Marshall Good Life Magazine - Winter 2017

MARSHALL COUNTY

He sailed the seas, rescued people in Africa and moved to Albertville ‘Wonders-of-the-County’ church arose from rowdy days in Boaz Transplants from Florida planted their collection of statues in Arab

WINTER 2017 COMPLIMENTARY

(left to right) Monty Davis Emily Andrews Andy Oram

Andy Oram Monty Davis

Emily Andrews

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The City of Arab invites you to visit

Lights on nightly from dusk to 9 p.m. (weather permitting)

November 24 - December 31

Admission is free to walk the park and view the lights Located at Arab City Park 844 Shoal Creek Trail, Arab, AL

Lighting ceremony begins at 6 pm, Friday, November 24

Santa In The Park at the Historic Village 6-9 p.m. on Nov. 24 & 25, Dec. 1-2, Dec. 8-9, Dec. 15-16, Dec. 22-23 Nightly admission: age 2 and under FREE, $5 per person, $20 for immediate family * *Immediate family: parents/guardians and children

For more info or directions:

Call 256-586-6793

Visit www.arabcity.org

Email

parkrec@arabcity.org

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

3

Fueling Your Life In Marshall County ... For Less

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SCANT CITY 8191 AL Highway 69 256-753-2452

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GUNTERSVILLE – 2 2112 Henry Street 265-505-0646

SARDIS CITY 12230 U.S. Highway 431 256-593-2945

ARAB – 3 8640 U.S. Highway 231 N 256-931-9509

1928 Gunter Avenue 265-582-1577

CROSSVILLE 19575 AL Highway 68/168 256-561-3104

500 North Main Street 256-931-0567

ALBERTVILLE – 2 9080 U.S. Highway 431 N 256-857-7092

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Welcome

An unintentional history issue, without, we trust, any yawning

I

’m far from oblivious to the past, but I confess to snoozing through my share of high school and college history classes. Ah, but history class was so ... yesterday.

When creating the format for Good Life Magazine in 2013, I knew from the get-go we’d include a history/ memorabilia story in each issue.

Knowing our format, Stan Miller, my accountant, kindly shared his antique, four-volume “History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography.”

Nice thought, but … the history on Marshall County grippingly begins, “Created by an act of the legislature January 9, 1836.” (Yawn.) Published in 1921, its sections on each county are spiced with riveting, up-to-the minute farming statistics from the 1910 Census. (Zzzzzz.)

To be kind, the 3,200 brown-aged pages are drier than the drought of 2016. Crumble a page into a swimming pool and it’ll suck it dry before your very eyes.

Nope. Thomas McAdory Owen, LL.D., wrote no nail biter, but I learned an interesting tidbit: he did found the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

I once went to a party there. Actually, it was a reception for an Alabama Press Association convention, which is pretty much the same thing. Unexpectedly, the archives were fascinating.

H

elen Keller letters were displayed, her signature ruler-line perfect. Reading them, my figuratively blind eyes saw a woman of incredible character and fortitude.

I read telegraphs between President John F. Kennedy and Gov. George Wallace from the tense days of integration at The University of Alabama.

I opened the original, 1901 state constitution – bare handed. You could do that before 770-plus amendments turned it into a 310,296-and-counting-page monster.

As the reception wound down, the ghost of history came hauntingly alive as I read a typed page titled “Integrated Bus Suggestions.” Dated Dec. 19, 1956, it contained guidelines for blacks to ensure non-violence after the Supreme Court ruled against bus segregation.

Martin Luther King signed it. So captivated was I, that I returned the following day to study it. Didn’t yawn once.

N

ot by design, this issue has three historic/nostalgia pieces. Well, people tell me they love learning about their home county.

I trust you find these – and all of our stories – more alive and interesting than my (Zzzzzz) old history classes.

David Moore Publisher/editor 6

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

Contributors Steve Maze’s basement at his house in New Canaan is absolutely packed with tons of memorabilia. It makes it tough for his fans to find him a Christmas gift. Another thing Steve doesn’t need is a sense of humor. His piece in this issue on his myriad health problems will keep you in, well, stitches ... so to speak.

While researching a story on A.C. Walker, Albertville’s most interesting man, Seth Terrell was reminded that it’s a dinky world. He found that in 1902 his subject was a member of North Broad Street Church of Christ ... where Seth is the pastor. Other than the story, however, their paths haven’t directly crossed – at least not yet.

Regional Extension Agent Hunter McBrayer probably gets tons of calls from adoring fans unsure what to get him for Christmas. Short of a tractor, we suspect he has his fill of farmrelated presents, but you might think about giving him a DVD of “Christmas Vacation.”

There are two scenes he’s not memorized yet.

In case you’re wondering what to get Annette Haislip for Christmas, the former Arab school teacher can always read another book or seven. But don’t worry about getting her a birthday present in February. She has another great granddaughter arriving, which she says will be a marvelous birthday present.

Talented free-lance photographer/writer Patrick Oden probably has a lot of things he’d like for Christmas. A few of them start with “Nikon,” hint, hint. But if you have a good idea for a story or photo spread you’d like to see in GLM, he probably wouldn’t mind that at all.

Ad/art director and MoMc Publishing partner Sheila McAnear is especially pleased with the winter/holiday cycle of Marshall and Cullman County Good Life Magazine. It is – so far, she likes to say – GLM’s largest cycle to date.

That meant she had to create more ads than usual, but, hey, that’s just fine with her.

It’s good to go through life with a sense of amazement, believes GLM publisher/editor David Moore. That’s one of the main reasons he enjoys his work so much. “I’m continually amazed at the people who share such interesting stories with us,” he says. “We thank them for sharing – and for being amazing, too.”

Shopping As Easy As 1, 2, 3 . .

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Arab Lumber & Supply, Inc.

