INSIDE: Holtville, Stanhope celebrate graduation
Senior prank results in 11 students not walking at Wetumpka graduation
Holtville High School basketball coach
By Cliff Williams Staff Writer
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
Chamber holds luncheon welcoming members
By Cliff Williams Staff Writer
The Wetumpka Chamber of Commerce held its annual luncheon to install new officers and board members for the first time in a while Thursday.
STILL GLOWING
The COVID-19 pandemic put a hamper on gatherings but the chamber celebrated the successes of business in Wetumpka.
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
The “vandalism” at Wetumpka High School left at least three halls and the commons area of the school a mess.
Members of the Wetumpka Chamber of Commerce attend the chamber’s “A Taste of Our Home Town” luncheon.
Ketchup and mustard was squirted on floors and walls. Bags of flour were scattered throughout the same area. Bathroom trash cans were dumped in one hall. A banner was partially torn down. Desks and tables were moved and/ or turned upside down. Streamers and silly string were used. Bails of hay, straw and paper were scattered in many halls and the classroom students entered about 10 p.m. Tuesday, May 14. It was part of a senior prank that Elmore County Schools superintendent
By Jake Arthur Chief Videographer
Team Stringfellow still relishing in Teacher of the Year honors
“We haven’t been able to do this for the last couple years,” chairperson Clay McConnell said. “Your attendance is an indication people want to get back together and have these opportunities to see each
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
TCLIFF WILLIAMS/ THE HERALD
See CHAMBER, Page A3
Police
here is no ‘I’ in team, but for Team Stringfellow, there is no doubt who the quarterback is at Airport Intermediate School. It’s Deborah Stringfellow — Alabama’s Teacher of the Year. Stringfellow was given the honor in a Montgomery ceremony two weeks ago, but last week students and faculty celebrated as ALFA presented her with a vehicle for her to travel the state in for the next year. ARIS fourth grader Lauryn Simmons has seen how effective Stringfellow is in her classroom.
Stringfellow has been in education for more than four decades. She came to ARIS three years ago and was paired with teacher Sydni Edwards to help pour knowledge into fourth graders.
“We are hand and hand together all the time,” Edwards
“She means a lot to us,” Lauryn said. “She is helpful.”
See TEACHER, Page A7
CLIFF WILLIAMS | TPI ARIS fourth grade teacher Deborah Stringfellow addresses students, faculty and dignitaries at the school Friday as she was honored with a celebration and a car.
Marine and high school graduation in the same day
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
Deatsville resident arrested for Wetumpka kidnapping, robbery
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
Bobby McCall is in the Elmore County Jail after a Friday arrest for kidnapping, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana.
“This
“We believe the victim and the perpetrator knew each other.”
This is the first homicide in Wetumpka in over three years. The last homicide in the city took place in 2018.
“It’s not a good way to start out the new year,” said Benton. Benton didn’t want to speculate on the
See SHOOTING, Page A3
Sexton followed one of the Marine Corps values in the process — “First to Fight.” It is representative of Marine history having been at the forefront of most American battles since 1775. Sexton had finished all of his classes in December for high school graduation. He didn’t stick around taking easy classes or working a job near home.
Holtville’s Futral Alabama principal of the year
Staff Report
In eight hours David Alexander Sexton first became a Marine, then a Holtville High School graduate.
The Alabama Association of Secondary School Principals
“I wanted to better myself,” Sexton said after graduation at Holtville Friday night. “There were a lot of benefits and the way they are. The Marines are
McCall, 37, of Deatsville, was connected to an April 24 incident on Coosa River Parkway. The Wetumpka Police Department responded after a victim called 911. Someone was approached at a home while letting dogs out in the early morning.
“Kyle Futral is an exception al principal and is very proac tive and innovative in his think ing and approaches to managing his school,” Dennis said,
As principal of Holtville High School, Futral has transformed
(AASSP) named Holtville High School principal Kyle Futral the 2022 Alabama High School Principal of the Year. The High School Principal of the Year award was presented to Futral on Friday, Jan. 28 during a schoolwide assembly at Holtville High School. Elmore County Su perintendent Richard Dennis was in attendance for the presentation.
See MARINE, Page A7
Friday
identified and addressed. Futral’s leadership style of listening, encouraging, supporting, organizing and challenging the staff and students, caused the school culture to
shift in a positive direction. The school experienced a 62 percent decrease in discipline referrals, 50 percent decrease in chronic absenteeism, 7 percent increase in the graduation rate, 33 percent increase in CCR rate and a 20 percent increase in ACT proficiency in the last five years.
See PRINCIPAL, Page A3
“The dogs immediately started barking at two Black males dressed in all black that were hiding on the side of the residence,” court documents state. “One of the Black males then pulled a gun. The other Black male was armed with a bow and arrow.”
About 18 hours later the victim’s vehicle was located by the Wetumpka Police Department off of Highway 111.
McCall had been arrested by the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office on outstanding warrants and was in possession of a bow and
The alleged offenders demanded money. The victim went to the bedroom and handed over cash. The victim was then bound with zip ties and forced into the back seat of the victim’s vehicle. The offenders then re-entered the residence and “stole” jewelry. Court documents said the value of the vehicle, jewelry and a phone was more than $115,000. The offenders drove away and soon released the victim.
See VANDALISM, Page A7
See ARRESTED, Page A7
MCCALL
CLIFF WILLIAMS TPI
Holtville High School graduate David Alexander Sexton first graduated from Marine Corps boot camp Friday morning in Paris Island, South Carolina before traveling to
evening’s Holtville graduation.
Wetumpka honors healthcare workers
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
of food that was donated and catered for the staff,” Pyle said. “The community has been great in helping support this week. It is all to honor healthcare workers for what they do for the community day in and day out.”
Pet of the Week — Bogey
Bogey is a 1-year-old Shepherd/ Aussie mix who weighs about 35 pounds. He came to us as part of a multi-dog intake. Bogey is a bit reserved at first but then warms up and is a very curious boy. Just give him a bit of time to be comfortable. He is good with most other dogs but best to meet a potential buddy. He was an outside dog so he’s likely not formally housetrained. Bogey really loves treats.
The Humane Society of Elmore County’s adoption fees are $100 for dogs and $50 for cats under 1 year old. Cats over 1 can be adopted by approved adopters for a fee of their choosing. This adoption fee covers the mandatory spay or neuter, basic immunizations, deworming, microchip, heartworm check for dogs, rabies vaccination if old enough and a free health exam with your participating veterinarian.
If you are interested in meeting Cola or any of the pets at HSEC, the first step is to fill out an adoption application online. Once approved, you will be contacted by someone from the humane society. HSEC is located at 255 Central Plank Road in Wetumpka. The phone number is 334-567-3377 and the website is www.elmorehumane.org.
CLIFF WILLIAMS TPI
Elmore Community Hospital staff paused long enough to hold a sock hop dance off during a break on 50s day during Hospital Week.
Weather doesn’t rain on Holtville graduation
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
Administrators spent several days preparing for Holtville High School Class of 2024 graduation on Friday.
Early in the week when weather was in question, the decision was made to prepare for an indoor ceremony but that would limit attendance. As practice began Friday morning, staff and students decided to hedge their bets. They worked together to set up for two different ceremonies — one indoors and one outdoors. Seniors and then soon-to-be graduates Sherman Livings, Jack Carlisle, Logan Wilson, Landin Hewitt, Bryan
Williams, Josh Jiminez, Cade McQueen, Kaden Bowden, Hannah Guy, Katie Rice, Paige Hough, Sariyah Williams, Taylor Lewis, Caleb Sutton, Reagan Devaughn, Kaydey Jackson, Eva Myers and Katherine Hilyer set up chairs on the football field so there was two different venues ready for the evening graduation.
Just two hours before, administrators, with help from Elmore County EMA officials made the decision to have the ceremony outdoors. Soon Elmore County Board of Education members Michael Morgan, Wendell Saxon and David Jones were joined by superintendent Richard Dennis and Bobby Carr to dry
Holtville valedictorian wants to follow father’s footsteps
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
Jack Carlisle didn’t have to look far to know he wanted to be a history teacher.
His father Jonathan Carlisle is a history teacher at Holtville Middle School and provided Jack’s model.
“I look up to him and take a lot of inspiration from him,” Jack said.
Carlisle led his classmates onto Boykin Chapman Field Friday night as valedictorian of Holtville’s Class of 2024. It was a place principal Sean Kreauter was 23 years ago in the Class of 2001, just not as valedictorian.
“He is a good one,” Kreauter said. “I’m sure
he will make us all proud.”
Carlisle is a legacy at Holtville. His mother Brandi is a graduate of the school and works nearby.
Carlisle has always attended Holtville schools enjoying every moment along the way. He has always excelled academically and supported his classmates.
Carlisle even helped his fellow classmates pull off Friday night’s graduation on the football field. Earlier in the week, administrators made plans to hold the graduation ceremony in the gym. Even as they practiced Friday morning, the soon to be graduates were unsure
if the weather would break. But it didn’t deter them. Carlisle helped with efforts to be prepared for two different graduation ceremonies — one inside and the other on the football field. Working in the humidity placing chairs on the football field paid off. A few hours later the weather cleared allowing the outdoor graduation ceremony with many more family members able to attend.
It is a lesson Carlisle has learned in his 13 years at Holtville schools since kindergarten. It’s a lesson Carlisle wants to always live by and share with others as he goes to Faulkner University to
major in history with hopes of becoming a history teacher.
“Always be kind to people and try to be cooperative and friendly,” Carlisle said. “It helps you out in life.”
WILLIAMS TPI
Despite the rain, Holtville hosts graduation at its football field on Friday night.
CLIFF WILLIAMS TPI
Holtville valedictorian Jack Carlisle leads his classmates to receive their diplomas Friday night. The Holtville native plans to become a history teacher.
Boone, Chairman
Kenneth
Tippy
General Manager Lizi Arbogast Gwin, Managing Editor
Page A4 • May 22, 2024
Graduation from a different perspective
Agolf ball had the best seat in the house for gradua-
last week.
The idea presents two questions. What does a golf ball have to do with a high school graduation and how can a golf ball have the best seat?
I saw it done with my own two eyes and my camera as Holtville principal Sean Kreauter presided over commencement services at his alma mater for the first time. Kreauter even invited the big guns — his 2001 Holtville classmate and valedictorian Jason Bobo who is currently a staff attorney with the University of Alabama System — the same system Coach Nick Saban retired from. the same Holtville that can lay partial claim to Georgia’s Kirby Smart. Bobo reflected on his career and even repeated part of his speech from 2001.
While Bobo talked about what he would do differently and gave advice to the Class of 2024 who had yet to receive their diplomas, I saw something. There was a graduate with a golf ball. Then another and another.
It quickly dawned on me the senior class planned to present Kreauter with the round balls in a variety of colors when they shook hands with him. In the past I’ve seen Hot Wheels passed at the handshake. On Thursday night I saw coins and little plastic ducks passed to Elmore County High School principal Jason Eason. There was always a place to quietly dispose of the graduation gift.
Kreauter soon walked up to the table covered in diplomas and flowers. But there was nowhere for the golf balls. No box, no jar, nothing.
Kreauter reached for a handshake realizing in front of thousands he was in trouble. He took the golf and turned. As Kreauter started to grab the next diploma, he gave the
See GRADUATION, Page A7
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Graduation is a time of celebration. It’s all about the pomp and circumstance. It’s about getting dressed up and celebrating accomplishments that sometimes took years to complete. Graduation season is also award season. Every high school in the area hosts an honors or awards day where various scholarships and other accolades are given. Those accomplishments should certainly be celebrated.
But I want to talk about the kids who aren’t the valedictorians or the honor roll students. I want to talk about the kids who tried so hard just to get there, and give them a giant pat on the back.
I was one of those kids. I had a measly $500 leadership scholarship for college. That was it. Of course I’m thankful for that, but I wasn’t getting a full ride anywhere and my name wasn’t being called over and over at an awards ceremony. I get it. Sometimes you start to feel a little left out, but there’s so much more to celebrate than just those accolades. There’s a reason every student gets a diploma and always has.
Diplomas aren’t like today’s participation trophies that get handed
The Wetumpka Word
LIZI GWIN Managing Editor
out like cookies. Diplomas must be strived for by all students, whether it comes easy to them or not.
