilities, libraries and campus events. Upon graduation from the community college, the student can then transition to UAB, where he or she will be partnered with a team of advisers and mentors, and receive financial assistance. UAB also has a reverse transfer agreement in place that enables credits earned by students at UAB to count toward an associate degree at Jefferson State.

Katie Newton tests her skills on a nursing simulation mannequin. OPPOSITE: Newton and her classmates graduated in December.

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have a heart for training students and helping them develop into great nurses. “They’re our biggest cheerleaders and supporters,” she says. Nursing school isn’t for the faint of heart, according to Natasha Grimes, Jeff State’s nursing simulation supervisor. It requires dedication and commitment, all of which Newton has always possessed. “She progressed throughout her journey to become an excellent example of what we want to see at the bedside,” Grimes says. “Katie’s strongest asset is her easygoing personality. She is a pleasure to be around and easy to work with. Not many can put a situation into perspective, allowing for better decision making to improve patient care.” In addition to learning the technical skills needed to be a nurse, Newton says her professors helped her grow as a person, even in the times when her outspoken personality caused her to butt heads with those who taught her. During one particular incident, Newton wasn’t happy about a situation, and she got angry and didn’t handle the situation the way she should have. “That particular teacher, Dr. Gena Richardson, is just so precious to me now because she showed me grace in that situation. She displayed to me what it means to show grace to other people,” Newton says. She later apologized to Dr. Richardson and says the situation was a very humbling experience. She learned that she cannot control everything. Sometimes she had to have faith and trust that everything would work out for the best. FOR SAWYER Newton is a believer in the saying “it takes a village to raise a child,” and during her journey to become a nurse, she realized

even more the importance of surrounding herself with one. Her support system is made up of her parents, friends, boyfriend, classmates, professors and her ex-husband, who was willing to adjust or change their days with Sawyer to help accommodate her schedule. When Sawyer went to spend time with his dad, she threw herself into her school work to get as much done as possible. One of Sawyer’s preschool teachers lived near Newton and would sometimes take him to school and bring him home or keep him early. “She was a huge help, and now she is a second semester nursing student, so it’s come full circle,” Newton says. “Now she’s calling me and I’m helping her. I love how that worked out. She’s a mom too, so it’s awesome.” One time when she had a test but Sawyer was sick, Newton’s professor told her to bring him along and let him play on an iPad, and she brought him to a simulation lab class with her as well, just as professors allowed for other classmates too. When her

car broke down, she was thankful that she could rely on friends, classmates and Uber to help her get to where she needed to be. Her father soon stepped in and helped her get a safe and reliable vehicle. But there were times during her journey through nursing school when she felt like she had so much on her plate that she couldn’t give her son 100 percent of her attention. “Those are probably some of the hardest times and I’d really have to lean on friends and family for encouragement,” Newton says. “I felt like I was doing the best that I could but I could only give 50 percent of me here, and 50 percent of me there. As a mother, that’s very hard because we all want the best for our kids. Should I put the book down, stop studying and go play with him instead of him doing arts and crafts by himself? So, I definitely felt some guilt there.” Most of how she felt was the result of her being too hard on herself, she says, as she watched how well her son handled it and never complained. Even though he’s only 5, she can see that he somewhat understands the concept of working hard to reach a goal. “He has seen me studying and working toward a goal and I think it has helped instill work ethic in him,” she says. Looking back on her journey, Newton is grateful for the good and the bad because it got her to where she wanted to be. She graduated from Jeff State’s nursing program in December 2019, and on Jan. 6 she started her career as a nurse at UAB in the bone marrow transplant and stem cell research unit working with patients who have advanced forms of cancer. As she talked about her new job, her passion and enthusiasm shined through. Although she’s reached her goal, she’s not done yet. Up next are steps to become a nurse practitioner.

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Len Wardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collection of theatrical props on his family farm has evolved into Spring Creek Farm.

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COLLECTOR’S

PARADISE

MONTEVALLO SPRING CREEK PROP FARM CAN OUTFIT JUST ABOUT ANY STAGE OR FILM SET IMAGINABLE.