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1036 North Brindlee Mountain Parkway 841 N Brindlee Mountain Pkwy, Arab 256-586-4197 Be warm all winter with traditional artic quilt-lined Carhartt jackets. Many styles

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Bakers on Main

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336 Gunter Avenue, Guntersville 256-582-1300 Antique wine barrel lazy Susan

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Boutique Therapy

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578 N. Brindlee Mountain Parkway, Arab 256-931-2148 Green and red ceramic mugs $15 - Merry and bright ceramic tumblers $20.50

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Bubba’s II

352A Gunter Avenue, Lake Guntersville • 256-571-9971 True Grit frosty tip pullovers - Many popular colors to choose from.

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5 Coker-Berry Gibbs Gift LLC

946 North Brindlee Mountain Parkway, Arab • 256-586-4246 Coton Colors Happy Christmas mini platter. Other attachments available.

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Dots Art & Gifts

15 First Avenue NW Downtown Arab • 256-200-5270 Original whimsical art starting at $25, and shop hizNhers resale items.

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Fine Things

1942 North Brindlee Mountain Parkway Dogwood Plaza, Arab 256-586-5685 Huge selection of Big “O” Key Rings

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Frog Hollow, LLC

3720 Hopewell Road • Arab 256-679-1538 Say Merry Christmas southern style with Frog Hollow cider, jams, jellies.

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Jones Discount Pharmacy

1036 North Brindlee Mountain Parkway Northgate Shopping Center, Arab 256-586-3179 Be comfortable at the games with an adjustable, reclining stadium seat.

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River Loft Boutique

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Scott’s Urban Earth

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Swords Jewelers

354 Gunter Avenue, Guntersville 256-486-2211 VASH metallic splatter oversized calf hair clutch. Can go from day to night. Detachable leather wrist strap and shoulder sling.

Flower Exchange

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Many whimsical, creative designs!

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Guntersville Merle Norman

380 Gunter Avenue Guntersville 256-582-6493 Make spirits bright with gift sets like ... Blissful Body Butter & more

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The Monkey’s Uncle At The Lake

382 Gunter Avenue, Guntersville 256-486-3773 Collect Mark Roberts Fairies & Elves

13 The Niche Fashion Boutique

7419 Highway 431, Suite D Albertville 256-857-7158 Create your own jewelry in a snap with Ginger Snaps Interchangeable Fashion Snaps

984 N Brindlee Mountain Pkwy Arab - 256-586-4372 Ne’ Qwa ornaments - unique hand blown, hand painted glass ornaments $25-$45 384 Gunter Avenue Guntersville 256-582-2665 Halo bridal sets ...

Starting at only $399

Inside 10 Good Fun

Take Guntersville’s Holiday Tour of Homes or tour China with Arab/Albertville groups

16 Good People

Brenda May discusses Lakeview efforts

20 Good Reads

“Camino Island” and “The Twelve Lives”

22 Serenading and dry sitting Memories of Christmases past

24 Good ’n’ Green

Poinsettias ... the Christmas plant

27 Good Cooking

Neena Drake, of Guntersville restaurant fame shares some favorite recipes

36 Joe and Louise Vernaglia

Their unique Arab house and yard are ‘crawling’ with bronze statues

44 The art of Todd Carroll

Taxidermist specializes in waterfowl

50 Father Time?

Steve Maze says it’s ‘Borrowed Time’

52 Good Eats

Papa Dubi’s offers a taste of Cajun

54 A most interesting man

A.C. Walker sailed the seas in 1800 before finding his way to Albertville

60 Julia Street UMC

Celebrating 100 years, landmark church isn’t on Julia Street, but that’s just for starts

69 Out ’n’ About

Visit Arab’s annual Christmas in the Park

On the cover: After the Christmas tree, is there another plant so lovely for the holiday season? This page: Stained glass at Julia Street UMC depicts points of the compass in the circle, top; Solomon’s Temple, right, with the four Pillars of Knowledge and a mason’s plumb. Photos by David Moore.

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

Vol. 5 No. 1 Copyright 2017 Published quarterly

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

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

8

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

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The Holiday Tour of Homes

T

he Guntersville Ladies Civitan Club has changes for its Fourth Annual Holiday Tour of Homes.

From 1-5 p.m Sunday, Dec. 3, Guntersville Senior Center will be the tour’s hub. Ride Guntersville Transit to the holiday-decorated homes. Waiting for a connection will be fun with caterers and merchants with ideas for gift-giving and decorating – and the tour of homes will certainly put you in the mood to decorate.

• Gus and Toby King’s lighthouse is a Guntersville landmark. Ride the elevator to the top.

• Lynn Upton created a tribute to her late husband Pat’s musical career and beautifully crafted furniture.

• A family home for 25 years, rebuilt after the 2011 tornadoes, Glenn and Karen Cunningham’s home boasts fabulous lake and lighthouse views.

• Newcomers Jarrod and Whitney Goodman are creating a wonderland of Christmas trees at their new home on Lake Creek Drive.

• Milla Sachs’ striking Buck Island home, rebuilt after the tornadoes, is reminiscent of an Aspen lodge.

Advanced tickets are $25 at Monkey’s Uncle and Coldwell Banker Graben Real Estate offices in Guntersville, Albertville and Arab. Or buy them online through the Guntersville Ladies Civitan Facebook page. Tickets are $30 on the day of the tour. Proceeds benefit Every Child’s Playground and other Ladies Civitan Projects.

Tour homes are, top to bottom, those of: Gus and Toby King, Jarrod and Whitney Goodman, Glenn and Karen Cunningham, Milla Sachs and Lynn Upton.

