Marshall Good Life Magazine - Fall 2017 by The Good Life Magazine

MARSHALL COUNTY

Larue Kohl: fired up about boat racing again (and as always New Orleans) For Lakeviewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s big anniversary, alumni remember the former school Wayne Trimble recalls his days as a Bearcat, Bear Bryant QB and Arab coach

FALL 2017 COMPLIMENTARY

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Welcome

Of Lakeview School ... call it continuing education

t’s gratifying when readers say they learn something new about Marshall County, about their home, when they read Good Life Magazine. And, I’m pleased to say, I hear that rather often. Truth is, I learn things I never knew about Marshall County with every issue of Good Life Magazine Sheila McAnear and I send to press. I like to think of it as a job bonus. Among many other things associated with this fall issue, I learned a lot about Lakeview School, which was the county’s only educational institute for black students from 1940 through integration. Actually, until Guntersville historian Larry Smith mentioned the school to me back in the spring, I’d never heard of it in the 27 years I’ve lived here. Those who

lived here back in the day knew of it, I’m sure, but I suspect many others today know nothing about Lakeview School. I found it fascinating to delve into the days of Lakeview through interviews with a handful of the many folks who went to school there. A big reunion and festivities are planned in August for all Lakeview alumni. In conjunction with the occasion, Larry Smith, Betty Taylor and Macey Taylor of the Guntersville Historical Society researched the history of the school and black education for a piece written for the reunion by Brenda May of the Lakeview Community Civic Organization.

utting it kindly, education for blacks was hit or miss in the past. But as early as 1884, Brenda’s paper notes, the few black

teachers here held institutes in an effort to better serve their students. And though there’s little record of it, a 1909 map shows a “colored school” near Warrenton. With the coming of Guntersville Dam, TVA offered various improvements for Guntersville, but one of the conditions for them was to build a school for the county’s black students. And so the separate but-notso-equal Lakeview School came to be. The neatest thing I learned through all of this is the story Butch Looney told me of the first day of integration at Marshall County High School. I think you’ll find it to be a heart- and hope-lifting story, too.

David Moore Publisher/editor

Contributors Photos for GLM are often shot months in advance. For instance, Patrick Oden photographed the Marshall County Fair last September to go to press in July for this fall issue ... which is fine with him. He just loves to shoot. As evidenced by his work on the My Marshall Photo Contest in this issue, he also loves encouraging other shooters. Retired Arab teacher Annette Haislip has some personal insight to Bosnia, part of setting for “Testimony,” a Scott Turow thriller she reviews in this issue. She was able to tour the area in 2007 and says the results of the conflict were still painfully visible and hatreds undiminished. But she likes the book. Sheila McAnear always had a creative drive. It came out in school and later endeavors, such as sewing, painting and, whenever possible, building snow sculptures. She certainly showed creativity in her 27 years of selling and designing ads for The Arab Tribune. Today it shines beautifully in the ads you see in GLM. 6

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

Steve Maze, a regular contributor to GLM, has long wanted to write a story on Wayne Trimble, his former PE coach at Arab High School and a standout in his day at Cullman High School, who went on to play for Bear Bryant and the Crimson Tide. Steve finally got that story ... just in time for football season. Hunter McBrayer has a workshop/ home office in Mount Hebron. A regional extension agent, he has a real office at work and needs more shop space at home, so he’s immersed in a de-re-construction project. Given his druthers, he says he’d rather be fishing ... and immersed in the river.

Love it when a plan comes together, says publisher/editor David Moore. Even if it’s not Plan A. A psychology degree from UA is one old Plan A of his. It led to Plan B, which was bartending, then to Plan C for 38 years in journalism. He created Plan D – this magazine – in June 2013. This issue wraps up GLM’s fourth year.

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10 Good Fun

Inside

Fall is full ... from a haunted cave to the traveling tour of Marshall County Paint Out

18 Good People

Larue Kohl, lover of all things New Orleans, heads up the committee bringing boat races

24 Good Reads

Thrillers range from Bosnia to Osage murders

27 Good Cooking

Cara Lange, lover of anything with sugar, bestows dessert recipes upon you

36 From Boaz’s era of elegance

Betty Alexander and her late husband bought the perfect house for their antiques

44 Good ’n’ Green

Here are five planting ideas to fill in holes created by the tree-killing drought of 2016

46 Fair turns 60 On the cover: Churning up a 50foot tall rooster tail, U27, owned by Wiggins Hydroplane Racing of Gadsden, makes the curve in front of Wyndham Gardens during the June trials held on Lake Guntersville. This page: The site of the former Lakeview School in Guntersville is today a community park. A plaque commemorating the preintegration black school will be unveiled there at 3 p.m., Friday, Aug. 18. Photos by David Moore.

Here’s a visual reminder about the fun of fairs

50 Good Eats

Perhaps it was destiny that lead Lacho to open Fire Grill 231 in Arab

52 Lakeview School

Alumni recall their formative years in class at the only educational institution for blacks

58 My Marshall

Photo contest winners showcase the county via their camera lenses and creativity

65 Wayne Trimble

He passed beyond being a Cullman Bearcat, a QB for Bear Bryant and Arab’s top coach

70 Out ’n’ About

Drop by and catch the FBC pickers for lunch

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

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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Marcia Hodges of Helena traveled to Albertville to paint the Old Red Mill at the Double Bridges, left. Arab artist Sue Kirkpatrick painted the Lola Boyd house, above, in the Arab Historical Village. Sue has a show through Aug. 20 at the Mountain Valley Arts Council gallery.

Good Fun

‘Paint Out’ is only the tip of the brush dabbing the canvas of events this fall

• Now-Aug. 20 – Traveling Paint Out Exhibit After opening in May at the Guntersville Museum as part of Alabama’s bi-centennial celebration, Marshall County Paint Out is on display at the Albertville Chamber of Commerce. Fifteen artists participated, each creating “plein air paintings” of local historic sites. Aug. 24-Oct. 8 the exhibit moves to Hunt Schoolhouse in the Arab Historic Village. Oct. 12-Nov. 19 it will be at Michigan Center on the DAR School Campus and finish its tour Nov. 30Jan. 14 at the Boaz Public Library. • Now-Aug. 31 – Sue Kirkpatrick Exhibit Mountain Valley Arts Council Gallery presents the works of this Arab artist who began studying painting after her teaching career. With a goal to paint children’s portraiture, she set out to learn all she could under artists such as Tim Stevenson, Robin Roberts, James Brantley, Marc Hanson, Kevin Menck, 10

Martha Carpenter, Kim English, Quang Ho and Bill Fletcher. “Working with color, particularly oil paint on canvas, is especially thrilling for me,” Sue says. “Whether studio painting or en plein air painting, learning the value of color, composing the structure of a painting and painting light and shadow are just some things that I love.” The MVAC gallery is open 1-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. For more info: 256-571-7199. • Now-Sept. 3– Fiber Art The exhibit at Guntersville Museum, “Redefining the Craft: Current Trends in Fiber Art,” showcases yarn art and fiber crafts with attention to urban trends. It includes weaving and fiber arts techniques, tools from around the world and touch-and-feel exhibits. The museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesday-Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free. For more info: 256-571-7597.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

• Aug. 4-6, 10-13 – “Evita” Directed by Rich Resler, this Whole Backstage production of “Evita” is based on the life of María Eva Duarte de Perón, a poor Argentinian girl who grows up to be the wife of the president of Argentina, worshiped by her people. As a young woman who longs for an acting career, fame and fortune, Eva quickly learns that her feminine wiles hold power among a culture and a political system run by men. A blockbuster musical, the show was made even more famous as a 1996 Hollywood film starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas. The WBS cast includes Lynn Fulwider, Jonathan Watts, Stan Witherow, Andrea Witherow and Wesley Rorex. The show contains language and adult themes. Times are 7 p.m. except for 2 p.m. Sundays. Buy tickets – $10, $16 and $18 – online: www. wholebackstage.com. • Aug. 11-20 – Arab Restaurant Week Participating Arab restaurants will

offer lunch and dinner specials to showcase the tastes of Arab. For a list of participating restaurants, visit the Arab Chamber of Commerce: www. arab-chamber.org. • Aug. 12 – Movie Knight in the Park Bring the family – and lawn chairs or blankets – for a free showing of “Finding Dory” at the Arab City Park Amphitheater. Sponsored by the Arab Chamber of Commerce, the show starts about 7:30 p.m. • Aug. 15 – Art Uncorked Donnie Wier will give instructions at this watercolor workshop for adults 6-8:30 p.m. at the Guntersville Public Library, co-sponsored by Mountain Valley Arts Council. Cost is $25 in advance, $35 at door. Supplies are provided. BYOB. Register at: MVACarts.org/events. For more info: MVAC, 256-571-7199.

Taste of Sand Mountain is the place to pick up a great meal(s) for only $10.

• Aug. 17 – Makers Market Visit Northgate Shopping Center in Arab from 5-7 p.m. for arts, crafts and food. • Aug. 22 – Want to visit China? The Arab Chamber of Commerce is planning a tour of China April 1119, 2018. Double occupancy starts at $2,199 and includes guides, all travel, accommodations and three daily meals. Sound interesting? Then be sure to attend the public meeting and orientation on the trip 5:30-7 p.m. Aug. 22 at the chamber office: 157 N Main Street. • Aug. 26 – River Run Car Show Coming off last year’s largest show ever, tons of people and vehicles – as usual – are expected 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. to see the cool cars, trucks and bikes at the Guntersville Lions’ Annual River Run Car Show. It’s held at Marshall County Park No. 1 on U.S. 431. Spectators get in for $5 a carload and will also find entertainment, food, swap meets and kid’s activities. Enter your wheels for $20 online: RiverRunCarShow.net; or on show day until 11 a.m. More info? Call: 256-6779763.

• Aug. 29 – Taste of Sand Mountain This could well be the best $10 you ever spend on food. It’s the annual Taste of Sand Mountain, featuring samples from more than 30 Marshall County restaurants. Register for gift certificates, prizes and restaurant coupons. Vote for the top restaurants, which win titles and trophies. The festival is 5-8 p.m. at the Marshall County VFW Fairground pavilion on U.S. 431 in Boaz. Get tickets at the Boaz Area Chamber of Commerce. A portion of the proceeds go to the Coat-A-Kid Project. For more info or to sign up your restaurant, contact the Boaz Chamber of Commerce: 256-593-8154 or boazchamber@gmail.com. • Sept. 1-2 – 47th Annual St. Williams Seafood Festival It’s been around for ages but don’t worry … there are no leftovers at the St. Williams Seafood Festival.

Seafood is always fresh at this Labor Day weekend mainstay. Held at Guntersville’s Civitan Park, drivethru hours for quarts of gumbo and Cajun boiled shrimp are 4-6 p.m. Friday. Carry-out starts back at 7:30 a.m. Saturday and goes until the inevitable sellout. Dine-in opens at 10:30 a.m. for Creole style filé gumbo, Cajun boiled shrimp, boiled crawfish, catfish dinners and BBQ chicken dinners and more. • Sept. 6-29 – Sandy Mann 26 Mountain Valley Arts Council Gallery presents this artist and designer who produces abstract and non-reference work at her studios in Hoover and Warrior. Sandy enjoys creating art totally out of her head with hidden images telling a story. She uses color and motion to lead viewers through a path of their own while her techniques in throwing, scraping

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

and digging create distinct backgrounds. “I enjoy letting the paint and process lead the way,” Sandy says. “Then I go back, while the paint is still wet, to dig into it. It’s then that I see what images are left for the viewer.” A public reception for the artist will be 5-7 p.m. Sept. 7 at the MVAC gallery. The gallery is open 1-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. For more info: 256-571-7199. • Sept. 7 – Farm to Table on Main Street Albertville Farmers Market’s first Farm to Table Dinner on Main Street last year was a sellout. Act fast and you might get reservations for this year’s event, which starts at 6 p.m. with a table for 160 set up in the street underneath stringed lights. There’ll be entertainment and a five-course dinner prepared with locally grown food and paired with local wines. Crystal McKone, chef

For reservations or more info: Albertville Chamber of Commerce, 256-878-3821; city hall, 256-8918200.

