Cullman Good Life Magazine - Summer 2015

Cullman County

The colonel and his wife moved 14 times before finding serenity The Hutch in Fairview is like merging granny’s kitchen and a town square Summer 2015 Complimentary

Minnie Pearl was cultured from a real pearl she found in Baileyton

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Welcome

Have a good summer ... and a good vacation ‘2’ D

iane, my wife, and I have a trip planned for this fall, but I always think of summer as vacation time. You probably do, too.

I remember as a kid being thrilled about going to Panama City with my parents and brother Danny (before Richard and Billy came along).

We stayed at Porter’s Court, which has long since gone the way of sandcastles built by the sea; it disappeared in the waves of development. Dad would rent a cabin

between Porter’s motel on the beach road and the ocean below.

Danny and I wore matching red and white striped bathing suits. After a few days our white bodies were matching red, but it was all part of the adventure.

I don’t know why I remember this, but at a little souvenir store I once read a postcard with a dizzy looking rabbit on it and these words of wisdom ...

Vacation consists of 2 weeks which are 2 short after which you are 2 tired

2 return 2 work and 2 broke not 2.

I hope you and your family have a great summer and a nice vacation somewhere ... one that’s fun now, generates future memories and doesn’t leave you 2 tired and 2 broke, 2.

David Moore Publisher/editor

Contributors Deb Laslie at Deb’s Bookstore tears through towering stacks of books like Bo Jackson once tore through towering linebackers.

She’s completely undaunted by the toughest of reading assignments. “I’m not ‘skeered,’” she says. “I’ve had twins.”

Patrick Oden pays a visit to The Hutch Restaurant in Fairview. No guarantees about next issue, but he wonders how his fixed-up truck might do one night at a certain drag strip. FYI, if you need a pro photographer, drop him a line: patrick@odenimaging.com.

You see the artistic work of Sheila McAnear in every issue of GLM. She creates nearly all of the good looking ads in the magazine. This time, to complement Dr. David Cline’s story, she also shot photos of Alena Cook’s ornamental pond at Crane Hill.

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Steve Maze writes about Minnie Pearl’s connection to Baileyton. He says they have lots in common.

“We’re both country bumpkins and spiffy dressers. Fortunately, we’re both good looking ...” Call him if you find a hat for sale with a price tag dangling from it.

David J. Cline, Ph.D. knows all about ornamental ponds. He’s an aquaculture specialist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Auburn University’s Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures Department. (Plus, he has an ornamental pond in his yard.)

It’s no big deal to anyone else, but this June marks the twoyear anniversary since David Moore left The Arab Tribune to publish Good Life Magazine.

Again, no big deal to anyone else, but despite losing a little hair, he’s still having a blast.

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Inside 10 Good Fun

Ready for Rock the South? Can’t get

much more fun than that.

16 Good People

Bob Palys, incoming state president of Kiwanis, has kids on his heart

20 Good Reads

“Child 44,” “Roses” catch Deb’s eye

22 Good ’n’ Green

Not everything around the house has to be green. It can be water.

25 Good Cooking

Rickey Kreps, president of many groups, is also in charge in the kitchen

32 A home on the lake

Ann and Rick Foxes’ road to serenity involved 14 moving vans

40 Minnie Pearl

Famous country character was inspired by a “pearl” in Baileyton

44 The Hutch

On the cover: Since 1939 the Strawberry Festival has been “big doin’s” in Cullman. It promises to be delicious fun again.

Pictured here, Greg Young, a member of the Cullman Aero Modelers, performs a hover with his Edge 540, a one-third scale model of the most popular plane in the Red Bull Air Race World Series. Photos by David Moore.

At this landmark Fairview restaurant regulars show up 2-3 times ... per day

46 Edison Pearce

Not everyone gets a do-over in life, going from Harleys to “Hamlet”

50 Flying to scale

Local enthusiasts find intense fun in the skies with their RC planes

59 Antiques & Furniture

You can go old, new or both!

62 Out ’n’ About

What were you doing on March 29?

David F. Moore Publisher/editor 256-293-0888 david.goodlifemagazine@gmail.com

Vol. 2 No. 4 Copyright 2015 Published quarterly

Sheila T. McAnear Advertising/art Director 256-640-3973 sheila.goodlifemagazine@gmail.com

MoMc Publishing LLC P.O. Box 28, Arab, Al 35016 www.good-life-magazine.net

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More students taking the ACT choose Wallace State Community College than any other community college in Alabama.

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Rock the South might well be called Rocket in

Rock Gilbert Brantley

the Alan Jackson

South Sara Evans 10

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Travis Tritt

the South. In three years, crowds at Cullman’s twoday outdoors country and southern rock music festival have rocketed from 15,000 to more than 38,000 last year. This year’s June 19-20 festival at Heritage Park promises to continue rocking with these headliners: • Gilbert Brantley, whose first album in four years, “Just As I Am,” is furthering his reputation for highenergy, in-your-face, tough-and-sometimes-tenderguy music. From his No. 1 single “Bottoms Up” to his new material, he pulls his music from the chapters of his life.

• Alan Jackson – on his 25th Anniversary “Keeping It Country” Tour – has sold more than 80 million records with 35 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Top 30. He has two Grammys, 16 CMA awards, 17 ACM awards is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Nuff said?

• Tyler Farr has an affinity for hard country and honky-tonk. Describing things, he says, “Life is messy and hard to trust sometimes, but it’s deep and it’s intense – and if you do it right, you get to experience it all.”

• Travis Tritt’s music, said People magazine, “effectively brings out the soul in the country singer on cuts that venture into gospel and blues terrain.” As American Idol judge Randy Jackson told Tritt, “I had no idea that you had that blue-eyed soul thing going on.”

• Eric Paslay has crafted No. 1 hits for Jake Owen, Rascal Flatts, Love and Theft and the Eli Young Band, but on stage he shows his true musical and lyrical diversity. He’s a deep thinker and soulful philosopher. He’s witty and playful enough to crank up the party.

• Sara Evans will have a homecoming at Rock the South, which she and her former football star husband Jay Barker launched on the first anniversary of the 2011 tornadoes. One of People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People, she’s recorded eight country albums.

Other acts appearing at Rock the South are Big Smo, Chris Weaver Band, Blackberry Smoke, Corey Smith, Jon Pardi, Jessica Meuse, Dee Jay Silver and Downsouth. More than 25 vendors will sell hard and soft beverages and meals ranging from great barbecue and burgers to Greek food.

So far, acts such as The Band Perry, Hank Williams, Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd have helped the festival raise more than $100,000 for charities.

Two-day general admission ($59, 5 and under free), platinum ($109) and VIP ($209) tickets: www. rockthesouth.com; general admission at Cabin Fever.

Hot days, cool activities • Now-May 16 – “Equus” exhibit A collection of large-scale fine art photography by Arden Ward Upton is on view at the Evelyn Burrow Museum at Wallace State Community College.

Whether shooting people or, in this case, horses, Upton shows her penchant for details. “Equus,” her most recent collection, is the personification of her love of horses. She says the images have been years in the making, in her heart even before she captured them.

Upton’s work can be seen in galleries from Vail to New York; in state, national and international magazines as well as books and blogs. A recent star of “Jersey Belle” on Bravo cable network, she has also written for lifestyle and fashion websites and magazines, and is releasing her first book. She lives just outside of Birmingham with her husband William Upton at Windwood Equestrian farm.

The exhibition at the Burrow Museum complements museum benefactor Evelyn Burrow’s love of horses and the museum’s collection of her horse sculptures and porcelain figures. “We have wanted to do an exhibition celebrating Mrs. Burrow’s love of horses for a long time, and this was the perfect opportunity and perfect time to do that,” says museum administrator Kristen Holmes. “The exhibition seems as though it were made for the Burrow Museum.”

Good Fun

Photographer Arden Ward Upton with “Banker Mare,” one of her L:ieca-shots in “Equus,” printed on Arches’ Canson-Infinity paper.

Museum hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Saturday. For more info: 256-352-8457; or www.burrowmuseum.org. Admission is always free.

• May 1-2 – Strawberry Festival Come enjoy everything strawberries and more at the 2015 Strawberry Festival at the Festhalle Farmer’s Market. It kicks off 4-10 p.m. Friday with

Have a blast on 2nd Fridays; see and hear battle of bands Like Fridays?

Like great fun, great food and great local bands?

Like shopping?

Like to get a great Rock the South prize?

OK … you should love 2nd Fridays, the downtown promotion the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce is doing through October. From now through June the chamber is partnering with Rock the South for a battle of the bands, which began in March.

Downtown Grill will host the second

semi-finals “battle” for free, starting at 8:15 p.m. Friday, May 8. Food and beverages will be sold beginning at 6 p.m. In addition to Downtown Grill, All Steak Restaurant, Brother’s Kitchen & Pourhouse, Carlton’s Italian Restaurant, Grumpy’s Italian Grill, Johnny’s Bar-B-Q and Moe’s Original BBQ will be selling their great food. They’ll serve until the winning band – based on your on-site votes – is announced about 10:45 p.m.

Many stores downtown will be open until 8 p.m., so you can shop before you eat. Be sure to register at the stores

to win a great Rock the South prize.

Past prizes have included a VIP meetand-greet with RTS headliners Brantley Gilbert and Alan Jackson.

The finals in the battle of the bands will be Friday, June 12, at the Festhalle. It’s another free event with the restaurants selling food and drinks.

Stores will be open late for shopping and registering for the RTS drawing.

The winning band will play at Rock the South June 19-20. And those winning 2nd Fridays will continue into October.

MAY | JUNE | JULY

11

Farmers will sell fresh produce 7 a.m.-4 p.m.

live music by the Overtones, food trucks, kid activities, strawberry drinks and other beverages, and, of course, fresh strawberries for sale by local farmers.

Saturday ramps up at 8 a.m. with the big arts and crafts show in Depot Park featuring nearly 100 vendors.

There will be a classic car show and performances by the Community Band, Cullman High School Jazz Band and others. Kids games and activities will be offered all day, as well as food trucks and strawberry themed foods and drinks.

• May 1 – Relay for Life Months of fundraising culminate in the annual Relay For Life of Cullman County, a massive festival with poignant moments. The annual event starts at 6 p.m. Friday and runs through midnight at the Cullman County Fairgrounds. Volunteer teams will be on hand with lots of food, games and family activities.

Cancer survivors will be celebrated during their victory lap after opening ceremonies. Caregivers and teams will join them in the next two laps.

The touching luminary ceremony will be held after sundown, with closing ceremonies beginning as midnight approaches.

As of early April, 40 teams and 233 participants had already raised $42,584. The goal is to match or top the $150,000 raised last year. It goes to fund cancer research, patient support efforts and programs offered by the American Cancer Society.

It’s not too early, says organizer, Helen Allen, to sign up a team of friends, family, church members or co-workers to have some fun raising money for next year. For more info call: Helen Allen, 256-709-4019.