Good Fun

• Dec. 15 – Deadline for an adventure to China Intrigued about China? Its history? Its future and potential? Join a growing group of about 20 from Marshall County to experience China April 11-19, 2018 on a joint trip sponsored by the Albertville and Arab chambers of commerce. The package includes round-trip flights to and from JFK International; domestic Chinese flights between Beijing and Shanghai; deluxe bus trips to Sazhou and Hangzhou; 4- and 5-star hotel accommodations; three daily meals; English-fluent guides and attraction entrance fees. Visit the Tiananmen Square, the 1420 A.D. Temple of Heaven, the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, and take a day’s excursion to experience the 2,000-year-old Great Wall. And that’s just the Beijing leg of the tour. Dec. 15 is the deadline to pay the $300 deposit. Double occupancy rate is $2,199. For more information and itinerary, call: Albertville Chamber, 256-878-3821; or Arab Chamber, 256-586-3138.

There’s lots to do, from China to ... ice skating?

• Through Nov. 24 – Janie Clifton exhibit The Mountain Valley Arts Council exhibitor, a native of Marshall County living in Huntsville, uses color to steer her paintings. From muted tones to vibrant hues, her works include watercolors, oils, and acrylic paintings. A public reception for the artist will be 5-7 p.m. Nov. 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.

• Through Christmas – Free giftwrapping in Boaz The Boaz Area Chamber of Commerce is offering free gift-wrapping

for items bought in the city. Stop by the office 8 a.m.-5 p.m. M-F at 100 East Bartlett Street and bring your receipts and a box, if one is needed.

• Nov. 9-11 – “Sweet Charity” Nationally recognized Arab Musical Theatre presents this musical comedy that follows the turbulent love life of Charity Hope Valentine, a hopelessly romantic but comically unfortunate dance hall hostess in New York City.

With a tuneful, groovy, mid-1960s score

by Cy Coleman, sparkling lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and a hilarious book by Neil Simon, the stage presentation at Arab High School captures the energy, humor and heartbreak of an unfortunate

but irrepressible optimist. Shows at 7 p.m., all seats reserved. Tickets at the door, $10 students, $15 adults; advanced, $7 students, $12 adults online: www.amtshows.org, also for more info.

• Nov. 10-19 – “Black Tie America” The Whole Backstage presents “Black Tie America,” featuring the music of the nation in honor of Veterans Day and the Greatest Generation. Directed

by Johnny Brewer, assisted by Jan Price, Karen Fancher and Wayne Davis, the production features more than 100 voices in adult and youth ensembles singing the likes of “This is My Country,” “America,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

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seniors, $10 for students. They are available at the WBS office 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays; by phone at 256-582-7469; or at: www.wholebackstage.com.

It’s a special musical by the WBS. Boy,” “God Bless America,” “Armed Forces Salutes” and much, much more.

Shows are at 7 p.m. Nov. 10, 11, 16, 17 and 18 and at 2 p.m. Nov. 12 and 19. Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for

•Nov. 11 – Veterans Day services The public is encouraged to attend the annual services in front of the courthouse in Guntersville sponsored by the VFW posts in Boaz, Guntersville and Arab. It begins at 11 a.m. A second service will be held at 2 p.m. at the All Veterans Monument at Arab City Park.

works. Holidays and otherwise, part of his more than 4,000 original works.

“I showed the America I know and observed to others, who might not have noticed,” said Rockwell, who was born in 1894 and painted well into the 1970s before dying in ’78.

The opening reception for the exhibit, 5-7 p.m., Nov. 16, coincides with that of the Festival of Trees and includes lively Christmas music, food stations, wine, beer and a champagne toasting. It’s free to museum members; $15 for all others.

The museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Tuesday-Friday; 1-4 p.m. weekends. For more: www.guntersvillemuseum.org; or 256-571-7597. Admission is free.

• Nov. 16-Dec. 31 – Norman Rockwell exhibit For a bit of nostalgic fun this season – or possibly brandnew fun for a youngster – visit Norman Rockwell’s “Home for the Holidays” at the Guntersville Museum.

The exhibit includes 40 prints of the iconic painter’s holiday-themed

• Nov. 15-Dec. 31 – Festival of Trees Opening reception at the Guntersville Museum for its annual Festival of Trees will coincide with the opening of the Norman Rockwell exhibit (see above).

The museum will feature more than 40 Christmas trees, decorated by community organizations. Other than

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opening night, the tree exhibit is free and open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. TuesdayFriday; 1-4 p.m. weekends. For more: www.guntersvillemuseum.org; or 256571-7597.

• Nov. 21–Dec. 22 – Free giftwrapping, Albertville BYOB – bring your own box – along with a receipt from any merchant in town to the Albertville Chamber of Commerce during regular office hours for free gift wrapping. If it’s a really big present, the chamber folks will make you a really big bow.

• Nov. 24–Dec. 31 – Christmas in the Park Please see Out ‘n’ About, starting on page 69.

• Nov. 28 – Guntersville tree lighting The city’s annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony starts at 5:30 p.m. You may see the 20-foot tree in Errol Allan Park downtown. There will be Christmas singing, treats given out and Santa.

Need more info? Call: 256-571-7561.

• Dec. 1-22 – Free gift wrapping, Arab The Arab Chamber of Commerce is offering free wrapping for all Christmas gifts bought from the chamber members. Bring your receipt with you when you drop off the gift between 9 a.m.-5 p.m., MondayThursday.

• Dec. 1 – Boaz Christmas Parade Boaz’s Christmas Parade starts at 5 p.m. on Ala. 205 near the Farmers Market, passes City Hall, turns right onto E. Mann Ave. then right on Brown Street, left onto Ala. 168; it turns right at Thunder Ally Bowling , exits onto Billy Dyar Blvd. and returns to Ala. 205.

Float judging starts at 4 p.m.

This year’s theme is “Christmas in Alabama.” Prizes and ribbons will be awarded to top floats and the

Santa’s coming ... so is Norman Rockwell best decorated horse. Nov. 30 is the last day to register for the parade.

For more info contact: Boaz Area Chamber of Commerce: 256-5938154; or boazchamber@gmail.com.

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You can ice skate in Albertville Dec. 7-10.

Details below.

Kaydee Roden shot this picture of people having fun at last year’s rink. For more of her work: www.kaydee. photography.