Susan Guffey absorbs the ambiance of the Lola Boyd House. Community Fair is a good time to visit the Arab Historical Village. and owner of The Old Town Stock House in Guntersville, is preparing the menu. Cost is $60 per person.

• Sept. 9 – Arab Community Fair The Arab Historical Society invites you to its annual day of fun, arts and crafts, games and history in the Historic Village at Arab City Park. Admission is free. From 9 a.m.-4 p.m., the event harkens back to Arab’s first fair in 1922. Visit the restored buildings. Watch crafters demonstrate their skills and wares. See old fashioned corn grindin’, blacksmithin’, log sawin’, needleworkin’, soap makin’ and a Civil War re-enactment group. Pet a mule, take a wagon ride, join in some foot-stompin’ gospel music at Rice Church and enjoy other live entertainment. • Sept. 12-16 – Marshall County Fair For its 60th year – the Diamond Jubilee Celebration – the fair is bringing back live entertainment

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nightly to the Back Porch Stage at Marshall County VFW Fairgrounds on U.S. 431 in Boaz. Engulf yourself and your family in all of the fun, thrills, sights and smells of the annual fair. Gates open at 4 p.m. opening day and 5 p.m. the rest of the week; and the fun goes on until it’s over. Admission is $4; age 5 and under free. Buy a daily armband good for rides Tuesday or Wednesday for $15; or $20 for the other days. For more on the fair, please see pages 46-49. • Sept. 14- Nov. 5 – Marcia Hodges exhibit Marcia Hodges lives on Lake Martin and loves to paint. Her goal is to be open enough to follow how the paint wants to tell a story. She loves painting children, birds, moments from everyday life that touch her heart and plein air land and seascapes. Her show at the Guntersville Museum includes a 5-7 p.m. reception opening night. Her friend, Susan Richter of Guntersville, will play piano. The museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesday-Friday and 1-4 p.m.

Saturdays. Admission is free. For more info: 256-571-7597.

www.albertvillechamberofcommerce. com; or 256-878-3821.

• Sept 21-Oct. 26 – Fall Concert Series Sponsored by Mountain Valley Arts Council, the series features free concerts 6-8 p.m. every Thursday at Errol Allan Park in downtown Guntersville.

• Sept. 25 – Explore Our Places … for dinner In keeping with the state’s tourism theme of “Explore Our Places,” the Guntersville Cultural District will hold a progressive dinner 6-8:30 p.m. as its inaugural district-wide event. Dinner starts with “Libations at the Library” along with appetizers, followed by a sit-down “Southern Supper” at the museum, a “Bite at the Cabin” (sponsored by the Guntersville Historical Society at the Mathew Culbert Cabin) and “Sweet Finishes” at The Whole Backstage. It’s catered by Rock House Eatery, Old Town Stock House, Gunter’s Landing and The Corner Market. Each stop will have entertainment. Cost is $75 per person; seating is limited. For reservations and more info, call: Guntersville Public Library, 256-571-7595.

• Sept. 22-23 Community yard sale Albertville Chamber of Commerce’s first communitywide yard sale is already causing a buzz. It’s open to residences, non-profits and businesses in town, and no permits are required for the two days. Yard sale kits – including signs, tips, mapping and advertising – are available at the chamber for $25. This will also put your sale on the Google map of sites. Businesses and others renting sites for yard sales should also contact the chamber. “Everybody’s getting excited about it,” says chamber president Jennifer Palmer. “Businesses can set up sidewalk sales, too.” For more info:

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Gallery presents works by Blair Newman, Weezie Boiles and Cathy Thornton that range from hazy landscapes in oil to large abstract figures in acrylic. Together, the three artists mesh their different types of work to achieve a balanced juxtaposition. A public reception for the artists will be 5-7 p.m. Oct. 10 at the MVAC gallery. The gallery is open 1-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. For more info: 256-571-7199.

October Harvest Fest draws a crowd to downtown Boaz. Commerce’s 12th annual MilePlus Yard Sale is expected to bring bargain hunters by the thousands – starting at 6 a.m. – to browse their way for a mile down Main Street. Expect 100 vendors or more offering about any merchandise you would ever hope to buy at a yard sale. Other vendors will sell burgers, hot dogs, BBQ plates, homemade fried pies and such. Want a booth? They’re $25 before Aug. 31 and $40 Sept.115. For guidelines visit: www. grantchamberofcommerce.com; or Grant’s Mile-Plus Yard Sale on Facebook. • Oct. 6-8, 12-15 – “You Have the Right to Remain Dead” You settle down in The Whole Backstage theatre to solve an audience-participation murder mystery. After the narrator gives you a few “ins and outs” you’re already sure who will die, right? But who will the murderer be? Not so fast. The dead person is a surprise. And after the cops show up … you’re a suspect. Mitch Resler directs this frantic mystery-comedy, which will have audiences guessing until the last clue is dropped and the last ham overacts. Times are 7 p.m. except 14

Novel takes place in North Alabama during the heat of the Civil War. for Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are: $10, $16 and $18. Buy online: www. wholebackstage.com. • Oct. 4-29 – Newman, Boiles and Thornton Exhibit Mountain Valley Arts Council

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

• Oct 6-7 – Boaz October Harvest Festival Nominated one of the top-20 events for the Southeast in October, the long-running festival offers more than 225 arts and crafts booths along the streets of downtown Boaz, music – with special guest The Bama Land Band – a food court, Moon Pie and RC Cola eating contest and a kids play area with rides and games. Saturday morning attend the Miss Harvest Festival Pageant and the antique classic car show. New this year is an antique tractor and engine show both days. For more info, call the Boaz Arab Chamber of Commerce: 256-593-8154. • Oct. 15 – Civil War book signing Snead State Community College is hosting a book signing for author Gladys Sherrer 2-4 p.m. in the administration building. A resident of Birmingham, her historical novel, “Trapped in the Crossfire,” portrays the trials of an actual couple that migrated from South Carolina to North Alabama in the mid 1800s. Union loyalists, they are driven from their home and loved ones by portents of armed conflict, only to become caught between battling armies and the passions of war, including the shelling of Guntersville. Published by Alabama’s Ardent Writer Press. For more info on the author: www. JourneyToPublishing.blogspot.com.

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• Oct. 14, 21, 28, 31 – Haunted Hollow Want more than a haunted chicken house? Try Haunted Hollow inside of Cathedral Caverns. The DAR baseball team in Grant started it five years ago. This is the second year DAR band and boosters have provided the goose bumps and heart thumps as a fundraiser. Park officials warn that the 20-30-minute tours (they go back as far as the Goliath formation) are scary and not suited for youngsters. Tours are 6-11 p.m., except 6-10 p.m. on Halloween. Cost is $10 per soul. Photos by David Moore.

• Oct. 26 – Halloween Block Party The finale of the Mountain Valley Arts Council’s Fall Concert Series plans to be something to howl at. The music and fun start at 6 p.m. at Errol Allan Park in downtown Guntersville. • Oct. 28 – Pink Pumpkin Run The Eighth Annual Pink Pumpkin Run/Walk is again expected to draw a huge crowd. The theme is “’80s Edition” and all dudes and dudettes are encouraged to dress up in their favorite gear from the era and adopt themed team names. Sponsored by the Foundation for Marshall Medical Centers, the run takes place at Guntersville’s Civitan Park and raises money to benefit 16

mammography and cancer services at MMC for those who cannot afford them. It features a 10K, 5K and a one-mile/fun run beginning respectively at 9, 9:15 and 10:30 a.m. with awards at 11. There’ll be music, children’s activities and the popular Pink Pancake Brunch at 10:30 a.m. Register online (before Oct. 1 and save $5); or register at 3-6 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Guntersville Rec Center; or from 7-8:45 a.m. on race day. For more info and pre-registration: www. pinkpumpkinrun.com. • Oct. 28-29 – Gerhart Chamber Music Festival The acclaimed festival continues its 46th year at Snead State

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

Community College. A master class will be taught at 10 a.m. Oct. 28 in the Maze Music Building and a class on the Alexander technique will be held at 1:30 p.m. that afternoon in the Administration Building. Both classes are open to the public and registration is free. The chamber group will perform at 2 p.m. Oct. 29 in Fielder Auditorium. Admission is free. For more information: www. snead.edu; or Lindsey King, 256571-0612. • Oct. 31 – Trunk or Treat Score big for Halloween, 4-6 p.m. at the Farmers Market Pavilion in downtown Albertville. For more info: Albertville Chamber of Commerce, 256-878-3821.

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Snapshot: Larue Kohl

EARLY LIFE: Born in New Orleans July 21, 1947, to Jack and Blanche Kohl; two younger sisters. Grew up in Pensacola after the third grade. EDUCATION: Attended Sacred Heart Elementary and graduated in 1965 from Pensacola High School. Earned psychology degree in 1969, Loyola University, New Orleans. “I was paying for it, so it didn’t take seven years.” FAMILY: Met the former Jane Blanchard in 1968; married 1970. She founded and still runs Kohl Academy of Performing Arts in Guntersville. They have three grown children: Kris, who lives in Memphis and does IT work for Hilton Worldwide; Melissa, who married Mark Blackburn of England, formerly the golf pro at Gunter’s Landing, now owner of Blackburn Golf Academy at Greystone Golf and Country Club in Birmingham; and Lea, who dances with a troupe and married Mark’s brother, Paul, an architect in Maplewood, N.J. The Kohls have seven grandchildren. CAREER: Was a bouncer, bartender and later on the management team at Your Father’s Mustache while in college 1965-70; taught special ed 1970-71 before returning for a short while to his bartending job. Moved to Guntersville and, under King Kohl Food Services, Inc opened Kentucky Fried Chicken, 1972; bought Boaz KFC, 1973; opened Hartselle KFC for his father, 1974; built Arab KFC, 1995; bought Hartselle KFC, 2003. OTHER: Former Boat Race Chairman and President of Guntersville Jaycees; charter and current member of Marshall County Child Advocacy Center; member of Marshall County Master Gardeners; president of Guntersville Rotary Club.