I had friends who could open a book and memorize the entire contents within minutes, it felt. I had friends who could sit through one lesson and understand every word the teacher said. I wasn’t that way, and it certainly didn’t come easy.
When I was in 11th grade, I moved to an alternative high school — proud alumni of the Murray High Dragons, by the way. It was a charter school based on choice theory, and it was what made me a high school graduate. See at Murray, you couldn’t get less than an A or B. Now that’s not to say good grades were given out. Quite the opposite.
In fact, at Murray, you had to redo your assignments until you got an A or B. Our teachers truly wanted to ensure we understood the material. Getting an F or even a D
certainly doesn’t prove that. So if we failed, we tried, tried again.
couldn’t get less than an A or a B and immediately think, “Oh your school was a cake walk!” Quite the contrary for people like me, who struggled to get those good grades.
I had to assignments four, five, sometimes six times — and if we didn’t do it, that was OK. We just didn’t graduate.
It was all about our choices.
Some people are born with natural smarts, just like some are born with natural beauty. Other people are gifted with work ethic or athletic ability. We all have our God given talents, and even if you aren’t the person who was awarded scholarship after scholarship, you deserve to celebrate your accom plishments too.
lege like I was or you plan to forge your own path in work or the mil itary, I wish all our
Soli Deo Gloria
This newspaper column has recently featured reprints of tales from the music department’s past. Last week, we held our annual music banquet at First Baptist Church. I put myself at the end of the program so our captive audience would be able to listen to a few final words of thanks. These are the last words of a grateful educator to the fine people of Tallassee City Schools.
In the old days of vaudeville as entertainment, if a performer was on stage too long, somebody behind the curtain would reach around with a giant hook and drag the performer off the stage. For the past five years, Mrs. Hill has been that person, but tonight I asked that she give me a chance to say a few thank-you’s as I don’t know that I will have a chance to speak with you all again. You know, Mrs. Hill was telling me that when she was a little girl, she used to line up her stuffed animals and play teacher with them. I didn’t play school with my stuffed animals, but I did put records on the turntable and pretended to be the radio disc jockey talking over the songs. So we both have been into music for a long time. I think it was a ‘God thing’ that our last five years in public education were spent together and I am so thankful for Mrs. Kelley Hill and her husband, Dr. Adam Hill, whom I have looked up to since kindergarten. I know we are all better musicians because of you. While I have this opportunity, I would also like to make sure to
publicly thank a few other people. There is someone without whom our program just wouldn’t have been as successful as it has been. She has worked behind the scenes with dozens of our band students over the past two decades and helped many of them realize their goals of achieving All-State Band honors or college music scholarships through her work at Bird Academy of Music. But she’s also tolerated my being a public school music teacher for all these years, too, while doing a great job raising the seven BirdKids. Please help me in thanking her for everything: Mrs. Sena Thibodeaux Bird. I also wish to recognize a person who made tonight – and every other event – happen. As a matter of fact, there’s nothing we do that doesn’t somehow have her logistical mind putting it together. Every T-shirt, every meal, every phone call, every purchase order, is all done by this force of nature. Y’all like to call her Honey, but I’m the only one here who can say she’s my roommate. Please, everyone, let’s show our appreciation to Mrs. Debbie Rogers. We also love to look and sound good everywhere we go. Tallassee is blessed to have a man who not only grew up in the program, but made it his mission in life to help performers look and sound their best. His company Sound & Stuff travels with us everywhere we go on the show choir circuit, and whether we’ve been in the new Performing Arts Center or in the Old Gym, everyone who comes to see us is amazed by the pro-
fessional productions we put on at Tallassee. None of them would be possible without the best in the business. He’s so much more than a drummer: Mr. Jordan Cunningham.
I’ve said it before but will say it again: I just don’t know what my life would have been like had I never met this person. She is more than a choreographer, more than a problem solver, more than a daughter or a mom or a twirler. No matter what is happening, this girl finds the silver lining, the positive approach, the happy side. She has been the only choreographer that Gold Edition has ever known, and the fun personality of that group is a direct result of the hard work of someone very special, whose favorite phrase is ‘fist bump blow it up’. Thank you to the one and only “Miss Amanda” Glasscock! Obviously, we wouldn’t have any of the things we have as a department or as a school without our administration. I know I am not always easy to deal with and can sometimes be your problem child, but I promise my intentions are always good! Thank you to Mr. Drew Glass and Mrs. Brooke Barron for leading our school through the most challenging years in its history as we faced covid and construction, then moving into our new building. You have had a difficult and often thankless job, but we appreciate you and your
See GLORIA, Page B3
Publishers, Inc.
CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
MICHAEL BIRD Columnist
MayFest a success in Millbrook
PHOTOS
The May Pole and music provided plenty of fun for the second annual MayFest in Millbrook Saturday. Village Green Park was filled with food, crafts and fun for all. It was
to dance in the park. “I gave them a butterfly in exchange,” Morgan said.
Humane Society of Elmore County News
Do your homework before getting a pet
By REA CORD HSEC Executive Director
“Free to a good home” is a sadly common ad/ post this time of year as pet owners need homes for unwanted litters of kittens or puppies, or adult pets they choose to no longer keep in their lives. But are all of these homes really ‘good’ homes? From our intake statistics, easily 90+% of owner surrendered pets to us were obtained “free” and the vast majority of those have had little to no Vet care of any kind. While there are, of course, wonderful families who do everything right by their free pet, reality is that ‘free’ pets are less likely to ever be taken to a veterinarian for basic immunizations and checkups, let alone an illness or injury, and even
less likely to be spayed or neutered eventually leading to even more unwanted puppies and kittens. Free pets are also more likely to be neglected and/or discarded because “there are plenty more where that one came from!”
And sadly, not all people who get these free pets have the best intentions no matter how nice they may seem at that one short meetup. For some, these puppies or kittens are just summer ‘toys’ for the kids/grandkids and will be discarded at the end of the summer. Some people’s pets simply don’t last very long so they just go and get another freebie. Some may get them to ‘flip’ them for a few bucks to anyone for any reason. And there are other, hopefully rare, but real and far worse fates as well that we will just not go into here, but
suffice that the solution to all of this is to NOT let your pet have yet another unneeded litter or to do your homework before taking on a pet so you don’t have any need to rehome it. So what to do if you need to re-home your pet? If your pet came from a responsible breeder, call them to see if they can take it back or assist with placement as a truly responsible breeder will be there for the animal they produced. You should consider charging a fee that will not only ‘value’ your pet but discourage resale of pets to others. Spay or neuter your pet BEFORE rehoming it to avoid an accidental litter or make it unattractive to backyard breeders or puppy mill operators. Interview potential new owners by asking for their identification, phone number, pre-
vious pet experience, their current pets and children in the household, how the pet will be contained, and their veterinarian’s name as a reference. Keep their contact info, call their veterinarian for a reference and if at all possible, visit their home to see how and where your pet will live before you release it to the new owner. If you cannot afford to have your pet spayed or neutered, ask the new owner to pledge that they will have the puppy/kitten fixed by the time it is six months old and the adult immediately. If a potential adopter isn’t willing to give you their information or let you visit their home our advice is to politely send them away empty handed. You owe it to your pet to take the time and effort to make sure it goes to a good home.
CommunityCalendar
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THURSDAY, MAY 30
IVY’S GALA: Ivy’s Closet will be hosting a gala from 6 to 8 p.m. May 30 at the Wetumpka Civic Center. There will be live music and a silent auction.
MAY 30-JUNE 1
HONK JR.: The Penguins at the Wetumpka Depot are performing Honk Jr. May 30 to June 1 at the Depot. It is a heartwarming celebration of being different. Tickets are $18 and available at wetumpkadepot.com.
JUNE 1 - JUNE 28
NATIONAL EXHIBITION: The Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts in downtown Wetumpka is hosting the 83rd Annual Watercolor Society of Alabama national exhibition from June 1 to June 28. The juried watercolor competition will feature state and national artists.
in the Dr. M. L. Fielder Municipal Building, 145 Main Street.
If time is critical or you are simply not willing to screen potential owners, then please take your pet to a reputable public or private shelter rather than give it away free to someone you know nothing about. Each county in our tri-county area has an open-admission shelter and while none of us can guarantee placement due to overwhelming numbers, we will do our utmost to find adoptable pets loving and lifetime homes. We work to screen & educate adopters to make sure they are appropriate and ready to take on a new pet. Our adoption fees cover immunizations, de-worming, microchip (includes the registration) and the mandatory spay or neuter. And if you take home a new Shelter Pet and it does not work out for most any
reason, we will take our adopted pet back. We actually have it in our Adoption Contract language, and we do that to protect our pet. We committed to it once, so once back with us will do so again. Best way to ignore everything above? Do your homework before getting a pet, plan for a 15-20 year commitment and have your pet spayed or neutered BEFORE it has/causes an unwanted litter. Oh, and if a stray dog or cat shows up that you end up ‘keeping’ then get it to your Veterinarian ASAP for vaccinations and a checkup and have it spayed or neutered also ASAP to prevent a surprise litter.
Rea Cord is the executive director of the Humane Society of Elmore County.
at 78223 Tallassee Highway in Wetumpka each Tuesday at 6:15 p.m.
All are welcome to the meetings which provide a safe and loving environment for individuals seeking to conquer their hurts, habits and hangups. For more information, visit www.Gracepoint. info or contact Gwin Greathouse at gwingreathouse@gmail.com.
CELEBRATE RECOVERY
SANTUCK: Celebrate Recovery meets each Thursday at 6:15 p.m. at Santuck Baptist Church at 7250 Central Plank Rd. This is a Christcentered, 12-step program for anyone struggling with hurts, habits, and hangups. Call 334-567-2364 for more information or contact jyates@santuckbaptist.org.
JUNE 24-29
THEATRE CAMP: The Stanhope Elmore Mustang Players are hosting a theater camp for students in the Millbrook area from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. June 24-29 at Stanhope Elmore High School School and will close out with performances. The cost is $100.
SUNDAY, JULY 14
MEN’S CONFERENCE: Village Church of Wetumpka is hosting a men’s conference. The keynote speaker is Rick Burgess of Rick and Bubba.
ONGOING SUPPORT GROUP: The last Thursday of every month, Restoration 49 Coffee Shop plays host to a support group for parents who have lost a child. The meetings begin at 6 p.m. each month. For more information, please contact Heather Baker at hbakerjj@aol.com.
PRESCHOOL STORYTIME: Preschool Storytime takes place at 10 a.m. every Friday at Wetumpka Public Library.
ECLECTIC TOWN COUNCIL
MEETINGS: Eclectic Town Council meetings are held on the third Monday of each month at Town Hall. Council meetings begin at 7 p.m. with work sessions taking place prior to the meeting at 6 p.m. Meetings are held
NAACP MEETINGS: The Elmore County Branch No. 5026 of the NAACP meets at 6:30 p.m. every third Tuesday (executive committee) and every fourth Tuesday (full membership) at the Martin Luther King Center at 200 North Lancaster St. in Wetumpka.
OPEN MIC: The Equality
Performing Arts Center hosts an open mic jam session from 7 to 9 p.m. every second Friday of the month at 560 Highway 9 in Equality. There is no charge but donations are welcome as they keep the center running. Bring a snack or finger food to share during the intermission. RED HILL COMMUNITY CLUB
MEETINGS: Red Hill Community Club Meetings are held every second Monday of the month. Join the Red Hill Historical Preservation Association in the auditorium of the Old Red Hill School, located off state Route 229 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss upcoming events.
MOUNT HEBRON CHURCH OF CHRIST: Come join us at 4530 Mt. Hebron Road in Eclectic. Our Sunday school begins at 9 a.m. followed by worship service at 10:30. There is also a Wednesday night Bible study at 7 p.m. For more information call Pastor Edwin Walker at 334-541-2025
LUNCH AND LEARN: Lunch and learn Tuesdays with Kelly are scheduled at the Kelly Fitzpatrick Memorial Gallery at 124 Company Street in Wetumpka from noon to 1 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month. For more information, visit www.thekelly.org.
CELEBRATE RECOVERY GRACE
POINT: Celebrate Recovery meets at Grace Point Community Church
GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS: Gamblers Anonymous meets Saturdays at 6 p.m. at Cedarwood Community Church at 10286 U.S. Highway 231 in Wallsboro/Wetumpka. Call 334-567-0476 for more information.
AA MEETING: Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are held Mondays at 7 p.m. located at 105 Tuskeena St. in Wetumpka.