• Dec. 2 – Boaz Merchant Holiday Open House For the Merchant Holiday Open House, Boaz stores will offer special sales, door prizes and refreshments.

With a receipt from a store in town, the Boaz Area Chamber of Commerce will wrap your gift purchases for free.

For more info: 256-593-8154; or boazchamber@gmail.com.

• Dec. 2 – Arab Cookies with Santa The Arab Civitans invite young and old to its annual, free get-together with the Mr. Claus. The fun goes from 10 a.m.-noon at the Arab Fire Department.

The Civitans provide a free photo with Santa, and kids can have cookies, juice and milk in the bay with the fire trucks.

• Dec. 3 – Wind Band Concert at Snead The Community Wind Band will perform at 3 p.m. in the Bevill Center at Snead State Community College.

Hear student ensembles and soloists including the Jazz Band, the College Chorus, the College Street Singers and the Brass Ensemble. Admission is free.

•Dec. 4 – Douglas Christmas Parade The 2018 Douglas Christmas Parade begins lineup at 4:30 p.m. at the football field and starts at 6. The theme is “Joy to the World.” The free, 14

fun family event includes cookies and hot chocolate with Santa at Douglas Town Hall after the parade. Prizes will be awarded to the parade entries. For more info or applications, visit: www. douglasal.com.

• Dec. 6-29 – Children’s Christmas Cards Mountain Valley Arts Council’s 8th Annual Children’s Christmas Card Contest will be on display with entries by students from across the county.

The MVAC gallery, 300 Gunter Ave., Guntersville, is open 1-5 p.m. TuesdayFriday; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.

Admission is free. For more info: 256571-7199.

Albertville this year. Sponsored by Albertville.us in conjunction with the city and chamber, a 40x40-foot rink at the Farmer’s Market will be open 4-9 p.m.

Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Saturday and 1-6 p.m. Sunday (when group reservations can be made). A $5 cash ticket gets you skates (starting at a kid’s size 8) and 30 minutes on the ice There will be food trucks, live Christmas music, a free photo booth and Santa 6-8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. Parentsigned waivers are required for those under 19. For details on entertainment, reservations and waivers, visit: www. albertville.us.

• Dec. 7 – Albertville Christmas Parade It starts with the tree lighting at 5 p.m. at Rotary Park. The traditional parade, sponsored by the Civitans and Albertville Chamber of Commerce, starts at 5:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church, goes up Main Street, then left on South Hambrick, then loops back to the church on Sand Mountain Drive. To register an entry, call: Jason Simpson at Alfa, 256-878-1412; or the chamber, 256-878-3821.

Dec. 7 – Arab Christmas Parade The annual Christmas parade starts at 6 p.m. at Arab First Baptist Church and runs south down Main Street. The theme is “Christmas in Alabama,” and grand marshal will be Cindy Mullican, winner of the Arab Chamber of Commerce’s 2017 Outstanding Citizen Achievement Award. Registration forms available at chamber office on North Main Street. It’s free to enter the parade, but there’s a $35 float fee to be eligible for $100, $75 and $50 awards. For more information or to participate, call: Arab Chamber, 256-586-3138.

• Dec. 7-10 – Ice Skate Albertville Yep. You can skate again in

• Dec. 8 – Winter Concert at Snead The Snead State Community College

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

Music Department’s Winter Concert will be held at 7 p.m. in Fielder Auditorium. Admission is free.

• Dec. 8 – A Night Before Christmas This big, free, Guntersville event, sponsored by North Town Merchants Association, runs 5-9 p.m. It includes ice skating rink and snow machine in the Old Guntersville Post Office parking lot. There’ll be entertainment and refreshments, too.

Guntersville First United Methodist Church will set up its replica Bethlehem marketplace with live animals.

Merchants will not only be open and offering sales, but offering refreshments and fun attractions.

Santa and Mrs. Claus will be at Fant’s starting about 5:30 p.m.; The Corner Market will have storybook time; and Lynn Karel at Antiques and Sweets will be serving homemade soup; and much more.

• Dec. 9 – Cookies with Santa in Albertville You-know-who will be at the

Albertville Chamber of Commerce from 10 a.m. to noon for Cookies with Santa. The free, two-hour program by the Albertville Chamber of Commerce provides parents and grandparents with lots of photo ops and other fun.

• Dec. 9 – Guntersville Christmas Parade The annual parade cranks up at 5 p.m. on Scott Street and ends just before the intersection of U.S. 431 and Ala. 69. The theme is “Christmas in Alabama.” Applications will be available online and at the Lake Guntersville Chamber of Commerce.

For more info: 256-582-3612.

• Dec. 9 – Grant Christmas Parade Sponsored by the Grant Chamber of Commerce, kicks off at 1 p.m.

Saturday and runs through downtown.

• Dec. 12 – Community Choir Christmas Concert The group – comprised of area volunteers – will perform its annual holiday concert at 7 p.m. in Bevill

Auditorium at Snead State Community College. Admission is free.

• Jan. 26 – Oakwood performing at Snead The Aeolians of Oakwood University will perform at 7 p.m. in Fielder Auditorium at Snead State Community College. Admission is free.

• Jan. 20-Feb. 19 – Eagle Awareness Lake Guntersville State Park’s 32nd annual winter event highlights majestic birds of prey, emphasizing – of course – bald eagles. The Saturday (5:30 a.m.-5 p.m. ) and Sunday programs (5:30 a.m.-2 p.m.) are free. They start at the lodge, run through the day and feature guided field trips, live bird demonstrations and notable speakers.

The park offers special two-night packages for one to six people ranging from $75 (campground) to $380 (lodge). For more info, call: the nature center, 256-571-5445; or visit: http://alapark.com/Lake-GuntersvilleState-Park-Eagle-AwarenessWeekends.

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15

Good People

5questions Story and photo

by David Moore

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renda May did not found the Lakeview Community Civic Organization. But as past president and a board member, she’s a strong believer in the group’s goals and, as she sees it, her calling.