Good People

5questions Story and photo by David Moore

L arue Kohl traveled in some very interesting circles over the years

in New Orleans and with Kentucky Fried Chicken. Now he’s traveling in a very fast circle – well, actually, it’s a very fast oval. Larue chairs the Guntersville Lake HydroFest, the committee bringing hydroplane racing back to Marshall County next June. Once a huge event, the last boat race here was in 1984. The unlimited class last raced here in 1969. Modern H1 Unlimited hydroplanes – powered by helicopter turbine engines capable of unleashing 3,000 horsepower – hope to top 200 mph on a 2.5-mile oval track laid out on Browns Creek. “Circle June 22-24, 2018, on your calendar,” Larue says. “You don’t want to miss this incredible event as the boats – more like rocket ships on the water – race on Lake Guntersville.” He’s even more excited about the boat races than Mardi Gras – and that’s saying a lot for the long-time lover and resident of New Orleans, where he traveled in some of his interesting circles. As a teen, Larue swam in Pete Fountain’s pool. He grew up hearing live music played by Pete, Al Hirt, Fats Domino, Ernie K-Doe, Irma Thomas, Frankie Ford and Clarence “The Frogman” Henry. During a stint as a bouncerbartender-waiter at Your Father’s Mustache on Bourbon Street, Larue also played guitar with Vince Vance

Larue Kohl

From running in interesting circles to organizing fast circles on the lake and the Valiants, who later recorded the six-time hit “All I want for Christmas is You.” Larue is listed on the credits for the Valiants’ “Bomb Iraq,” a parody written to the tune of “Yakety Yak.” “We started that band in 1969 with members of the band at Your Father’s Mustache, the Banjo Emporium,” Larue says. “That’s where I met Jane and Dalton Diamond.” Then studying medicine at Tulane, Dr. Diamond is the hospitalist at Marshall Medical Center South. In 2011 he and Larue played together for the 50th reunion of musicians from Your Fathers Mustache, which included 36 banjos, 14 trombones, eight tubas, six washboard players and four singing waiters.

Colonel visited to approve the franchise. For several years, Larue was involved in shooting KFC commercials. He worked with Jason Alexander, famous as George Costanza in the TV series “Seinfeld.” They hit it off, and Larue later landed Jason the honor of serving as a grand marshal at Mardi Gras. Likewise with the late James Gandolfini Jr., the crime boss in the acclaimed HBO series “The Sopranos.” Larue also worked on commercial shoots with Jim McMahon – who won Super Bowl rings as quarterback for the Bears and Packers – and the massive William “Refrigerator” Perry, a ten-season standout lineman in the NFL.

he Krewe of Bacchus Parade is the most “Hollywood” of all Mardi Gras festivities. Larue first rode in it in 1993. Harry Connick Jr. was the king. “Jane (Larue’s wife) and I went to Mass in his suite with about 40 family members,” Larue says. “That’s a whole ’nother story …” Colonel Sanders, not surprisingly, has figured into some of the interesting circles Larue has traveled in over the years. They first met when the Colonel visited Your Fathers Mustache, where Larue worked at the time. The chicken king, Larue says, taught him the difference between a banjo player and a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. (“A bucket of KFC can feed a family of four …”). After Larue moved to Guntersville in 1972 to open his first KFC, the

hat chat with the Colonel and his father’s work with KFC were two factors that brought Larue and his talented young bride to Guntersville. “Dad moved up to Cullman in 1968 and bought the KFC there,” Larue says. “I hitchhiked up there to see what this crazy man had done.” His dad offered him a share of his new KFC, but Larue was not enthralled with Cullman at the time. He and Jane drove up from New Orleans for Christmas 1971 and rode around with his dad, over through Arab and to the edge of Georgia Mountain. Through the bare trees they could see the old river bridge. It was love at first vista. “I saw that water at Browns Creek. I saw water all over the place,” Larue recalls. I said, ‘Now you are talking!’” They rented a house in Claysville, and on March 6, 1972, Larue opened

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

Miss Madison makes a run on the two-mile oval course laid out in Spring Creek for the trials this past June. An extra half-mile will be added to the course for the races June 22-24, 2018, on Browns Creek, where the U1 Unlimited boats expect to break 200 mph on the straightaways.

his first KFC at what had been Chuck’s Smokehouse. “Everybody in New Orleans laughed at me, from nightclubs up and down Bourbon Street, until they saw what a drop-dead gorgeous place this is,” he says. “Jane and I will always love New Orleans. It is a great place to visit, but we chose Guntersville as the place we wanted to live and raise our children and now our grandchildren.”

There is a lot of excitement about hydroplane racing returning to Lake Guntersville. Why do you think that is? I liken it to a sort of boat race withdrawals. It has been over 30 years since we have had boat races on Lake Guntersville and 49 years since we had the unlimited class of hydroplanes racing here. The timing couldn’t be better for racing’s return. We have a dwindling number of people who remember boat racing, and having “NASCAR on the water” is exciting even without the added nostalgia. 20

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

The talk of having unlimited hydroplane racing in Guntersville is fueled by the stories of those who remember it. It didn’t hurt that Julie Patton, director of the Guntersville Museum, held the “History of Boat Racing in Guntersville” last summer. Julie came up with that idea at the same time that Katy Norton, president of the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau, started working on actually bringing the unlimited hydroplanes back to Guntersville. Neither of them knew of the other’s plan. I laughed. That’s similar to my KFC restaurants having chicken potpies all winter, then taking them out for the summer. Everybody is in the potpie withdrawals by the time we put them back on the menu in the fall – and that’s only a six-month absence. Boat races have been off the menu in Guntersville for over 30 years.

Somehow it seems fitting that you serve on the board of the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association and as an ex-officio member of Marshall

County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Why is that a good fit for you, and why is tourism so important to Marshall County? For 22 years I served on various KFC boards in capacities from president of local ad cooperative to president of the Association of KFC Franchisees. When I finished my four-year stint as AKFCF president in 2014, I found myself without five plane tickets on my desk, and I got bored. The Marshall County Commission posted an ad looking for someone to represent them on the Alabama Mountain Lakes, and I thought, “Mountains and lakes? That’s the reason I located my KFC franchise in Guntersville. Tourism? That’s one reason I have been successful.” So I jumped at the opportunity. I’m now in the middle of my second term, and love every minute of it. My job, as I see it, is to sell North Alabama’s mountain-lakes region to tourists by working various trade shows around the country. What is easier to sell than this little slice of heaven?

Off to a ‘phenomenal’ start The purpose of the U1 Unlimited trials on June 17 at Spring Creek was twofold. For the racers, it was an opportunity to test their boats on Lake Guntersville, said Charley Wiggins, owner of Wiggins Hydroplane Racing and the orange and white U 27 boat. Located in Gadsden, they’re the only Unlimited racing team home-ported in Alabama. All water, Charley said, is not created equal. Guntersville – at least that day – was much smoother than the waters they usually race on. Charley was instrumental in bringing hydroplane racing back to Lake Guntersville. “It’s something I’ve been pushing for,” he said. He approached Mayor Leigh Dollar in fall 2015. She excitedly led him to Katy Norton of the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau, who set up a committee headed by the Larue Kohl, and the machinery cranked up. The trials also provided the city a chance to

At the end of my first two-year term I was presented with the Tourism Ambassador Award. It was a surprise at our meeting at the Muscle Shoals Marriott. Jane was too busy with the Kohl Academy of Performing Arts to attend … or so I thought. But they snuck her in. It was a complete surprise, and she got to share it with me. While refreshing my memory of all that the area has to offer, I got reacquainted with Katy at the Convention and Visitors Bureau. Katy grew up with my daughter, Melissa. Katy was most welcoming when I asked if I could sit in on one of her board meetings, and I soon became a regular. One time I missed a meeting, and they appointed me chairman of the Guntersville Lake HydroFest.

As president of the Guntersville Rotary Club, what are your thoughts on Rotary? My neighbor, Jack Powers, invited me to a meeting, and when I walked in I saw a bunch of past Jaycees, which I had joined after moving here.

Jody Chorba told me, “Larue, this is just like Jaycees except we don’t do any work, we just give money.” That was a slight exaggeration as we refurbished a cabin at the Girl Scout camp last year, but we do give a lot of money to local non-profits and we awarded seven scholarships to Guntersville High School seniors this year. Rotary International is incredible. They have over 35,000 clubs worldwide, and three years ago they decided to eradicate polio after it raised its ugly head in some third world countries. At the time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 350,000 cases. Two years ago there were 160,000 cases, and as of April 2017 there were only four – not 4,000 – but “four” cases reported by the CDC. That’s success. We have one charter member in our club – George Barnett, who I helped get elected mayor in 1974 – about 45 regular members and several new members who are already stepping up, such as Chris Hoggle our new treasurer. I am honored to be the new president

test its plans for traffic and crowd control, setting up a pit area complete with boat-lifting crane and coordinating with the State Marine Police and numerous agencies to secure the track and make other extensive safety measures. Charley called the local effort “phenomenal.” Wiggins team driver Cal Phipps found the water exceptionally smooth. “I felt like I hit the jackpot,” he said after two runs. Between the first two runs the team changed the prop to maximize performance on the smooth surface, and Cal hit 192 mph on the straights, which he laughed and said was probably about 7 mph faster than the six-time national champion Miss Madison out of Madison, Ind. Cal hopes to top 200 mph at the races next year, which he says would heat up the race for the 2017 crown. – David Moore

and hope to grow the club and do a few more local projects. The presidents of the five Rotary clubs in Marshall County met and decided on a joint project: We are bringing Pulitzer-prize author Rick Bragg to visit schools across the county. He’ll read excerpts from a book of his and give each eighth grader a signed copy. Naturally, I also hope to get all of the clubs involved in the upcoming Guntersville Lake HydroFest.

4. New Orleans is one of

your favorite places. What’s the attraction? As a good little Catholic boy born in the city’s Baptist Hospital, a Loyola graduate and the husband of another New Orleans native, the city is near and dear to me. My mother was born in a four-generation family home on Esplanade Avenue. When Jane and I started getting serious, we found out that her mother’s family, the Surgis, and my mother’s family, the Larues, AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

were of old New Orleans French ancestry who knew each other before we met in college. We take a bunch of people to Mardi Gras every year. I always tell them that Louisiana is a state, but New Orleans is a foreign country. Mardi Gras is actually 99 percent family-oriented. Unfortunately, the 1 percent that is not is what gets 99 percent of the coverage … or uncoverage as the case may be. Everybody is related to or good friends with somebody who lives on a parade route and there are 40 major parades in the 10 days leading up to Fat Tuesday, so visiting those friends and relatives during carnival season to watch parades is mandatory. As a kid, I always went to my Aunt Lucille’s TV Repair shop on Magazine Street along with 40 or 50 others to eat, drink and parade watch. We boiled shrimp and crawfish, cooked big pots of red beans served

over rice and grilled hot dogs and hamburgers to feed the masses. As for food, people say they’re going to New Orleans and want to know of a good restaurant. I tell them, “There ain’t no bad restaurants in New Orleans!” What other city can boast having an Antoine’s, a Brennen’s, a Commander’s Palace, an Arnaud’s, a Broussard’s and a Galatoire’s? The Brennen family has seven or eight different restaurants and have trained such chefs as Emeril Lagassee and Paul Prudhomme. On the other hand, you can go to Buster’s or Dooky Chase’s and get red beans and rice for $1.75 – $3 with andouille sausage. Felix’s and Acme Oyster Bars have lines waiting to get in anytime they are open – and New Orleans never closes. New Orleans has something for the whole family, too. Right by Emeril’s original restaurant on Julia Street is the Louisiana Children’s Museum. We big kids love it, too. There’s also

the Audubon Zoo, where I swam as a child and studied in Audubon Park across from Loyola and Tulane Universities. Jane and I lived next to Tulane Stadium when we first got married. The Superdome wasn’t open yet, so Tulane or LSU played every Saturday, and the Saints played on Sundays. And the Sugar Bowl was played there before the Superdome was built. Even Katrina couldn’t keep New Orleans down. We were there for the first New Year’s after Katrina to re-open Rock & Bowl with Vince Vance and the Valiants and Benny Grunch and the Bunch. We had dinner at Emeril’s, and Emeril was Jane’s waiter. We were there for the first Mardi Gras after Katrina, and Jane was interviewed by Fox News at the convention center with 12,000 people in tuxedos and ball gowns waiting for me to roll in the hall with the whole Bacchus Parade. Jane and I often go back and ride

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in Mardi Gras parades. Our parents and grandparents are gone, but we still have lots of cousins and great friends there. What’s not to love about “The City that Care Forgot”?