• May 15 – antique, bargain hunting Travel to Albertville, Boaz, Rainbow City and more to visit antique and thrift stores. The bus leaves the Tom Drake Coliseum at Wallace State at 7:30 a.m. and returns at 4:30 p.m. Lunch on your own, but the $20 includes afternoon snacks. The trip, open to the public, is sponsored by the Wallace State Community College Alumni Association. For details: www. wsccalumni.org; or call: 256-352-7808 or 256-352-8071.

• May 19 – Mose T exhibit About Mose T is expected to open this Tuesday and continue through June at the Evelyn Burrow Museum at WSCC. It will display the works of Alabama folk

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artist Mose Tolliver, who became known as Mose T (with a backwards S), because that is the way he signed his paintings.

Born to sharecroppers in the 1920s, he began painting in the ‘60s to help feed his family after a work accident crushed his legs and left him out of work. He used house paint on “canvases” that might have been cabinet doors, discarded tabletops, plywood and even cardboard. At his death in 2006, he was at the forefront of the Outsider Art movement.

His work, often featuring people, animals and nature, has been exhibited in the premier American museums, including the Smithsonian and the Corcoran in Washington, D.C., the American Folk Art Museum in New York and the High Museum in Atlanta.

The Burrow Museum’s Mose T exhibition will travel to Wallace State from the Tennessee Valley Art Museum in Tuscumbia. It is provided courtesy of Dr. R. Douglas Hawkins of Troy, a folk art collector who holds one of the most comprehensive collections of Mose T’s work. He prepared 90 pieces to be

Here are some the Mose T paintings coming to the Burrow Museum; photo courtesy of the Tennessee Valley Art Museum. displayed in this traveling exhibition.

Museum hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Saturday. For more info: 256-352-8457; or www.burrowmuseum.org. Admission is always free.

• May 30 – Paddle at the Rock The third annual SUP – stand up paddle board – races move this year to Smith Lake Park. There will be a onemile fun race for anyone with a board.

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• June 11 – Dive-in Movies start A series of monthly “Dive-in Movies” starts this Thursday with “Frozen” at the Cullman Wellness and Aquatic Center. Non-members can enjoy the movie and swimming for just $5; open swim will be available before the movie starts at dark.

“ET” will be shown Thursday, July 9, and “Pirate Band of Misfits” will play Thursday, Aug. 6.

For more info: 256-775-7946.

mile and seven-mile course will be part of the Southern Stoke Paddle Series.

The long race is the first of two legs in the Black Warrior SUP Championship with the second leg set for July 18 in downtown Tuscaloosa. Championship winners will be determined by cumulative total time from both races.

Cash prizes of $200, $100 and $50 will be awarded to the first three men and first three women to finish the long race on Smith Lake, regardless of board class. First-third place trophies will go to the top finishers in each of several board classes.

The races are hosted by Smith Lake Paddle Boards and all proceeds benefit the Bell Center For Early Childhood Intervention. For details: info@ smithlakepaddleboards.com; or call Tommy Cost: 256-736-3002.

• June 1-26; July 6-Aug. 7 – Camp Cullman These are the dates for the two exciting sessions of week-long day camps at the Cullman Wellness and Aquatic Center. Camp weeks are 8 a.m.5 p.m., Monday-Friday with a full line of daily activities including swimming, arts and crafts, organized games, movies and field trips. Cost is $100 per week, and spaces are limited to the first 60 campers that sign up each week.

Registration – which is $15 – is under 14

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way at the Cullman Civic Center. For more info: 256-734-9157.

• June 2-30 – Jammin’ in the Gym Free concerts will be held 6-8 p.m. every Tuesday in June at the Donald E. Green Senior Center. Music will include oldies from the ’50s and ’60s, bluegrass and more.

• June 5-July 31 – Just Play!

Get the kids outside and active this summer by taking them to the free Just Play! program sponsored by Cullman Park and Recreation. The series of afternoon activities will involve campstyle games and rotate around the city’s small parks. Programs will be held at 1 p.m. every Friday this summer during June and July and feature a different activity each week. For a schedule: www.cullmanrecreation.org.

• June 6 – Cruze Fest Smith Lake Park will holds its first Cruze Fest and Swap Meet 10 a.m.-5 p.m. this Saturday. The Real Horizon Band will play. There will be all sorts of cars, trucks, bikes and tractors to check out. Registration to show is $15 and can be made up to noon that day.

Registered vehicles will be entered in a 50/50 drawing for a $1,000 money tree.

Rain date: June 7. For more info: 256739-2916.

• June 13 – Dodge City Days This Saturday will see thousands of people at Dodge City Days. More than 25 vendors will line Ala. 69, and stores should be busy. Brick Avenue will play classic rock at Heritage Pharmacy starting at 10 a.m. The Trammel Family will be singing gospel, and Jack’s will have a car show with lots of hot and cool wheels.

At city hall, Mayor Tawana Canada and the council will have inflatables set up for the kids, and you can see the AirEvac helicopter and the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office SWAT and dive teams.

Downstairs in the community center, seniors 60 and older can get free hot dogs and BBQ; or you can buy lunch if you’re younger.

Last year’s Dodge City Days drew at least 5,000, judging by sign-in sheets at businesses.

“And that,” says the mayor, “doesn’t even count those who didn’t sign in.”

• June 26 – Drive-in Movies start “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” will be shown this Friday by Cullman Park and Recreation at Nesmith Park on the field in front of the pool. “Big Hero 6” will be shown Friday, July 17. Both movies are free and start at 8:45 p.m.

Families are invited.

• July 2 – Summer concerts in the Park Starting tonight, Heritage Park will host a free summer concert series 6-8 p.m. each Thursday. The concerts will feature local country, bluegrass and rock-n-roll groups performing in the park’s Recognition Gardens.

• July 10 – Christmas in July Come join this topsy-turvy Friday of fun at the Cullman Wellness and Aquatic Center on Friday, July 10, 2015.

CWAC will be decked out in its Christmas décor and playing Christmas music throughout the day. Kid games and activities will be held at the outdoor pools; free Christmas cookies and cider to all members and guests.

The rest of CWAC’s gift will be half-priced day passes for $5 and $50 membership discounts for bringing canned food items to Cullman Caring for Kids. Donate the most food items and win a three-month membership to CWAC. • July 11 – Dirt Therapy/Night Ride Stony Lonesome OHV will hold its annual Dirt Therapy Day/Night Ride this Saturday. The event runs from 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Off-road vehicles are encouraged for the mud, but lots of folks just dive in. Gate fee is $5 for ages 13 and up. It costs $10 to ride your vehicle on the extensive trails up until 6 p.m. ($5 for ages 6-12); $25 to ride 6-11 p.m.; or $30 for the day and 12.5 hours. Bring something clean to wear home. For more info: 256-287-1133.

• July 14 – Sculpture exhibit The second Burrow Regional Sculptors Invitational opens this Tuesday and continues through September. It features the widely differing works of Southeastern sculptors Bill Squires, April Livingston, Jim Neel, Nelson Grice, Linda Walden, Walter Black, Mircea Lacatus, Matthew Patterson, Aaron T. Benson, Collin Williams, Phillip Scarpone, Kenneth Baskin, Randy Gachet, Darius Hill, Georgia Godwin and Leslie Wood.

The Evelyn Burrow Museum is regularly open TuesdayFriday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information call 256.352.8457 or visit burrowmuseum.org. Admission is always free.

person and includes transportation (leaving at 7 a.m. and returning at 7:30 p.m.) unlimited rides and a picnic lunch at the park. The bus will load at 6:45 a.m. at the Tom Drake Coliseum at Wallace State. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. For details: www.wsccalumni.org; or call: 256-352-7808 or 256-352-8071.

• July 31-Aug. 1 – American Girl trip Make your girl’s dream come true with this American Girl Store Sweet Dreams package. It’s offered through the Wallace State Alumni Association and is open to the general public. Prices are $260 for an adult; $95 for a child 13 or under. The package includes motor coach travel from WSCC to Alpharetta, Ga.; deluxe accommodations and breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn North Point, dinner at American Girl Bistro at the North Point Mall; activities and gifts for dolls at the American Girl store; and more. For details: www. wsccalumni.org; or call: 256-352-7808 or 256-352-8071.

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Good People

5questions Story and photo by David Moore

Later this year Bob Palys will be inducted as governor of Kiwanis International’s Alabama District, which has 4,500 members in more than 100 clubs.

He’ll be the first district governor from the 94-year-old Cullman Kiwanis Club, but it’s a unique honor for another reason: Kiwanis International is celebrating its centennial this year.

“I am very proud that Kiwanis has done so much for Cullman over the years,” says Bob, a 14-year member who lives northeast of Hanceville.

It’s indicative of his love of the club that “kiwanianbob” is part of his email address. While his Kiwanis commitment obviously runs deep, it’s the club’s international high school branch to which his heart has been long anchored.

“Key Club is my passion,” says Bob, an advisor for the club at Holly Pond since he began teaching and coaching there in 1984. “I have been very blessed. Out of the last 26 years we have been the best club in our size division in Alabama for 24 straight years. Twenty of those 26 years we have been the best club overall.”

His and Melba’s son, Andy, was a club president and, as a senior, a Key Club International trustee. He earned a degree in public relations and communications from Auburn University and today is a member of the Cullman Kiwanis Club.

In all likelihood, Bob and Melba’s other son, Matt, would be a Kiwanian, too, had life not dealt him a different hand.

“Matt had a lot of health problems, 16

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Bob Palys

Leading a life committed to children, teaching and the Key and Kiwanis clubs but being born with spina bifida was the main one,” says Bob, fighting back old emotions. “They told us he would not live one day.”

If short in stature, Matt towered over the odds stacked against him and went on to join Key Club as an eighth grader at Holly Pond. After spending a disproportionate amount of his life in Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, Matt was just shy of 18 when he died in 2001.

His attitude and bravery inspired Bob, Melba and Andy to take part in telethons and other efforts, eventually raising $250,000 for Children’s Hospital. Matt’s inspiration spread beyond his personal family to his extended Key Club family statewide.

In 2008, the high school clubs across Alabama made a five-year pledge to raise $150,000 – they actually raised $162,000 – to fund a teen room at the new Children’s Hospital along with a pediatric ICU waiting room. The latter is named for Matt … a suggestion from Key Club that came as a total surprise to the Palyses.

While recovering from knee replacement earlier this year, Bob discussed all of this and more …

1.

What does it mean to you to be a Kiwanian, and what goals do you have for your coming term as district governor?

I am proud and honored to be governor-elect. I feel I represent all of the great Kiwanians Cullman has had. Many of them would have made fantastic governors. I’ll become governor for Alabama Oct. 1, but I’ll also be governor for Cullman and all of its great service and civic leaders

over the years. I am honored to represent them on a state level.

A major goal is to increase membership. For over a decade, the same as every civic club, we have lost members because of age and apathy in the younger generations.