BY MADOLINE MARKHAM | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY

In the first room in the yellow former milk hand’s home you’ll find a set of antique turnof-the-century wheelchairs before heading into another boasting shelves full of transistor radios, cash registers, eight tracks and cassette tape players, answering machines, 8-milimeter projectors, typewriters, and cameras—all collected from estate sales and countless other sources. Proceed through the house, and you’ll find luggage stacked from floor to ceiling, art that could be hung in any home from a sharecropper’s cottage to a high-end modern home, even a library of Japanese books. “We like unusual things,” Ward admits as he points out what’s on each shelf. And it won’t come as too much of a surprise when you learn three horror films have been shot inside the house too. Behind a locked door in an interior room hang three walls full of pistols, AKs, ARs, M-16s and more on display—most of which PROP ROOM TOUR fire blanks. Plus, Ward or his business partner Choose a time period in the past century, Chris Story will come on set to talk through and you’ll find what you need to outfit a scene safety procedures for their guns in their with it. Want to play Coldplay on a 1970s reel added role as armorers. At the base of one to reel tape player or creepy murder scene gun wall sits a barrel of swords—Civil War music on a Victrola Record Player? Ward will era, Marine dress, Japanese, fencing foils, demonstrate how those work. After all, you name it. Just beyond that you’ll find the costuming everything you’ll find in the house and really anywhere on the farm’s 200 acres is available to go with the weaponry, with military and for rent as a prop for movies, commercials, first responder uniforms lining the clothing and school and community theatre rack from wall to wall. Army, Air Force, Marines, SWAT Team uniforms—they’ve got productions. Drive past the farmland just beyond Calera Middle School on Highway 22 after dinner time, and it might look like any other hay field in the county, albeit one with a church steeple in the pasture. Drive past another day, and you might see actors in Civil War period clothing up on the steeple and a camera crew in a bucket on a tractor catching the action. But to discover Spring Creek Farm in its full glory, you’ll have to be on the hunt for props, or a magazine article. Driving up, the property boasts pastoral scenery that seems pretty ordinary—until you pass the row of military vehicles ambulances and police cars. Walk inside the simple yellow house just down the road from those, and what in the world you are seeing only starts to make sense with farm owner Len Ward as your guide.

that. In fact, it was that room that outfitted the police officers in the 2019 film Line of Duty starring Aaron Eckhart that was shot in downtown Birmingham. With Ward as your guide, he can point out how to “read” a soldier’s rank and length tour of duty was and which war it was from, including his own father’s from the Pacific front of World War II. Often he or Story will even just buy the historic uniforms from families who don’t want them to preserve them out of respect to the service man, and they’ll ensure their integrity is maintained too. “One of the first things we ask is to read the script to make sure the uniforms are used correctly and respectfully,” Ward explains. “We have turned down three films we didn’t want anything to do with.” While their principal purpose might be to supply military and first responder uniforms, they are also preserving history with articles ranging from a World War II German Gestapo coat to a Russian prisoner of war’s coat, each ripe with its own stories. Just beyond the uniform room sits a space that houses the farm’s taxidermy. “If you are shooting a Southern scene in an office, you’ve got to have a deer head,” Ward says. So when the crew of Son of the South, a Spike Lee biography drama about the grandson of a Klansmen that is set to release in 2020, asked about furnishings for a sheriff’s office, Ward advised him they’d need one.

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Len Ward is always adding new inventory to the prop collection at Spring Creek Farm. BELOW: A church steeple on the property has been used for movie shoots.