RED HILL SCHOOL: The Red Hill School on Highway 229 in the Red Hill Community in Tallassee is open Fridays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. for local live music performances. No admission is charged but donations are welcomed to maintain the building and pay for refreshments.
MASTER GARDENER HELPLINE: If you have gardening questions you can call the Master Gardener Helpline at 1-877-252-4769. The helpline starts March 1 and ends in August.
CHILDREN’S HARBOR: Children’s Harbor Treasures and Thrift Store Located on state route 63 just south of Lake Martin Amphitheater, the Children’s Harbor Thrift Store is open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. proceeds are used to help fund the activities at the Lake Martin campus of children’s harbor and the Family Center at Children’s Hospital. Call 334-857-2008 for more information.
streamers,” Lucas said. “They had pine straw and moved like five desks into a hallway.”
Lucas said the students placed the materials in the hallways and one student was caught as they were leaving the school. The students returned to clean things up.
“They cleaned until 1 a.m. and left,” Lucas said.
Lucas said her daughter and other students feel singled out because previous senior pranks have been similar, and without discipline to the level of her daughter’s.
“Nothing was damaged and everything was cleaned,” Lucas said. “Some students who participated did much more than others yet the entire group is being punished. This situation has left many students feeling very disheartened to the point where they feel like giving up entirely.”
Elmore County Schools
superintendent Richard Dennis said Wetumpka High School principal Kyle Futral sent all seniors a message a month ago that entering the school when closed carries a punishment of 30 days in alternative school.
“[It] would cause you to be unable to participate in the remaining senior activities,” the message said.
Lucas said in previous years of the prank, no students were punished and that last year’s prank was similar. Dennis said no discipline action was reported to the central office last year in regards to a senior prank.
“I heard they put honey on some door handles,” Dennis said. “In Eclectic, it wasn’t reported to the central office. It was just a few balloons, some confetti and Post-It notes.”
Dennis said even after the students and staff cleaned up this year at Wetumpka, a third party was hired to finish as there was still ketchup and flour on the walls of the building.
“When we have to hire a cleaning crew to come in, it comes to me,” Dennis said.
“The principal could have pursued trespassing charges but hasn’t.”
Dennis once served as principal at Wetumpka High School. He said students pulled a prank and he pursued disciplinary actions.
“They came in at homecoming,” Dennis said. “They put chickens inside.”
Lucas believes students should be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies given the lack of discipline in previous years.
“We are trying to push for the students to have community service or any other punishment than not being able to walk,” Lucas said. PRANK Continued from
Continued from A1
arrow matching the description from the kidnapping. McCall is being held in the Elmore County Jail pending an Aniah’s Law Hearing.
Wetumpka deputy police chief Ed Reeves said the case is still under investigation and officers are looking for the second suspect.
GRADUATION
Continued from A4
golf ball a quick toss over the table to the feet of assistant principal Lana Moore who was calling out the names.
The seniors all smiled.
The next golf ball met a similar fate. Maybe even the third. But rather quickly one bounced on the table and landed on the ground in front for everyone to see. It had the best seat to see all the handshakes.
Graduate after graduate continued to come up. Most with a golf
TEACHER Continued from A1
said. “She is a gem.”
Zoie Frasier also teaches fourth grade with Edwards and Stringfellow. They have learned a lot from the veteran Stringfellow. They don’t fully understand why Stringfellow is always lending them a hand, but are thankful to have her on the team at ARIS. The veteran, Stringfellow, is always there supporting her fellow teachers with Super Bowl parties at Glow Days to help students learn.
“We do big classroom transformations,” Edwards said. “She has taken it on and goes all out with us. She has never said no to an idea. You would not know she is that old by the way she acts in the classroom.”
Stringfellow said the Glow Day is part of a national project. At ARIS, teachers cover the windows and place black lights in the classrooms. The colors change and become more vibrant. It helps open the doors to lessons on light waves, math and science. The Super Bowl party provides opportunities for reading recipes and math and science in preparing the snacks.
Such activities weren’t fully welcomed in education settings when Stringfellow first started teaching 44 years ago.
“I would do some innovative things but instructional time was structured,” Stringfellow said. “I have learned to navigate, adjust and change with the times.” Learning effective ways to
ARRESTED
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professional.”
teach have come in a variety of ways over the years. Stringfellow has gleaned new teaching methods and technology from new teachers and continuing education. It helped the veteran navigate the changing world of education. Other lessons came as she raised her own children.
Once, Stringfellow was buying a computer for the family and figured out the parts of the computer and teaching basic human anatomy were a lot alike.
“Each of them has parts required to make everything work,” Stringfellow said. “They have a lot in common. The lesson involved making an eBay ad to build human body systems. My kids ate it alive.”
Stringfellow later used computers to help students learn the life cycle of a plant and animation.
“That was cool,” Stringfellow said.
Along the way Stringfellow has learned to break from traditional methods because it is needed to keep the attention of the students.
“We live in a multi-faceted world,” Stringfellow said. “We have to compete with all the technology out there. Some way we have to get them to tune into us. Instruction can be made to be interesting, innovative and encouraging.”
Frasier and Edwards welcomed the wisdom and leadership of Stringfellow so much so they made their way to Montgomery before the Teacher of the Year ceremonies started two weeks ago.
“They had tossed around the idea they were going to come out
Walking across Boykin-Chapman Field to get his high school diploma almost didn’t happen, but it wasn’t because of grades.
Hours earlier on Friday, Sexton became a member of Golf Company as he graduated from Marine Corps boot camp on Parris Island, South Carolina. He then made the seven-hour journey home to Holtville. Sexton and his family pulled into the parking lot of Holtville High School after graduation ceremonies had begun.
A quick text to staff of the school and Sexton walked onto the field as the names of his classmates were called. Instead of the green
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Richard Dennis said went overboard. The seniors were caught in the act and cleanup soon ensued — not only by the students but by school staff as well.
As punishment for the prank, Dennis said not walking in the graduation ceremony is likely the best outcome the students could hope for.
“There were significant areas impacted by the vandalism,” Dennis said. “If I had delayed school the next day because we couldn’t have class, legal charges would have gone through.”
Even with the cleanup Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, more is needed. An outside firm said it would cost more than $10,000 to finish cleaning the walls and floors. Instead, the school system will keep the cleaning in house and do it in the coming days as school will not be in session. It also means the incident will not be on the students records beyond school files. The students gained entry through a broken window latch.
ball. Kreauter got almost all of them over the table. It was as if he was at the driving range perfecting his shot. Another dropped in front for all to see. The principal squatted down to pick it up. He tossed it behind the table to even more laughs from the seniors.
Kreauter’s game was progressing. It was consistent. He figured out how to swipe the ball from the graduate and dispose of it at Moore’s feet. That is until Samuel Spangler came up. Spangler shook Kreauter’s hand passing the golf ball and taking the diploma. But before he shook the
and crash it,” Stringfellow said. “I said if they wanted to come, they could come hang out in the parking lot. I didn’t think they were going to come.”
As things were getting started at the Teacher of the Year announcement, Elmore County Schools director of elementary schools Amy Harrison said she kept seeing social media posts about teachers in the parking lot of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.
Frasier, Edwards and more of the staff from ARIS were watching it live just outside the ceremony. As the time for the announcement got closer, Stringfellow’s teammates got closer to the auditorium.
When the runner-up was announced, Stringfellow noticed her granddaughter Lily and coach of Team Stringfellow.
“She cried when they named the other lady, she thought I had lost,” Stringfellow said. “I thought if I don’t win, I’m not going to be able to look her in the eye. No pressure. I would have let her down.”
When Stringfellow’s name was announced, Harrison and ARIS principal Marcia Stephens screamed. Team Stringfellow came in. Stringfellow’s family watched with smiles on their faces.
“I was in total shock that night,” Stringfellow said. Alabama State Superintendent of Education Dr. Eric Mackey saw the presence of Team Stringfellow and thought someone had let the word get out Stringfellow had won.
“I know we have never had a
cap and gown, Sexton was in his Marine Corps dress blues.
Before calling his name Friday night, Holtville assistant principal Lana Moore made a special comment about Sexton.
“We weren’t sure he was going to be here tonight,” Moore said. “He just graduated from boot camp this morning on Parris Island.”
It’s the last time he will be late to an assignment.
“The Marines are always first,” Sexton said.
Being at his high school graduation wasn’t a problem when Sexton was signing up for the Marines. He was scheduled to ship out in January.
“Something came back wrong with my [Military Operational Speciality] MOS so I had to wait until Feb. 20 to ship out,” Sexton
It’s a known issue through Wetumpka High School and Wetumpka Elementary School. Windows and doors at the schools are part of a project whose bids could be accepted at an Elmore County Board of Education meeting as early as Tuesday.
Police reports were filed over the matter but not pursued. Potential charges could have included trespassing and criminal mischief.
“[The principal] was being lenient and backed away from that,” Dennis said.
As Dennis was speaking to the media in the central office of the Elmore County Board of Education protesters, some including the students involved in the incident, appeared outside. They held signs wanting the students to be allowed to walk. Dennis said the punishment doesn’t affect the students graduation status, only their ability to participate in graduation ceremonies.
Dennis was aware of the senior prank at Elmore County High School leading up to graduation in Eclectic. He said it wasn’t to the scale of the Wetumpka situation.
“It was balloons, confetti and
hand of superintendent Richard Dennis, Spangler dropped and did the worm. In the process he lost his green diploma amongst the wet green grass.
Kreauter spotted and retrieved it. He held it back from Spangler as if the teenager wasn’t going to be allowed to graduate. But with a grin from ear to ear the principal let the graduate pass.
After the ceremony and a crisp $100 bill in his hand Spangler admitted he did the worm on a dare.
Bobo said he only remembers giving Dennis a hard time when he and Kreauter graduated from
teacher fanclub to show up at the presentation,” Mackey said. “They almost got me in trouble. When they showed up with a bunch of signs, everybody thought I leaked it out this year. We are tight lipped.”
Mackey said nobody knows who the winner is until the announcement, beyond himself and the governor.
When Stringfellow was named as the district winner and then again in the final four, Team Stringfellow gained confidence.
“We had no doubt,” Frasier said. “She is amazing.”
Friday’s car presentation from ALFA and celebration with students was the parade for Team Stringfellow. It was complete with ARIS students singing and dancing for their star teacher.
The quarterback of Team Stringfellow is welcoming her temporary mission sharing her passion for education across Alabama for the next year.
“I’m excited to welcome and mentor new teachers to make sure they feel valued and prepared,” Stringfellow said. “I’m eager to empower our seasoned educators by providing them with the resources and recognition they deserve.”
At the same time, Stringfellow will continue her role as leading Team Stringfellow while following her passion.
“I’m still doing what I loved to do as a child — discovery and sharing the wonder and excitement of learning,” Stringfellow said.
said. “I stayed in boot camp the whole time.” Next up for Sexton is training to become a signals intelligence, electronic warfare and cyber operations soldier. Duties for this occupational field focus on strategic and tactical intelligence, listening to radio and other broadcasts to determine enemy positions. It includes jobs like signals intelligence analysts, cryptanalysts, signals intelligence/electronic warfare and radio reconnaissance, according to the Marine Corps website. Sexton’s role with the Marines could be as a Cryptologic Cyberspace Operator/Analyst, Comm Signals COLL & Processing, Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) Intercept Analysis, Cryptologic Language Analyst or as an Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) Systems Engineer.
Post-It notes,” Dennis said. “It looked more like a party and was easy to clean up.”
Seniors were required to clean it up. The matter didn’t catch Dennis’ attention until the Wetumpka situation.
“The level and magnitude was more in Wetumpka,” Dennis said.
The seniors involved in the Wetumpka incident were essentially punished to alternative school. It means students can not participate in extracurricular activities including graduation ceremonies. It fits the description of a punishment for a Class III or Class IV infraction the Wetumpka seniors were warned about a month before last Tuesday’s incident.
Dennis said the 11 Wetumpka seniors are not the only students in Elmore County Schools not participating in graduation ceremonies for various reasons.
“We have students at three schools not participating this year,” Dennis said.
As principal at Wetumpka, Dennis coordinated “pranks” with students mainly centered around rolling the trees out front at homecoming.
Holtville.
Dennis has a few trophies from graduation ceremonies in his office — spirit sticks, cars and such.