The LCCO strives to improve life in Guntersville’s Lakeview community – too often referred to as “The Hill.” The groups’ goals include curtailing drug activity; breaking cycles of poverty and unwed births; education, economic empowerment and beautification; and better public relations. As these areas improve, the LCCO believes people will ultimately take more and more pride in the community.

For Brenda, all of that, especially when it comes to helping children, needs to start with prayer. She knows about children. She’s raised two and helps with grandchildren. Heck, she was a kid, herself … number nine of 15 in her family.

They grew up near Red Hill in the Warrenton community. Money was tight even before her father, the late Greenberry Harrison Staten III, was injured on his construction job. Afterward, her mom, Viola, did domestic work.

“Beans, cornbread and potatoes, we had that everyday,” Brenda says. “We had chicken on Sunday.”

Greenberry led the Staten Family Choir. Singing rubbed off on Brenda. He made the kids read the Bible. When they sat down to eat and bless the food, each child said a Bible verse. He urged them all to finish school.

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fter Guntersville High, Brenda went to college. Colleges, to be more exact: Calhoun State, St. Bernard’s, University of Alabama.

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Brenda May

Applying her smarts, drive and heart to the efforts to better a community “I was sightseeing or something,” she laughs.

Brenda quit college, got married – it didn’t last – and had a son in 1979.

She worked stints at Gold Kist and Keyes Fibre Chinet. She was a machine operator for Chinet Paper Products – now Huhtamaki – in Albertville when she had her daughter in 1988.

“I decided I needed to do something.

I had two kids I was trying to raise myself,” Brenda says.

The company paid college tuition for employees. So, working 12-hour shifts, Brenda got off at 6 p.m. and took classes at Snead State, finally graduating with a double degree in applied science in 1995.

Chinet promoted her to a tech at its wastewater plant, working straight days.

After work, she drove to Jacksonville State. It took five years, but she earned a degree in computer integrated manufacturing.

That led to several promotions, and now she oversees Huhtamaki’s wastewater operation. As much as she worked to better herself, she was still concerned for her community.

1.

How did the Lakeview Community Civic Organization come into being, and what was its purpose?

It was formed by Mayor James Townsend in late 1999. Nellie “Mother” Franklin was a councilperson.

At that time we were having a lot of problems with drug activity in the Lakeview community, and a couple people got shot. The Hill had a bad reputation. You didn’t want to go there. Anything could happen. And the dropout rate was also really bad.

The mayor handpicked members of the community to come together and help explore ways to get kids involved

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in other things. He wanted to change the way people looked at the community.

He wanted us to try to bring people together.

Ophelia Chandler was the chairperson, the late Charles Avery was vice chair, and Nellie was treasurer. I’m not sure why he picked me. The others were Mary Baker, Dixie Deeds, Latanya Rhines, Vanessa Roberts, and the late Jo Ann Moore, Alice Staten and John Stewart Jr. Mayor Townsend gave us $5,000 to start programs we thought would help morale in the community and bring people together better. He said he’d have money budgeted.

In 2000 we held a banquet featuring “stars” from the community to help develop an understanding of our yesterday, today and tomorrow.

We wanted to lead our community toward a more positive outlook, bring the people together. They were so divided. There has been – and still is – a little division even among our churches in the community. We used to have community services on third Sunday afternoons at different churches.

The LCCO was supposed to make money as well with events. So we had a Halloween carnival in 2000.

We were active for about three or four years. But there were some disagreements about how to allocate funds. People were being people, and eventually it fell apart. We were hoping to implement more programs that would bring the community together and give people a more positive outlook.

2.

again?

So what got the LCCO going

In 2012, District Attorney Steve Marshall (now Alabama’s attorney general) was doing his mentor program

Snapshot: Brenda May

BORN: Dec. 29, 1955, one of 15 children of Viola NeSmith and Greenberry Harrison Staten III (deceased). Siblings are: Julia Simpson, Greenberry Harrison Staten IV (deceased), James Staten (deceased), Alfred Staten (deceased), Vickie Staten, Marty Cox, Fred Staten, Bobby Staten, David Staten, Deborah Elston, Kenneth Staten, John Staten, Darryl Staten, Jeannene Vines.

EDUCATION: Lakeview School; graduated Guntersville High 1974; studied at Calhoun State, St. Bernard’s, The University of Alabama; later graduated from Snead State, 1995, and Jacksonville State University, 2000.

FAMILY: Married 1979. Son, James May, Albertville; daughter, Simone May, has PhD in counseling, Auburn University; grandchildren, Jordan May, now at Gadsden State, Grayson Townsend, Italy May, Chloe Holder, Dadrien Waller, Isabella Padgett.

EMPLOYMENT: Automatic Electric, Gold Kist (two months); Chinet Paper Products Huhtamaki Oyj in Albertville from 1981 to the present; Marshall County DHR, family support worker since 2007.

ACTIVITIES AND HONORS: St. Minor Primitive Baptist, Guntersville, choir, Sunday school and Bible class teacher, head of outreach ministry; Marshall County Mentors, lunch buddy at Cherokee Elementary; Lakeview Community Civic Organization, board member and immediate past president of; 2016 Guntersville Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.

with a kid from the elementary school.

He was driving through The Hill and saw drugs being sold on the street and knew he had to do something He started the Drug Market Intervention Program. It called for identifying those in the community who caused the biggest problems.

Residents knew who the problem people were and made a list. Meetings were set up through the DMI, and pastors were asked to go to the families and neighbors of those on the list, and tell the dealers to stop.

They were selling to undercover agents, and if they didn’t stop they’d be prosecuted. Several were sentenced to prison, including my son, but it wasn’t for drugs.

He’d joined the church at an early age but fell away from it. I said, “Look, you know what you’re doing, and you need to stop or God is going to get you.” But he kept hanging around out there messing up.