Auburn for two years for a forestry and agriculture program before starting a cattle farm on the homestead. At its height, he was raising 400 cows on 2,500 acres over several parcels of land, but over time he worked more into harvesting hay. And then a dozen years ago he helped a friend build a set for Montevallo Main Street Players and saw they needed props that he already had at home. One thing led to FROM THE START another, and before long he was supplying Ward admits he’s always had a “knack for props for music videos and more. The prop acquiring things,” but his story started in farm also kick started Ward’s acting roles traditional farming. His parents bought the from Montevallo community to music videos, Montevallo property they’d name Spring where his first role was a preacher video a for Creek Farm in 1972, and Ward went on to country singer Nick Nicholson shot on the

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farm. Four years ago, Spring Creek Farm officially became Spring Creek PROP Farm—a term that as far as Ward knows hasn’t been used before, but then again you don’t find a lot of farms full of props in the industry. It’s not unusual for a production crew to call several suppliers looking for an object before learning Spring Creek has just the thing—and they will soon learn it comes with service characteristic of not a big city but a small town farm. If a prop is on set, the Spring Creek team is on call, be it at 9 p.m. or 2 a.m. “If our props are out we are working,” Ward says. And when a vehicle goes on set, it comes with 24-hour on-call service and support and the mechanical know-how of Story, the

Chris Story services the prop farm’s fleet of ambulances, military vehicles and more.

technical arm of the operation who Ward first met through a Military Vehicle Preservation Association meeting (yes, that’s a thing). THE FLEET & BEYOND And that brings us to the Spring Creek fleet that parks just beyond the former dairy buildings on the property from eras before the Ward family purchased it. Story, the “company mechanic,” is into buying military vehicles in such poor shape that no one else wants them and then rebuilding them and outfitting them with gear specific to what movie crews need. For example, Story has outfitted their emergency vehicles with a unique power management system that allows them to use all the lights and accessories for as long as required without needing the engine. Plus, they are all completely fitted with the resources and equipment that a real ambulance would have— something Story can guarantee are true to real life since he served as a paramedic for 15 years. Adjacent to the fleet sit unassuming dairy buildings, semi-truck containers and room-sized containers of all shapes that house more and more sets of props. One holds racks of gear to outfit any militia from Vietnam, Korea, World War II, Gulf Wars or current issue along with canteens, working military radios and any other accessories to go with it—plus the expertise of Story, who is an Army veteran too. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, Ward and Story tell us the best is yet to come, as Ward leads us to the farm’s original house, an 1820s log cabin that’s still in working order while displaying its original glory. According to Ward, it’s the

oldest house in Shelby County and still has all of its original 120 acres deeded with it by President James Monroe. When his parents bought it nearly 50 years ago they pulled out the sheet rock that had been added and otherwise sought to restore it to its original design, albeit with electricity and running water. Even though Ward lives in the cabin now, most everything in the four original 18-by-18-foot rooms is true to its period— more props, if you will. The 2018 Civil War indie film Union was shot in these very rooms, and all the props—including the steeple in the field—were included in the deal. In fact, Spring Creek will rent out the whole farm to anyone who wants to use it for filming. Leaving the cabin you’ll come across sets to transport you to any other decade too. A smaller container is filled just with the contents of a 1960s dentist office from the chair to the drill. It hasn’t been used it yet, but when the call comes, they’ll be ready, just as they were when calls have come for blacksmith shops, beauty shops and 1930s kitchens complete with a working water pump. One semi truck trailer holds lighting and telephones, and another electronic “supplies” from an electronics repair company warehouse they cleaned out in Columbiana. “Every time we turn around someone asks for something that we got out of the warehouse we can use,” Ward says. “We have all this junk, but it’s good junk. Story has a different term in mind for it all: “monetizing hoarding.” “It’s not hoarding,” Ward rebuts. “How about we call it ‘collecting?’” we suggest. Ward is more on board with that. And, indeed, the whole “collection” is being put to very good use.

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HEALERS &

HEARERS BY SCOTT MIMS | PHOTOS BY DAWN HARRISON AS THE CLOCK STRIKES 10 P.M., THE CORRIDORS OF SHELBY BAPTIST MEDICAL CENTER ARE DIM AND ISOLATED. VISITING HOURS ARE OVER, AND PATIENTS ARE RESTING. BUT IN THE ODD SILENCE YOU’LL ALSO HEAR BEEPING MONITORS, THE MUFFLED CLICKETY-CLACK OF KEYBOARDS AND THE DELIBERATE FOOTSTEPS OF NURSES. WHETHER INTENTIONALLY OR NOT, THE NIGHTSHIFT NURSES, DOCTORS, CHAPLAINS AND THE PATIENTS BECOME A COMMUNITY OF THEIR OWN, EACH TAKEN FROM HIS OR HER FAMILY TO EITHER RECEIVE OR GIVE MUCH-NEEDED CARE.