I am hoping to bring some excitement to Kiwanis. I like to motivate and get things moving.

The motto of my year will be “Kiwanis 101 – The New Beginning.” We know what we did to get here and what we need to do in the future. Our motto is “Serving the Children of the World.” Children are our future, but I feel we have sort of gotten away from that.

Our Cullman club is really involved with kids, including the RIF program– Reading is Fundamental.

We buy books and read books for 3- to 4-year-olds in Headstart. It may be the first book they’ve ever carried home. They learn them by hearing us read.

Feeding disadvantaged children who are hungry is important, especially on weekends when they can’t eat at school. We help several churches in Cullman with their knapsack ministries.

These children need mentoring.

They need direction. They need to know they are loved, to know we are there. That is what the Kiwanis Club grew on.

We need to revive that spirit of Kiwanis to what it is supposed to be, and membership is the key.

We have to influence more young people to join Kiwanis. Our Cullman club is blessed with 10-15 younger members, but this is something needed statewide. We have to change our image as being old-timers.

Snapshot: Bob Palys

Early life: Raised in Buffalo, N.Y. Led by a clearinghouse to St. Bernard College in 1966; fell in love with Cullman; earned a degree in English in 1970. Student-taught one semester at Welti Junior High School and fell in love with Melba; married in 1973.

Career: Spent 27 years at Welti, Fairview and Holly Pond, teaching English and social studies and coaching basketball, baseball and football. After retiring, he taught part time in 20052012 at Wallace State Community College. Worked since 1973 for sporting goods stores in Cullman; 2003 started Awards Palace with Melba, building and selling trophies from their home outside of Hanceville.

Other involvement: Elected to Cullman Chamber of Commerce board; former president of Hanceville Business Council; graduate of Leadership Cullman; officiated high school and collegiate football, basketball, baseball and softball, including state, regional and national finals, for 20 years. Member of Welti Cumberland Presbyterian Church; has edited its monthly newsletter 25 years.

Honors: Twice Cullman Kiwanian of the Year; sixth recipient in 62 years of Key Club International’s Key of Honor in 2014 for lifelong impact on youth; Cullman County Secondary Teacher of the Year; nominated to Jax State’s Alabama Teachers Hall of Fame; received Carol Eddins Humanitarian and Cullman Times Unsung Hero Award; won state bowling singles champion in 1982.

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I am the first Key Club adult to serve as Kiwanis governor. That could be a key. We need to recruit these Key Club members, but it’s hard for someone who just graduated from high school to afford the dues – $600 a year – and weekly lunches.

2.

You have been the advisor for the Holly Pond High School Key Club for 26 years. Are there any success stories about former members that signify your hope for all of the Key Club members you influence?

One young girl, Sonya Hassell, joined Key Club as an eighth grader.

She was so shy she did not say one word the whole semester. It was like she was scared of me. But she was a good worker. Four years later she had matured. She ran for state governor and won.

Sonya is arguably one of five best district Key Club governors ever. Her leadership skills won her a full fouryear scholarship at Alabama.

She graduated and was hired by a prestigious accounting firm, Concepts and Associates in Birmingham, and went on to earn her MBA. She married a physician, and they are expecting a child. Without Key Club, I don’t know that any of that would have happened.

Jason Simpson is another success story. He was very active in the club, but he always had a yearning for weather. He chased tornadoes as sophomore and junior. He knew he wanted to do something with weather.

He went to Memphis State and today is the chief meteorologist at Channel 19 in Huntsville, but Jason got a start in Key Club.

Our four points in Key Club are to have fun, have a good attitude, make a difference, and to be there when needed. By the time they are seniors, our Key clubbers will have heard this a thousand times: “It takes very little effort to help somebody.”

They are going to be a success 18

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and make a difference in the many lives they will touch. They already are by raising money for Children’s Hospital. We have no idea of who is benefiting from our work, but it could mean the difference in someone’s life.

I want these young people to grow up and not be apathetic, to be interested in their community. Once you are a Key clubber, you are a Key clubber for life.

3.

On top of the $162,000 state Key Clubs previously raised for Children’s Hospital, they now have pledged another $150,000 toward a dialysis clinic there. What does that mean to you?

Currently there are 1,200 youths in Alabama undergoing renal care.

Some are waiting for transplants; most are in dialysis. That requires going to Birmingham three times a week for five-hour dialysis sessions.

The old unit at Children’s is too small and has inadequate equipment.

The hospital decided to build a top-notch facility for youth renal care and said they would name the main waiting room for the Key Club if we helped by raising $150,000. I brought it before the Key Club district board, which unanimously accepted it. We started on it last spring.

Children’s Hospital is wonderful.

Back in early December I went there.

We were painting Alabama and Auburn A’s on the kids’ faces, and this 9-year-old girl walked in pushing her IV stand. We knew she had cancer because she had no hair.

They were hoping she would live to Christmas. I heard a doctor ask her family if they would pray with him.

That’s the kind of place it is.

We painted an Alabama A on her face and gave her a bracelet to wear. She looked at her mother and said, “Am I pretty now?” I lost my composure. I had to walk out of the hospital.

Still, nothing is better than that inner feeling you get when you

are doing something to try to save someone’s life – or at least make them more comfortable. The little girl died Dec. 21.

It all gets back to what Kiwanis is all about: kids, kids, kids. And Key Club is tremendous to help, too.

4.

Three years ago you and Melba moved your trophy shop, Awards Palace, from your home to downtown Cullman. What does Cullman – and downtown, in particular – mean to you?

I started working in Cullman in 1973 at Cummings Sporting Goods.

Charlotte Cummings owned it.

Her husband, Robin Cummings of People’s Bank, jokingly said she was the worst businessperson he knew, and I was second.

But she is a tremendous lady and taught me a lot.

If someone’s house burned down, she’d tell me to make them five or six replacement trophies. If she knew someone buying shoes was hurting for money, she’d say they were on sale. She’d take packages to their homes at Christmas, ring the doorbell and run off.

For her, money was second to people’s welfare.

I worked with Charlotte 15 years.

She tried to sell me the company, but I was chicken to go out on my own, plus I was teaching full time at Holly Pond. So I kept working at the business every time a new person bought it.

The last time it was sold, about seven years ago, Melba and I finally decided to go out on our own and began working from our home. In September 2013 we decided to move downtown. Randy Sparks is our partner.

With all of the attorney offices there, parking on U.S. 31 is not good, but it’s still more convenient for our customers than our home. That first year our business increased 50 percent, and it increased again last

year. Our business philosophy is to offer quality products at an economical price and provide royal treatment for every customer.

I love being downtown. Cullman is a very special and giving place, and downtown has a special sense to it.

5. What’s something most people don’t know about

Bob Palys?

I played basketball at Bishop Turner High School in Buffalo, N.Y. In 1963 we went to a tournament in Erie, Pa. I played against a guy from Power Memorial Academy in New York City – Lou Alcindor.

He was a 6-foot-8 tenth grader. I was a 6-2 guard. I remember standing next to him. He was a toothpick. He had no meat on him whatsoever, but I had never seen anybody so big at my age. Alcindor was huge. I couldn’t cover him.

I was surprised. He was not aggressive at all. He used his height. When he’d post up, nobody could get that ball.

They beat us. He went on to play for UCLA, then the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. He is a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player.

I also played a few games against Bob Lanier in Buffalo. He weighed 280 in high school, but they called him the gentle giant. Lanier went to Bennett High School

in Buffalo, and I played a few games against him. He went on to play for the Bucks and Detroit Pistons.

There were four great basketball players that graduated the same year: Lou Alcindor, Bob Lanier, “Pistol Pete” Maravich … and me. Ha! They were good. I wasn’t. I was a hot dog. If I had coached me as a kid … Well, I was a coach’s nightmare.

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Good Reads

‘Child 44’ is a mystery keeper set in Orwellian Soviet days

‘Roses’ a ‘Gone with Wind’ ?

No, it satisfies so much more

will keep it because it frightened me. Is this 1953 or 2015?

“Child 44” by Tom Rob Smith is set in a Stalinist/ Orwellian nightmare. Leo Stepanovich Demidov is a detective of unquestioning loyalty in Isn’t this how it starts? a world where detectives You have a cause you aren’t needed because, believe in, a cause worth of course, there is not crime; certainly there are dying for. Soon, it’s a no murders. cause worth killing for.

But the father Soon it’s a cause worth of a child found by killing innocent people for. the railroad tracks is

missed when it was first published. Others have compared this book to “Gone With the Wind,” and I can see some similarities in the obsession Mary Toliver has for her family’s land, but “Roses” by There was no rescuing Leila Meacham is so Toliver Farms, Mary’s much more satisfying. enormous cotton holdings This is Mary’s story, beginning with her visit that she’d sold in secret to her attorney at the negotiations the past end of her life to file a month. . . . “There’s codicil to her will that nothing to revise, Amos ... changes everything. We are then immediately What’s done is done, and transported back in there’s no changing my time to the beginning mind. You’d waste your of the Toliver family. time and mine by trying.”

And what a story

This is a book I will keep in my personal library. I

convinced his child has been murdered and convinces Leo to find the killer. Leo becomes obsessed with finding the truth in a state where truth is relative.

Leo’s discovery of not one but 44 murders has him questioning his loyalties to both his state and himself.

The authorities disapprove of his discovery and demote him from his position of some privilege in Moscow to that of common street policeman in a nearby village.

Even in his diminished capacity and with fewer resources, Leo continues his quest through myriad twists and turns (mostly through snow).

He finds his answers, and we discover that history can easily, if we allow it, repeat itself.

– Deb Laslie 20

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I have found a treasure from 2010 that I somehow

Mary has: unrequited love, old feuds, tragic consequences of decisions made “for the good” of the family and, therefore, the land.

Mary Toliver is strong, loyal, loving, spirited and, above all else, faithful to the land. But will she, at the end of her days, really give it all up for love?

If you love a great family saga with superb characterizations, then this is the summer read for you.

– Deb Laslie

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21

Good and Green

Alena Cook of Crane Hill, with help from her sister, daughter and two nieces, built an ornamental pond 15 years ago in her and husband Sam’s yard on Crooked Creek.

Actually, it’s two ponds and two waterfalls connected by a stream. No prefab here. They lugged and set the rocks themselves. A sprawling Japanese maple accents their design.

Ornamental ponds add the beauty and sound of water Story by David Cline, Ph.D. Photos by Sheila McAnear

O

rnamental garden ponds are becoming popular landscape fixtures.

The soothing sound of moving water or the sight of colorful fish dancing among beautiful plants creates an environment that is easy to love.

However, just like any other lovely landscape, it does not happen by itself. Creating a backyard haven that includes an ornamental pond takes planning, labor and money.

These watery habitats can range 22

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from a few goldfish and plants in a half-barrel on the deck to a half-million dollar oasis with arched stone bridges, elaborate landscaping and only the best quality koi.

