GLM stories, pix

Ala. 69 Revisited

One last drive down that highway of two- and four-lane memories that spans Marshall and Cullman

Story and photos By David Moore

Snow wasn’t just sticking on Ala. 69. It was piling up at an eyebrow-raising rate. You might remember that surprise, Alabamalevel blizzard that hit one afternoon in February 2015.

To me, it was a sudden opportunity to shoot a seasonal cover photo for the 2015 winter issue of Cullman County Good Life Magazine, to come out 10 months later in November. I already had the shot in mind: Welti Falls in the snow.

David Russell – our “VP, distribution,” who’s joined me for photo shoots before – and I left Arab on the spontaneous expedition. By the time we reached the Holly Pond turnoff, however, snow had turned Ala. 69 dicey, if not icy. If we even reached Welti Falls, the return trip promised to be worse. Plus dark. Reluctantly, we turned around. But I still needed a wintery shot.

As we crept back, the historic Normal Industrial and Collegiate Institute in Joppa came bleakly into view through the falling snow. Ah-ha. We stopped. I shot.

That October, while working on the winter issue, the white-onwhite monochromatic image of the old school looked wintry enough but lacked “pop” for a cover. Coming to the rescue, my business partner, Sheila McAnear, digitally wrapped two corners of the cover in bright red ribbon and a bow – winter and Christmas.

That’s but one of my Good Life memories of Ala. 69.

In 2013, when leaving my long-time paycheck and newspaper job in Arab to start Marshall County and Cullman County Good Life Magazines, much of my future was obscured in a haze of unknowns. But one thing was certain – whichever county I was working, I’d spend lots of time traveling Ala. 69.

With my wife, Diane, I live in Arab on the west side of Marshall County. From my driveway, it’s a block and half to a T-intersection with Ala. 69. If I go nearly anywhere in Marshall County – Guntersville, Grant, Albertville and Boaz – I turn left. If I turn right, the highway jogs me through downtown then westward toward the Cullman County line, four more miles away.

Ala. 69 is the only major thoroughfare directly connecting the neighboring counties that Sheila and I have been privileged to showcase in our magazines for more than nine years. This being our last issue, I invite you on a farewell drive along the road that’s grown into a trove of memories. With a nod to Bob Dylan, call it “Ala. 69, revisited.”

Pile in. I’ve got a tank of gas.

Technically a north-south highway (hence its odd number), Ala. 69 stretches 280 miles from its northern terminus at its intersection with U.S. 431/Blount Avenue in Guntersville, to the town of Jackson in southwest Alabama. Our trip today – the stretch of asphalt that might still hold microscopic traces of my tires – cuts a generally southwest trajectory 70 miles from Guntersville to the Cullman/ Walker County line at the Sipsey River.

Starting at Blount Avenue, Ala. 69 takes us across a gap on Division Ridge then down to the causeway across the Browns Creek arm of Lake Guntersville. The causeway is 1.5 miles long. For a “creek,” it’s a huge expanse of water, and I seldom cross it without a sense of calm settling over me by the time I reach the far shore.

With a backdrop of Street Bluff, the late Kenny Cobb flies over Lake Guntersville in his SeaRey seaplane, above. Tom Taylor was piloting the author en route to shoot the first cover for Marshall County Good Life Magazine. A snowy Ala. 69 led to the old school in Joppa being on the cover of the winter 2015 Cullman GLM. Left, shot from the Ala. 69 causeway, U-1 Unlimited hydroplanes zoom into turn one at Hydrofest.

In February 2013, I finally decided to leave my old job and had several ideas. Plan A was a newspaper gig in Birmingham; Plan B was starting a local magazine. Which way do I go?

One pre-spring day in March 2013, heading back to Arab after covering a commission meeting, I paused atop Division Ridge on Ringold Street and took in the panoramic view of the lake, Browns Creek and the causeway under a crisp, blue sky.

Seeing the lake from a mountain always moved me.

Birmingham and pressure-packed news deadlines? Or writing stories about this big beautiful lake? In a “coulda-hada-V8” flash of clarity, Plan B won out. And like crossing the causeway, a calm settled over me. Oft featured in Marshall County Good Life Magazine, HydroFest is run on the southeast side of the Ala. 69 causeway. Shooting race pictures from the causeway offers a good angle to catch those big wild boats throwing up huge white rooster tails as they hurl into turn number one. Good memories.