It’s hard to see your son in handcuffs on the news in the break room at work … to see his name splattered all over The Advertiser Gleam. I did a whole lot of praying over that.

After the DMI program, pastor Mario Ford from St. Minor on Jordan Street realized it was a good time to re-activate the LCCO, so we got back together.

3.

How much good do you feel the LCCO has done and, going forward, what do you hope the group eventually achieves?

The drug program made a big difference. It used to be you could stop on any corner of The Hill and get your drugs. There is still some drug activity, but it has gotten a lot better.

I don’t have any statistics, but I would say the graduation rate has increased and we have more kids in college than we ever had before. That’s one thing the LCCO started doing when we got back together – it’s not a whole lot but we give scholarships to kids in college or going to college.

In 2013 we got our non-profit status and started with one $500-scholarship.

In 2014 we gave two $500-scholarships and again in 2015. In 2016, we had an 18

anonymous donor who gave $10,000 to the educational fund. We ended up giving five $500-scholarships that year and four this year, based on community service, academics, need or alumni status.

We’ve also increased the scholarships because we almost doubled the anonymous donation through fundraising events – a community birthday calendar; a fall festival at the rec center; what we now call the Super Bowl BBQ. Janice Stewart, a high school teacher and LCCO member, writes a weekly community news column in the newspaper each week, and, along with Trent Hundley and Simone May, we help organize an annual three-on-three basketball tournament.

We also do Back-to-School Blessings in August, where we give free school supplies for all age groups.

And we’ve had two Martin Luther King Day of Service Breakfasts to bring the community together. Since the kids are out of school, we feed them breakfast that morning then go out and pick up trash in the community. We also sponsor families at Christmas through the Christmas Coalition and we provide small care packages for the elderly and disabled during the Christmas holidays.

Going forward, we’d like to get everybody, at least 85 percent of the community, on the same page in realizing that kids need to stay in school, and all of the children need to get their education. That way, they can get to a point where they can take care of themselves, not be on public assistance and even help someone else in turn.

The Bible says the poor you have with you always. But when you have as much talent and academically smart people in the community, there is no need to have as many people on public assistance as we have.

We have some very talented and smart children who have gone through our school system. Our younger kids coming up are honor roll students.

There is no limit to what any one of them can do. Kent Looney and Sheila Shores have been doing a great job with the children at the after school Youth Center on Wiggs Street in Guntersville.

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They have already proven they have the ability. They need to know that someone has their back, to help push them and support them. They can make it all the way up to the White House if that’s what they choose to do.

LCCO has made a big difference in our community, implementing programs and fundraisers and scholarships. We’re headed in the right direction, but there’s more we need to address.

We need to break the cycle of unwed mothers, get them GEDs. Get adults to eat better. We’ve had workshops on eating, finances, budgeting, vehicle maintenance for women and insurance for senior citizens and the disabled, but we have a hard time getting people to come.

LCCO also hopes to work closer with the Crane Court Learning Center on Wiggs Street. Mayor Leigh Dollar has always said she’s willing to support all children in any way she can to better themselves.

4.

You’ve said you have a goal. A calling. Care to explain?

My daughter was born in 1988. I prayed real hard then and while I was carrying her. I felt I had fallen from grace. I asked God to show me that I was OK, that I was still in his grace.

In the fall of ’89 a voice started calling me – God started calling me – about 3 o’clock in the morning. It never changed. The same voice said the same thing: “Get up and pray, we are losing our children. Get up and pray, we are losing our children.”

It was cold, and I tried to pray in bed, but I couldn’t go back to sleep until I got out of bed and got on my knees and prayed.

I was concerned, so I spoke to a deacon at church. I didn’t tell him what was happening to me – I told him we had a good group of kids at church, but we needed more activities for them. When nothing new was implemented, I told the deacon names of people I thought he should ask to start the new activities because they had college degrees.

He said, “Sister, you might not have the education and do what some of these other people might do, but there is something you can do, too ...” That

Lakeview Community Civic Organization board members are: from left front, Cynthia Harrison, Doris Vaughn, Tracey Ingram, Brenda May; back row, LCCO President Greg Hundley, Luverina Hampton, Dixie Deeds, Latayna Rhines and Ophelia Chandler. The LCCO meets at 6 pm at the Guntersville Library every second Tuesday of the month. For more information on the group or ideas for the community, call: Greg Hundley, 617-416-2370; or Brenda May, 256-738-0756.

made me mad and is probably part of the reason I went back to school.

But I also started doing more in church. I started putting on black history plays. I wrote some plays.

At Christmas, we started giving out baskets for the kids to deliver. One year we went out caroling to the nursing home and gave out baskets I joined the matrons group in our Indian Creek Primitive Baptist Association. It was a group of young women, 18 to 30, and we talked about how young ladies should present themselves in the church and in life in general.

After I got involved with the matrons and writing plays, the voice stopped.

Before that, I think I thought Ornament Special: BUY *Some exclusions apply

everything was fine. But God wanted me to know that our children, this generation and generations to come, were headed in the wrong direction, and the only thing that would straighten them out is prayer.

In my opinion, we keep trying to find remedies to fix things and keep leaving out prayer. People try to put the best person in office, but the best “person” is already in the highest of offices – none other than Jesus Christ. We need to learn to consult with Him through prayer.

My hope is that every child in the community graduates from high school, goes to college if they want. I want to break that chain, that loop that keeps going over and over. That’s my goal and my calling.

5.

What is something most people don’t know about Brenda May? When I was a kid growing up, all of our neighbors were all white, and we kids played together. We were colorblind.

When I got ready to start school, I’d been taught my colors: red, yellow, green, blue, black, white. And I used to hear my parents talking about white people. White people?

So when I rode the bus to school, I watched the cars going by, looking for white people. They all looked like my neighbors. I didn’t see anybody who was white.