Before you build a pond there are a number of important questions you should ask yourself. Here are but a few: • What is the purpose of the pond?

• Will it be fish only, plants only or a combination?

• Will the environment be formal or casual?

• Where is the best location?

• How big will it be? How many fish will it support?

• What kinds of support pumps, filters and piping will be required?

• What is the best construction material?

P

lanning goes a long way towards success, and, as the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Most people start out with a small pond, and, if it goes well, they will likely want one that is bigger and better. On the other hand, if it does not go well, they find themselves pulling their hair out trying to figure out why the water is green, the pond leaks or the fish keep dying.

Unfortunately, in my job as Extension aquaculture specialist, I usually get more calls from the second group.

The most common complaint that I get is from people who have water so green that they can’t see and enjoy the fish. Or the pond sides and bottom are covered with a green filamentous slime that looks just awful.

Both of these problems are generally caused by an excess of nutrients in the water.

T

he best part of having fish is the time you get to interact with them (i.e. feeding time). As a result, people tend to overfeed the fish, creating a nutrient overload. Planktonic green algae are the plants best equipped to utilize these extra nutrients quickly and can rapidly turn the pond to green soup.

Three elements go into the creation of one of these algae blooms: water, nutrients and sunlight. You can’t do much about eliminating the water from the water garden, so you are left with nutrients and sunlight.

Control the nutrients. Only feed the fish once a day and don’t feed them more than they will clean up in just a few minutes. Fish can be well maintained on a diet of 1 percent of their total body weight. So if you have 10 pounds of fish in the pond, they only need 0.1 pounds of high quality feed to keep them healthy.

Fish are also cold blooded so their metabolism is very slow in the cooler months. Most fish culturists do not feed fish when water temperatures drop below 55 degrees (unless it is a cold water species).

I

t is possible to control the amount of sunlight entering the water by covering a good portion of the surface with either floating plants or rooted plants with floating leaves, such as water lilies or lotuses. Experts recommend 60-70 percent surface coverage.

You don’t necessarily want to put

A Master Gardener since 2002, Alena grows all sorts of flowers and shrubs around their yard and pond. Her grandson grows his goldfish in the pond. a pond in the shade or beneath trees because the leaves will collect in the pond and add additional nutrients.

Most water lilies and other flowering plants need 6-7 hours of sunlight to produce blooms.

The real challenge is to find and establish a balance between the fish and the plants. Once you find this balance you can feed the fish several small meals a day and the nutrients from the fish and fish feed will be enough to help the plants thrive but not generate extra nutrients that will cause an algae bloom.

When gathering information

online, look at product reviews and information generated by educational institutions.

If you have pond problems, planning questions or want to share your successes, feel free to contact the Cullman County Extension office: 256-737-9386.

For more info on managing ornamental ponds: www.aces. edu/dept/fisheries/rec_fishing/ ornamentalmgt.php.

Good Life Magazine MAY | JUNE | JULY

23

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Good Cooking

The father of invention has a blast cooking Story and photos by David Moore

N

ecessity is the mother of invention. That holds true in the kitchen, too.

Necessity can also be the father of invention. That came true for Rickey Kreps once upon a time. Out of necessity he became the household cook once upon a time, and he holds that position today It’s not that Rickey’s wife, Jo, can’t cook.

“She’s a good cook,” he says. “She just doesn’t enjoy it.”

“I’d rather decorate,” she laughs.

“I love to sweep, mop … give me anything to do in the house but cook.”

Rickey is the second-generation owner – along with brother Rodney – of Office Equipment Company, which his father, Joe, started in 1946.

Jo handles the furniture side of the company.

Back in the day, he and Jo would get off work at 5 p.m. She’d pick up Jennifer, Ben and Clay at daycare while Rickey headed home to fix supper.

“We had to eat, then get the kitchen table cleaned up so homework could be done, so I put together meals that were reasonably healthy, something that the kids would like and could be prepared in 30 minutes,” he says.

A king of organization, mildly put, Rickey didn’t invent shortcuts, but they were necessary.

Ahead of time, he would boil and debone 10 pounds of chicken breasts at a time. He’d shred the meat and freeze

Jo and Rickey Kreps have fun in the kitchen when he cooks.

Recipes for the above dishes – and more – start on the next page. it in 2-cup containers. For stock, he’d strain the broth and freeze it in handy two-cup containers, too. Kid-friendly ground beef got the same treatment.

“Having that frozen meat available cut preparation time by 20 minutes,” Rickey beams.

After the kids grew up and moved out, cooking evolved from necessity into an art form and high entertainment.

“He has a good time,” Jo laughs.

“People like to be around him, especially when he cooks.”

MAY | JUNE | JULY

25

Rickey has headed up the cooking for up to 50 at their house. For family Christmas last year they fed 38 mouths.

He digs from three refrigerators and an upright freezer. Vegetable cans in the cabinet are alphabetized. He could probably work his 80-container spice cabinet blindfolded. He sometimes juggles five cooking timers at once.

It’s doubtful you’d ever see him sweat. Then again, he cooks in shorts.

“It’s a trip being around him,” Jo

says, “but it’s a good place to eat!”

His mother, Mary, was a great cook for their family of 10 but he didn’t learn much from her before she died when he was 11. But Rickey credits a lot of his kitchen skills to his sisters Carlene and Linda and his brother, Gerry, a National Guard cook.

Rickey learned grilling and smoking from a master and friend, Darrell Harris in Hartselle. And Tom Charney, the risk assessment manager at city

hall, shared his pie crust expertise.

Over the years Rickey accumulated a ton of recipes that he keeps organized by category in a file drawer. And to this day, he confesses, he still can’t pick up Southern Living without tearing out a recipe or two to add to his collection.

“There is,” says the father of invention, the master of his own kitchen, “nothing better to me than seeing someone enjoy what I cook.”

Here are some of his recipes …

PORK Tenderloins WITH GARLIC AND GROUND PEPPER 2 pork tenders (about 1 lb. each) 1 garlic bulb, skinned and separated 2 TB olive oil Fresh pepper, coarsely ground Remove silver membrane from pork tenders then pat dry with paper towels. Cut garlic cloves in half lengthwise (you’ll need 15-20 pieces). With a sharp knife, cut 4 or 5 slits down each side of each pork tender. Push a piece of garlic into each slit.

Using a pepper grinder, sprinkle all sides of each pork tender. In

a large skillet on medium-high heat, brown all sides of each pork tender then transfer to a baking dish and place in a 450 degree oven until the thickest section reaches 155 degrees. Let meat rest 10 minutes before slicing.

This recipe also works well on the grill.

Serves 6 BRINING A secret to Rickey’s tenderloins and other meats, including filets, is brining. Here’s his basic recipe …

CRISSCROSS POTATOES 4 potatoes, medium 2 TB canola oil or melted butter 2 tsp. paprika (or smoked paprika) Salt Pepper Scrub potatoes then halve them lengthwise. Make diagonal slashes about 1/8-inch deep in the cut surface of the potatoes forming a crisscross pattern.

Brush cut surfaces with canola oil or melted butter then season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven, sprinkle potatoes with paprika then return to oven and continue baking for 15 more minutes.

Serves 6 26

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3 qts. water ½ cup kosher (¼ regular) salt 1/3 cup peppercorns 4 bay leaves ¼ cup vinegar Mix ingredients, boil, cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes to meld flavors. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Place meat in a container and add brine, completely submerging it (add more water if needed). Cover and refrigerate at least 24 hours.

Remove meat, rinse with water and dry. Dispose of the brine.

ASPARAGUS AND PEA CASSEROLE Linda Kreps Pauli 1 can English peas (sweet peas) 1 can asparagus tips and pieces 1 can cream of mushroom soup 2 TB milk 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese Drain peas and asparagus. Pour asparagus on bottom of a 7x10 baking dish. In a separate bowl, combine peas, soup and milk then pour over asparagus. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven and bake for 5 to 8 minutes until cheese is melted.

Serves 6

Dinner – somewhat different than it was back during the kids’ school days – is served at Jo and Rickey’s home in Cullman, made from the recipes on this page and others.

Rickey never seems to lose his cool in the kitchen, even when juggling measurements and a couple of items on the stove. He swears by cooking in his shorts, and a towel and apron are part of his casual uniform.

BOURBON-BROWN SUGAR PORK TENDERLOIN 2 pork tenders (1 lb. each) ¼ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed ¼ cup green onion, minced (1-2 onions) ¼ cup bourbon or whiskey ¼ cup soy sauce (use only 1/8 cup to reduce sodium) ¼ cup Dijon mustard, brown spicy ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper ½ tsp. cornstarch Remove silver skin and

SLAW Mary Gasser Kreps 1 bag slaw mix (10 oz.)

1/3 cup mayonnaise 2 tsp. sugar 1 TB onion powder 1 tsp. pepper Pour slaw mix into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, onion powder and pepper then mix well. Stir in mayonnaise until all ingredients are well mixed.

excess fat from tenderloins.

Combine brown sugar and next 5 ingredients in a large Ziploc bag; add pork. Seal bag and chill 8 to 18 hours, turning bag occasionally. Remove pork from marinade, reserving marinade.

Preheat grill to 350 to 400 degrees (medium high heat).

Place pork on cooking grid, close lid and cook 8 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest portion

ASIAN SLAW One 3-oz. package of beef flavored ramen noodle soup mix One 8.5 oz. package of slaw mix (cabbage only) ½ cup sliced almonds (toasted) ½ cup sunflower kernels ½ bunch green onions, chopped ¼ cup sugar 3/8 cup vegetable oil 1/6 cup white vinegar Remove flavor packet from

28

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reaches 155 degrees. Remove from grill, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine reserved marinade and cornstarch in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Cut pork diagonally into thin slices and arrange on serving platter; drizzle with warm sauce.

Serves 6

soup mix and set aside. Crush noodles and place in bottom of a large bowl. Top with slaw mix.

Toast almonds at 350 degrees for 5 minutes, turning once.

Sprinkle almonds, sunflower kernels and green onions over top of slaw mix.

Whisk together contents from the flavor packet, sugar, oil and vinegar; pour over slaw. Cover and chill for 30 to 60 minutes.

Toss well before serving.

Serves 8.

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LASAGNA 1 lb. ground round 1 lb. sausage 1 onion, chopped ½ bell pepper, chopped 2 tsp. garlic powder 4 tsp. oregano 2 tsp. basil 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. pepper 2 cans diced tomatoes (Italian style, 15 oz.)

2 cans tomato paste (6 oz.)

1/3 pkg. lasagna noodles (16 oz.) – 6 noodles * (see note below) ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated 1 pkg. ricotta cheese (15 oz.)