5. What’s something most people

don’t know about Larue Kohl?

Well, I quit my job to get married. I was unemployed when Jane and I tied the knot. It’s a miracle her daddy didn’t kill me. Her uncle sure suggested it. My logic went something like this ... I decided that if I wanted to stay married, and I did, I probably would increase my chances by not working in a nightclub on Bourbon Street, so I quit my job. If I took another job right before we got married, it would be difficult to get time off from a new job to go on a honeymoon. I was cocky and just knew I could get a job after our honeymoon. And I was right.

I got hired to teach “special education” at Gretna Middle School across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. It was meant for kids with disabilities, but they threw in all the troublemakers, too. That was the hardest job I ever had. Special Ed was a new program in Louisiana in 1970, and I had to create my own curriculum. I only had 17 students, but they were the school’s worst students and the biggest troublemakers. I got paid 10 percent more than most of the non-tenured teachers, so they disliked me. Most of the parents thought it was my fault that their kids were in special ed, so they didn’t like me either. And the kids hated everybody. The only reasons I survived that year was my experience working with bouncers on Bourbon Street and a special bond I had with the father of Raymond, the biggest kid in the class. I had worked with Raymond’s dad

while at Loyola, and we became good friends. When he learned I was to teach his son, he told Raymond that I was a good guy and he was to behave in class. Then he told me that if Raymond misbehaved I was to “whup him good” then call him at home, and when Raymond got home he would “whup him good” again. The first time the class started getting out of control, I grabbed Raymond, who was 6 foot 6, and slammed him up against the blackboard. I whispered in his ear that I was going to call his dad and tell him what a good job he did helping me restore order in the class. He did, and I did. That only happened about three times the whole school year, but I was never so happy to return to the restaurant business where you just work 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week. And after 45 years with KFC, I still love it. Good Life Magazine

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Good Reads

‘Testimony,’ a search for truth with a dark Bosnian backdrop

Of ‘red millions,’ Indians’ death and the start of the FBI

cott Turow has written a new, intriguing political thriller in “Testimony,” which attempts to recreate the complexities of the Bosnian War where more than 100,000 people were brutally murdered because of centuries old hatreds between the Orthodox Christian Serbs and the Muslim Bosnians. “Life had taught me a Twenty years cold truth, that the long afterward, a witness suddenly appears claiming savored dream when he was the sole survivor in tested by reality, rarely 2004 of the disappearance approaches expectations.” of 400 Roma, or Gypsies, from a refugee camp in Bosnia. He claims that they were rounded up in the middle of the night, carried by trucks to a nearby cave and buried alive. An American attorney is invited to appear at the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate the suspected massacre. The investigation provides many suspects, including the Serbian paramilitary, Bosnian Muslims, the local mafia and U.S. armed forces serving under the auspices of NATO, who were based nearby. The search for the truth moves from the Netherlands to Bosnia and eventually to the United States. Several harrowing personal experiences are encountered and various miscreants investigated before a resolution of sorts is eventually reached. Of the many diverse characters encountered, few are actually who they initially appear to be. – Annette Haislip

n “Killers of the Flower Moon” David Grann recounts a fascinating historical novel set in the American West. Osage Indians, forced from ancestral land in Kansas, are relocated to Oklahoma. Unlike many tribes, they retain mineral rights to the land, and by the 1920s huge oil “The street clamored with deposits are discovered. cowboys, fortune seekers, Income from leases and royalties make the bootleggers, outlaws, U.S. Osage the richest people Marshals, and oil magnates.” per capita in the world. They spend money indiscriminately, buying huge mansions, numerous cars and hiring white servants. To curb the excesses, a bill is passed requiring white guardians to distribute their money, leading to the embezzlement of millions of dollars by unscrupulous bankers, lawyers and judges. Many white men also marry Osage women to gain control of their money. The immense wealth of the “red millions” enrages the locals, and Indians began dying under mysterious circumstances. Finally, the Bureau of Investigation (later the FBI), headed by its ambitious young director, J. Edgar Hoover, sends in agents to solve the murders. Months of investigations and trials by rigged juries follow. Eventually, the government caps the oil wells to discourage domestic production and, ironically, gambling casinos are introduced to provide tribal wealth. Grann provides a riveting, mesmerizing account of this forgotten chapter in American history. – Annette Haislip

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Good Cooking

The gift of the Cobbler Q ueen Cara Lange bestows dessert recipes upon all who have a sweet tooth

Story and photos by David Moore

ara Lange’s husband, Robert, proudly dubbed her the “Cobbler Queen.” He bestowed the title after her fruit cobbler won first place at Albertville’s Main Street Musical Festival Cooking Contest three years ago. Cobbler Queen has a catchy ring, but the title might be a tad confining. Cara utterly loves all desserts and sweets. “I love anything with sugar,” she laughs. “Anything with sugar. “From the earliest time I remember, if I knew there was cake or something for dessert, I would refuse to eat supper unless I got my dessert first. I got in lots of trouble over that. “Our granddaughter Tyree’s first word when she was 1 year old was ‘cake,’” Cara laughs. “Of course I had something to do with that.” Her love of cooking – and baking in particular – no doubt contributed to Tyree’s early introduction to cakes. In fact, Cara cooks professionally. For about six years she’s been the cook at Shepherd’s Cove Hospice. It was the agency’s director, Rhonda Osborne, who suggested that Cara enter the Main Street cooking contest. “It was my weekend to work, and I said sure I’d do it,” Cara recalls. “I had in mind making a regular crust out of flour, but at the last minute I decided to come up with my own thing. I wanted it crunchy.” So she experimented – something she’s good at – concocting the cobbler crust using cake mix and pecans. “The rest,” laughs the Cobbler Queen, “is history.”

aughter of German-born Dorothea Preston, at a young age Cara lived in Italy, Georgia, Huntsville and the Boaz-Sardis area. “My mother cooked a lot but she always worked a lot. As soon as I could reach the stove she was teaching me to cook. I had supper on the table when she got home,” says Cara, who carried her baby brother on her hip when she was 11. She graduated from Sardis High School in 1983 and married Robert, an Albertville native, in 2005. He works at Inteva Products automotive plant in Gadsden and tried to lure her to the Coosa River.

Cara Lange shows off the blue ribbon her cobbler won. She and Robert have three grown children: Jimmy Chaney of Tennessee, Angela Chaney of Altoona and Rachael Chaney of Albertville; and six grandkids from ages 5 to 11. “Albertville is where I always wanted to plant my roots,” Cara says. “I wasn’t leaving my home here.” When they met, she and Robert worked at the former Plasticraft Manufacturing in Albertville. Her last position there, appropriately enough, was in the kitchen cooking for the staff. She more or less fell into her job at Shepherd’s Cove. Friends, some of them caterers, had been asking her more and more to help them cook. And, impressed by the service provided by Sheppard’s Cove, she volunteered there after Robert’s aunt was a patient eight years ago. Cara cooks about 20 meals a day at Shepherd’s Cove plus sometimes cooks for groups that rent out the community building there, preparing, perhaps, chicken salad for 150-200 people. If she hears that, say, a patient would love a piece of coconut cake, she’s glad to oblige them. ”It’s kind of hard working there,” Cara says, “but it’s an honor just to have a part in their journey home.” The Langes are members of North Broad Street Church of Christ, for which Cara usually bakes up to 24 loaves of bread a week, keeping the freezer full for events and fellowships. And AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

1 large can sliced peaches 1 box butter pecan cake mix 1 stick butter or margarine ½ cup sugar

NUTTY, CRUNCHY PEACH COBBLER (A blue-ribbon winner.) In medium saucepan simmer peaches and sugar until tender, 10-15 minutes. Pour into a sprayed 13x9 baking dish. Sprinkle cake mix

when she’s done a major cooking, she likes to share leftovers with Meals on Wheels.

amily and friends also benefit from Cara’s kitchen talents. “I’ll bake a cake and know we won’t eat the whole thing, so we’ll take it to a neighbor or a friend,” she says. “Robert doesn’t’ care that much for sweets, and if there is a whole cake sitting here, I’m going to eat it!” He concurs with her assessment on his sweet tooth, but his account on how desserts are handled at home varies from Cara’s telling. “Usually,” Robert laughs, “she cooks fancy things and tells me, ‘Don’t touch it. It’s going somewhere.’ I usually get to smell it.” He does have a fondness for her German chocolate. “And the cobbler,” he adds, “whenever I get some, I like a little ice cream on it … yummm!” Here are some of the Cobbler Queen’s dessert recipes … 28

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

on top of peaches and drop small chunks of butter all over top of mix. Bake at 350 30-45 minutes or until golden brown.

SKILLET APPLE PIE 3 large Pink Lady apples (sweet) 3 large Granny Smith apples (tart) ¼ cup flour 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice ½ cup sugar 2 pie crusts caramel sauce (homemade) Core and slice apples thinly. In large bowl toss apples with flour, spice, sugar. Line 11-12-in. skillet or pie pan with pie crust and pour in apple mix. Top with second crust, cutting slits for steam. Bake at 350 30-45 min. or until golden brown. Caramel Sauce ½ cup margarine ¼ cup evaporated milk

1 cup brown sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine four ingredients for sauce and boil for 5 minutes. Drizzle over pie while still warm.

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HOMEMADE EXTRACT Lemon (far left) Rind of one large lemon 12 ounces of good vodka

Vanilla (near left) 8-10 oz. of good vodka 3-4 vanilla beans

Cut rind into strips and place with vodka in a container that seals. Cure for three months in a dark pantry, shaking a few times each week.

Split long vanilla beans and place with vodka in a container that seals. Cure for three months in a dark pantry, shaking a few times each week.

SCHOOL HOUSE BROWNIES 1½ cup margarine (melted) or vegetable oil ½ cup cocoa powder 1 ½ cup sugar 2 cups flour (self-rising) 4 large eggs 4 tsp. vanilla 1 cup chocolate or peanut butter chips chopped nuts (optional) Mix all ingredients except chips until blended well. Stir in chips and nuts. Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes. Cut into brownies. You can microwave a can of chocolate frosting in safe container for 60 seconds and drizzle over brownies for extra chocolate flavor. MANDARIN ORANGE FLUFF 16 oz. Cool Whip 15 oz. can mandarin oranges (drained) 20 oz. pineapple tidbits (drained) 16 oz. cottage cheese 2 3-oz. boxes orange Jell-O Fold Jell-O powder and Cool Whip into a large bowl. Mix well. Mix in fruit and cottage cheese and refrigerate. 30

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

JUMBO CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES 4½ cup flour (self-rising) 1½ cup butter or Crisco 1¼ cup sugar 2 eggs 1 Tbsp. vanilla 1 12-oz. bag chocolate chips 1¼ cup brown sugar 1 cup chopped nuts (optional) Combine in mixer Crisco,

sugar and brown sugar. Mix until creamy. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, mixing in gradually. Stir in chocolate chips and chopped nuts if desired. With medium cookie scooper put dough on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 10-12 minutes.

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FRESH APPLE CAKE 1½ cups oil 2 cups sugar 3 eggs (beaten) 3 cups flour 2 tsp. vanilla 3 apples (cored and chopped) 1 cup pecans (chopped)

Mixing well, combine oil and sugar, then add eggs and flour and stir in vanilla. Batter will be very thick. Add apples and pecans, mixing well. Bake at 350 in a 9x13 dish for 30-45 minutes. Frosting ½ cup margarine

¼ cup evaporated milk 1 cup brown sugar 1 tsp. vanilla Combine all ingredients and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour over completely cooled cake.