Looking due north from the causeway you can see the distant rock face of Street Bluff rising above the expanse of water. It reminds me of shooting aerial photos for a story on the niche group of seaplane owners around Lake Guntersville. One picture I shot from an airplane shows a seaplane flying over the “lighthouse house” on the lake. That first Marshall cover is one of my favorites.

For three stories over the years, I’ve gone sailing on those waters north of the causeway. Twice for sailboat racing; once for the sheer joy of sailing – both excellent reasons to be on the water.

In Warrenton, Ala. 69 passes Supreme Courts. I shot photos there for a story free-lance writer Seth Terrell did in the 2022 summer issue about Jonathan Hyde, the former Guntersville High basketball standout who opened the gym.

Tucked in at the base of Georgia Mountain, separated by a stately white fence, a pond and acres of rolling lawn, sits the iconic home of Carey and Jeana Ross. Don’t recall the story? Don’t worry – it’s not your memory. Carey and I tried several times over the years to schedule the story, but to my regret it never happened.

Ala. 69 scoots us up the big hill, and just past the crest is Georgia Mountain Road. Less than a mile down stands the gated entrance to Savannah Place, where Dr. Jess and Lisa Youngblood are raising their brood of five kids. Their home was featured in the 2022 fall issue.

The next turn off Ala. 69 is Union Grove Road. It will take you to Snow Point Road, which takes you to Guntersville Dam and the Cave Mountain Trail. You were invited to hike that trail with me in this past fall issue. Back in the 2014 spring issue, we invited you to join us in celebrating the 75th anniversary of the dam and lake.

When it comes to celebrating, little tops Christmastime. And when it comes to decorating, not many folks ever threw themselves so brightly into it like Becky and the late Joe Cantrell. Their house is down Mayberry Lane, which we pass in Grassy.

If I turn off Ala. 69 (aka Guntersville Road in Arab) at Mount Oak, I can go home, but we have many memories to revisit. So we drive on. Turning onto Main Street, almost immediately on the right, we could stop at the Glenn Group, where we’d probably find Susan LeSueur designing someone’s house. I found her there for a Good People story in the 2017 summer issue.

In downtown Arab, at the intersection of Main and Ala. 69 (aka Cullman Road), look left and you’ll see a narrow, non-descript, empty storefront with an upstairs window. Back in the beginning, while setting up MoMc Publishing and Good Life Magazine, I imagined renting the little building as an office. With my desk at that window, I could gaze westward toward Cullman County.

It turned out tons better that Sheila and I could work from our homes. My office is across the hall from my bedroom. Couldn’t be more convenient.

Just outside the Arab city limits, Ala. 69 enters the former “realm,” you could say, of Wayne and June Jacks. For years I have admired their huge

Clockwise from upper left: Guntersville Dam, shot from a powered parachute, accompanied a story on the lake’s 75th anniversary; Susan LeSueur was the Good People subject of the Marshall 2017 issue; action at Supreme Courts on Ala. 69 draws sports families from far and wide. Clockwise from immediate lower left, the home of Becky and the late Joe Cantrell lit up the 2015 winter Marshall GLM; the poolside waterfall is at the home of Dr. Jess and Lisa Youngblood, featured in this fall’s issue; a story that never got scheduled –the iconic Ala. 69 home of Carey and Jeana Ross; Gordan Trowbridge, captains his “Slow Motion” for sailboat racing in the fall 2014 Marshall issue.

open fields where cattle graze on the left, and, on the right, the sentinel line of oaks that leads up to their non-imposing but oh, so comfortable house. Wayne bought trucks from Gilbert and Baugh Ford in Albertville, and we met when I shot a photo of him and Randy Baugh for an ad in the magazine. I excitedly turned our introduction into a feature on Wayne, June and their farm in the 2016 fall issue.

Earlier this year, Nic and Allison Waddell bought the huge spread and are thoroughly enjoying it. Jack and June are now on the east side of Arab – but still on Ala. 69.

Near the western end of the Jacks’ property, stands the highway sign denoting the Cullman County line. In case anyone doesn’t know, Cullman County folks are as friendly and glad to see you as those in Marshall County. I’ve loved showcasing you all as much as I’ve loved the location of my office. And, in case anyone ever wondered, I’ve loved this job. Never hurts to write your own job description, right?

Back in my newspaper days, I met Dr. Paul Bailey, long-time mayor of Baileyton and a jewel of a gent. He died before we started the magazines, but I knew sooner or later I’d get in touch with his son, Stan, for a Cullman GLM story on Bailey Mews, the family’s 16-acre horse farm on Ala. 69. That happened for the 2014 fall issue. The family is as richly steeped in history as the farm is postcard picturesque.