2 eggs 3 cups shredded mozzarella

1 tsp. parsley ½ cup wine * If using a 3” deep foil lasagna pan, use ½ pk. lasagna noodles (16 oz.) – 9 noodles Brown ground chuck and sausage with onion and bell pepper; drain. Add salt, oregano, pepper, garlic powder, tomatoes and tomato paste; simmer covered on low heat for 2 hours. Cook lasagna noodles and drain; preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley and eggs; mix well. On bottom of a 15x9 greased baking dish, arrange ½ lasagna

noodles, spread ½ meat sauce, ½ cheese mixture, 1½ cups shredded mozzarella; repeat, ending with mozzarella cheese on top. Cover with foil, bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until hot and bubbly.

Uncover, let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 10 Note: If using a 3” deep foil lasagna pan, modify directions as follows: arrange 1/3 lasagna noodles, spread 1/3 meat sauce, 1/3 cheese mixture, 1 cup shredded mozzarella; repeat, ending with mozzarella cheese on top.

EGG CUSTARD PIE 4 eggs, slightly beaten ½ cup sugar ½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. vanilla extract 2¼ cups milk, scalded 1 9-in. unbaked pie shell ground nutmeg (if desired) Blend eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla extract.

Gradually stir mixture into scalded milk. Using a fork, poke small holes in the bottom and sides of pie shell.

Place pie shell on a cookie sheet, pour the mixture into pie shell and sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until a knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Cool on rack.

FIRE & ICE PICKLES Darrell Harris 1 qt. dill pickles, sliced 2 cups sugar 1 TB Tabasco pepper sauce ½ TB crushed red pepper flakes 1 clove garlic, cut in half

A dollop (or two) of Cool Whip complements Rickey’s egg custard pie; candles are optional, too ...

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Drain pickles and place in a large bowl with enough room to stir. Add ingredients and stir. Cover and let sit at room temp 4-5 hours; stir every half hour. The sugar will create enough juice to pack them in. Put them in jars and in the refrigerator. They are ready to eat when they get cold. Keep unused portions refrigerated.

WSCC Alumni Association

UPCOmING EvENTS: OTA And PTA Alumni Connection

May 7th, 7:30 am - 4:40 pm – Up to 8 Contact Hours. Includes breakfast, lunch, breaks, exhibit hall www.wsccalumni.org/otapta2015

Antique / Bargain Hunting Trip To East Alabama

May 15th, 7:30 am - 4:30 pm — $20 www.wsccalumni.org/antiqueeast2015

American Girl Sweet Dreams Adventure To Alpharetta, GA

July 31 - August 1 — Adults $260, Children $95 Includes transportation, one night accommodations, American Girl gifts and crafts, Dinner at the American Girl Bistro and much more www.wsccalumni.org/americangirl

Preparing To Take The ACT Test Workshop

June 15th, 12 Noon - 4:30 pm $50 workshop only, $75 workshop and workbook www.wsccalumni.org/actprepjune15

Family Fun Day At Lake Winnie Amusement And Water Park In Chattanooga, TN

July 17th, 7 am - 7:30 pm — $75 Includes transportation, unlimited rides and water park activities, picnic lunch at the park www.wsccalumni.org/familyfun15

Questions? Call 256-352-7808 www.wsccalumni.org

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31

Marching to Army orders it took 14 moves before ...

Ann and Rick Fox found their home

Rick pauses in his four-wheeler at the top of their exciting driveway.

More inviting to company is the Foxes’ front porch Story and photos by David Moore

F

rom their deck perched high over the expanse of deep, clean water, it’s easy to see why Ann and Rick Fox love their serene home on Smith Lake.

Then again, after marching to Army orders and living in 14 places stateside and abroad over a span of 30 years – most for two-three year stints – it’s also nice to finally settle down together.

Their dozen years in the house with the sweeping lake view is the longest the couple has ever called someplace home.

There’s a sense of pride at work here, too. Rick, a retired Army colonel, designed the house. And it doesn’t look a thing in the world like barracks.

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A very traditional home, nestled into the high, steep hillside, every room offers a view of the lake. The long deck in the back is divided into a comfortable screened porch and deck

space proper, where an American flag aptly hangs.

Tranquility here drifts serenely on the lake breeze. The sense of peace is palatable … well, much of the time.

Brick columns on the back lend the house a distinctive southern flavor. The yard is designed to minimize grass cutting, but Rick and Ann still find plenty to do outside on their two lots. The house, built by Mike Nelson, has nearly 4,000 square feet with four bedrooms, 3.5 baths ... plus that long, inviting deck.

Then again, most people living on the lake expect company. Ten or so visitors at a time might joyfully invade the serenity, which is not too surprising with three grown children and five grandkids.

“I think we had 41 house guests last year,” Ann says. “Of course some were repeats and came several times.”

Still, after moving so much, it’s been nice to grow roots.

In Rick’s words, he’s been “everywhere in the world with Ann.” What’s amazed him is how many places she inevitably ran into someone she knew from her hometown of Eufaula.

Once in Amsterdam they were

walking through the Rijksmuseum, Museum of the Netherlands, and ran into one of Ann’s college friends from home. Another time it happened in Tucson, Ariz.

“We were at a party with my old fraternity, ATO, and across the living room was one of her 88 classmates from high school,” Rick says, shaking his head. “It’s been amazing.”

“He graduated with hundreds in California and never sees a soul he knows,” Ann laughs. “And I know everyone I see, or I know someone they know.”

Rick was to the Army born.

His father’s transfers sent the family

packing for the Philippines, Japan, Massachusetts and three places across California. He called Los Angeles home.

He was a senior at the University of Arizona in Tucson, sometimes studying political science and history, when Uncle Sam sent greetings in 1968. Two years later, after Officers Candidate School, Rick found himself in Vietnam, a second lieutenant leading a rifle platoon with the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

Stateside again, Rick was an infantry instructor at Fort Benning, Ga., when he met an attractive young lady from Eufaula named Ann Hawkins.

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35

The kitchen, with its range on an island, offers plenty of space to cook for company. One of the walls of the study, above, contains bookshelves that also display the retired colonel’s collection of model soldiers that reflect his proud Army tradition.

She had earned a two-year degree from Troy State and, when they met, worked in Columbus for Georgia Power. One thing led to another, and she joined the Army, so to speak, when they married in 1973.

Their first tour together was in Schweinfurt, Germany, where Rick commanded a mechanized infantry company. Then they moved 100 miles to Grafenwöhr where Rick designed training facilities for use by all infantry units in Europe. Their first child, Brent was born there.

Back in the U.S., the Foxes moved to Tucson for a year where 36

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Ann ran into her old friend and Rick finished his degree.

From there, the Army bounced

them to St. Louis where he taught ROTC at Washington University.

Daughter Ashley was born there.

“I think that was for four years,” Rick says.

“I think it was actually three and half, but it was one of our longest times in one place,” Ann says.

Kelly, their third child, was born during a 1982-85 stint at Fort Hood, Texas, where Rick served with the Second Armored Division, “Hell on Wheels.”

Ann had her “small world” encounters with friends, but Rick claims one of his own in military circles. At Fort Hood he was operations officer then XO (executive officer) of 1st Battalion, 41st Mechanized Infantry. In 1983 it became the first combat unit equipped with the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Rick later commanded the very same battalion in Germany, an extreme rarity for the Army.

But first the Fox family lived two places near the Panama Canal: Panama City for six months followed by a move to the former nearby Fort Clayton. This was 1985-87.

Rick and Ann in their nicely appointed living room. They wanted the house comfortable and homey, she says.

“It was quite an interesting life down there,” Ann says. “You had to be careful all the time.”

“Noriega (Panama’s dictator at the time) was acting up,” Rick says.

They were often told to steer clear of certain areas off base because of demonstrations and crimes. Their yard on base bordered the jungle, a sneaky place for thieves to hide, and every house on their street but theirs – thanks to Ranger, their golden retriever – got burglarized.

After Panama, now Lt. Col.

Fox was selected for battalion command. As an experiment, the Army moved the 1st Battalion – its 1,000 soldiers and their Bradleys, lock, stock-and barrel – to Germany.

And their former XO was now in charge.

“I knew those people, and

they knew me,” Rick says. “The leadership remained in place. It was good for that unit because it was a high performing unit.”

Rick was not the only Fox in charge. Ann was, too.

Like a TOW missile fired from a Bradley, she launched her strong will into setting up a support system for the many needs of young wives whose husbands served under Rick.

“She didn’t just have coffees and teas,” Rick says. “She was a tremendous help to me as a commander’s wife.”

She was strong on the home front as well. When their “new” used BMW proved to be a lemon, she marched into the dealership office, threw off her gloves and scarf and demanded the manager take back the car.

“I don’t understand,” he had said.

“Do you understand protest?” she had told him. “You will never sell another car to anyone on that base.

I want to spend money seeing your pretty country not fixing this car.”

The car was repaired.

“I could be sweet,” Ann laughs.

“But I could be strong, too.”

T

heir last year in Germany was spent in Heidelberg with Rick on a four-star general’s staff.

1990 found Rick a bit disappointed in not going to the Gulf War with his battalion, but he found some compensation in the leadership honor of being sent to the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Penn. During that year he also earned his master’s degree in public administration.

The Fox family next moved to Fort Lewis, Wash., south of Seattle MAY | JUNE | JULY

37

The Foxes’ favorite room in the house, especially when the weather’s nice, is the screened porch.

Overlooking the lake, it’s a serene spot for morning coffee or evening drinks.

Part of the basement contains an apartment with a kitchen, game room, sitting area with a fireplace, two bedrooms and a bath. It comes in handy when company – or the kids – drop by. for two years. Then, wearing the wings of a full colonel, he was transferred to Fort Gillem in Atlanta, where he retired in 1996.

The family remained in Atlanta 10 years. For Rick, it wasn’t much of a settling down. Working as a contractor for the Army, he traveled extensively, sometimes to the Middle East. But all three kids were able to graduate from 38

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high school without a moving van interrupting.

A

bout 20 years earlier, an important aspect of Ann and Rick’s future had started to slowly gel. When possible, they began visiting friends who owned a cabin on Smith Lake.

The man was John Bentley, from Hamilton, who served as Rick’s XO in

Germany. John’s wife, Judy, and Ann, two Alabama girls in Germany, also grew close. After John left the Army he got a law degree, set up a practice back home and today is a circuit judge for Winston and Marion counties.

Over the years of visits, the Foxes grew fond of Smith Lake.

“Some of our kids’ best memories were here on the lake,” Rick says.

Ann and Rick Foxes’ crew gathered at home last year for a family portrait. From bottom left are: son Brent with his son and daughter Brennan and Katelyn, Landon Molton and his sister Addison; from middle left is Brent’s wife Kim, Ann and Rick then Blakely Molton; standing are the Foxes’ youngest daughter Kelly, left, their middle child, Ashley, right and her husband Ryan Molton, center, a former Army Ranger. Brent became an Army Blackhawk pilot and still deploys to Afghanistan for special missions. Ashley played basketball on scholarships to Chipola and Middle Georgia. After a degree from The University of Alabama and six years as a pharmaceutical rep, Kelly now owns the upscale Savannah Nail Bar in Jupiter, Fla. Portrait by Photography by Theresa.