Stanhope Elmore graduates got in on the fun last year with principal Ewell Fuller. They passed small representations of cell phones Fuller bagged during the school day.
The phones are now presented in a cage in Fuller’s office.
Bobo thought about collecting some of the golf balls to work on his game but figured out they were plastic. Kreauter admitted he had never thought much about golf before Friday night.
“There were students who then went outside the boundaries and there were consequences,” Dennis said. “Some pursued legally, some went to alternative school because they did something I didn’t approve of. Those students completed the program and graduated.”
The punishment didn’t affect graduation because of the time it happened in the school year.
Since the incident, Dennis has spoken with one parent via email and several of the students involved, some in person.
“There are some good students involved in this I believe will succeed,” Dennis said. “I believe the lessons learned will be positives for the students. It’s their reaction to this that is going to be the important thing.”
Dennis also challenged not just the seniors involved in the incident, but all students, to be better citizens in general.
“If the apex of a high school career is vandalizing a school, it’s a sad day,” Dennis said. “Improve the campus and not come back and tear it down. We want to make things better and not come back and trash the place.”
Even as Dennis remembered graduations gone by, he collected a few balls. He might present them to Kreauter at an appropriate time. Regardless of the time, 2001 or anytime in the future, the Holtville Class of 2024 reconnected a principal and two Holtville grads in a way no one else could. And it was all while a golf ball looked up at them from the best seat in the house.
Cliff Williams is the news editor of Tallapoosa Publishers Inc.’s Elmore County newspapers. He can be reached at cliff.williams@ thewetumpkaherald.com.
MARINE
One thing in life is free
HREV.
JONATHAN YARBORO Columnist
There is a phrase that is often used saying that “nothing in life is free.” The basic meaning of this statement is there is either a hidden cost somewhere or what you are getting has no real
ave you ever found things in your life that you find irresistible or perhaps things that you cannot refuse? The slogan BOGO is the craze of today, buy one and get one free. BOGO’s are win-win strategies! They make customers feel spoiled and grateful as they love getting a good deal. In turn, this boosts customer satisfaction, engagement, and can help businesses not only make additional sales but also attract new clientele. This purchase concept is not new as Richard Bradley, in 1721, offered one of the first deals of buying seven items and getting one free. The item was a book he had written by the name of “A Philosophical Account of the Works of Nature”.
BETHLEHEM
the sanctuary. We will continue with Facebook Live Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. and Worship Service at 11 a.m.
CARRVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH
Regular hours of service are Sundays- 9 a.m. Sunday School and 10 a.m. Morning Worship.
Wednesday nights at 6:30 p.m. the church offers Children’s Gospel Project, Youth Bible Study and Adult Prayer Meeting. Regular office hours are Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
EAST TALLASSEE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
ETUMC’s Rivers Edge Flea Market is now closed. The church will start a new project called Rivers Edge Food Pantry. ETUMC will provide canned food, water, dry beans and rice, blan-
value. A perfect example is lots of times we get free things that then require further purchases or maybe require you to sit through a long boring presentation.
Just to ease you brain and heart, there is one thing that is absolutely free, no strings attached, no boring presentation, no hidden fees! “He is a precious value to them that believe”, (1 Peter 2:7a). Christ is indeed the greatest treasure to believers above any earthly treasure. Christ himself said that where your treasure is there will your heart be (Matthew 6:21). Jesus’ precious gift verse
Church Briefs
kets, and jackets. If you want to donate or help with the cause, call Joan Wood at 334-312-4913.
EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE EPIPHANY
Please join us for Sunday services at 10:30 a.m. when the Rev. Lee Lowery will celebrate the Holy Eucharist. We are asking everyone please to wear a mask. The service will be live streamed on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ EpiphanyTallassee/ For more information, visit the
that always comes to mind is recorded in John 3:16. In this one verse, eternal life along with bliss and comfort is found. Each believer is given the free gift of forgiveness for all their sins committed yesterday, today, and every tomorrow. It seems so obvious that the choice offered should be accepted but sadly not everyone accepts. Who would not jump at the opportunities offered? What strikes me most in these choices is God’s generosity. He never had to offer forgiveness and He surely never had to go to the next step and offer eternal life. But He kept
offering more and more including the opportunity to spend eternal life in His Holy presence. What human being would ever be bold enough to dream of asking God for such things? Yet He offers them freely if we just accept.
Hebrews 12:25 admonishes us, “see to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks.” God certainly made us an offer we cannot refuse. Let’s make sure we don’t. Salvation is free and is a gift from our Father.
Rev. Jonathan Yarboro is the Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Wetumpka.
church website at http:// epiphanytallassee.org/
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
First Presbyterian Church, located at 514 Central Blvd. will host a Veteran’s Day Celebration on Nov. 11 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. for all veterans and first responders and their family members.
FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
“We are OPEN and everyone is WELCOME! Come worship with us in
person Sunday mornings at 8:50 a.m. (contemporary) or 11 a.m. (traditional).
Sunday School for all ages is offered Sunday mornings at 10 a.m., and a nursery is available for infants. CHILDREN & YOUTH: meet Sunday evenings from 5-6:30 p.m. and Wednesday evenings from 6-7:15 p.m.; supper is included both days! For more information about our church or the programs we offer, visit our website: fumctallassee.com or call us: 334-283-2195. FUMC
Tallassee - 1 Jordan Avenue.”
OUR LIFE’S JOURNEY Airs every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on 580 WACQ, FM 98.5 & 101.1, on your smart speaker, your TuneIn app, or on our website www.wacqradio. com. Please share on social media. This set of programs features Msgr. Charles Troncale, Fr. Mateusz Rudzik, Fr. James Dean, Fr. David Carucci, Fr. Patrick Driscoll, and Deacon Jim Labadie.
Proverbs 10:12 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. – John 3:17
MiDDleton SportS eDitor dalton.middleton@thewetumpkaherald.com
Wetumpka softball ends season in state tournament
By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor
There’s a new softball champion in Class 6A.
Defending champ Wetumpka saw its season come to an end in the state tournament last Tuesday. The Indians went 1-2 in the double-elimination tournament held at Oxford’s Choccolocco Park. Athens went on to win the championship last Wednesday defeating
WETUMPKA SENIORS LEAVE MASSIVE
LEGACY
By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor
Wetumpka’s six seniors will be remembered for a long time.
The Indians ended their softball season Tuesday afternoon with losses to Hartselle and Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa in the state tournament. The Indians went 1-2 in the tournament with the 4-1 loss to Hillcrest ending their chance at winning backto-back Class 6A state championships.
In the process, it also ended the careers of Mya Holt, Ella Watson, Riley Dismukes, Maribeth Parette, Cassidy Bowers and Gracie
Spradlin at Choccolocco Park in Oxford.
“I told them last year that it’s just so hard to win a state championship,” Wetumpka coach Daryl Otwell said. “Today, I didn’t think we played our best that we’ve played this year but they fought to the very end. Losing doesn’t take away from what this group has been able to accomplish during their time.”
The 2024 senior class will leave Wetumpka as the winningest class in program history.
In the last four seasons, Wetumpka has accumulated 177 wins, four area championships, two state tourna-
SUBMITTED TPI
ment appearances and one state championship, only the second state championship in program history.
The Indians had an overall record of 177-38-1, an area record of 16-0, a regional record of 10-6 and a state tournament record of 5-2.
Even more impressive is their home record at 84-11.
“One thing about this senior group is the work they’ve put in and the standards they’ve set,” Otwell said. “I’m proud that they showed up everyday and worked hard. They went about their work the right way and you saw that pay
Wetumpka’s senior class poses with coaches after their last practice. The senior class consisting of Mya Holt, Ella Watson, Riley Dismukes, Maribeth Parette, Cassidy Bowers and Gracie Spradlin ended as the winningest class in program history with 177 total wins.
Wetumpka’s Williams signs with UAH track
By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor
Julius Williams’ athletic career is far from over.
The Wetumpka four-sport athlete signed his National Letter of Intent with the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Williams is signing with the track and field team.
“This means so much because it just shows me that I’m on the right path,” Williams said. “If I can continue doing what I’m doing, I can make an even greater impact on this world. It’s just very amazing to have such a blessing and to be able to achieve such a milestone as I achieve even higher dreams.”
His recruiting process hasn’t been a long one. Back in March, Williams started sending emails out to various colleges and UAH was one that responded back with interest. After touring multiple colleges, spanning from Division I to Division 3, he knew exactly where he wanted to be.
“UAH just had the best feel for me,” Williams said. “I loved the energy with the coaches and I felt compatible with them. I felt like the chemistry with the team and the coaches was better.
Davenport shines in state tournament
By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor
With all eyes on Wetumpka in the AHSAA Class 6A state tournament last week, Lily Davenport showed up and showed what she could do.
The Indians hit the road to Oxford looking to claim back-to-back state championships but came up just short in their attempt. They went 1-2 in the tournament, beating No. 1-ranked Helena but losing to Hartselle and Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa.
Despite the season coming to an end, there were some memorable performances from Wetumpka players at Choccolocco Park. Davenport, for example, ended her junior season with a great week at the ballpark.
Davenport, an Anderson University commit, went a combined 4-for-7 batting with four singles, one RBI, three runs scored and one walk. She reached base every game the Indians played in.
For her performance on the biggest stage, Davenport is the Elmore County Player of the Week.
Davenport’s run started in her first at-bat of the tournament. She stepped up to the plate in the top of the first inning against Hartselle with the bases loaded and one out. On a 1-2 count, she then hit a blooper into left field that Hartselle’s shortstop caught running backwards into the outfield.
Ava Farmer took off from third base
and scored, plating the team’s only run. Davenport’s only other at-bat in Game 1 was a leadoff single in the top of the fourth inning. She was stranded in scoring position.
Facing elimination, Davenport and the Indians took down No. 1 Helena and Davenport was a big reason for it. She singled in her first at-bat on the first pitch she saw, then Wetumpka went up 1-0 three batters later. She then singled in the top of the fourth inning and the top of the seventh.
With two outs, she singled to left field after fouling off three pitches. She scored on a Riley Dismukes triple the next batter. She went 3-for-4 in the game and scored three of the team’s six runs.
In the final game of the tournament, a 4-1 loss to Hillcrest, she went hitless with an 0-for-2 performance but was walked once. Overall, she reached base five times in eight at-bats.
Davenport’s junior season is now over but she will take a few more swings this summer as she has been invited to the AHSAA North/South All-Star Softball Game held at Lagoon Park. She is one of just 36 rising seniors selected to the game.
She is the third Wetumpka player on the current roster to be selected after Mya Holt and Ella Watson made the roster last season. She will look to make back-to-back MVPs after Holt claimed the award previously.
DALTON MIDDLETON | TPI
Wetumpka’s Lily Davenport drives in a run against Hartselle in the AHSAA Class 6A State Tournament. Davenport, a junior, went 4-for-7 with one RBI and three runs scored in three games.
SUBMITTED TPI
Wetumpka senior Julius Williams signs a National Letter of Intent with the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Williams will participate in the high jump, triple jump, 400 meter and the 800 meter at the college level. He also hopes to walk on for the basketball team.
DALTON MIDDLETON TPI
Wetumpka senior Riley Dismukes claps in celebration after hitting a double against Helena. Dismukes had a double and triple in the Indians’ state tournament trip.
See SOFTBALL, Page B3
See LEGACY, Page B3
See WILLIAMS, Page B2
Stanhope Elmore impresses in spring game
By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor
Stanhope Elmore is looking for a big season under second-year football coach Hunter Adams, and the spring season set up the Mustangs for success.
After two grueling weeks of hitting the football practice field in pads, Stanhope Elmore wrapped up the spring with a scripted scrimmage against Chelsea on Thursday night.
No score was kept, but Stanhope Elmore saw plenty of success in the matchup.
“I thought we had a great spring,” Adams said. “Energy, effort and attitude was there all spring long. Luckily, we came out of spring healthy which is always a blessing — a couple of minor injuries but nothing long term. We found some guys in key spots that we can build on and build around.”
Stanhope Elmore was the only county team to play an official game this spring. Wetumpka and Tallassee were slated to face each other, but heavy rain canceled the game. Instead, everyone else just used intrasquad scrimmages to gauge where they were.
Adams wanted his team to hit someone other than themselves.
“I don’t like going that long without some form of competition and some form of physicality,” Adams said. “It gets the kids juiced up going into the summer and gives them just enough of a taste to stay hungry.”