A CALM IN THE STORM Victor Lewis is sitting on ready when most people are getting ready for bed. When that call comes, he knows it is most likely a death or a code blue. He is quiet as can be as he makes his way down the halls. It is a strange juxtaposition of quiet and high tension. As hospital chaplain, he tries to stay alert and fresh while presenting his best self to whatever situation he might encounter. Family members of patients are often shaken by a situation no one wants to think about—a medical emergency involving a loved one. But Lewis steps into these scenarios every day. In essence, his job is to be the calm in the storm. “I bathe myself in prayer and meditation, reading the scripture and just trying to get myself ready for the day,” Lewis says. “I kind of put myself in the position to be mentally ready for what is ahead.” Likewise he can often be found in the hospital’s chapel or office meditating. He

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gets a copy of the hospital’s census—a list of the total number of patients admitted on a given day—and starts praying for each patient, hospital staff members and family members of patients. Upon meeting a patient or family, Lewis first tries to establish a personal connection with them by trading stories to distract them from the immediacy of the situation. “I have to create that safe space for them to share,” he says. “Chaplaincy at its best is providing presence and support during those difficult times like that. You can’t do this without loving people. I always try to put myself in their position and be sensitive to their needs and provide active listening as well. Sometimes they just want somebody to listen.” This happened recently when a Canadian family was down the road from the hospital and the husband had a massive heart attack. Lewis listened as the man’s wife shared her pain, and he talked with their children and

grandchildren. “We try to channel their fear to faith and their anxiety to hope,” he says. “Sometimes the pain may not be lifted, but peace can be inserted in the midst of pain. We don’t administer medicine, but we administer peace.” But the hospital is often filled with joy too, and Lewis is there for that as he blesses and baptizes newborns when their families request it. For him, birth, like death, is a holy experience. Fittingly, “hospital” is a word that comes from “hospitality” in scripture, Lewis notes. The kindness he emanates carries over to hospital staff members, who lean on Lewis for comfort, support and guidance related to work and other aspects of life. They could be dealing with financial difficulty or a family situation that distracts them from their job. “We’re just a big family here. When they come on campus, I become their pastor,” he says.

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Orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Jason Cobb greets a patient at Shelby Baptist Medical Center.

MENDING THE BROKEN Should you find yourself in the Shelby Baptist emergency room late at night with a broken limb, it might be Dr. Jason Cobb that puts you back together. Whether a fracture, laceration or torn tendon, the doctor has a game plan. And if that doesn’t work, he has a plan B—and plans C, D, E and F. As an orthopaedic surgeon, Cobb, a Pelham resident, sees each procedure as a kind of chess match where he has to think several moves ahead in order to prepare for any possible outcome. Or, in football lingo sometimes he has to call an audible. This is especially true if a surgery lasts for eight, 12 or 16 hours—there are lots of details and fundamentals that need blocking and tackling. “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail,” Cobb says. “I think that’s across the board, and there’s never been a greater truth.”

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Cobb can be on call 24 hours a day, up to five days at a time. In some instances he isn’t called until a reasonable amount of X-rays or CT scans have taken place or even later if a patient can be stabilized until morning. But often, patients need to be addressed sooner rather than later. “If it’s a limb-threatening injury or if it’s an open fracture, oftentimes we come in and do those immediately,” says Cobb, a fellowship-trained traumatologist. In a femur fracture, Cobb might be ready to roll with a rod but then encounter a component of the injury that goes down into the knee joint. At that point, he needs to be ready to use screws or switch to a plate if necessary. It all goes back to planning: “We coordinate personnel, coordinate implants and instruments to have everything available in the operating room—clamps, wraps, table,

X-ray—how that’s set up in the room. It can make it easy on you or it can make it tough on you.” Outside of the operating room, it’s also Cobb’s job to speak to family members. He often uses layman’s terms to help them understand the procedure. Sometimes Cobb will even draw a picture, if necessary. “If you can’t specifically write on the back of a cocktail napkin what’s going to happen, you need to take care of that,” he says. “I think that’s an important point.” No matter the time of the day Cobb is drawing pictures or coming up with a Plan D, the big picture remains the same: “I don’t think there’s a greater field of gratification than orthopaedics because we fix things. It’s taking care of your community. That’s the big thing for me.”