“And Ann and I had always wanted to live on a lake.”

The good soldier first did reconnaissance on other lakes in the south but was drawn to the clean water of Smith Lake. In 1996 he bought the first two lots in the Eagles Landing development. On top of other factors, it sounded like a good omen – the kids all graduated from Eagles

Landing High School in Georgia.

“We do see eagles,” Ann adds. “We saw one yesterday.”

F

or all of its serenity, the house on the lake requires a good deal of work. A boat dock adds to it.

“It’s not just a cabin,” Rick says.

“Like any house it needs maintenance.

I designed it not to have grass to mow,

but there are lots of weeds and things to trim.”

Then again, it was a lot of work moving 14 times. But there are no regrets about their Army service.

“We’d do it again tomorrow,” Ann says. She thinks about that a moment and adds, “We were so glad to come here.”

Good Life Magazine MAY | JUNE | JULY

39

A character cultured from a Baileyton pearl

Story and by Steve A. Maze

Natural pearls form in a

water environment without human assistance and are highly valued.

Cultured pearls are grown under tightly controlled conditions by pearl farmers, and are often thought of as imitation pearls.

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During a 1936 visit to Baileyton a cultured pearl discovered that imitating a natural pearl would lead to a 50-plus-year career on the Grand Ole Opry.

Sarah Ophelia Colley was one of five daughters born to a prosperous lumberman in Centerville, Tenn.

She graduated from Nashville’s prestigious Ward-Belmont College,

where she majored in stage technique.

Sarah was also well-versed in literature and classical music. She was quite the cultured southern belle – a culture very different from the one she was about to explore in the rural farming community of North Alabama.

At the time, Sarah was working as a show director with the Wayne

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P. Sewell Production Co., a touring Sarah was walking a tightrope. Her Opry management had the same theater troupe based out of Atlanta. The desire was to create a comedy act that concerns as Sarah. They didn’t want amateur plays were normally offered would entertain, but she certainly did to offend rural listeners with a hillbilly as fundraisers for local civic groups not want to offend anyone – especially act, so it was decided to schedule her around the Southeast. her mentor. to air at 11:05 p.m., well after the It was only when Sarah traveled to She privately previewed her new primetime show had ended.

Baileyton that the cultivation process act to friends in Tennessee. To her nderstandably, for a pearl began. As today, Sarah was nervous after there were no local hotels, she completed her act. She and Sarah was a single lady was uncertain as to how of 23. It wasn’t unusual for listeners would react to community families to host Minnie Pearl. A few days visiting young ladies such as later, Opry director George Sarah.

D. Hay gave Sarah the good After one performance, Jim news when he presented and Mattie Burden approached her with hundreds of fan Sarah and invited her to spend letters they received after the duration of the local run in “Minnie’s” performance. their home. She accepted, and From that moment on, this simple decision would Minnie would greet Opry change the rest of her life.

“Minnie Pearl’s” tombstone in Franklin, Tenn. listeners with a robust During Sarah’s visit, Mattie “How-w-wDEE-E-EE! entertained her guest with I’m just so glad to be here!” And many colorful tales of her relatives and surprise, they loved the character and the daily trials they were experiencing. encouraged her to continue. Still, Sarah for more than 50 years, Minnie was reluctant and used the act only entertained audiences with homespun Not only did she relate the stories in sparingly. tales of “Uncle Nabob,” “Brother” a folksy manner with a twinkle in her In 1939, the character of Minnie and other characters on the Opry eye, Mattie told them with her distinct Pearl made its debut at a convention of stage. southern dialect and accent. bankers in Aiken, S.C. Sarah visited a Sarah married Henry R. Cannon in arah went on her way when the local department store and purchased 1947 and went on to make numerous production moved on, but the memory a straw hat with a $1.98 price tag television appearances, including of Mattie and her family tales lingered dangling from the brim. It was needed a 22-year stint on “Hee Haw.” The with her. She wanted to incorporate a to go with her country-style dress she comedian was inducted into the “Mattie” character into an act, but she would wear on stage.

Country Music Hall of Fame in 1975. faced several problems.

The small audience ate up the She died in 1996.

As a sophisticated college girl, routine. One person even suggested Thanks to a colorful farm lady, could she convincingly portray the she audition for the WSM radio show the cultured pearl of Sarah Colley role of a southern “hayseed” to an – the Grand Ole Opry. Sarah was not was able to make a successful career audience? And how could she pull it familiar with the show but got the out of imitating a natural pearl from off without putting off people in the opportunity to make her debut there a Baileyton. rural South? year later in 1940.

Good Life Magazine

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Good Eats

Good country cooking and an atmosphere where you’re treated like family brings some folks back several times a day.

The Hutch: like grandma’s kitchen on the town square Story and photos by Patrick Oden

I

grandma’s kitchen. The food is everything you would expect a home-cooked southern meal to be, and there is no better place to keep up on the local news or to enter a spirited debate on the topics of the day.

n Fairview, at the intersection of Ala. 69 and Wesley Avenue, sits the most hat’s the best thing on unassuming of establishments: the menu? According to regular a small local restaurant.

Delese Weldon: “The food.”

The Hutch, owned by Many customers choose to W.D. and Henri Derrick, is sit cafeteria style, with whoever much more than meets the eye happens to be there at the and has a remarkably loyal moment, and once comments clientele. about The Hutch and the First opened in 1979, the Derricks begin, it’s like a chain Derricks purchased The Hutch reaction. in 2010 in part to stave off the “There’s no place like this,” boredom of retirement for W.D. an unseen voice proclaims.

“I got tired of sitting around “Amen,” echoes from the doing nothing,” he says.

Tina Barnett cooks burgers ... fresh beef only. other side of the room.

W.D.’s mother had owned Maybe that’s why W.D. was a restaurant when he was there twice a day before he and Henri purchased the place. younger, and since retiring from Cullman City Schools As it turns out, that’s pretty common for many of the where he worked maintenance, he was already spending a Derricks’ customers. In fact, the most common response by lot of time at The Hutch.

Hutch patrons asked how often they eat there was two to “While I was at work, he ate breakfast and lunch here three times … a day. every day,” Henri says of her husband.

They come in here, eat, drink coffee, and solve all of the Perhaps it was fated. Either way, when Henri retired from her bookkeeper position at Fairview High, the couple bought world’s problems, Henri says with a smile.

Well, six days a week at least. The Hutch is closed on the place that had become W.D.’s second home.

And therein lies the beauty of The Hutch … it’s not just a Sundays … kind of.

Though the doors don’t open to the public, W.D. shows restaurant. up at the restaurant each Sunday morning to prepare The Hutch is really more like a town square fused with 44

W

MAY | JUNE | JULY

Henri Derrick, above left, serves good country cooking, while “Smiley” and

“Junior,” right, are happy to eat it while socializing and talking, probably about

Fairview schools. Clyde Hooten, 93, left, is

a local WWII celebrity veteran, if you will, having been awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He’s also a serious

regular at the Hutch. After breakfast

at home, he comes in around 9 a.m. for

coffee and a bacon sandwich, returns at lunch for a ham sandwich and a half

order of fries then comes back later in the

afternoon for his usual hot dog and what

waitress Jennifer Watson says is a meeting of the Liars Club. If Clyde is still hungry there’s always dessert ... if any is left. breakfast for the group of children bused in as part of a ministry at Spring Arbor Baptist Church.

“We would probably do a good business on Sundays if we opened, Henri says. “But whether or not our employees attend church, I want them to be able to if they choose.”

T

hough the Derricks are humble people, their customers are quick to sing their praises.

One specific instance involved the Derrick’s opening and running The Hutch’s kitchen on generators in the wake of the disastrous tornado of 2011 that left most of the community without

power for more than a week.

“I was really proud of what they did for the community,” Billy Shikles says.

If there is a common thread that weaves together the tapestry of The Hutch it’s community. A true sense that there are no strangers, that everyone is a friend.

So if you happen to be traveling along Ala. 69 and pass through Fairview, stop at The Hutch. If you’re hungry, you won’t leave disappointed.

If you’re not hungry, stop anyway.

Have a cup of coffee or a glass of good ole southern sweet tea. Sit anywhere, say hello to everyone. Welcome to The Hutch family.

MAY | JUNE | JULY

45

Of Hamlet and Harleys, a look in death’s face and a rare chance to start anew

Edison Pearce is well on his way to being educated utterly alien to him, but his grossly twisted leg had cushioned his head from being crushed and literally saved his life.

Wallace State Community College was utterly alien to Edison, too. He’d never heard of it. But, like his wreck, it would change his life.

Story and photos by David Moore

E

dison Pearce cruised through the open San Joaquin Valley at 60 mph, his Custom Fat-Boy emitting its guttural Harley Davidson rumble under a perfect California sky.

Nothing was farther from his mind on May 25, 2005, than William Shakespeare.

As Edison approached an intersection, a Ford pickup heading toward him hesitated in the left turn lane. At the last second, the driver decided he could make it, turned across the lane in front of Edison … and his truck stalled. Edison braked hard, threw the big bike down, but there was no stopping. He skidded 116 feet across the asphalt, slamming broadside into the truck, taking the full, 53-mph impact on his right side before hurtling 100 feet through the air with his Harley.

Edison was not thinking of Hamlet, prince of Denmark.

Crumpled and broken in the road, yet somehow alive, somehow conscious, Edison looked down at his body. His right leg was nowhere to be seen. The pickup driver ran up apologizing, got one look at him and threw up.

Even before Edison blacked out, the notion of ever living in Cullman, Ala., never entered his mind.

He briefly came to, emergency personnel hovering over him. A news helicopter was there. He slid back into darkness. When he came to again, his head was taped to the road. After a 46

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Several days later Edison awoke

Edison Pearce parodies a scene from Hamlet moment he realized where his right leg was – behind his head. A leg can’t naturally do that. The position was

at a hospital in Fresno, Calif., near his home. A large plate and nine screws held his shattered pelvis together.

Both legs were broken in several places along with multiple ribs. His litany of injuries also included severe spinal trauma.

Edison underwent multiple surgeries, struggling nearly four long, painful years just to wobbly walk again. But he was effectively dying.

“I had avascular necrosis in the femoral-head of my right hip,” he says. “Thus, it was disintegrating and becoming a spear point trying to push its way out of my backside. My right leg kept becoming shorter and shorter – two and a quarter inches shorter than the other – and inevitably would have become gangrene, thereby killing me in the process.”

He could forget ever resuming his job as a stainless steel welding contractor. It was doubtful he’d ever be whole. Surviving hinged on modified hip replacement surgery that was so unique he couldn’t find a surgeon to do it.

“I didn’t really have much hope for the last operation, so I decided to go across the country and visit all my close friends and family

members one last time. Thus began the process that led me to Alabama,” says Edison, now 51.

At his rope’s frayed end, nothing was farther from his mind than William Shakespeare.