Stanhope’s usual suspects were the stars of the show. Arthur McQueen, who rushed for 1,420 yards and 13 touchdowns last year, put his star power on full display. Running behind Macin James and Xavier Foxhall, both of whom were
All-County lineman last year, McQueen had 16 carries for 213 yards and five touchdowns against Chelsea.
“Arthur was our bellcow last year and he’s continuing to be that and even taken more steps forward,” Adams said. “He’s a Division I running back through and through.”
That was no surprise to anyone on the Mustangs’ sideline. The biggest question mark, however, was who would be throwing the ball. Stanhope Elmore
graduated three-year starting quarterback Jacob Bryant.
In his place have been a group of four quarterbacks, two of whom have taken control of the varsity snaps. Leading the charge is Zac Holcombe, a rising junior who played defensive back and wide receiver last year.
“Zac has really taken the reins this spring and he brings a lot to the position,” Adams said. “I’m excited to see what he can do for us.
He had a great spring.” Kendarius Grear is also playing quarterback, but played both sides of the ball over the last few weeks. He will make a big impact both in the backfield and at linebacker.
Leading the defensive front is Kam Anderson and Dezmond Barnes. Anderson was one of the top defensive linemen in the area last year as he recorded 5.5 sacks and was a force for the Mustangs’ relentless front.
That front will continue to bring the energy every snap.
“I’m an energy guy,” Adams said. “I like being a catalyst for the kids, but I’ve had to be less of that with these guys because the guys are very motivated. They’re high energy. They push the standard really hard.”
Now that Stanhope Elmore has seen and filmed every possible scenario Adams wanted, the Mustangs can go into the summer knowing exactly what
WILLIAMS
Continued from B1
It felt more genuine with them than it did anywhere else. UAH is definitely somewhere I would love to spend my time.”
One aspect of Williams that really stood out to the UAH coaching staff is his versatility on the track. Williams participates in four different events — the high jump, triple jump, 400 and 800. He has excelled in all four events and even qualified for state in all four. When he gets to Huntsville, the plan is to continue in all four.
“They love all my marks and my times so they’re looking at me competing in every single event I currently do,” Williams said. “I feel like I’ll be able to thrive, especially since I’ve done it all the way through high school and even played four sports. I feel like that’s prepared me for this opportunity. I can’t wait to prove myself.”
Williams was a member of Wetumpka’s track, cross coun -
needs to be worked on.
That was the main point of emphasis when Adams scheduled the game with Chelsea. “A lot of times in a spring game, you get caught up in the competitive spirit and can skip situations or younger guys,” Adams said. “That’s why we played the game the way we did. We wanted to play through each scenario and see how many snaps we won in each spot. This was a great test for us.”
try, football and basketball teams.
While he looks to be giving up the cross country dreams and hanging up his football cleats, he isn’t quite sure he’s done with basketball just yet.
He’s continuing to pursue his options with basketball and is going to try and walk on at UAH.
“If I would’ve signed for basketball, I would have walked on to the track team,” Williams said. “I feel like I have some unfinished business on the court just like the track. I’m looking to prove myself.” No matter what sport he plays or what event he runs in, Williams knows he will be a valuable asset to UAH’s athletic programs.
“I feel like I can bring a college team a true dawg, a champion,” Williams said. “I’m somebody who lives by what he says and seeks to beat himself out and be the best version of themselves. I can bring a person who really motivates and improves those around him as well.”
FILE | TPI
Stanhope Elmore’s Arthur McQueen rushes against Eufaula last season. McQueen, who led the county with 1,400 rushing yards last year, rushed 16 times for 213 yards and 5 touchdowns in Stanhope Elmore’s spring game against Chelsea.
Holtville’s Carreon commits to Reid State baseball
SOFTBALL
Hartselle, 12-9, in the championship game.
Wetumpka’s two losses came from Hartselle and Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, but the Indians (48-7) didn’t go down without a fight. In the first loser’s bracket game, Wetumpka knocked off No. 1-ranked Helena, 6-3.
“This team showed so much grit,” Wetumpka coach Daryl Otwell said. “When you get down this deep in the season, every single team you face is so talented. We’ve played over 50 games and it’s such a rollercoaster from the fall to the spring. I tell them all year long, it takes a little bit of talent, a little bit of luck and a little bit of staying healthy to win one.”
Wetumpka entered the state tournament as the South’s No. 2 Qualifier, putting the Indians on the tougher side of the bracket. That was immediately evident facing Hartselle.
The Indians were pitted against two Auburn commits at pitcher and catcher –sisters Blayne Godfrey and Brityan Godfrey. Blayne was lights out, as she allowed just one run on three hits and five walks while striking out eight Indians.
The only run Wetumpka scored on Hartselle came in the first inning when Lily Davenport hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Hartselle quickly turned its 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 lead in the first inning. In the later innings, Ryley Cate Wolf and Blayne Godfrey each hit three-run home runs.
Dropping to the loser’s bracket, Wetumpka was set to play Helena in a massive showdown between the classification’s No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams.
“We really didn’t play great in our first game today,” Otwell said. “But then we had to turn around and face Helena, which has been ranked No. 1 almost all year. To see the girls bounce back and get a win in response was huge.”
Wetumpka looked like its normal self in the 6-3 win. Mya Holt pitched a complete game, allowing just two earned runs, while Holt, Ella Watson and
Riley Dismukes all hit triples. Dismukes was 2-for-4 on the day with three runs scored and two extra base hits, while Davenport was 3-for-4.
Autumn Hollon drove in two runs in the win. Wetumpka scored a run in five different innings and capped it off with a big two-run seventh inning to separate the game and secure the win.
Wetumpka then had to turn around and face Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa in the next loser’s bracket game and disaster struck almost immediately.
In the second at-bat of the game, Holt grounded out to second base. When she got back into the dugout and was getting ready to go pitch, she was unable to due to a hand injury she suffered on the groundout.
So on a last minute change of plans, Holt stepped out of the game and Watson took over in the circle. Watson then pitched a complete game as she held the Patriots scoreless for the first three innings. She allowed just four runs on nine hits in the season-ending loss.
“Mya got jammed a little bit there and hurt her hand and I just hate that for her because I know she wanted to compete and go out the right way,” Otwell said. “The tough part is you’ll always wonder what happens if she doesn’t get jammed there. Regardless of that, I’m proud of Ella and the way she came in and competed. She really gave us a chance to win that game.”
Wetumpka mustered only two hits in the matchup on singles by seniors Maribeth Parette and Cassidy Bowers, but the Indians scratched one across in the seventh.
Parette, Davenport and Bowers all walked to load the bases with one out. Hollon stepped up to the plate and drove in the team’s lone run on a ground ball to shortstop, but the Indians couldn’t get any closer as the game ended on a fly ball to center field.
“Down 4-0, we had the bases loaded with one out and we created an opportunity to have a chance at the end,” Otwell said. “We competed on every pitch this season and I’m proud of them for that.”
Continued from A4
leadership. I know I will never work someplace as long, with as wonderful a group of students, with as much support and participation, for as great of people as I have here. And that starts at the top. Dr. Nolin, I can finally say this.. you’re the best boss I ever had. Yes, you gave me every schedule I asked for at Southside, including having a jazz band period, but you also are the only principal for whom I’ve worked who could shred on a guitar for a recruitment assembly or turn around and tenderly accompany students on piano when they wanted to perform gospel songs and praise choruses.. you’d drive the bus when we had places to go.. you’d share devotionals when I needed it.. and you were the first person to visit and pray with me during a scary time in
Stanhope celebrates Class of 2024
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
Members of the Stanhope Elmore High School Class of 2024 are looking forward to the future.
The class of 223 graduates celebrated in front of friends and family Monday night. Principal Ewell Fuller said the group was awarded more than $2.3 million in scholarships to further its education.
The group also had the highest test scores by 7% since Fuller had been principal.
SEHS observed a moment of silence to remember classmates who died before graduation including Nate Jones who died unexpectedly and tragically in March 2023. Some classmates carried blue flowers in his memory.
Stanhope valedictorian to pursue nursing
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
Some students know for years what they want to be when they grow up.
Aysia Jackson excelled academically but it took a job shadowing program at Baptist Health for the straight A student to figure out what she wanted to do.
“It got me into nursing,” Jackson said.
On Monday, Jackson celebrated with many of her classmates. She lives in Deatsville and has always attended Millbrook schools. Just days earlier she was named valedictorian.
Math has always been her favorite subject because she enjoys solving problems quickly.
“You don’t really have to interpret anything,” Jackson said. “It is right there and to the point.”
Jackson will attend the University of Alabama and major in nursing. There she will have to study a few more subjects than math including some science.
“It’s not my favorite but I can do it,” Jackson said. She wants to be either a nurse anesthetist or a nurse in sports
LEGACY
Continued from B1
off.”
The team success is the most important legacy that the six seniors will leave, but there was plenty of individual success amongst the players.
Five of the six seniors are signed to play college softball, with three of them going to play at four-year universities.
Mya Holt and Ella Watson were also both named All-State last
the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I know I’ll never have it this good again, so I want to make sure to thank you again: Dr. Brock Nolin. As a teenager, and even as a young adult, I seemed to have trouble finding my place. I always felt like I was on the outside looking in. However, I was lucky in my twenties to be teaching at Zion Chapel High School, where I had the good fortune to have a student in my band named Melanie Perry. She was the kind of student who comes along once in a career, and I happened to be there those first few years she was learning about band but she has taught me a whole lot more than I ever taught her. The only thing that would’ve gotten me to leave Zion Chapel was my alma mater calling. I was hired to work at Robert E. Lee High School, my dream job, as a band director. But I was not successful there, and was let go after a couple of
years. I thought my career was finished and entered a phase of deep depression. And here’s where I want to make sure and mention a couple of names as I conclude my time here. Mr. Linwood Erb had been the band director here and when he found out I’d been terminated, he was the very first phone call I received with an offer of help. Mr. Erb said he’d put in a good word for me with Coach Carl Stewart and Coach Ron McDaniel, who were the principals here at the time. Mr. Erb made it his mission to rehabilitate my career, and my broken spirit. But he wasn’t alone. Coach Mac was the first principal I ever had who defended me even when I was wrong, and supported me when I was right. He believed in me and in the band. He would take his own money and buy instruments at pawn shops, get them repaired, then donate them to students who couldn’t buy their own.
medicine
The Jackson family is one big group of Alabama football fans sparking Jackson’s interest in the sports world. But she is still conflicted about what direction to go.
“I fell in love with anesthesiology,” Jackson said. “I thought it was interesting.”
Over the years Jackson has learned she has a great community surrounding her including her family.
“I have such a great community that backs me up in everything I do,” Jackson said. “They
year, with this season’s list not announced yet. Holt was also named the Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year in 2023, the first player at Wetumpka to earn the honor.
All six players filled up the stat sheet in 2024, helping cap off their careers with a 48-7 overall record and the second-straight state tournament appearance.
They combined for 266 hits, 62 doubles, 17 triples, 37 home runs, 216 RBIs and 188 runs scored.
On the mound, Holt and Wat-
He also would use school funds to get the school instruments serviced every summer. I wish I could thank Mr. Erb and Coach Mac in person, but they are no longer with us so this will have to do. It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve in this department and continue the traditions established by great people like Mr. James Bush, Mr. Ed Watkins, Miss Vicki Baker, Mr. Jerry Cunningham, and yes – Dr. Robby Glasscock. Dr. G, you will never know how much I have appreciated serving as your sidekick, your paparazzi, your Bus #2 chaperone, and occasional whipping boy over these years. Because of you and Mr. C., our students have traveled the country and people everywhere know about Tallassee because of our music program. You may not realize it, but I have been observing you the whole time and have found you to be a great role model
support me and are special to me because of how close we are.”
At Stanhope Jackson was the senior class president and was heavily involved in many other organizations picking up leadership roles and skills along the way. Her last couple of years at Stanhope helped her learn that failure is OK.
“I struggled with that for a long time,” Jackson said. “Senior year helped me figure out you are not going to win everything and not going to get everything. It is how you bounce back from that is what is important.”
son combined for 297 innings pitched and each had an earned run average under 1.80. That production is likely to never be replaced, but now the younger classes know what they have to look towards when it comes to finding success in Class 6A.
“They set really good examples for our young players,” Otwell said. “You have to have that in a senior class to set a standard for the future. That’s the biggest thing that I’m thankful for.”