PEANUT BUTTER CAKE 1 cup oil 2½ cups flour (self-rising) 4 eggs 2 cups sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 1¼ cup buttermilk

eggs. Stir in vanilla and mix well. Pour into 2 9-in. cake pans. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until lightly browned or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil, milk and

CHRISTMAS BOURBON BALLS

Peanut Butter Icing 1 box powdered sugar

1 cup graham cracker crumbs 2 Tbsp. clear Kayro syrup ¼ cup bourbon 1 cup powdered sugar

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

8 Tbsp. buttermilk ½ stick margarine 3 Tbsp. peanut butter Bring to boil margarine, buttermilk and peanut butter for 5 minutes. Add powdered sugar and spread on prepared and cooled cake.

Mix first three ingredients and let sit 15-20 minutes. Roll into balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar.

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SIMPLE CHEESECAKE 1½ cup sugar 3 8-oz. pkgs. cream cheese (room temp) 2 tsp. vanilla or lemon flavoring 3 eggs (room temp) 1 cup sour cream Graham cracker crust Variety of pie fillings

Graham cracker crust 1¼ cup graham cracker crumbs ¼ cup sugar ¼ cup melted butter Combine crust ingredients and pack into the bottom of a 13x9 casserole dish.

SWEET POTATO DUMPLINGS 2 cans crescent rolls 1 pkg. yam patties (cut in half) Roll each yam patty half in a crescent triangle. Place in a baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Simple syrup topping 2 cups water 2 cups sugar 1½ stick margarine 1 Tbsp. cornstarch 1 tsp. vanilla flavoring Boil water, sugar, margarine and cornstarch in medium saucepan. Add vanilla. Stir; pour over dumplings. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes until brown. 34

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

In a stand mixer combine cheesecake ingredients; mix until smooth. (It’s important that eggs and cream cheese are room temp.) Pour batter over packed graham cracker mixture. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. For toppings, I put out small bowls of different pie fillings and let people choose their own.

EGG CUSTARD 4 eggs (beaten) ¾ cup sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 2 cups scalded milk Pinch of salt Deep-dish pie shell In a small saucepan get milk hot but do not boil. In medium bowl mix all ingredients together except hot milk. Mix in small amounts of milk at a time until well blended. Pour into pie shell and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

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Between 1900-1910, Boaz was very prosperous. Residents with means set out to build grand houses in suburbia two or three blocks from Main Street. Some of these people later met financial problems or moved away. Industry encroached on some homes, stealing their desirability. Some of the old fine homes became so derelict they were bulldozed in the 1960s and ’70s in conjunction with Urban Renewal programs. – “The Boaz Heritage”

Today, only a few grand houses still stand, reflections of Boaz’s era of elegance. One of them is the …

Pruett-Alexander House

The coffered ceilings, here over the living room, feel even taller than 10.5 feet. Note the sliding doors at the left. Story and photos by David Moore

etty Alexander today is a woman of few words. So what she says about the grand old Pruett-Alexander house she and her husband Leon bought in 1984 spares any details but, all the same, perhaps captures it all. “I love my home,” Betty says, sitting in her chair in the den. To call the house “grand” is not hyperbole. The neoclassical mansion with its fluted Corinthian columns stately sits on a two-acre lot on College Avenue, a few blocks from downtown Boaz. The house was initially built for Josie McCleskey Snead, widow of John H. Snead, who died in 1920. John was a prosperous businessman who believed in education enough that he donated land, money and his influence to the growing Methodist Episcopal Seminary in town. The appreciation was enough for the seminary to change its 38

name to John H. Snead Seminary, which today is Snead State Community College, a cornerstone of Boaz. According to the book “The Boaz Heritage” by Lee N. Allen and Catherine B. Allen, the same year John died, his and Josie’s nephew, R. Lon McCleskey, whom they raised as a son, laid plans to build the house for his aunt. Construction started in 1922, but before it was finished, Lon had moved his business interests to Gadsden and J.D. Pruett bought his holdings, including the unfinished house. When J.D. moved his family in, the mansion, wrapped in gracious porches, boasted 12 rooms, two baths, a butler’s pantry and a basement. The interior featured sliding doors and 10.5-foot coffered ceilings with crown molding. The Pruetts didn’t live there forever. The family sold to Tom Morrow, who later sold to Bessie Roden. It was from her that Leon and Betty purchased the grand old home – to the surprise of their family – on Sept. 21, 1984.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

he Alexander name is synonymous with automobile dealerships on Sand Mountain and across Marshall County. Dennie Alexander recalls how his mom, Betty Broadwell, the 15-year-old daughter of a minister, met Leon, 22, one day on a Sand Mountain dirt road. “She was walking with a friend,” Dennie says. “He was going to the store. He asked if she wanted a ride.” That was 1947, and they married the same year. Dennie and siblings Jackie, Johnny, Tommy and Cynthia, who is now a Johnson, were raised in Boaz at the Alexanders’ house on Bruce Road. Leon and his late brother, Jimmy, got into the business wholesaling cars, buying and selling them across the Southeast as Alexander Motor Company. In 1972, they purchased the former Guthrie Malone Ford dealership in Boaz, which they promptly named Alexander Ford. Continued on page 42

Among the antiques Betty and Leon collected over the years are numerous glass pieces in the living room, lower left, and the dining room, above and lower right. Stained glass adds rich colors to the dining room.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

One upstairs bedroom features a canopy bed, above. The old dolls in the antique carriage are part of the decor of the main upstairs bedroom, pictured at right. Among the romantic touches in the bedroom is a lap table on the bed with silk roses and an antique book, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Enchanted Gardenâ&#x20AC;? by Henry James Forman, published in 1923. The upstairs hallway, third from top left, is reached by two stairways, of which the main one has a grandfather clock on the upper landing.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

Betty Alexander likes to keep geraniums and other potted plants as accents on the large front porch. She and her daughter, Cynthia Johnson, water them daily. The lions posed on either sides of the main steps are fine without water. They expanded into Alexander Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep and opened dealerships in Albertville, Arab and Centre. Today, family members own all or part of Alexander Ford in Boaz, Boaz Chevrolet and Alexander Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram in Albertville. “We’ve been around the car business all our lives,” says Cynthia, formerly the bookkeeper for the family business. “That’s all we’ve ever done.”

t was after their children had grown and moved on to raise their own families that Betty and Leon made the big change of address to College Street. The siblings recall seeing the Pruett House while growing up – it’s hard to miss if you’re in the neighborhood – but they never suspected it would some day be in the family. Nonetheless, Dennie says, purchasing the old house made a certain amount of sense. Betty had gotten into refinishing furniture, which 42

grew into a passion she and Leon shared for buying antiques. After Leon retired they traveled across the country buying old furniture, glassware and other items, filling up their motor home with treasures that delighted them. They knew it was time to head back to Boaz when the antiques forced them to sleep in motels. “They loved doing it,” Cynthia says. And while they bought the Pruett House furnished, it provided them with a dozen rooms to which they could add their growing collection. Before moving into it, however, the grand old lady needed some work. The whole family pitched in for about six months, sanding floors, hanging wallpaper and such. “That was funny watching them with the wallpaper,” Cynthia laughs, “it kept falling on their heads.”

hough impressive, the house was never intended to impress, to be flung open to tours. “It was their home where they lived

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

and loved each other and respected each other,” Cynthia says. “It wasn’t a show house. Daddy didn’t care if people came to visit them, but not just to come see the house.” It was, of course, the site of large family get-togethers with maybe 40 folks there for special occasions. “We all had a good time. Everybody brought food,” Cynthia says. Leon chose to stay in the house while he fought the cancer that killed him at age 65 in 1992. It was after that they added Betty’s den and a porch onto the rear of the house. Betty’s house still rang with joy when her five children, 11 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren and three great-greats gathered there. “It’s been like home to us,” Cynthia says, “just as much as the house on Bruce Road.” “There are,” Dennie adds, “plenty of memories here.” Betty would agree. No doubt that’s the main reason she loves her grand old home. Good Life Magazine

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Good ’n’ Green

Drought of ‘16 leave holes in your yard? Fall is the best time to plant new trees Story by Hunter McBrayer

hanks to the 2016 drought, many homeowners are finding bare spots in and around their landscape. As you look to replace trees that were killed or severely damaged or are simply looking to plant a new tree, remember that fall is the time to do so. Many people plant trees and shrubs in the spring, which is when most big-box stores and nurseries have the best deals. While planting in the spring is not a sure fire way to kill a tree, it does make long-term success more difficult. When you plant trees and shrubs in the fall, they have plenty of time to establish a root system before the heat of summer moves in. Even when trees are dormant above ground during the winter, root growth will continue as long as soil temperatures are above 40 degrees. Assuming you plant in October, that leaves November and December as good months for root development. As soils begin to warm again in March, root development will start up again and continue through April and May before the heat of summer really moves in. As I count it, that’s five months of root development compared to planting a tree in April, increasing chances for success and minimizing the need to carry so much water next summer to your young tree. So, what to plant? I like to encourage folks to consider three things when deciding: • Location suitability for size, shape, wet or dry needs, proximity to power lines and your house, etc. Remember, your tree will grow. • What you want in a tree – to bloom, show nice fall color, benefit pollinators. • Your reason for a tree – privacy, wind break, shade. Here are four trees to consider that are native to Alabama and are nice in landscapes ... (Note: Cullman County Extension agent Tim Cow contributed to this story.) 44

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

Black gum (Nyssa Sylvatica) – Often referred to as a tupelo tree, swamp tupelo or black tupelo, this tree is known by many different names. Black gum is a tough tree that is not even closely related to sweet gums, so don’t worry about sweet gum balls with this one. It’s another of those slow growing, large trees that can reach 80-100’ tall, but it rarely tops 60’ in our area. Black gum makes a good oak alternative and is great for our pollinators and birds. My favorite trait of this tree is its beautiful fall color – being one of the first to light up with reds, greens and blues in mid-October. It can be a beautiful asset to most landscapes that have room for a large tree with a 25’ wide canopy.

Red maple (Acer rubrum) – One of the most popular landscape trees, red maple has early red blooms, a nicely

River birch (Betula nigra) – Looking for a multi-trunked tree with nice fall color, cinnamon colored exfoliating

shaped canopy, attractive bark and unmatched yellow fall colors. Even better, a number of cultivars, or varieties, are available. “Armstrong” is a fast growing, upright tree for tight places needing skinny canopy. For a slow growing tree with great fall color, “October Glory” or “Red Sunset” are the best. Red maple has a heavy, dense wood that makes it a good alternative to the weak, invasive Bradford pear tree.

bark? Look no further than river birch. A native tree that is traditionally seen on stream banks, the river birch is making a strong appearance in landscapes and urban plantings, partly because of its attractive bark. Fast growing, it can reach 30-40’ in 20 years and easily top out at 70’ at maturity. This tree is great when grown as a multi-trunked specimen tree.

Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) – This tree can bring visions of stained water, cypress “knees” and swamps, but it’s excellent for the landscape. It has needles like a Canadian hemlock or pine tree, yet it’s deciduous, meaning that it has beautiful

Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboretum) – While you may be familiar with the highly prized “sourwood” honey, most folks are not as familiar with the native tree from which honeybees diligently collect pollen and nectar. The sourwood is a 20-40’ tree good for an understory

fall color and loses its needles during the winter. Second, the tree is tolerant of wet soil but will thrive in dry upland soils. It handles poor, compacted soils like a champ but will thrive in rich, organic soils. Lastly, this tree is tough and resistant to most disease and insects. It is large but slow growing, reaching 15-25’ feet in 15-25 years.

in naturalized areas. While fitting comfortably under larger trees, it makes a beautiful landscape tree. The small flowers bloom on 4-8” panicles that appear to cover the tree in lace during late June and July. The leaves reliably turn crimson in the fall but can also have shades of yellow, red and purple, making this a beautiful and bountiful tree for the home landscape. AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

Fun at the

A photo essay by Patrick Oden

Hop aboard for fun this fall at the 60th Annual Marshall County Fair, set for Sept. 12-16 at the VFW Fairgrounds on U.S. 431 in Boaz. As always, there’ll be lots of contests and judgings and a midway full of rides. For its Diamond Jubilee Celebration, the fair is bringing back live entertainment 7-10 p.m.. Performing will be: • Sept. 12 – The Legion Aires • Sept. 13 – Off the Record • Sept. 14 – Country Case • Sept. 15 – Two Tone Willie • Sept. 16 – Back Wood Revival Gates open at 4 p.m. opening day and 5 p.m. the rest of the week; and the fun goes on until it’s over. Admission is $4; age 5 and under free. AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

The fair, of course, is more than rides, games, cotton candy and a fun place to hang out. Numerous groups and businesses will have booths and exhibits. Plus there are competition exhibits, ranging from lambs and pigs, to jams and jellies and artwork. Competition for ribbons and cash prizes can be intense. Individual and booth entries can be entered 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday-Saturday, Sept. 8-9. Baked goods and flowers can be brought in on Sept. 10 with permission. Judging will be that afternoon only. Livestock entries must be brought 2-4 p.m. the day of each department’s show. To register or get more info on entries and booths, visit the Boaz VFW Post or Boaz Chamber of Commerce; or call 256-593-8154, or 256-506-4736.

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AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

Fire Grill 231 Good Eats

Preordained or not, Lacho is in his culinary element with new Arab restaurant “It’s not about what I like, it’s about what the people like,” he says. And a lot of thought has gone into having great food for all palates. “My idea was to offer a little bit of everything,” Lacho says. “Every dish I create I think about my family.” And you won’t leave hungry. Lacho doesn’t believe in small portions. “I think about someone who’s not just a little hungry … our portions are huge,” he says proudly. Open since April, Fire Grill 231’s menu is diverse, and, if anything, Lacho’s been holding back. Now that he’s got a few months under his belt and his customers have come to appreciate his almost artistic flair for food, he is slowly introducing more sophisticated flavors to his dishes. For example, his Fire Balls.

Story and photos by Patrick Oden

wning a restaurant may have been preordained for Horacio “Lacho” Sanchez. For the lucky residents of Marshall County, the Chicago native landed in Arab and fulfilled that destiny with Fire Grill 231. Born in Mexico, the 43-year-old restaurateur and chef grew up in the windy city amongst a family of chefs. In fact, Lacho was only 16 when he joined his family in the culinary trades. It wasn’t long before he found himself working for a man named Scott Harris, who had just opened his third Mia Francesca’s location. Specializing in contemporary takes on rustic Italian cuisine, Lacho spent nearly 20 years with Mia Francesca’s, working as the company’s corporate Chef and owner Horacio “Lacho” Sanchez chef, helping launch 30 ou may not think to presents one of many Italian dishes, caprese pasta more locations in four order something that doesn’t states before turning his ring a bell. But that would sights south … deep south. be a mistake. “It was for my family, too,” Lacho By this point, you’re For his Fire Balls, Lacho says. “It’s not just for me, it’s for my probably wondering how in the world combines Italian rice, spicy sausage and kids … my wife.” such an accomplished chef found his bacon with four cheeses, then batters and way to Arab, Ala. deep fries them to perfection. The taste is The answer is a simple and common unexpected and out of this world. Not too hen Lacho first arrived in the one … family. But there was more to it spicy but exploding with flavor. area, he joined his brother-in-law, Herman, than that for Lacho. Having the Fire Balls as an appetizer at Somewhere on the Lake and began to Lacho had visited his family in will leave you eagerly anticipating scout the surroundings. Marshall County while living in whatever entrée you’ve chosen, Here are As Lacho will tell you, there’s more to Chicago, and he was drawn to the slower a few recommendations … opening a restaurant than finding a location pace and higher quality of life residents If you’re a pasta lover, try the caprese or deciding what type of food to serve. enjoy here. pasta. It’s a traditional spaghetti noodle

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Clockwise: asparagus sets off rib eye and double-fried potatoes; prosciutto is a cured Italian ham, served here with tomatoes and mozzarella on garlic bread; waitress Kristen Coker behind the bar; eating a late lunch; and Lacho’s Fire Balls. tossed in olive oil and basil, topped with heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and grilled chicken – a refreshingly light take on the traditional pasta meal. And if you’re more of a carnivore,

have the rib eye and double-fried potatoes. Lacho really kicks the old meat and taters up a notch, topping the plate with perfectly seasoned fresh asparagus. Next time you’re trying to figure out

where to eat, give Lacho and Fire Grill 231 a try. It doesn’t matter what you’re hungry for, he’s got you covered. Thanks, Lacho. Good Life Magazine

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On the 50th anniversary of its last senior class, alumni recall their days at the only black educational institution in the county

Lakeview School Lakeview School, at right, was located in Guntersville to the west of Gunter Avenue, reached by going to the top of Ligon Street and turning right onto Williamson. Today the site is the Williamson-Harris Park. A plaque is to be unveiled there Aug 18. It reads: Site of Lakeview School 1940-1968

On October 18, 1940, Lakeview School was dedicated and opened to serve African-American students in Marshall County. A bus transported students to the school from Guntersville, Albertville, Boaz, Claysville, Kirbytown, Langston, and Warrenton. Because of the large number of students, at times it took three trips to bus them here. Professor Roosevelt Williamson was the first principal of the school and was its guiding force until his death in 1967. Early teachers were employed from Gadsden, Huntsville, and Birmingham, and lived with various families in the neighborhood. Corene Huff became Lakeview’s first graduate on May 1, 1942. With segregation ending, students began transferring to county schools as early as 1966. Lakeview School closed in 1968 and the building was destroyed by fire in 1974. Erected in August 2017 by the Lakeview Community Civic Organization and the City of Guntersville

Story by David Moore

ormer three-term Guntersville City Councilwoman Nellie Jo Franklin unabashedly claims that her teachers at Lakeview School could hold their own against educators anywhere. “I had some of the best teachers there ever was,” she says of those who taught her in the 11th and 12th grades at Lakeview. She has others to compare them to. Born Nellie Jo Sandridge in Kirbytown near Langston, her people moved several times and she attended schools in Tennessee and Cincinnati before returning to Guntersville to finish at Lakeview and graduate as valedictorian of the Class of 1953. She trained as a nurse at a black hospital 52

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Nellie Jo Franklin, photo by Robert O in Fayetteville, Tenn., before a doctor there, impressed with her intelligence, encouraged her to go to college. She earned a degree in physical education from what is now Tuskegee University in 1960,

where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the commencement address. Large chunks of her life dissolved into following her now ex-husband, a time during which Nellie Jo held several teaching positions, including a year and a half in science, math and PE classes at Lakeview. One of the first black teachers in the local system after integration, Nellie Jo taught social studies and science two years at Marshall County High. She later worked for Monsanto and at TVA nuclear plants at Bellefonte and Brown’s Ferry before retiring in 1989. Along with serving on the board of directors for Hospice of Marshall County and three years as secretary of the local Democratic Party, Nellie Jo also volunteered as a RSVP Reading Buddy, which pulled in familiar, strong ways on her love of teaching and education.

“L

akeview has been my backbone,” Nellie Jo says with a retrospect of 81 years. “I got my skills from those teachers.” Besides being a standout softball player at first base, she was captain of the girls varsity basketball team. Academically, she admired professor Roosevelt Williamson, the principal who also taught her math. Helen DeYampert taught her English and literature, and she had Joseph Green for science. “Those teachers during segregation could stand up against any teacher in the United States,” Nellie Jo says. “I know that first hand from going to Cincinnati, Tennessee and even when I went to college. “They knew their work and knew their subjects. Some of the things we had in college, I had them at Lakeview.” Growing up during segregation had its challenges.

“In spite of that I have always been able to get along with anybody,” she says. “I think the reason why is because God came into my life as a young child. Those I lived with were strong Christians, too. “That’s what’s carried me through those times. The Lord carried me through segregation. Color does not matter as far as I am concerned. I was never raised to hate. I don’t hate now.” That could be a message for young people today, but it’s not her only one. “I would encourage young people to get an education, to learn as much as they possibly can,” Nellie Jo says. “And stay away from the negative group. You will always find them. We had them when I was in school.” *

Greg Hundley

ith a December birthday, Greg Hundley started first grade at Lakeview at age 5. While he holds few childhood memories AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

of Lakeview, what he recalls is good. He was far from apprehensive about starting school. “I was excited,” recalls Greg, now 56. “My brother and sister were there already, and I was eager to learn.” He also was able to visit his grandfather’s nearby store for lunch. The class was so small it was combined with the second grade. His teacher, Mrs. Brooks, had 20-25 students, Greg guesses. That proved to be a positive. “Being in such a small class, you got a lot of attention from your teachers,” Greg says. “They not only instructed you in academics but how to behave in life. They were like second parents. That was huge.” When segregation’s unequal course played out, Greg transferred to Cherokee Elementary in the fourth grade and graduated from Guntersville High in 1978. He earned a degree in business administration and marketing from The University of Alabama and worked for 22 years in Boston, initially in sales for Quaker Oats moving into operations management. He returned to Guntersville 10 years ago to care for his ailing parents. His mother, Hattie, died in his arms a week before his father, Claude, died at home.