Edison was on a bus to visit

Aunt Sherry Lynn Bartlett in Cullman County when he got a call from St. Vincent’s Hospital in Little Rock, Ark. A surgeon there said he could perform the special hip replacement.

Lo and behold, the surgery was successful.

Aunt Sherry Lynn urged him to come to Cullman to recuperate.

Essentially homeless at that point, Edison agreed, appreciative but hardly enthusiastic.

“I hadn’t seen my aunt in a long time, really since I was a kid, but she was willing to take me in and help me start my life over,” he says. “I was thankful to be alive, but I absolutely hated the move when I first came to Alabama.”

Along with cultural retuning, Edison faced physical and mental adjustments as well.

“I was at a point physically where I was unable to go back to what I was doing. One thing I knew still worked was my brain. But I also knew I couldn’t find a good job utilizing that particular muscle unless I went somewhere to further my education.”

Unable to immediately enter a four-year college, Edison took a different route – a 9-mile drive south to Wallace State Community College.

He liked it and enrolled in 2012.

Student Support Services eased the transition to becoming a student, he says. Despite his non-traditional freshman age, he soon felt a part of the school.

It was at Wallace that Edison also met William Shakespeare, thanks to Karen Morris, his adjunct instructor for English 102. Besides an introduction to The Bard, she also introduced him to a talent he never knew he had – writing.

“Let me see,” Hamlet says his to friend in Shakespeare’s play of the same name, taking the skull from the gravedigger and considering it. “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. ... Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now to mock your own grinning? Quite chapfallen?”

One assignment Karen gave the

class was to write about Shakespeare and his play “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.”

Edison, naturally, had heard of Shakespeare, but after Karen’s introduction, studies and reading he discovered a lot to admire and appreciate. Karen gave the class MAY | JUNE | JULY

47

Willy Shakes and a Prince Named Hamlet Excerpts from Edison Pearce’s paper for WSCC’s Karen Morris Fetch a chair and listen-up, for I shall tell a story that you will not soon forget. A long time ago, in a land called Merry-Old-England, lived a fellow named William Shakespeare, whom everybody liked to call Willy, and he liked to write things—lots of things. Folks liked Willy because he wrote things that were very hard to understand, thus adding to their literary value for future study. The people did not know that they liked Willy for this reason, but they did. They also liked him because they had heard that he had poached a deer, and they secretly wished that they had the nerve to poach one, too. ...

Willy liked to do most of his writing in Elizabethan, or Early Modern English, because it sounded really cool and whenever he needed a new word he just made one up. In fact, Willy made up about 1,600 words that people still use today. If you have ever been “bedazzled” by a “monumental” work, you owe it to Willy because he invented both of those words. ...

Not everyone gets a shot at building an entirely new life. Edison plans to make the most of it. creative leeway with the assignment, and the man who once defined freedom as the wind in his face on a motorcycle now roared off in a different direction. He titled his paper “Willy Shakes and a Prince Named Hamlet.”

“I wanted to make Shakespeare more approachable because he can be intimidating,” Edison says.

“Shakespeare almost single handedly invented the English language. I want people to know that and wanted to show just how important Shakespeare should be to us.

“In this age of social media and texting, we can very well lose track of real literature. Shakespeare is important. Hamlet is important.”

As an indisputable measure of Edison’s success with the paper, he was invited to present it in March at the national convention of Sigma Kappa Delta English Honor Society in Albuquerque, N.M. 48

MAY | JUNE | JULY

Although films had not yet been invented, Willy seemed to know that they eventually would be. Film director Kenneth Branagh liked Hamlet so much that he not only made a film version, but he also starred in it himself.

In Franco Zeffirelli’s version, Prince Hamlet is played by an actor you may have heard of, Mel Gibson. Interestingly enough, after talking to the ghost of Hamlet’s father, many people agree that Mel Gibson has also gone crazy!...

Edison is the first Wallace State member of SKD to present at the convention. What’s more, out of the 625 students selected to do a reading, he was one of only a handful from two-year schools.

“I consider this one of the greatest achievements I’ve had,” Edison says. “It was a privilege. There were thousands of submissions worldwide … I’m still dumbfounded by it all.”

N

ot surprisingly, Edison today views Cullman in a new light. He loves Alabama. His appreciation of Aunt Sherry Lynn is deep and heartfelt; his appreciation of Wallace State, Karen Morris and his other instructors is tremendous.

“I’ve seen all sorts of junior colleges, and Wallace State is a cut above,” he says. “I picked Wallace State because it was the closest one, but it’s more than that now. Wallace State changed my life.”

His children, Jessica, 19, and Thomas, 18, have moved to Cullman with him. His brother has also moved to Alabama, and his parents plan to do likewise when they retire.

Edison now has a new life tooling along, not riding a Harley but following an education path to a career.

After graduating from Wallace on May 8, his new direction takes him to The University of Alabama at Birmingham. This fall he starts studies in anthropology and wants to eventually earn a doctorate with the goal of becoming a museum curator.

“The entire idea of an education,” Edison says, “has helped me in every way. Not everyone gets to start his or her life over. I plan to make the most of it.”

And, unlike that fateful May day 10 years ago, Edison sometimes finds William Shakespeare on his mind.

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Flying radio-controlled scale aero models puts a different spin on ...

Stories and photos by David Moore Aerial drone photos by Roger Miller

I can’t fly an airplane, so I’m a

bit nervous, a bit intimated as Lavell Thrasher hands me the controls of his Super Cub. What if I crash?

“Don’t worry,” he says, nowhere as nervous as I. “It’s made of foam. I can buy replacement parts. But you can do 50

MAY | JUNE | JULY

this. It’s a very forgiving little plane.”

“Little,” in this case, is a 48-inch wingspan. Raven size but white, the plane buzzes 150-200 feet overhead.

Welcome to the world of scale model RC – radio controlled – airplanes.

We’re standing on the airstrip operated by the Cullman Aero Modelers club south of town. This is my second visit to see these aerial enthusiasts and their magnificent scalemodel flying machines in action.

Lavell, club president, has been after me to fly his beginner-type plane. I have balked several times but honestly want to try my hand at this.

It looks … well, fun. And how better to get a feel for modeling? How better to get a feel for the passionate pastime that obviously sends the 35 members of this group soaring?

“It’s fun just to sit around and watch,” club member Mitchell Ward informed me earlier. “But when you’re up, when it’s your turn to fly, when you

Slipping the surly bonds of Earth have your plane and investment up in the air, it’s a different story. It gets intense.”

A

week earlier, on my first trip to the club’s airfield, I had gotten an idea of the intensity and passion of it all just by seeing some of the model planes.

Passion is obvious in the details. The simplest planes are cool. Others put the term “intricate” to shame. If the devil dwells in details, he’d go ape out here.

For instance, Lavell has a quarter

scale – 25 percent of the actual size – Piper Cub. He spent two years building it, going into extreme detail.

Scale model RC planes employ the aerodynamics of real planes with operational ailerons, elevator, rudder and flaps. The pilot uses a handheld controller that sends radio signals to the plane.

Being enthusiasts, club members often speak RC modelese. But you don’t have to know that language to get along with them, learn and enjoy

Greg Young flies his RC

controlled biplane in low over the airfield of the Cullman Aero Modelers. The plane,

which he built from a kit, has a battery-powered motor and

a 42-inch wingspan. Watching Greg fly are fellow club

members Lavell Thrasher, left, and Mitchell Ward.

MAY | JUNE | JULY

51

It looks like the real thing on the tarmac at the airport, but that’s his scale model Piper Cub in this picture Lavell Thrasher shot. Below, a closeup shows the effort he put into building an exact model of the plane, from the controls to the pilot’s rag behind the front seat. The model has a two-cylinder engine, but Lavell fabricated two false heads to be true to the Cub’s original four-cylinder.

52

MAY | JUNE | JULY

yourself. Loving airplanes and models is your translator and passport.

You can enter the sport with “ready-to-fly” RC kits that come with a transmitter, receiver and battery. You can be in the air in a matter of minutes for as little as $100. Once smashed in a crash, though, these planes are history and can’t be repaired.

Modelers suggest buying a beginner kit in the $170-$200 range. Wreck one of these planes and you can get replacement parts.

Other models come almost ready to fly. Or, if you like a challenge, you can buy kits that require building the entire airframe from precut balsa. If you’re truly skilled – and perhaps a little crazy – like club member Richard Byrum and others, you can buy plans and build a plane from scratch.

While some are foam, most planes have airframes covered with lightweight polyester fabric. It can be heat-shrunk, giving the plane taut, aerodynamic surfaces as well as a realistic appearance.

Prices go into the thousands.

“It might sound expensive,” Lavell said. “But try buying a new set of golf clubs or a bass boat for a hobby. RC models can fit almost any budget.”

M

ost of these guys built plastic model planes and cars as kids, Mitchell said. Others could afford $10-$20 for powered model planes that were controlled by two lines attached to a handle or U-Control and flew in a circle around the pilot.

“Where I was raised,” Mitchell Mark Brooks and David Briscoe look at some of the RC planes lined up at the Cullman Aero Modelers’ field off Welti Road.

MAY | JUNE | JULY

53

Bob Maxfield shifts from pilot to mechanic to change out a spark plug on his SIG Rascal. From woodwork and fiberglass to tuning engines and electronics, you can delve as deeply as you want into RC scale models. Then again, you can buy an inexpensive plane ready to fly minutes after you take it from the box. laughed, “we watched the rich kids fly.”

Lavell said he had one in the late 1950s that was controlled with fishing line. Aerobatics were limited.

“The only control you had was the elevator,” he said. “You could go up.

You could go down. But you were definitely going in a circle.”

Gustavo “Gus” Matos, new to Cullman, joined the club in March but seemed at home on his first visit to the Cullman field. He’s been flying RCs for years and speaks modelese.

“I remember in the old days when we mixed castor oil with the fuel,” Gus recalled. “I was against it at first, but now we use synthetic fuels.”

Richard Witt has been in the Cullman Aero Modelers since 1985.

On this day he was flying his vintage 54

MAY | JUNE | JULY

Senior Frontier. It’s at least 25 years old. His shop is a hangar to a squadron of 15-17 model planes.

Some of them are Senior Pattern Association planes, meaning they were built from model designs going back to at least 1976. The planes were simpler then, Richard explains, easier and less expensive to build. Unlike today’s models with elaborate electronics and tuned engines that can do wild and crazy stunts, SPA models perform more basic aerobatics, or “patterns,” but these limitations create a level playing field for competitions.

A

s pilots get the hang of their flying machines and joystick controllers, they learn simple aerobatics, such as inside loops and rolls.

For an outside loop, the pilot does

a 180-degree roll, inverting the plane.

With it now flying upside down, he pushes the joystick for down elevator (against the reflex to pull it up) and accelerates, sending the plane climbing up and around in a loop until it’s flying inverted again. At that point, the pilot does another 180 roll and is flying again right side up.