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19

Good Reads

Grisham’s new backdrop delivers ‘really good read’

Tinti’s seductive tale follows father/daughter on the run

nstead of his usual legal thriller, John Grisham has written a witty, entertaining tale of a supposedly impossible theft perpetrated by a daring gang of thieves – stealing five priceless F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts from the Princeton Library vault.

In “Camino Island” an unsuspecting clue is “The set up was perfect. left at the crime scene.

As the FBI closes in, the There were only five theft’s mastermind sells manuscripts, the manuscripts to a shady all handwritten, Boston book dealer for a all in one place.” paltry sum. And then the valuable papers disappear.

Enter Bruce Cable, an interesting bookstore owner and dealer in rare books located in a small island off the coast of Florida, Camino Island.

Mercer Mann, a struggling young writer with a background of having lived in Camino Island, is hired by Princeton’s insurance agency as a spy to uncover clues relating to the whereabouts of the manuscripts.

She moves into her grandmother’s cottage on the island and soon inserts herself into the local literary circle comprised of colorful eccentric writers who provide an interesting aspect to the story. Famous authors’ names are dropped shamelessly.

Mercer becomes friends with and then enters into an illicit romantic relationship with a suspect who happens to be the most engaging character in the book.

The final disposition of the Fitzgerald papers is filled with delightful twists, turns, and a surprising, satisfying ending.

This is a really good read.

– Annette Haislip

annah Tinti has written a tender father-daughter story with “The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley.” In it, the father attempts to shield his daughter from the legacy of his violent past and the truth about her mother Lily’s mysterious death.

Hawley and Loo have spent 12 years roaming the “Hawley was always country, staying in dingy watching. Always waiting.” hotels, always fully armed, always pursued by those seeking vengeance and revenge from his past.

Each clings to the scant possessions left by Lily and displays them with reverence at each stop. Eventually realizing that Loo needs a stable environment, they relocate to a small fishing village on the coast of Massachusetts where Lily grew up and where her mother, Loo’s grandmother, still lives.

With her turbulent, nomadic past and anger issues, Loo is regarded as an outcast at school and is ridiculed and shunned.

Eventually, she meets a troubled boy who befriends her, and she gradually establishes a relationship with her grandmother as well.

However, before stability and security can be established, Hawley’s past intervenes with a violent confrontation. The result ensures that ghosts from the past as well as the guns on the run, can finally be put away.

In every other chapter of the novel, Tinti provides a flashback that reveals how Hawley obtained his 12 life-threatening gunshot wounds. Each could easily stand alone as a substantial short story. And her chapter describing Lily’s death is a heartbreakingly essential element of the plot.

– Annette Haislip

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21

Story by Steve A. Maze

H

Such costumes may have looked a little scary, but others were funny.

Men might wear their wives’ dresses, women their husband’s overalls. The idea was to keep their identity secret so they would have to give the singers something to eat.

Occasionally, the hosts exacted a little good-natured revenge on the carolers. A few would sneak around to the side of their house and discharge a shotgun into the air to give the singers a good scare. That worked quite well most of the time.

ow did youngsters – especially those living in rural areas – celebrate Christmas during the first half of the 20th century?

How could they possibly make it without nce inside a home, shopping malls, televisions, the serenaders would sit in a computers, cell phones, chair or on the floor without Amazon or Xboxes? There speaking. This was called were very few parades, and dry sitting, and a serenader Santa didn’t bring nearly as would be rewarded with many gifts as he does today. something to eat if their As it turns out, two of hosts could not identify the most popular Christmas them. pastimes were “serenading” Before giving up, and “dry sitting.” though, the hosts might try Both adults and children to entice their uninvited would travel from house to guests into talking so they house and serenade their could identify them by their neighbors with Christmas voice. The ploy did not work carols. This was usually most of the time. If any of from the back of a two-horse them did speak, they would wagon in the bitter cold of disguise their voice. an Alabama winter night.

Regardless, the singers The week before and would often receive treats after Christmas, my dad – such as cookies, a slice Marlon Maze – and a few of cake, parched peanuts, of his friends would go popcorn, sweet potatoes and Of serenading and dry sitting around their community coffee. to spread the joy of the At times, the dry sitters season by song. Most of the would leave and their hosts “We would sing three or four time it would be youngsters doing the would never know who they were.

Christmas carols or other popular singing, but adults who enjoyed it often “Carlos McWhorter could always songs of the day,” Dad explained. “If accompanied them. recognize me when I went to his they didn’t invite us in, we would try Unlike carolers today, part of the house,” Dad said. “I could not figure to make a lot of noise by stomping our ritual was for serenaders to disguise out how he knew who I was since I was feet on the porch. We would always be their appearance so no one could disguised and never said a word.” invited inside if someone in our group identify them, perhaps by donning a Carlos finally let Dad in on the secret could play a guitar. Country folks liked burlap feed sack. The host family often a few years later. hearing a guitar.” joined the serenaders in the sing along.

“He said that he knew who I was Sometimes impromptu dance sessions by looking at my hands,” Dad laughed. broke out on the front porch. Afterward, erenaders sung to celebrate “We had known each other all our lives, the singers would be invited in to warm Christmas and also to bring in the New and I should have worn gloves when I by the fire.

Year. It was a good excuse to visit with went to his house.” neighbors as well as enjoy some clean f a host family decided not to open fun with them. he roadways are now much too Serenading was a lot like Halloween the door, the serenaders rang cowbells, dangerous for today’s youngsters to hop in that people wearing masks and banged on pots and pans, blew horns or in a car and serenade their neighbors. disguises showed up on their neighbor’s screamed until they did.

That’s too bad. doorstep. And it wasn’t unusual for “Most people let us in, but some Not only would it get them away serenaders to pull a prank should they didn’t,” Dad laughed. “I may not have from video games, cell phones and not be invited inside for something let anyone in either if I opened the door computer screens for a short time, it to eat. On more than one occasion a and saw folks wearing flour sacks over would allow them to enjoy a part of host’s wagon was disassembled and their heads with holes cut for eyes and Christmas that is gone forever. reassembled on top of their barn. a mouth.”