Christian, husband, father, and educator, and someday when I grow up maybe I will be as good of a man as you are. Thank you. Our former accompanist, Mrs. Leslye Ames, often said there was no greater composer than Johann Sebastian Bach. It makes sense – the tuning of the instruments, the names of the notes, and the music staff itself were all developed by him. Bach never took any credit for himself because he saw his work as a holy thing. Beside his name on every piece he composed, he also wrote the phrase ‘Soli Deo Gloria’ – To God Be the Glory. Mrs. Ames used to remind us of that, and so I conclude my Tallassee experience with those words . . . for the Tallassee Music Department, and for what it means to so many . . . Soli Deo Gloria. To God be the Glory.
Michael Bird is a retired music educator in Tallassee.
GLORIA
CLIFF WILLIAMS | TPI
Stanhope Elmore Class of 2024 valedictorian Aysia Jackson walks to the podium to deliver her speech at Monday’s graduation.
CLIFF WILLIAMS | TPI
Stanhope Elmore seniors are honored Monday night as part of the graduation ceremonies.
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() NORTHEAST CORNER OF LOT 1, BLOCK 1, OF THE RESUBDIVISION OF RIVERVIEW ESTATES, AS RECORDED IN THE OFFICE OF THE JUDGE OF PROBATE OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA, IN PLAT BOOK 7, AT PAGE 97, SAID POINT BEING ON THE SOUTH RIGHT OF WAY OF RIVER DRIVE (FORMERLY WATER WORKS ROAD): THENCE SOUTH 89 DEG. 53 MIN 36 SEC. EAST, ALONG SAID RIGHT OF WAY, 136.52 FEET TO AN IRON PIN (1/2”” REBAR) ON THE WEST RIGHT OF WAY OF JACKSON TRACE ROAD (FORMERLY U.S. HIGHWAY 231), 60 FOOT RIGHT OFERLY, ALONG SAID RIGHT OF WAY, CHORD BEING NORTH 04 DEG. 58 MIN 00 SEC. WEST, 714.62 FEET, AT A CALCULATED POINT IN ELMER BRANCH, SAID POINT BEING THENCE NORTH 87 DEG. 48 MIN. 42 SEC. WEST, ALONG SAID BRANCH, 210.00 FEET THENCE LEAVING SAID BRANCH, NORTH 09 DEG. 02 MIN. 28 SEC. WEST, 210.00 FEET TO AN IRON PIN (2 INCH DEG. 49 MIN. 41 SEC. EAST, 210.30 FEET TO AN IRON PIN (1 INCH OPEN-TOP PIPE) ON THE WEST RIGHT OF WAY
Public Notices
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE
ELMORE COUNTY
Default having been made in the payment of the indebtedness secured by that certain mortgage executed by Jennie Smith, unmarried, originally in favor of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as mortgagee, as nominee for American Advisors Group, its successors and assigns on May 17, 2013, said mortgage recordProbate of Elmore County, Alabama, at RLPY Book 2013, Page 36660; the undersigned U.S. Bank Trust National Association, not in its individual capacity but solely as owner trustee for VRMTG Asset Trust, as Mortgagee/Transferee, under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in said mortgage, will sell at public outcry to the highest bidder for cash the main entrance of the Courthouse at Elmore County, Alabama, on June 13, 2024, during the legal hours of sale, all of its right, title, and interest in and to the following described real estate, situated in Elmore County, Alabama, to-wit: COMMENCE AT THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE NE ¼ OF THE SW ¼ OF SEC. 8. T -17-N, R -17-E, CONTINUE THENCE S 89° 24’ 57” E, 815.82 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING. FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. CONTINUE THENCE S 17° 26’ 59” E, 168.05 FEET; THENCE N 85° 48’ 04’ E, 195.03 FEET TO A FENCE. THENCE N 10° 05’ 15’ W, 146.72 FEET; THENCE N 89° 24’ 57’ W, 219.25 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING. SAID PARCEL OF LAND BEING NE ¼ OF THE SW ¼ OF SEC. 8, T -17-N, R -17-E AND CONTAINS 0.73 ACRES, MORE OR LESS. Subject to Ingress/Egress Easement at book 2000 page -
THIS CONVEYENCE IS MADE SUBJECT TO ALL RESTRICTIONS, RESERVATIONS, EASEMENTS, AND RIGHTS -OF -WAY OF RECORD AFFECTING THE TITLE TO THE ABOVE DESCRIBED PROPERTY. Being the same property con-
Book 230, Page 1136. 36054
029.008 Property street address for informational purposes: -
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PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE OF SALE UNDER POWER FORECLOSURE NOTICE WHEREAS, default has occurred in the performance of the covenants, terms and conditions of a mortgage from 3 FIVES, LLC A DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY to MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC., AS MORTGAGEE, AS NOMINEE, FOR LIMA ONE CAPITAL, LLC, on the 17th day of May, 2021, said mortthe Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, on May 21, 2021, in Deed/Mortgage Book 2021, Page 43985, Elmore County, Alabama Records, said Mortgage having subsequently been transferred and assigned to Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, not in its individual capacity, but solely as Owner Trustee of MFA 2022-RTL1 Trust, by instrument recorded notice is hereby given that the undersigned Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, not in its individual capacity, but solely as Owner Trustee of MFA 2022RTL1 Trust, as Mortgagee/ Transferee, under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in said mortgage, will sell at public outcry to the highest bidder for cash in front of the main entrance of the Courthouse in Wetumpka, Elmore County, Alabama, on June 12, 2024, during the legal hours of sale, all of its right, title, and interest in and to the following described real estate, situated in Elmore County, Alabama, to-wit: COMMENCE AT AN IRON PIN (1” CRIMP-TOP PIPE) AT THE
THENCE SOUTH 08 DEG. 57 MIN. 26 SEC. EAST, ALONG SAID RIGHT OF WAY, 210.00 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING. THE ABOVE-DESCRIBED PROPERTY LIES IN THE NORTHWEST 1/4 OF THE SOUTHWEST 1/4 OF SECTION 8, T18N, R19E, ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA, AND CONTAINS 0.99 ACRES, MORE OR LESS. ACCORDING TO THE SURVEY OF RONALD BURKE, ALA. REG. #16670 DATED FEBRUARY 20, 2001. Said legal description being controlling, however the property is more commonly known as 1003 JACKSON TRACE ROAD, WETUMPKA, AL 36092. Alabama law gives some persons who have an interest in property the right to redeem the property under certain circumstances. Programs may also exist that help persons avoid or delay the foreclosure process. An attorney should be consulted to help you understand these rights and programs as a part of the foreclosure process. This property will be sold on an “as is, where is” basis, subject to any easements, encumbrances, and exceptions those contained in the records Probate in the county where the above-described property is situated. This property will be sold subject to the right of redemption of all parties entitled thereto and subject to any outstanding ad valorem taxes (including taxes which are a lien, whether or not now due and payable). This sale is made for the purpose of paying the indebtedness secured by said mortgage, as well as the expenses of foreclosure. The Mortgagee/Transferee reserves the right to bid for and purchase the real estate and to credit its purchase price against the expenses of sale and the indebtedness secured by the real estate. This sale is subject to postponement or cancellation. Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, not in its individual capacity, but solely as Owner Trustee of MFA 2022-RTL1 Trust, Mortgagee/Transferee THE BELOW LAW FIRM MAY BE HELD TO BE ACTING AS A DEBT COLLECTOR, UNDER FEDERAL LAW. IF SO, ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE. Rubin Lublin, LLC, Attorney for Mortgagee/Transferee 3145 Avalon Ridge Place, Suite 100, Peachtree Corners, GA 30071 Telephone Number: (877) 8130992 Case No. LMA-23-048138 rlselaw.com/property-listing Wetumpka Herald: May 15, 22 and 29, 2024 230946
PUBLIC NOTICE
J&J Towing will auction the following vehicles off on 6-19-24 334-558-1595
2010 Ford Taurus1FAHP2EW0AG142564 2020 Harley Davidson1HD1KBC10LB652963
Wetumpka Herald: May 15 and 22, 2024 AV/10 FORD
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE OF COMPLETION
In accordance with Chapter 1, Title 39, Code of Alabama, 1975, notice is hereby given that Schmidt Environmental Construction, Inc. has completed the Contract No. 2 Lagoon Upgrades for the City of Tallassee, a municipal corporation,nal settlement of said contract. All persons having any claims for labor, materials or otherwise in connection with this project should immediately notify the City of Tallassee, 3 Freeman Ave, Tallassee, AL 36078 (334)283-6571.
Schmidt Environmental Construction, Inc. P.O. Box 369 Auburn, AL 36831-0369 (334) 887-0334 Wetumpka Herald: May 15, 22, 29 and June 5, 2024 COMPLETION
THIS PROPERTY WILL BE SOLD ON AN “AS IS, WHERE IS” BASIS, SUBJECT TO ANY EASEMENTS, ENCUMBRANCES, AND EXCEPTIONS REFLECTED IN THE MORTGAGE AND THOSE CONTAINED IN THE RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE JUDGE OF PROBATE OF THE COUNTY WHERE THE ABOVE-DESCRIBED PROPERTY IS SITUATED. THIS PROPERTY WILL BE SOLD WITHOUT WARRANTY OR RECOURSE, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED AS TO TITLE, USE AND/OR ENJOYMENT AND WILL BE SOLD SUBJECT TO THE RIGHT OF REDEMPTION OF ALL PARTIES ENTITLED THERETO. Alabama law gives some persons who have an interest in property the right to redeem the property under certain circumstances. Programs may also exist that help persons avoid or delay the foreclosure process. An attorney should be consulted to help you understand these rights and programs as a part of the foreclosure process. This sale is made for the purpose of paying the indebtedness secured by said mortgage, as well as the expenses of foreclosure. The successful bidder must tenpayable to Aldridge Pite, LLP at the time and place of the sale. Aldridge Pite, LLP reserves the right to award the bid to the next highest bidder should the highest bidder fail to timely tender the total amount due. The Mortgagee/Transferee reserves the right to bid for and purchase the real estate and to credit its purchase price against the expenses of sale and the indebtedness secured by the real estate. This sale is subject to postponement or cancellation. U.S. Bank Trust National Association, not in its individual capacity but solely as owner trustee for VRMTG Asset Trust, Mortgagee/Transferee ALDRIDGE PITE, LLP Six Piedmont Center 3525 Piedmont Road, N.E., Suite 700 Atlanta, GA 30305. Attorney for Mortgagee/Transferee. THIS OFFICE IS ACTING AS A DEBT COLLECTOR AND IS ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT. ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE. Wetumpka Herald: May 15, 22 and 29, 2024 231736 PUBLIC NOTICE MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE SALE Default having been made in the payment of the indebtedness secured by that certain mortgage executed by James M. Penn and Nicole Penn husband and wife, originally in favor of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for Everett Financial, Inc. d/b/a Supreme Lending, on
plus
and
and
&
of
of
P.A. at
The
P.A.
to the next highest bidder should the highest bidder fail to timely tender the total amount due. The Mortgagee/Transferee reserves the right to bid for and purchase the real estate and to credit its purchase price against the expenses of sale and the indebtedness secured by the real estate. This sale is subject to postponement or cancellation. Matrix Financial Services Corporation, (“Transferee”) Tiffany & Bosco, P.A., 2501 20th Place South, Suite 300, Homewood, AL 35223 www.tblaw.com TB File Number: 23-07008
Wetumpka Herald: May 8, 15 and 22, 2024 24-00846
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE OF COMPLETION
Notice is hereby given that J & P Construction Co., Inc., 2550 39th Street Tuscaloosa, AL 35405, has completed the work on the Sedimentation Basin Improvements for the Five Star Water Supply District. All claims held against same should be itemized, notarized and presented to Jasper N. Buckner Supply District, 251 Lakeview Drive, Wetumpka, AL 36092, on or before Wednesday, June 12, 2024 or same will be barred. J & P Construction Co., Inc. PO Drawer 3147 Tuscaloosa, AL 35403 Wetumpka Herald: May 22, 29, June 5 and 12, 2024 COMPLETION
PUBLIC NOTICE
PUBLIC NOTICE IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA CASE NO.: DV-2023-900375.00
WILLIAM HUNT VS. MELISSA HARROD, DEFENDANT.