THE LAST TO LEAVE If Cortney Myers’ nursing shift starts at 10 p.m., she’ll be there at 9:45 reviewing patients’ charts and whether they need a urine sample, flu shot, a specific type of medicine, you name it. In this time, she’s also checking the IV to make sure it is working properly, printing out medicine cards, highlighting information sheets and posting them in patients’ rooms. “That way, they’re not quite as concerned,” Myers says. “I just try to get an idea of who the patient is and get a good gauge of what their expectations are. The most important thing with any hospitalization is educating. I try to get to know them and their history, and just to be there.” Myers encounters many stroke patients in the intermediate medical care unit where she works, performing neurochecks and asking the patient basic questions such as where they are and what year it is. But her job is more than just checking off a list of items, she says. She wants to see patients making progress, and don’t expect her to just let you lie there. “A lot of patients don’t realize you get conditioned from day one,” she says. “A lot of people just feel like they have to stay in bed. I’m a firm believer in you’ve got to keep moving

to keep moving.” For her, the most challenging part is getting patients out of the room. This involves setting little goals and getting to know people in their moments of vulnerability. Standing up and walking can help prevent pressure injuries and decrease the likelihood of an embolism or blood clot. “A lot of people don’t realize, you’ve got to let your soul and your body catch up to each other, but it’s an active process,” she says. When speaking with patients, Myers tries to be vocal yet respectful and understanding. “I think definitely attitude goes a long way,” she says. “I try to just view every patient as my own family. If this was your mother, would you want the patient sitting the way she is? Perspective is everything.” And even though she’s arrived early, Myers is often the last nurse to leave because she’s always charting, advocating for her patients and preparing the transition for the next nurse. “I feel like I’d rather be in a room getting to know somebody. I like to be present, because if you’re there, you can develop that relationship. You can get to know these people,” she says.

Registered Nurse Cortney Myers typically arrives early for her shift at Shelby Baptist.

Family owned business with over 46 years of experience.

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ALWAYS WELCOME

CRYSTAL HAMRICK KNOWS DRINK ORDERS AS WELL AS SHE KNOWS NAMES AT HER HELENA BAR.

BY GRAHAM BROOKS | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY

Crystal Hamrick is doing anything but sleeping at 11 p.m. Instead she’s racking up miles as she paces back-and-forth in Rio’s, a cozy bar and grill nestled at the corner of Shelby County 58 and Shelby County 95 in Helena. If it’s Tuesday night, there’s no doubt Hamrick is passing out bingo cards and prepping the prizes for the lucky winners. On Sundays and Wednesdays she makes certain there’s plenty of chicken to go around at 50 cents per wing. Of course, the weekends are when Hamrick is greeting the most people, making them feel welcome when they walk through the glass double doors. Most enter with a hug or a wave to find Hamrick usually has their drink of choice sitting on the long L-shaped bar that serves as the focal point of the establishment before they’ve even settled in. In just a seven-year span, this local spot has become a place for good times and more like a home than a bar to the many people who frequent the space. “Helena has grown so much, but 99 percent of the people that walk through that door we know,” Hamrick says. “With so many new people moving to

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town, we’re just adding to that family. But we are a huge family here. If something happens to somebody, we know about it and we stay on top of it.” The neon lights inside Rio’s emit a warm feeling as if they are saying, “Come on in and relax.” Once inside anyone can play

bingo, sip on one of the many daily drink specials, play a round of virtual golf with a friend, or catch an Alabama or Auburn football game. Arcade games such as Golden Tee, a variety of tables and booths (which might be reserved for regulars depending on the

P.M.