In a sense, it’s sad it didn’t work out to keep Bailey Mews in the family. On the other hand, Cullman veterinary Dr. Bruce Lee and his wife, Leigh, have enjoyed living there since 2019. Bruce says they love the bucolic setting, still raise horses there and, out of respect, kept the name: Bailey Mews.

The Lees, naturally, remain big fans of their pro-fishing sons, Matt and Jordan. For our Marshall County 2017 spring issue, I spent a day with the brothers fishing Lake Guntersville; they both lived nearby at the time. Jordan, as most folks know, went on to win the Bassmaster Classic the next month. The same story, updated to include Jordan’s huge win, ran in the Cullman magazine that summer. Matt and Jordan and their wives (and Jordan’s son) now live, respectively, in Breman – through which Ala. 69 eventually take us – and Cullman.

On the straightaway east of Fairview we pass the Chicken House Thrift Store, a ministry of Concord Baptist Church featured in the 2021 spring issue.

Our memory lane road trip has its share of attractive farms. Continuing on through Fairview, we pass Haynes Farm. Even before writing about its four generations for the fall 2019 issue, I always noticed the farm in passing. Under the proud eye of his mom, Juanita, Darrel Haynes works the farm with his wife, Lydia, and grown sons, Ben and Bart. For our 2020 fall cover, Joppa freelancer Liz Smith photographed a field of sunflowers the Haynes planted.

Clockwise from top left: Wayne and Becky Jacks’ house; Bro. David Bryan, the chandler at St. Bernard’s Abbey; sculptures by the Abbey’s Tim Harrison and Jude Johnson (aka Nov Ontos), respectively. Clockwise from far left: Bailey Mews in Baileyton; Cullman County BASS fishing brothers Matt and Jordan Lee at Lake Guntersville; The Haynes family at matriarch Juanita’s farm house just off Ala. 69. The winter 2014 Cullman issue featured, far left, from left, St. Bernard students Aimme Cortes of Vinemont, Marco Tona of Fort Walton, Florida, and Jang Soon Kim of South Korea. Aimme went on to earn her MD at Guadalajara Medical School in Mexico in 2020, did an internship and her required medical service there and was set to take US board exams as of this writing. Marco attended college a few years, took off to hike and explore Colorado and is now an electrical supply contractor in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Jang earned a degree in European politics at King’s College, London in 2020, served a required 1.5 years in the South Korean military and was set begin his law degree at the University of Bristol.

Back in my newspaper days, a friend gave Diane and me a unique candle made from recycled stubs of votive candles by the chandler at St. Bernard’s Abbey, just off Ala. 69 east of downtown Cullman. I later learned the candle-maker was Bro. David Bryan and did a story on him for our second issue of Cullman GLM. For one photo shoot, David lit 60 candles in a dark room. One shot ran on the 2013 winter cover and remains another favorite.

A story for the 2014 winter issue found me again turning off Ala. 69, this time for St. Bernard Preparatory School. The school attracts local, out of state and international students. The story included individual pieces on Aimme Cortes of Vinemont, Marco Tona of Fort Walton, Florida, and Jang Soon Kim of South Korea.

We’ve also featured two St. Bernard monks with different but extraordinary artistic talents. Seth Terrell, a Wallace State English instructor I mentioned earlier, wrote about Jude Johnson for our 2017 summer issue. I visited the abbey for the spring 2020 issue to research a posthumous story on Father Tim Harrison, who died in 1982.

Retired photographer George Ponder hangs out at his home on Smith Lake, but I interviewed him at his old family home on the corner of Sixth Avenue SE and Ala. 69 for a spread in the 2016 winter issue. After retiring from the Bell companies, the professional wildlife and landscape shooter was a volunteer photographer for the US Fish and Wildlife Service at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. I can’t tell you how many of George’s pictures I wish I’d shot.

Smack in the middle of downtown Cullman, Ala. 69 turns south and runs concurrent for a couple of miles with 2nd Avenue SW/US 31. At that intersection sits the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce, for which, until announcing her retirement this summer, Peggy Smith served as president. Previously she led the Cullman Economic Development Office. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking she’s “good people,” so I ran her story, among more than 70 others in both counties, as a “Good People” feature.