NOTICE OF SERVICE BY PUBLICATION TO: MELISSA HARROD, whose whereabouts are unknown; and, Take notice against you in the District Court of Elmore County, Alabama, in case styled, WILLIAM HUNT vs. MELISSA HARROD, Case No., DV-2023-900375.00. You mustplaint on or before thirty (30) days from the date of the last publication of this Notice or a default judgment will be taken against you. Your answer County Circuit Clerk, LaKeshia
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Public Notices
y C. Parks, Esq., and Stewart E. Vance, Esq., Attorney for Plaintiffs, 7079 University Court, Montgomery, Alabama 36117.
Dated this 1st day of May 2024. Michael Dozier, Circuit Court Clerk, Elmore County, AL
The Wetumpka Herald: May 8, 15, 22 and 29,2024
DV-2023-900375.00
PUBLIC NOTICE
IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF ANGELA C. BLALOCK, DECEASED CASE NO: 2024-082 NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters of Administration over the Estate of ANGELA C. BLALOCK, deceased, having been granted to LORRAINE TUCKER on May 7th, 2024 by John Thornton, Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notice is hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the same to the Court or the same will be barred.
LORRAINE TUCKER ADMIN-
ISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF ANGELA C. BLALOCK, DECEASED
Name and Address of Attorney for Administrator: KYLE C. SHIRLEY MCDOWELL, FAULK & SHIRLEY, LLC 145 WEST MAIN STREET PRATTVILLE, ALABAMA 36067 334-365-5924
Wetumpka Herald: May 15, 22 and 29, 2024
EST/BLALOCK, A.
PUBLIC NOTICE
IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF DAVID BRUCE BROWN, DECEASED CASE NO: 2024-128 NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters Testamentary in the Es-
tate of DAVID BRUCE BROWN, deceased, having been granted to CAROLYN ANN WALKER BROWN on May 10, 2024 by John Thornton, Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notice is hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the same to the Court or the same will be barred.
CAROLYN ANN WALKER BROWN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF DAVID BRUCE BROWN, DECEASED
Attorney of Record for Personal Representative: JOHN B. BRADLEY VOGEL LAW FIRM, LLC 41 CAMBRIDGE COURT WETUMPKA. ALABAMA 36093 334-409-0088
Wetumpka Herald: May 15, 22, and 29, 2024 EST/BROWN, D. PUBLIC NOTICE
IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF ROBERT M. FUNDERBURK, DECEASED CASE NO: 2024-130 NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters Testamentary in the Estate of ROBERT M. FUNDERBURK, deceased, having been granted to JENNY LYNN FUNDERBURK GUY on May 17, 2024 by John Thornton, Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notice is hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the same to the Court or the same will be barred.
JENNY LYNN FUNDERBURK GUY PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF ROBERT M. FUNDERBURK, DECEASED
Attorney of Record for Personal Representative: JOHN B. BRADLEY VOGEL LAW FIRM, LLC 41 CAMBRIDGE COURT WETUMPKA, ALABAMA 36093 334-409-0088
Wetumpka Herald: May 22, 29 and June 5, 2024 EST/FUNDERBURK R. PUBLIC NOTICE IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF VINCENT JOSEPH GYORKOS, DECEASED CASE NO: 2024-125 NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters of Administration over the Estate of VINCENT JOSEPH GYORKOS, deceased, having been granted to ED PARISH, JR. on May 9th, 2024 by John Thornton, Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notice is hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the same to the court or the same will be barred.
ED PARISH, JR. ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF VINCENT JOSEPH GYORKOS, DECEASED
Public Notices
Name and Address of Adminis-
trator: ED PARISH, JR. THE PARISH LAW FIRM P O BOX 52 MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36101-0052 323 ADAMS AVE MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36104 334-263-0003
Wetumpka Herald: May 15, 22 and 29, 2024 EST/GYORKOS, V. PUBLIC NOTICE IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF EMERY GENE HELTON, DECEASED CASE NO: 2024-114 NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters Testamentary in the Estate of EMERY GENE HELTON, deceased, having been granted to EFFIE LOUISE HELTON on May 8, 2024 by John Thornton, Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notice is hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the same to the Court or the same will be barred.
EFFIE LOUISE HELTON PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF EMERY GENE HELTON, DECEASED
Attorney of Record for Personal Representative: RODERICK B. PERDUE ATTORNEY AT LAW 2033 HOLTVILLE ROAD WETUMPKA, ALABAMA 36092 334-567-7373
Wetumpka Herald: May 15, 22 and 29, 2024 EST/HELTON, E. PUBLIC NOTICE IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF NORMAN TRUETT HOLMAN, DECEASED CASE NO: 2024-124 NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters of Administration over the Estate of NORMAN TRUETT HOLMAN, deceased, having been granted to ED PARISH, JR. on May 15, 2024, by John Thornton, Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notice is hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the same to the Court or the same will be barred.
ED PARISH, JR. AMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF NORMAN TRUETT HOLMAN, DECEASED
Name and Address of Administrator: ED PARISH, JR. THE PARISH LAW FIRM P O BOX 52 MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36101-0052 323 ADAMS AVE MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36104 334-263-0003
Wetumpka Herald: May 22, 29 and June 5, 2024 EST/Holman, N. PUBLIC NOTICE IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF MARGUERITE JENKINS, DECEASED CASE NO: 2024-119 NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters Testamentary in the Estate of MARGUERITE JENKINS, deceased, having been granted to TINA ANNETTE HARRISON SCHETTINA on April 29, 2024 by John Thornton, Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notices hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the same to the Court or the same will be barred.
TINA ANNETTE HARRISON SCHETTINA PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF MARGUERITE JENKINS, DECEASED
Attorney of Record for Personal Representative: MICHAEL S. HARPER ATTORNEY AT LAW 213 BARNETT BLVD PO BOX 780608 TALLASSEE, ALABAMA 36078 334-283-6855
Wetumpka Herald: May 8, 15 and 22, 2024 EST/JENKINS M. PUBLIC NOTICE IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF JAMES MICHAEL KORNOSKY, DECEASED CASE NO: 2024-095 NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters of Administration over the Estate of JAMES MICHAEL KORNOSKY, deceased, having been granted to BRANDON KORNOSKY on May 6, 2024 by John Thornton, Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notice is hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the same to the Court or the same will be barred.
Public Notices
BRANDON KORNOSKY
ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF JAMES MICHAEL KORNOSKY, DECEASED
Name and Address of Attorney for Administrator:
JOSEPH K. BAMBURG
ATTORNEY AT LAW 4031 US HWY 231 WETUMPKA, ALABAMA 36093 334-478-3196
Wetumpka Herald: May 15, 22 and 29, 2024
EST/KORNOSKY, J.
PUBLIC NOTICE
IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF MONTEZ LUMPKIN, DECEASED CASE NO: 2024-121 NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters Testamentary in the Estate of MONTEZ LUMPKIN, deceased, having been granted to PAMELA GRIGSBY on May 3rd, 2024 by Roderick B. Perdue, Special Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notice is hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the same to the Court or the same will be barred.
PAMELA GRIGSBY PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF MONTEZ LUMPKIN, DECEASED
Attorney of Record for
Personal Representative:
ROBERT B. RENEAU LAW FIRM OF EDWARDS & EDWARDS, P.C. 109 EAST BRIDGE STREET WETUMPKA, ALABAMA 36092 334-514-1011
Wetumpka Herald: May 8, 15 and 22, 2024 EST/LUMPKIN M. PUBLIC NOTICE IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF CAROLYN EVANS LUSK, CASE NO: 2024-131 DECEASED NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters Testamentary in the Estate of CAROLYN EVANS LUSK, deceased, having been granted to STACI RENE LUSK WATSON on May 17, 2024 by John Thornton, Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notice is hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the same to the Court or the same will be barred.
STACI RENE LUSK WATSON PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF CAROLYN EVANS LUSK, DECEASED
Attorney of Record for Personal Representative: GEORGE W. FENDLEY, III ATTORNEY AT LAW 108 BROAD STREET P O BOX 261 CAMDEN, ALABAMA 36726 334-682-5173
Wetumpka Herald: May 22, 29 and June 5, 2024 EST/LUSK, C.
PUBLIC NOTICE
IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF ROBERT ENTREKIN LUSK, SR., CASE NO: 2024-132 DECEASED NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters Testamentary in the Estate of ROBERT ENTREKIN LUSK, SR., deceased, having been granted to STACI RENE LUSK WATSON on May 17, 2024 by John Thornton, Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notice is hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the same to the Court or the same will be barred.
STACI RENE LUSK WATSON PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF ROBERT ENTREKIN LUSK, SR., DECEASED
Attorney of Record for Personal Representative:
GEORGE W. FENDLEY, III ATTORNEY AT LAW 108 BROAD STREET PO BOX 261 CAMDEN, ALABAMA 36726 334-682-5173
Wetumpka Herald: May 22, 29 and June 5, 2024
EST/LUSK, R.
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE STATE OF ALABAMA COUNTY OF ELMORE CASE NO: 2024-126 IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF DANIEL N. POWER, DECEASED
Letters Testamentary in the Estate of DANIEL N. POWER, deceased, having been granted to NANCY M. POWER on May 17, 2024 by John Thornton, Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notice is hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the
Public Notices yp same to the Court or the same will be barred.
NANCY M. POWER PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF DANIEL N. POWER, DECEASED
Attorney of Record for such
Personal Representative: WILL O’REAR, JR. SASSER & O’REAR, LLC 7007 FULTON COURT MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36117 334356-2400
Wetumpka Herald: May 22, 29 and June 5, 2024 EST/POWER, D. PUBLIC NOTICE IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM B. PRICE, SR., DECEASED CASE NO: 2024-063 NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters Testamentary in the Estate of WILLIAM B. PRICE, SR., deceased, having been granted to WILLIAM B. PRICE, JR. on May 15, 2024 by John Thornton, Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notice is hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the same to the Court or the same will be barred.
WILLIAM B. PRICE, JR. PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM B. PRICE, SR., DECEASED
Attorney of Record for Personal Representative: ED PARISH, JR. THE PARISH LAW FIRM PO BOX 52 MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36101-0052 323 ADAMS AVE MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36104 334-263-0003
Wetumpka Herald: May 22, 29 and June 5, 2024
EST/PRICE W. SR.
PUBLIC NOTICE
IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF WHEATTON K. PYNES, DECEASED CASE NO: 2024-122 NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters Testamentary in the Estate of WHEATTON K. PYNES, deceased, having been granted to BEVERLY PYNES GRANT on May 16, 2024 by John Thornton, Judge of Probate of Elmore County, Alabama, notice is hereby given that all persons and parties having claims against said estate are required, within the time allowed by law, to present the same to the Court or the same will be barred.
BEVERLY PYNES GRANT PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF WHEATTON K. PYNES, DECEASED
Attorney of Record for
Personal Representative: CHIP CLEVELAND THE CLEVELAND FIRM, LLC 707 MCQUEEN SMITH ROAD SOUTH PRATTVILLE, ALABAMA 36066 334-365-6266
Wetumpka Herald: May 22, 29 and June 5, 2024 EST/PYNES, W. PUBLIC NOTICE
IN THE PROBATE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF ROBERT DALE VANDERBILT, DECEASED CASE NO. 2024- 073 NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATE
Letters Testamentary on the Estate of said decedent having been granted to RUSSELL PARKER as Personal Representative on the 9th day of May, 2024, by the Honorable John Thornton, Judge of Probate of said County in said State, notice is hereby given that all persons having claims against said Estate are required to present same within the time allowed by law or the same will be barred. RUSSELL PARKER PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF ROBERT DALE VANDERBILT, DECEASED.
Name and Address of Attorney: Regina B. Edwards, Esq.