Another aerobatic move is the tail turn, or hammerhead turn, where the plane climbs vertically until it gives out, or the pilot reduces power, and stalls. Giving the plane full rudder turns it around as it falls into a dive.

Power and moving the joystick back pulls the plane out of a dive, with a good engine providing the proper sound effects.

Sure-handed and quick-witted pilots enjoy showcasing their

Brett LePre is one of the club members who flies RC helicopters. Like RC planes, the aerodynamics of model helicopters function like the real thing … and then some. Brett can make his copter hover, then adjust the collective pitch stick on his controller and send the copter zooming off. With complex model rotors and an electric engine, it sounds like a squadron of mad hornets. The model helicopters can fly loops and barrel rolls that only top military and stunt pilots attempt, but none of them can achieve sustained flight upside down like RC models can. aerobatic skills by performing blenders, chandelles, Cuban 8s, eightpoint rolls, eight-sided loops and more. Some stunts seemingly defy all laws of flight.

If modelers had scale guns on their planes, Greg Young would be one of the club’s top aces.

On both of my trips to the airfield I watched Greg perform amazing aerobatics with his planes, especially his big, bright yellow Edge 540.

One of his favorite stunts is called a hover, in which his plane literally hangs motionless in the air, vertically suspended by the prop and held stable by apt combinations of rudder, elevators and ailerons to fight the torque of the engine.

An added dimension to the

afternoon’s flying was Roger Miller, who took his six-rotor DJI Flamewheel hexadrone aloft to shoot still photos and video with its attached GoPro. At one point, with the camera set to shoot one picture per second, Roger took photographs of Greg’s yellow Edge, both aircraft about 20 feet off the ground.

It wasn’t particularly easy. While the drone hovers beautifully with gyros awhirl, it’s still a flying craft, and Roger’s subject a moving target. The camera’s wide-angle lens, great for panoramas and ease of focus, means a drone must get really close to make relatively small objects prominent in

a photo. Add a stiff, sometimes gusty wind to the mix and …

I was talking to club members in the “hangar” area when we heard Roger and Greg cry out from the airfield. I looked, fearing to see crashed parts raining down.

Fortunately, they had avoided a midair collision, but they were grim as they landed their aircraft.

“Look,” Roger said, holding out a shaking hand.

“I was trying to get a hover set up next to him,” Greg managed to say through tightly pursed lips. “The wind caught my plane and blew me straight toward his drone.”

Continued on page 58 MAY | JUNE | JULY

55

Club roster

Roger Miller flew his hexadrone for some fun shots from the sky ... and almost had a non-fun mid-air collision. (Please see story.) Roger’s controller has a screen at the top that’s fed by the GoPro camera on his drone, visible at the lower right of the aircraft.

The controllers club members fly their planes and copters with vary some in technology.

Greg Young’s controller at the far right is a fancy one.

Here’s the roster for the Cullman Aero Modelers …

Joseph Barnes, Ralph Andrews, Nathan Basch, Ralph Basch, Jared Basch, David Briscoe, Mark Brooks, Steve Byrum, Don Caldwell, Charles Childers, Eddie Crump, Bob Echols, Ross Harrison, Tommy Howard, Nathaniel Hutchinson, Jean Royce, Gary Lee, Brett LePre, Marilyn Lutzky, Gustavo Matos, Bob Maxfield, Roger Miller, Larry Quattlebaum, Greg Voce, Mitchell Ward, Tim Whitley, Richard Witt and Greg Young.

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Long-time club member Richard Witt flies his vintage Senior Frontier that’s at least 25 years old.

“We were within inches,” Roger said.

“I had to bring the plane into a knife edge and give it full rudder to get out,” Greg said.

Had he not acted instantly, the crash would have cost a combined $7,000.

Back to the here and now …

A few minutes after the near aerial disaster, I see Lavell walking toward me with his Super Cub. I draw a deep breath.

“Let’s get you in the air,” he grins. “You need to see how much fun this is.”

Most takeoffs are done from the runway, but Lavell wants to hand-launch this time and has me hold the plane’s fuselage as he revs the engine. When its high-pitched whine hits a crescendo, he gives me the word, I toss the plane, and he sends it soaring into the breezy, overcast sky.

Lavell takes the plane up to an altitude he calls “three mistakes high.” This means I could do three stupid things in a row and still have enough altitude for him to pull rank and experience – and plane ownership – on me, grab the controller and save the Super Cub. Don’t worry. I’m not doing hammerheads, hovers or Cuban 8s. Hardly.

I’m happy to navigate lazy circles under Lavell’s directions while hoping the plane doesn’t fly out of range and disappear into the wild, gray yonder.

“A little more to the left,” he says. “OK, you’re doing good.”

I suspect smoke blowing up the leg of my jeans as I crane my neck, eyes riveted on the small plane overhead.

“Really,” he insists. “Especially with this wind.”

“I think I’m over-steering.”

“Some. But for your first time you’re doing great.”

I quash an urge to go into a screaming dive or a vertical climb. I find I’m greatly enjoying my lazy circles over the Cullman Aero Modelers’ airfield.

And I understand at least some of the intensity of flying RC model planes. It’s enough, as John Gillespie Magee, Jr. might have said, to have “slipped the surly bonds of Earth and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings.”

Even at 25-percent scale this is a rush.

Good Life Magazine 58

MAY | JUNE | JULY

Visit the RC airfield

Cullman Aero Modelers are out flying their planes on most any nice weekend and welcome anyone who wants to visit or maybe join.

A good time to visit might be July 18-19 when Steve Byrum and the club host a Senior Pattern Association competition expected to draw 25 or more pilots from several states and 200 or so spectators.

The club was founded in the 1970s by the late RC model buff Dick Austin. It moved to its present site at the old Cullman landfill about 1990. The federal grant the city received to reclaim the land stipulated that part of it be put to public use.

The airfield is named in memory of the late, Alan Burdeshaw, like Austin, another RC enthusiast.

The club flies under FAA rules and is a member of the Academy of Model Aeronautics.

The driveway to the field is located on the south side of Welti Road, about 3-4 miles out of town, and marked by a sign.

“We welcome people who love to fly or just want to watch or join us,” says club president Lavell Thrasher.

For more information, feel free to call Lavell: 256-590-6637 or 256-708-0068.

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Standard’s slogan is “We make your house a home,” says Cullman store manager Kevin McCormick, and financing is available.

Families, professional are part of the deal at Standard Furniture You find more than furniture

at Standard Furniture. It’s part of the deal. For one thing, Cullman store manager Kevin McCormick says you’ll be treated like family.

“The company is fourth generation, family owned. And family is exactly what we’re here to serve,” Kevin says.

“I basically work for a family.”

Employees at the 14 Standard locations – most in north-central Alabama – are family-oriented people.

The late, third-generation CEO Stuart Shevin not only hired Kevin in 1997, but mentored him as well. His 30-year-old son, Jacob Shevin, has now taken the helm.

“There’s a heart there … from our heart to yours,” Kevin says. “We build relationships. We expect our employees to greet everyone who walks in again by their first name.”

Family is one aspect.

Professionalism is another. Kevin holds a degree in interior design from the University of Montevallo.

“Decorating and furniture are part of my everyday life,” he says. “It’s not

just something I do for a living.”

Most customers know what they want.

“But many are afraid of making a commitment and not liking what they get,” Kevin says. “It’s OK if something doesn’t exactly match what you already have. Usually it’s a confidence issue, and we help them with that. It’s a byproduct of the conversations we have with our customers.”

If customers have doubts about how to make a room work, the staff will guide them. They will even sketch out the room with its existing and proposed furniture drawn in to visualize the best way to arrange it.

“We pull in the elements of highend furniture stores and make it available to everybody,” Kevin says.

“We can give you as much guidance as you want, or as little.”

If the Cullman store doesn’t have the color or style you want, it can be ordered from another store. Also, Kevin adds, fabric can be specialordered for some furniture they carry.

It’s part of the deal.

Part of a year-long, three-page promotional

Enjoy the thrill of antiquing at the old Hamby Mill market P

eople go antiquing for perhaps three main reasons.

• While sometimes expensive, many antiques afford a relatively inexpensive – and interesting – way to decorate a home.

• Many people are looking to start or add to a collection of certain items, such as glassware.

• And, says Freda Perdue, who owns Hamby Mill Flea Market and Antiques with her husband, Glenn, it’s fun to hunt for something and find it.

“When you find that certain piece, you know it when you see it, that it’s the right thing,” she says. “You get a thrill finding that certain item.”

The thrill might come from finding just the piece or the painting to perfectly fit a space at home. Or it might come from finding an item to add to a collection. Freda and Glenn keep an eye out for things they know their collectors would want.

Also, Freda says, certain antiques have sentimental value. For instance, it might be a thrill to find an old wooden icebox or washstand that reminds you of your grandparents and their home.

“Lots of the older furniture is better made than some of the new,” she adds. “It has better bones … at least that’s my opinion.”

Going back to 1966, the Perdues owned a farm on County Road 30 (once called Hamby Mill Road), off Ala. 69 in either South Bremen or North Bug Tussle, depending on your point of view. Whenever they could get away from their two layer chicken houses, they enjoyed antiquing at Water Valley Flea Market.

After getting out of the chicken business and moving to Glenn’s family place in Bremen, they decided to convert their layer houses into an antique mall. When they opened the first 12,000-foot house in 2005 with six dealers, Freda thought they’d never fill it up. But by September all the booth spaces were rented, and they opened the twin house next to it.

“We have been blessed with good dealers and repeat customers and family and friends who come in to help us out,” Freda says. “Without them this wouldn’t be possible.” section of Cullman County Good Life Magazine

Hamby Mill has more than 60 dealers, some with multiple booths, that fill up 24,000 square feet with items, ranging from furniture and old clocks to collectibles. Besides being collector items, pie birds, at right, are used to place in fruit and meat pies to let off steam and prevent them from bubbling through the crust.

Out ’n’ About Sunday, March 29, started out clear and beautiful. The sky clabbered about noon and it cooled off, but it cleared again late.

Lots of folks were out ‘n’ about. At Corinth Baptist Church in Joppa, where The Rev. Buddy Strickland preaches, Brodie Cash got a Palm Sunday baptism. His father immersed Brodie as his mom, Sharon, watched from the sanctuary. Though they wanted jackets that afternoon, Barbara and Ted Peters took advantage of the day to pull out their bikes and peddled around their neighborhood on the southeast side of Cullman. Ashton Lambing, 8, and sister Kyrstin, 11, were out ‘n’ about with their dad, Wade, feeding fish, ducks and coots at Sportsman Lake.

Over at Lake George, Brett Dickey, stern, and Brian Jackson ran their boat, “Killin’ Time,” through some preliminaries prior to a bow fishing tournament at Lake Guntersville. And you could find Erica Reaid out ‘n’ about in the dining room at Jim ‘N Nicks, making hungry customers happy.

Photos by David Moore.

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