Greg now runs the office at A&D Service Center, a cousin’s auto repair shop on Sand Mountain in Guntersville. “We didn’t have the best books. I learned that later,” Greg says. “And we didn’t have the most up-to-date classroom materials. But the teachers were really focused on making sure you learned the subject matter.”

utch Looney of Guntersville was 5 when he started Lakeview School in 1957. He feared he might get sent home for being too young. But Roosevelt

Butch Looney

Williamson let him stay, beginning Butch’s appreciation for the Lakeview principal that glows even today for the former athletic standout. “He was an educator of children,” says Butch, now 65. “He was kind. He would nurture you. He would get on to you if he needed to, but he was always kind. He knew the background of the all the kids. He knew a lot of our mothers.” Corporal punishment at school was common in the day, Lakeview included. Roosevelt, who patrolled the hallways when not teaching, carried a strap in his back pocket that might get him arrested today, Butch says, but it was used with discretion. “He would put fear into you, but he loved you at the same time,” he says. “It would be like he would tear you apart, but he wouldn’t hit you hard. He was trying to get you where you were supposed to be. He was on top of his teachers, too. He had them doing what was right for the kids. “Everybody loved him.” Lakeview got half of the supposed “separate but equal” education policies of the day. It was separated, but did not even have a cafeteria. In his earlier days, Butch says, they basically got snacks. Later, a kitchen was set up and students filed through for bologna sandwiches, maybe

Story of integration in Marshall County breaks a stereotype

n 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, state-sanctioned segregation of public schools to be unconstitutional. A year later, Gov. George Wallace proclaimed “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” Pressured by passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, “forever” did not last, though change was still slow to come in the southern and border states. With Alabama under court order, Marshall County began integrating schools in 1966. So that fall brought big changes. Butch Looney was a freshman star of the Lakeview varsity basketball team, but he was driven by a desire to play football. Lakeview, however, could not offer the

sport, so he and fellow basketball standout Douglas Love joined what Butch remembers to be about 20 other schoolmates who rode the bus for the first time to Marshall County High School, predecessor to Guntersville High. Everyone was a bit anxious, not knowing how integration would be accepted. “There was lot of racial tension going on in Huntsville with integration,” Butch says. “We’d seen the news and thought it might be like that here.” When the bus from Lakeview arrived, school officials had the white students lined up by the gym. “They started cheering when we pulled up,” Butch says. “I guess they had prepared them. We didn’t have any problems.” Butch had a few white friends, including

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Charlie Connors and Mike Jennings, who later died in a car wreck. After school that day, they offered him a ride to Dairy Hut and hung out together. Others among the whites also reached out to the new students, he says. “I guess it was the way their parents taught them and our parents taught us,” Butch says. “We lived separated from them, but it went smoothly. It was not black and white. “Respect all people ... That’s what our family taught us,” he continues. “Treat people the way you wanted to be treated. I can’t speak for others, and I’m not saying we didn’t have problems, but they were nothing that couldn’t be taken care of inside the school building.” – David Moore

The last of many fine Lakeview Wildcat basketball teams finished second place in the state in the 1966-67 season – a school best. Team members were: from left front, James Nesmith, Phillip Watkins, James Avery, Willie Paul Gurley, Edward Hampton; back, Robert Neal Vaughn, Steve Hampton, Bob Henderson, standout Jimmy Lee Griffin and Samuel Avery. Coaches were Adolph Scissum, far left, and Jack Anthony, far right. fried chicken or the occasional hamburger served on paper plates and eaten back in the classroom. Students living nearby usually went home for leftovers while their parents worked, Butch says. Bused students ate what was served at school or bagged from home. If you forgot your lunch money, or just didn’t have any, he says, Roosevelt would pay it out of his pocket, or send you to his house for food from his wife or snacks from the community store he ran there.

t was a sad day in 1966 when Butch looked out the bus window and saw a crowd milling around at school. The bus stopped and they learned that Roosevelt Williamson had been found dead that morning at the foot of the steps leading to the basement floor classrooms. “A majority of us who went to Lakeview previously got off and did not go to school that day,” he recalls. “We

had that much respect for him. We were heartbroken. It was a sad day. “Roosevelt Williamson was a pillar of this community, just like our preachers. He was a good man, a great educator.” Coach Adolph Scissum was named principal and finished out Lakeview’s last two years as a school. Despite that blow, Butch had loved Lakeview School from day one. Butch loved school, long before he made his name in athletics. “That was a place you communicated with friends and people from other areas,” he says. Like his friends, Butch learned basketball in backyards with milk crates and bike rims. Gifted and tall, he played on Lakeview’s junior varsity team as a seventh grader. During the’65-66 season, Coach Scissum’s squad became the school’s first varsity team to make the playoffs. Among the keys to its success were

Douglas Love and Butch, who was only a ninth grader. Butch’s athleticism drove him to want to play football. But Lakeview had no team. Marshall County High School did though, and he had watched them play from the hillside above the field and was determined to play the sport. To their dismay, Butch and other Lakeview transfers were not allowed to play sports their first year at Marshall County. Years later, when he was inducted into the Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame, a former coach told him the delay was because of pressure from other county schools. Butch didn’t appreciate it at the time, but his “red-shirt” year gave him a chance to learn the game of football. When he finally hit the gridiron as a wide receiver and defensive back, he sizzled, snagging a TD pass against Boaz in his first game and never looking back. On the basketball court, he

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Adolph Scissum’s sixth grade class, 1961-62. James Rhines is standing in the plaid shirt; future wife, Sandra, is second in the far right row. averaged 19 points and 15 rebounds over two years. Butch went on to take MVP honors at MCHS and make numerous all-county, all-district and honorable mention all-state teams in both sports. He also became the first black to sign an athletic scholarship at Athens State, where he was a standout basketball player en route to a bachelor’s degree in secondary education. He later encouraged his son Jerod from the Guntersville sidelines, and today he delights in coaching his grandson Treyvon Avery in youth basketball and football. “I wanted to give back, and this was a way of doing it,” Butch says. One thing haunts him today about the legacy he and Douglas Love might have left at Lakeview School. The year after they transferred, Coach Scissum took the basketball team that Butch and Douglas previously went with to state, and finished second place in the statewide division for small black schools. “If we had played,” Butch believes, “we could have won state.” It would have been a grand final achievement for the school that educated so many Marshall Countians in the days of segregation. * 56

James Rhines

ames Rhines wasn’t particularly nervous when his parents moved to Boaz in 1962 and he had to transfer from South Gadsden into the sixth grade at Lakeview School. “I knew all of the kids in Boaz and some in Albertville from my mom and dad working up here,” the 67-year-old recalls. He adjusted well and was eager to learn. “We had one rule at home,” James says. “You had to go to school or get out. I didn’t need a lot of motivation. I wanted an education. I didn’t want to work on the line hanging chickens.

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“School was easy but I also studied a lot. When you got home and out of school clothes, you did your homework. After that the rest of the day was yours.” Sometimes, the “rest of the day” was not very long. Lakeview was served by one bus that required several trips to shuffle students from across the county with the exception of Arab and the Grant area, which had no blacks. James had to get up at 5 a.m. to catch the bus’ first route, which arrived at Lakeview an hour before school. Routes flipped in the afternoon, and he had to wait until 4 or 4:30 to catch the bus, putting him home at 5 or 5:15. The few years he played basketball, he caught a Greyhound or Continental bus home in the evenings after practice. He quit basketball after the 10th grade because he was double-promoted and, with an eye on college, wanted to further apply himself to his academics.

ouble-promotion put James in the Lakeview Class of 1967, which had about 20 students. Had he gone into the 11th grade, he’d have transferred with integration to Boaz High School. (His sister Rosemary and younger brother left Lakeview in ’67 and transferred to Boaz.) “I was dating one of her friends, and we

‘Celebration of a Legacy’

Alma Mater

Far above the lakes and valleys, glorious for its view, stands Lakeview, Dear Lakeview, towering toward the blue. Long may she live to bless the world while justice takes her stand, and from her window we can view her children’s work throughout the land. So Lakeview, Dear Lakeview, we will forever be true. There is none other that we love, none other more than you. Written by Estella Lovelady (McDonald)

This year marks the 77th anniversary of the opening of Lakeview School and the 50th anniversary since the last senior class graduated. It calls for a “Celebration of Legacy,” which is sponsored by The Lakeview Community Civic Organization. Set for Aug. 17-20, the event is extended to all graduates and supporters and includes: • A meet and greet reception at the Hampton Inn • Unveiling of a historic marker at the site of the former school • Dance and social at Guntersville Town Hall • Banquet at the Guntersville Senior Center • Farewell breakfast at Guntersville Public Library For more information, call: Greg Hundley, LCCO president, 617416-2370; or Brenda May, former LCCO president, 256.738.0756.

She made her mark on the space program

Jeanette Alexander Scissum, a 1956 graduate of Lakeview School, holds a BA and MA in mathematics from Alabama A&M University. Not without some trials, she joined NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in 1964. In ‘67 she published a “Survey of Solar Cycle Prediction Models,” which improved forecasting sunspot cycles. As a scientist in Marshall’s Space Sciences Laboratory, she led activities in the atmospheric, magnetospheric and plasmas project. In 1975, Jeanette wrote “Equal Employment Opportunity and the Supervisor – A Counselor’s View,” arguing that “adequate and meaningful communication” would solve many discrimination complaints. She also worked as a computer systems analyst at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Jeanette married Lakeview principal Adolph Scissum (now deceased) in 1959. Of their four grown children, Debbie died about three years ago. Living in Huntsville with her new husband, Andrew Mickens, Jeanette still holds Lakeview in high regard. “It was not well equipped as far as library books, a cafeteria ...” she says. “In spite of that, everyone who attended Lakeview loved it, and I think it was due to the great teachers we had.” As for being able to contribute to the space program, she calls that a blessing. broke up,” James says. “For her prom at Marshall County, one of my cousins asked me to ask her. I put on a front if guys were around, but I was a little on the shy side. I was afraid she’d say no.” He manned up and asked Sandra. She said yes – and yes again when they got married in 1970. James went on to Tuskegee University then Snead State, where he was in 1970 when he lost his college deferment. He was drafted into the Marines but ended up in the Air Force for eight years, including a stint in Thailand where he worked on a Univac computer in munitions while the base got shelled a few times. After the Air Force he returned to Snead and earned his associate degree. He then studied Fortran and Cobol programming at The University of Alabama and business administration at Jacksonville State University until his father died.

James moved home to look after his mother and got a job at Gold Kist. After 42 years in the business, he retired in 2010 as a supervisor for Pilgrim’s Pride. He and Sandra have two daughters, both UA grads: Latanya Rhines, a TARCOG attorney, and Traci Nicole Rhines, a manager at Belk’s in Guntersville.

ames was stationed in Delaware in 1974 when he heard the sad news that his high school alma mater had burned. “I thought about what kind of difference it made for the community,” he says. “And it could have been a community center and meeting place.” Residents who supported Lakeview by serving lunch and such, helped strengthen the community, James says. But, like other alumni, he credits most of the positive effects on the community –

Jeanette Scissum, photo by NASA

education – to the quality of the teachers at Lakeview. “They not only cared about you as a student, they cared about you as a person,” he says. “They bent over backward to motivate you, get you interested and do well. They knew if we were ever going to have any success after school, we had to be top notch.” The inequalities of “separate but equal,” added to the effort placed on the faculty. Or perhaps motivated them further. At any rate, James says, students knew the score. “I really blame the times,” James says. “It was the way things were. We were aware of what we had to face. All you had to do was go past the high school. “I never would dwell on it. We were all in the same situation at Lakeview. There was not a lot of jealousy. We made do with what we had.” Good Life Magazine

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First Place Jeff Horton, Georgia Mountain

My Marshall Deux Photo Contest 58

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More than a dozen local photographers entered 26 images in the second My Marshall Photo Contest. Limited only by their imaginations, the 2017 calendar and the county line, they turned in some fine, even exceptional work. Besides being talented and inspired enough to get out of the house with a camera, I think it’s safe to say they all love Marshall County, too. I understand that as well as the desire to share their images. And I thank them all. John Sharp’s Best of Show is pictured on pages 60-61. Bless his heart – and eyeball – he won Best in Show last year

Honorable Mention Justin King, Guntersville

Honorable Mention Don Uhlir, Guntersville

with a stunning sunset-lit landscape at Buck’s Pocket. In addition to publication here, John’s and the other winning entries will later be displayed at Guntersville Public Library, along with some of other photos submitted for the contest. (Thanks, Beth.) The contest was sponsored by Oden Imaging and Marshall County Good Life Magazine. Patrick Oden did all of the heavy lifting on making the contest happen. All I had to do was judge – and that was fun. David Moore Good Life Magazine

Honorable Mention John Sharp, Grant AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

Second Place Taylor Baker, Albertville

Third Place Jeff Horton, Georgia Mountain 60

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Oden Imaging Pick Justin King, Guntersville Good Life Magazine Pick Don Uhlir, Guntersville

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Best in Show John Sharp, Grant 62

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Wayne Trimble

Passing far beyond the level of ‘just’ a PE coach

Former Cullman Bearcat star and future Arab head coach Wayne Trimble goes to the air in Bama’s 1966, 34-0 blanketing of Southern Miss at Ladd Stadium in Mobile.