The Law Firm of Edwards & Edwards, P.C. 109 E. Bridge Street
Wetumpka, AL 36092
Wetumpka Herald: May 15, 22 and 29, 2024
EST/VANDERBILT, R. PUBLIC NOTICE STATE OF ALABAMA NOTICE OF MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE SALE ELMORE COUNTY
Default having been made in the payment of indebtedness secured by that certain mortgage executed by Michael A. Rambo, a married man, the 30th day of November, 2018, to Compass Bank, now known as PNC Bank, N.A., which said mortgage is recorded in thety, Alabama, in Real Property Book 2018, at Page 57116 and by reason of such default, having declared all of the indebted-
Public Notices
g ness secured by said mortgage due and payable, and such default continuing, notice is hereby given that, acting under the power of sale contained in said mortgage, PNC Bank, N. A. will sell at public outcry, for cash, to the highest bidder, in front of the County Courthouse door at 100 Alabama, at approximately 1:00 PM on June 20, 2024, the following described real estateabama, to-wit: Commence at a nail at the base
more County, Alabama; thence 165.37 feet to a 1” iron bolt being the Point of Beginning (P0B144.00 feet to a 1/2” rebar set; feet to a 1/2” rebar set; thence
feet back to the Point of Beginparcel of land lying and being
easement described as follows: Commence a nail at the base
more County, Alabama; thence of Way of Lightwood Road and the Point of Beginning (POB-2); wide private access easement for ingress and egress the fol-
lying and being situated in thety, Alabama.ly known as: 6857 Lightwood Road, Deatsville Alabama 36022. Any property address provided is not part of the legal description of the property sold herein and in the event of any discrepancy, the legal description referenced herein shall control. and appurtenances thereunto attached to and used in connection with the premises herein described.
right of way easements and restrictions of record in the Proexisting special assessments and liens of record, if any, which might adversely affect the title to “As Is, Where Is” basis without warranty or recourse, express or implied as to title, use and/ right(s) of redemption of all parties entitled thereto. Neither therectors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of the mortgagee make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property offered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition, including those suggested by Code of Alabama (1975) § 35-4-271, expressly are disclaimed. Alabama law gives some persons who have an interest in property the right to redeem the property under certain circumstances. Programs may also exist that help persons avoid or delay the foreclosure process. An attorney should be consulted to help you understand these rights and programs as a part of the foreclosure process.
purpose of paying the indebtedness secured by the above-described mortgage, and the proceeds thereof will be applied as provided by the terms ofreserves the right to bid for and purchase the real estate and to credit its purchase price against the expenses of sale and the indebtedness secured by the real estate.
to pay the purchase price and close this sale shall, at the option of the Mortgagee, be cause
have the option of making the sale to the next highest bidder who is able, capable and willing to comply with the terms thereof.ment or cancellation. Interested prospective bidders should contact the below-listed attorney(s) or assistant Claudia Jordan for the precise time of sale.
PNC BANK, N.A. Mortgagee c/o Robert D. Reynolds
Attorneys for Mortgagee Montgomery, Alabama 36102-
Wetumpka Herald: May 22, 29 and June 5, 2024 FC/RAMBO
Public Notices
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING PEDDLERS LICENSE APPLICATION
Notice is hereby given that application has been made to the Millbrook City Council for approval of a Peddlers License for Edward D. Jones & Co, L.P. for door to door sales. Said application has been set for Public Hearing before the City Council on May 28, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 3900 Grandview Road, Millbrook, Alabama. All persons who desire shall have an opportunity to be heard or may indicate his or her wishes in writing in favor of or in opposition to the above item. The item may be reviewed at the Millbrook City Hall, 3160 Main Street, Millbrook AL 36054 or call (334) 285-6428 for additional information. Lori Davis, City Clerk, City of Millbrook Wetumpka Herald: May 15 and 22, 2024 HEARING PUBLIC NOTICE IN THE JUVENILE COURT OF ELMORE COUNTY, ALABAMA
You
Answer with
venile
Clerk of
and with the Petitioner’s attorney, Ammar J. Phillips, Alabama State Department of Human Resources, Legalof the last publication of this notice or a default judgment can hearing has been set for June 5, Wetumpka, Alabama. You may appear and contest the same if you choose. ELMORE COUNTY JUVENILE CLERK Wetumpka Herald: JU-2013-177.07
PUBLIC NOTICE
Advertise here and sell it faster. Call Classifieds at 256.277.4219. Sell your home in the classifieds call 256.277.4219
Notice is hereby given that application has been made to the Council of the City of Wetumpka for approval of a 020-Restaurant Retail Liquor.
Name of Applicant: Our Station, LLC Trade Name: Our Place Cafe Address: 809 Company Street, Wetumpka, AL 36092
Public Hearing on said application has been scheduled for June 3, 2024 at 6:00 PM, before the Wetumpka City Council at the City of Wetumpka Council Chambers at 212 S. Main Street, Wetumpka, AL.
Anyone desiring to be heard either for or against said application may appear at said time or may indicate their wishes in writing by communication addressed to the City Council, 408 South Main Street, Wetumpka, AL 36092.
Persons with disabilities who may need special assistance should contact the City Clerk’s call (334) 567-1306 at least two business days in advance of the meeting. The meeting facilities are wheelchair accessible.
Tiffany Robinson, City Clerk Wetumpka Herald: May 22 and 29, 2024 LICENSE
PUBLIC NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that application has been made to the Council of the City of Wetumpka for approval of a 020-Restaurant Retail Liquor license.
Name of Applicant: Taste at the Fain, LLC Trade Name: Taste at the Fain Address: 101 E. Bridge St. Wetumpka, AL 36092
Public Hearing on said application has been scheduled for June 3, 2024 at 6:00 PM, before the Wetumpka City Council at the City of Wetumpka Council Chambers at 212 S. Main Street, Wetumpka, AL.
Anyone desiring to be heard either for or against said application may appear at said time or may indicate their wishes in writing by communication addressed to the City Council, 408 South Main Street, Wetumpka, AL 36092.
Persons with disabilities who may need special assistance should contact the City Clerk’s call (334) 567-1306 at least two business days in advance of the meeting. The meeting facilities are wheelchair accessible.
Tiffany Robinson, City Clerk
Wetumpka Herald: May 22 and 29, 2024 TASTE AT THE FAIN Selling your home?
More teens become CERT trained in Elmore County
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
A group of teenagers is now certified to help
Elmore County after a disaster.
There are now 28 teens who tested and received certification as Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) volunteers.
“This was a pilot program,” Elmore County EMA director Keith Barnett said.
“It is the first time we have tried it.”
EMA staff along with extension employees worked with the Wetumpka High School JROTC program to teach needed classes and help with training.
All 31 students who started the program finished. Three didn’t take the test, but Barnett feels confident in their abilities to take care of themselves and family following a disaster.
The CERT program is designed to create a group of volunteers to aid first responders following a disaster. It was created in 1985
in southern California following a major earthquake. It was adopted in 1993 by FEMA to be a national program. There are now more than 2,700 CERT programs across the U.S.
The volunteers help with searches and organization of volunteers following disasters. The volunteers understand they are not first responders and only activate when called.
Wetumpka JROTC instructor Capt. Joey Hutto was pleased the unit was chosen to be a part of training tomorrow’s volunteers.
“They took a chance on certifying teens and they deserve to be cred -
ited for that,” Hutto said. “It wasn’t the easiest route to take.”
Now, five graduating seniors, five juniors and 18 sophomores are certified. It is the largest group of teenagers to become CERT certi -
fied in Elmore County and Hutto wants more.
“It is huge for Wetumpka High School,” Hutto said. “We are looking forward to next year where we can get more students qualified.”
Communications company cuts ribbon on Wetumpka store
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
Two-way radios have been around a long time.
They are a favorite of children playing in parks and woods. In the adult world, there are professional grade “Walkie Talkies” allowing not only local conversations but across the country using radios.
Darden Communication Consultants Inc. has been in Millbrook since 1994 to help customers with alternative communication to cell phones and more. Thursday, DCCI had a ribbon cutting at its Wetumpka location on U.S. Highway 231 South.
“We moved our entire operation to Wetumpka,” DCCI’s Chris Black said.
“We are the only locally owned and operated radio shop in about a 100-mile radius. Everybody else has basically been bought out.”
When push-to-talk provider Nextel ceased operations in 2013, DCCI sought other options and partnered with Hytera.
routes and driving behaviors.
be valuable as well.
“They own the code, the data centers, everything about the entire process,” Black said. Black said radio communications still have a use. Just last week storms in Elmore County prevented cellular communication.
ucts it sells in Wetumpka. It isn’t dependent on contractors from out of state to fix electronics when radios go down.
“My cell phone just didn’t work,” Black said. “I was able to communicate with the people I needed to by radio. At the end of the day we want the communications system that works best.”
DCCI supports the prod -
“We service the radios here,” Black said. “We do the repairs locally.”
Two-way communication isn’t the only product DCCI is involved in.
The company offers GPS tracking where the business owners can track their vehicles to help establish better
Kindergarteners line up at their graduation ceremony at Wetumpka Elementary School
moving on to first grade at the school next year.
WES celebrates kindergarteners
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
month. At Wetumpka Elementary School kindergartners were joined by their parents to celebrate their first full year of school. It came complete with caps and gowns. Just like the teenagers getting high school diplomas, the 5- and 6-year-olds walked across the stage, shook hands with their
uations,
and veterans of the school.
The GPS system goes beyond saying when a vehicle is at a location, it reports such things as if the engine is running, speed and braking.
It is all information a business can use to improve efficiency and productivity.
“It can be used to coach drivers into better driving habits,” Black said.
The information combined with dash camera video can
“The video tells the tales, the telematics tells what happened in the crash,” Black said.
DCCI offers a variety of two-communication and GPS products. Most are aimed at businesses and organizations but DCCI does have consumer products as well.
DCCI is located at 4376 U.S. Highway 231 Wetumpka.
Summer reading program starts next
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
The Wetumpka Public Library is seeking its next reading rock stars as it begins its annual reading program next month.
“Adventure Begins at Your Library” was created to offer interesting and engaging activities to encourage children to read this summer. The theme is aimed to focus reading and activities on adventures and the “Great Outdoors.”
“There will be fun art projects, a wonderful magician, the Alabama Department of Archives and History will put on a presentation and Wildly Blessed will be joining us,” Wetumpka children’s librarian Cathy Saylor said. “There will be plenty of fun things to do.”
Saylor is bringing in new games to create engagement
month
among children. First through sixth graders will meet at 2 p.m. Tuesdays at the Wetumpka Civic Center beginning June 4. Teenagers in the seventh grade and up will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesdays beginning June 5 at the library. The teens will alternate between movies and games during their program.
Like always keeping reading logs and timed reading slips can lead to prizes through weekly drawings and contests.
Registration for the summer reading program is currently open and parents are encourage to drop by the library before the programs start next month.
“We hope children will come out and enjoy what the library has to offer this summer,” Saylor said. “There are plenty of fun activities to look forward to.”
CLIFF WILLIAMS | TPI
Members of the Elmore County Commission posed with staff from the Elmore County EMA who all congratulated members of the newest CERT team.
CLIFF WILLIAMS | TPI
last week. The students are
CLIFF WILLIAMS | TPI
Local officials joined owners and employees of DCCI to cut the ribbon on the U.S. Highway 231 business in Wetumpka last week. The business specializes in push to talk communications.
ECHS CLASS OF 2024 REMEMBERS CAMERON
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
By CLIFF WILLIAMS News Editor
The world is opening up for Elmore County High School valedictorian Lucas Luster.
Luster’s roots run deep in Eclectic as his father is also a graduate of ECHS.
“It is a whole heritage thing,” Luster said. “It is a cool thing to graduate from the same place as him.”
Luster has been in Eclectic’s schools since kindergarten. Along the way he discovered math and science as his favorite subjects. The recent ECHS graduate is hoping to major in mechanical engineering at Auburn University.
“I have always loved the design of things,” Lucas said. “Mechanical just clicked with me with what I like doing most.”
The love of numbers has Luster continuing to follow the footsteps of his father Josh as he is headed to Auburn in the fall. But the decision to attend the school is founded in something more than heritage.
“Auburn is currently ranked the highest in Alabama for engineering,” Luster said. His path to Auburn was built on family, church and Scouting. Luster attends Vessel Church. It was the church’s sign that helped Luster obtain the rank of Eagle Scout.
Luster already understands the connections and importance of Scouting — especially the rank of Eagle.
“It will open tons of doors,” Luster said.
“People who know what it means understand it is a symbol of leadership and resilience in following through.”
Luster has applied for several scholarships, some of which require the Eagle rank, but not all.
“I know I have gotten a couple of scholarships that I have been told the Eagle really helped with that,” Luster said.
While Luster values education and how it will help him become a mechanical engineer, church and Scouting has taught him his most valuable lesson. It also was reinforced at ECHS.
“I always strive to help other people at all times,” Luster said.
CLIFF WILLIAMS TPI
Elmore County High School valedictorian Lucas Luster gets help with cords and stoles prior to graduation in Eclectic Thursday night. Luster plans to become a mechanical engineer.