Iconfess: I have numerous favorite covers. Another is the 2017 summer issue showing the Cullman County Courthouse – which we pass on this short, due-south stretch of Ala. 69 – with huge American flags draped between the columns. It’s one of those photos I shot in my mind long before I ever pressed the shutter button.

A little farther south is Cullman Discount Pharmacy. Owner Tom Ploppert was featured in the winter 2018 issue for cool custom knives he makes at home, some are works of art. On my desk lies the Ploppert letter opener he gave me. Yes, it’s sharp.

Ala. 69 veers southwest off US 31 onto bustling Cherokee Drive. We follow it to I-65 in Good Hope. The different legs of

Ala. 69 through Cullman’s business sections contrast with the generally rural portions of the road. It runs concurrent with I-65 for five miles, where quasi-flying interstate traffic offers another contrast. We exit at Dodge City, a strip dominated by truck stops and fast-food.

About a mile north of Dodge City live Mark and Cindy Rhonemus, retired transplants from Ohio featured in the 2020 spring issue for their missionary work and fundraising for a clinic in Belize. I also fondly remember the sparky, then-96year-old Dodge City Councilwoman Inez McDonald, a Good People feature in the 2021 fall issue.

“I fell and broke my back,” she said when I called recently. “I was in the hospital six months, but now I’m perfectly fine. I plan to run for re-election in two years if my mind is still good.” You go, lady.

Back in rural surroundings and heading southwest, Ala. 69 climbs what passes for a Cullman County mountain, where we find Busted Knuckle, featured in our 2022 spring issue. It’s owned by Matt Myrick and Jake Burkey, who not only passionately love extreme off-road buggies – think RZR on mega-steroids – but custom builds them with a crew of 13 at their shop. These machines are crazy-impressive.

Speaking of off-highway vehicles, several miles down Ala. 69 is Stony Lonesome OHV Park. A 1,456-acre expanse of rugged terrain, it’s crisscrossed with trails to challenge ATVs, rock crawlers, dirt bikes, mountain bikes and even Barbie Cars. Undeterred by my novice status, for the 2014 spring issue I straddled a 250cc Honda Recon here and took off.

I did fine until I goosed it on a steep hill climb, and the world suddenly and inexplicably shifted into slow motion as gravity became unglued and I tilted backward. The front wheels came off the ground. Then the rear. I saw nothing but sky and the Honda climbing over my head. I was upside down, still gripping the handle bars, as the machine and I began falling down back to earth. I instinctively pushed the Honda to the side with my outstretched legs. The motor was still running as I diverted the machine’s trajectory and crashed to the ground. The Honda crashed beside me and continued flipping down the hill.

Other than a few bruises and a shattered ego, I was OK. Plus, hey, I got a story.

Another seven miles and Ala. 69 ends its stretch through Cullman County at the Sipsey River. Just across the bridge, Smith Lake Dam Road takes you to the lake and a public launch. That’s where I boarded a boat on a wet March morning in 2014 for a story on high school fishing teams, via attending an Alabama Student Angler Bass Fishing Association tournament on the Lake.

My only other excursion up here was for a possible story on trout fishing below the dam. I had fun “researching” the story fishing with my son, Hunter, from his canoe. He caught one rainbow; we both caught a

George Ponder photographed an electrical storm over Smith Lake – and lived to share it! Clockwise below it are: Matt Myrick drives an extreme off-road buggy custom-built by Busted Knuckle; the county courthouse on Ala. 69, bedecked in flags; Hunter Moore fishes the Sipsey River; and Vinemont highschoolers fish a tournament at Smith Lake. Clockwise from top left: Mark and Cindy Rhonemus of Dodge City; Peggy Smith, recently retired chamber president; custom knife maker Tom Ploppert; Dodge City Councilwoman Inez McDonald at a young 96.

few memories. The story never materialized, but as “they” say, any day on the water is better than any day at the office, even if your office is at home.

Since starting the magazines in 2013, I’ve traveled hundreds of other roads in Marshall and Cullman counties for hundreds of other stories and photos. But Ala. 69 is the most common conduit. Driving 69 back into Arab, I can see the setting sun reflected in the upstairs window of that building on Main Street, my mighthave-been office. Much of the future for us all is obscured in a haze of unknowns, but whatever else comes my way, until the sun eventually sets on me – I’ve still got gas in the tank – I’ll see in my mind’s eye the reflections of stories and photos of the many people and places I’ve featured in Good Life Magazine. Thanks for riding with me.