He was my physical education teacher when I began my senior year at Arab High School in 1973. Some of my classmates whispered that he had once played college football – maybe even pro. We just didn’t know for sure. Coach Trimble sure looked like an athlete. He was tall, built like a football player. And that long, jagged scar on his left knee seemed to be evidence of gridiron battles. But, at the time, he was just our PE coach. Little did we know ... Story by Steve A. Maze

ayne Trimble was born Dec. 10, 1944, in the Arkadelphia community of Cullman County. He was the fourth of five children born to Riley and Kerlista (Webb) Trimble. The family moved near Hanceville, but Wayne transferred to Cullman when he began the eighth grade. “Mother wasn’t able to drive me to school in Cullman since she was working,”

Wayne says. “I walked and hitchhiked 10 miles from the Johnson’s Crossing Community each day to and from school.” Wayne was starting on Cullman’s varsity football team by the time he was a sophomore and developed into a star quarterback during his junior and senior year (1961-62). The 1961 team was a powerhouse with a 9-1 record, but the 1962 team had the stuff from which high school football legends are made. Coach Oliver Woodard’s Bearcats went 10-0 that season. But they didn’t just win –

the offense scored almost 400 points while the stingy defense allowed only 78. Their closest shave was a 20-0 shutout over a very talented Decatur team that had handed the Bearcats their only loss the previous season. This Herculean effort came from a squad consisting of only 27 players. While Cullman finished the season undefeated, so did Robert E. Lee of Montgomery. The Associated Press and The Birmingham News chose Lee as 4A state champions, but the United Press

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and The Birmingham Post Herald chose Cullman. The only squad both teams played was Etowah County. Cullman spanked them by a 40-7 score while Lee only managed to eke out a 10-7 victory. Wayne scored five touchdowns in the game, but it was the way in which he scored that made the night so special – passing, running, kickoff return, punt return and a pass interception. “I truly believe the controversy over the 66

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rankings that year led to the state playoff system in high school football,” Wayne says.

any sports writers who saw the Bearcats, as well as coaches who opposed them, said the 1962 team was the best high school team they had ever seen – ever. Some said they were not only the best in the state, but possibly the nation. They also sang the praises of the team’s quarterback. “I wasn’t the only one on the team,”

Wayne insists. “We had many great players. There were only five or six guys on the team who were from Cullman. Most of them were from other areas in the county who had moved to Cullman.” Indeed there were other players who contributed to the team’s success. A total of five players, including Wayne, were granted college scholarships to The University of Alabama. Fullback Les Kelley would spend three years with the New Orleans Saints after a

Clockwise, top left: Cullman’s Big Three: Leslie Kelley, Johnny Calvert, Wayne; Wayne breaks open for a 1965 Orange Bowl TD pass from Joe Namath; Bear makes a “suggestion” to “Trim;” ’65 QB stable: Steve Sloan, Jimmy Israel, Wayne and Kenny Stabler; Wayne runs in 1966 behind Gene Rayburn, now of Cullman; Wayne makes a jump pass against LA Tech; and intercepts Auburn in ‘65. successful college career. Johnny Calvert would turn out to be an All-SEC offensive guard. Wide receiver Wayne Chappell and guard Barry Willoughby also signed with the Crimson Tide. Two other players from the ’62 team inked scholarships – Tommy Wood with Florence State (now UNA), and Bobby Waters signed with Chattanooga. The “big three” Bearcats that Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant set his eyes on, however, were Trimble, Kelley and Calvert.

“Coach Bryant visited us separately, but we had already decided that we wanted to play for him,” Wayne recalls. “My brother, Murray “Stubby” Trimble, had played for Coach Bryant at Texas A&M, so I was already familiar with him in a way.”

t Alabama, Wayne and the other freshman players moved into the third floor of Bryant Hall in 1963. The upperclassmen were located on the first floor and eager to harass the incoming freshmen.

“The upperclassmen walked in with a slat, something similar to a paddle,” Wayne well remembers. “They told us they were going to give us the slat.” “Joe Namath walked over and hit me, but he misjudged his swing. He hit me with just the edge of the slat – and it really hurt. He said that one didn’t count. I looked up at him and said, ‘Yes, it did.’” Namath didn’t hit him again. “Joe was a good leader on the field,” Wayne says. “Everyone got along with him. AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

Wayne was in the spotlight after leading Alabama’s win against Mississippi State in 1966. But headlines were hard to win in his day. He had the distinct honor – and the misfortune – to

play with some of Bama’s best QBs, including Joe Namath, Steve Sloan and Kenny Stabler.

He’s still very cordial when we have our reunions for the championship teams.” One of the things all players dreaded was when Coach Bryant came down from his famous tower during a practice – usually meaning he was highly displeased with a player or even coach’s performance. “There was a chain on the tower entranceway, and when we heard the chain rattle, we knew he was coming down,” Wayne laughs. “One day the chain rattled and assistant coach Dude Hennessey grabbed a player by the facemask and started screaming at him. “The player said, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong.’ Dude still had hold of him and said, ‘I know, but Coach Bryant is coming down from the tower. Just play along with me.’”

t was hard for Wayne to break into the starting lineup at quarterback with Namath, Steve Sloan and Ken Stabler on the roster. Coach Bryant didn’t want to waste Wayne’s talent, however, and also played him at running back, flanker and defensive back. Coach Bryant prepared his team pretty much the same way each week. They practiced on Monday night since players had “lab class” during the day. Tuesdays and Wednesdays were considered hard 68

practice days with full contact. They went over the game plan on Thursdays, and the team normally traveled on Fridays for away games. Coach Bryant also had a ritual of walking around inside an opponent’s stadium with the players on Saturdays before the game. “Lots of people would get to the stadium early just to watch us walk around,” Wayne says. “Our fans, family members and sweethearts would be cheering when we walked by them in our red blazers. Our heads would be held high and a chill running down our backs. We were proud to represent the Crimson Tide.” Wayne played on the 1964 and 1965 National Championship teams. Alabama was denied a three-peat in ’66 when the polls gave 9-0-1 Notre Dame and Michigan a split championship despite the Tide trouncing Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl – Wayne bowled over a Cornhusker for a second quarter TD – to finish 11-0. Wayne is sometimes asked to compare the two greatest coaches to ever don a Crimson Tide championship ring – Coach Bear Bryant and Coach Nick Saban. Of course, he played for one, but has also met Coach Saban. “There is definitely one similarity,”

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says Wayne. “They both demand excellence from their players and coaches.”

fter his college career ended, Wayne was drafted in the fourth round by the San Francisco 49ers. He was working out in Tuscaloosa before the season started when he heard something pop in his left knee. The 49ers office flew Wayne out to San Francisco where he had surgery. The injury limited him to one game during his rookie season, but he developed friendships with many of his teammates such as quarterbacks John Brodie, George Mira and Steve Spurrier. Also on the team was John David Crow, a Heisman Trophy winner for Bear Bryant when he coached at Texas A&M. “They were a good group of guys,” Wayne says. “We would have dinner together after a game. We also played golf together, and I enjoyed playing cards with Spurrier.” Wayne was released by the 49ers after the season ended and picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals as a member of their taxi squad. Unfortunately, he injured his other knee and that was the end of his pro football career. Wayne wanted to continue to be

involved in athletics and became the Mark says he learned a lot about life football coach at Cullman County’s West from his coach. s it turned out, Wayne Trimble Point High School in 1971. He stayed there “I learned nothing is handed to you wasn’t just my physical education teacher. for two years before going to Arab High on a silver platter,” he says. “You have In fact, he wasn’t just a football player. He School in 1973-1983. There he would to earn it. Life is not going to be kind. I is much more than that. become the He has made school’s all-time a positive impact winning football on hundreds – if coach. not thousands – Ironically, of students who in his first year have walked at Arab, Wayne the hallways of coached the schools where he Knights to has taught and victory over coached. Wayne his alma mater, and his family have the Cullman contributed greatly Bearcats. It was to Arab and the the first time Arab surrounding areas. had beaten the Wayne and Bearcats in ages. Barbara are now Sadly, Arab retired educators, High School but their daughters, burned in 1975. Alana Burks and Wayne was Adi Hunt, are on top of the active teachers. gymnasium Their son-in-law, as the fire Johnny Burks, A football scholarship was instrumental in Wayne Trimble’s education at The department taught and coached University of Alabama, but so was his fiancé Barbara Putman – his high school and at Cullman. watered the roof down to keep it Wayne was at college sweetheart from Cullman. Not only did she make him study, it is rumored from burning. Arab when the high that Barbara may have helped him with a term paper or two. They have been “Arab kids school burned and married since 1967. In addition to “Stubby,” Wayne’s other siblings were have a knack for the football stadium Sidney, Mona Jo (Kitson) and Riley. Photo by David Moore. being mentally condemned. As tough,” says a member of the Wayne. “The Arab City Board fire could have been something that hurt have taken the things he taught us and of Education, he is now helping in the us athletically, but I believe it actually used them throughout my life and in my planning of a new high school sports brought the team closer together.” career. I really appreciate all he did for complex. me.” One can say that Wayne has come full ayne’s 1978 team, which In 1979, all Arab games were played circle in his educational career at Arab. went 8-1, was led by quarterback Mark away due to the football stadium being “Arab has been so good to my family,” Thornhill. Mark, who played for the condemned. Wayne says. “We raised our kids and our Arabian Knights from 1977–79, is now a “That was tough for everyone,” grandkids here, and now it’s just home to popular news anchor on WAFF-TV 48 in Wayne says. “Not only did the players us. Huntsville. have to play every game on the road, “I was also very fortunate to be “The fact that Coach Trimble played the student body didn’t have the good able to attend Cullman High School, quarterback in high school and college – as fortune to attend home games. Still, we where we had a good coach that taught well as was recruited and played for Coach always had good fan support.” discipline. We were able to accomplish Bryant – meant that he brought a lot of The family remained in Arab even a lot athletically. Cullman was also good credibility to his players.” Mark says. after Wayne became football coach – and for us because they supported our family “Coach Trimble was still young enough later principal – at Brewer High School. business (coal yard). to actually run plays on the football field He was there from 1989-93. “Due to working and living in both when I was playing. He would say, ‘Hand He and his wife, Barbara, thought Cullman County and Arab,” he adds, “ I me the ball and I’ll show you how to run they might eventually move back to have actually had the best of both worlds.” that play.’ He didn’t just tell us what we Cullman, but instead they fell in love Spoken like a champ. needed to learn, he showed us.” with the Arab community. Good Life Magazine

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Out ’n’ About If you’re out and about on Wednesday, you can stop by Guntersville First Baptist Church for a bite of lunch and a taste of bluegrass music. The FBC Pickers say you’re welcome to have a sandwich with them at 11:30 a.m. and hang out while they do the proverbial pickin’ and a-grinnin’ from noon to 1 p.m. They began coming together shortly after Ken Patterson came to FBC in October 2007. Tim Hays, now the dobro player, and Lynn Holifield on banjo were just beginning to play. Ken encouraged them, and the group grew from there. Besides the church, they perform at events, retirement centers and nursing homes as far as Mississippi and Tennessee. Pictured clockwise from top left are: Rod Gunter and Ken; Monica Martin, Tim and Ray Forrester; David Daniel and Paul Brown; Sandra Gulling and Mac Hollaway; and Lynn. Not pictured is mandolin player Nora Duckett. Plan to eat? Please call Ken at FBC: 256-582-5141. Photos by David Moore.

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