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Rio’s Daily Specials

SUNDAY:

Free pool and 50

WEDNESDAY:

50 cent wings and

cent wings

$3 wells and wines

Free pool and $5

Thirsty Thursday

TUESDAY:

FRIDAY:

MONDAY:

fried pickles

Bingo at 6:30 p.m.

THURSDAY: specials

Karaoke night

SATURDAY:

Check for music schedule

Jimmy Ryan married his wife Nic at Rio’s in 2013 and they’re frequent patrons of the establishment.

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night of the week), a pool table and signs that bear sayings like “free beer yesterday” round out the decor at Rio’s. Becoming a bar owner wasn’t always Hamrick’s vision though. The reality is that she was fed up after working as an accountant in corporate finance for two decades. “I did that for 20 years and hated 19 and a half of it,” she says. “I just hated it, but I made enough money that when my kids were older I just said, ‘I’m not going to do it anymore.’ At the other bar (where I was working), it was kind of a rowdy crowd, so I quit in April of 2012 and wasn’t sure what I was going to do but two weeks later I got the key to this building.” After gutting and remodeling the space, Rio’s opened just a few days shy of Hamrick’s birthday on the Fourth of July, as she followed in the footsteps of her mother. “At 17, my mom already had two kids but the happiest she ever was was when she was bartending,” Hamrick says. “It was like you were never the black sheep in that part of the family and she was just always happier. I’m just the type of person where I can watch somebody do something one time and I know how to do it. For years, I wanted to open a bar but my ex-husband said, ‘You don’t even bartend.’ But I said, ‘I can.’ So I did.” Using the same grit and determination she got from her mother, Hamrick put her

heart and soul into opening Rio’s. The name itself came from someone near and dear to her, her uncle who was killed in a car wreck in 2004. “It was my mother’s youngest brother, and he always had a place on the lake and was a truck driver,” she says. “So, his Citizens band radio (CB radio) handle was Diamond Rio for a long time and then it was just Rio’s, for Rio’s trucking. He was just my favorite uncle.” Rio loved to play pool and go to Nascar races such as Daytona, and Hamrick has channeled his passion for life into Rio’s, as evident by the stories the bar’s regulars tell. Jimmy Ryan likes to boast he was at Rio’s from the very beginning. He worked for a vending company back in 2012 and knew Hamrick from the bar she worked at prior to Rio’s before a funny moment brought them together again. Someone had told him the new bar was opening, so he decided to see for himself. When he showed up, Hamrick had just obtained her liquor license. “I come over here and see (Hamrick) cleaning the restaurant equipment and I said, ‘It’s you!’” Ryan says. “When she opened, I went back to the shop to get things to work on the vending machines and came back, and when I came in nobody was in here. I bought the first beer here after she opened. It was a little warm, but I didn’t care. It’s a cool moment I like to

Rio’s owner Crystal Hamrick hosts bingo, a Tuesday tradition for bar patrons.

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“HELENA HAS GROWN SO MUCH, BUT 99 PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE THAT WALK THROUGH THAT DOOR WE KNOW.”

“We got engaged right by the Golden Tee game and then while -CRYSTAL HAMRICK we’re sitting here playing bingo, Crystal said, ‘I think you should get married here,’” Nic Ryan says. “So, share.” To make things even more personal for Crystal married us April 30, 2017 on stage.” And they didn’t just select her as their Ryan, he also met his now wife Nic at Rio’s in 2013. On Tuesdays, you can find them at officiant just because that’s where they met the same booth playing bingo on their one either. “It’s a neighborhood bar and we live really close, and Crystal has been a very night out a week.

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good friend to us for many years,” Nic Ryan says. “We would do anything for her and we both have in many ways. She’s done so much for us.” While not everyone will get married at Rio’s, anyone looking for a good time will probably run into Hamrick, and before long she’ll be calling them by their first names and have their drink of choice ready for them. That’s just the way she operates.