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23

Merry Christmas and a healthy ...

Good ‘n’ Green Story by Hunter McBrayer

La Flor de la Nochebuena

A

s we herald the Christmas season, there are certain things we can expect; time with family, gaining weight, maybe dreaming of a trip to the beach to escape it all. Something else I expect is questions about poinsettias, the flower that has become a quintessential part of mantle or centerpiece decorations for Christmas in America.

There is probably more to the plant than you think.

You might remember your mother or grandmother having one around, but these plants don’t have a long tradition in the U.S. Poinsettias, Euphorbia pulcherrima, are native to Mexico, where they grow as perennial plants or shrubs that can reach heights of 10 feet or more. They’re known in Mexico and Guatemala as “La Flor de la Nochebuena” (Flower of the Holy Night, or Christmas Eve), stemming from the legend of Pepita.

The story says that Pepita, and her cousin, Pedro, were on their way to church in honor of the Christ Child. Pepita was poor and had no money for gifts.

So on the way to church, she picked a bouquet of wildflowers. As she laid them lovingly on the altar, they turned into beautiful poinsettias – thus the Hispanic name mentioned above.

The story of the plant coming to America is a little less magnificent. Joel Roberts Poinsett was a botanist, physician and the United States’ first diplomatic minister to Mexico. He first brought the flaming red plant here in the 1800s, and the common name Poinsettia is given in his honor. A select few even observe Poinsettia Day on Dec. 12, marking his death in 1851.

S

electing a poinsettia is easy. Pick those with colorful bracts – the colorful part of the plant usually thought of as the flower. (Flowers are the tiny yellow structures.) Look for full plants with plenty of healthy, deep green leaves all the way to the base of the stems.

Poinsettias are easy, requiring moderate sunlight and temperatures around 70 degrees. They won’t tolerate cold or excessive moisture, so keep them inside and water only when needed. If the potted plant is wrapped in colorful foil, take it off when watering so the pot can fully drain.

A common question I hear is “Can I make my poinsettia bloom again?”

Short answer: yes … if you can keep it alive until next year.

If you like a challenge, here’s the deal …

To keep them alive, ensure the bracts change color and are ready for next Christmas, which means bright light, good nutrition, and proper watering. In early October put the plant 24

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Poinsettias are only mildly toxic to cats and dogs. A 50-lb. child would have to eat more than 500 leaves to reach a potentially toxic dose. Photo by David Moore. in a totally dark place for 14 hours per day to initiate flowering and bract production.

The work will probably make you more willing to spend $10 on a poinsettia next year.

The more than 100 commercially available cultivars range from white, pink, and burgundy to speckled and more. And what variety dominates the annual $250 million industry? You guessed it –traditional red.

Merry Christmas.

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Good Cooking

Good home cooking is what Neena knows Just ask her loyal customers who

visit her and Cheri at the courthouse Story and photos

by David Moore

N

eena Walker Drake is a familiar name to people who’ve loved eating out in Guntersville since the 1990s. Along with her sister, Cheri Walker, Neena remains a gladly familiar face among the many regulars who lunch at her restaurant on the ground floor of the Marshall County Courthouse.

Neena’s Courthouse Grill specializes in down-home cooking.

Regulars know the five-day rotation by heart. Sandwiches, chicken salad and such are always on the menu, but, say, pot roast lovers know to come on Thursday. Tuesday is chicken dressing.

“Mother had a chicken dressing recipe,” Cheri says, “but Neena has tweaked it to the point where people love it … love it.”

The sisters are but two of six kids born to James “JB” and Juanita King Walker. They lived on Brock’s Chapel Road. JB owned a body shop on nearby Union Grove Road, and Juanita, when she was younger, made artillery shells at Redstone Arsenal.

“We learned to cook for lots of people,” Neena says. “You never knew from one night to the next who would be at the dinner table, because we all had friends who came over to the house.”

“Juanita learned to cook when she was 8,” Neena says. “I was the same age when I started cooking. I was so short I had to pull a chair up to the stove.”

L

ike her mom, Neena learned to cook without a recipe.

As a little girl, Juanita would go out to the fields where “Mama King” was working and ask how to prepare a certain dish. Mama King would pick up an eyeball-measure of sand and sift various amounts into Juanita’s hand.

“Use this much salt, this much pepper,” she’d say.

When it came to teaching her girls to cook, Juanita wouldn’t teach Cheri because, she’d say, Cheri was left-handed.

“What did that have to do with anything?” Neena laughs.

By age 10, Neena was taking care of her two older and three younger siblings. Cheri was the baby of the brood.

She says Neena was – and is – a beauty queen. She was a cheerleader, Miss Poultry Queen … Cheri manages to get that much out before her sister hushes her.

Glamor aside, Neena cooked at home until she graduated from Arab High in 1966. She attended Alabama Christian College two years before graduating from what’s now the University of North Alabama with a major in physical education

At Neena’s Courthouse Grill, she does most of the homestyle cooking. Her sister, Cheri, in back, prepares the beautiful and tasty salads and grills the burgers.

They also do catering. and minors in history and home economics. Cooking for a living and owning restaurants was nowhere in her plans.

“I wanted her to be my PE teacher,” Cheri laughs. That wasn’t in the cards either.

Neena put her self through college working at clothing stores.

After college she worked in sales at The Village Shoppe in Florence, then managed several stores in the Tri-City area and became a buyer. Cheri joined her, stocking and creating window displays.

In addition to getting married, Neena worked 21 years as a divisional manager for Belk’s ready-to-wear buying group, traveling – excessively – to New York, Dallas and Atlanta.

“I absolutely loved it, but my son was in high school and into a lot of things, and I was missing it,” she says.

W

hat else could Neena do? Well … Juanita had taught her kitchen skills, and Neena had only improved on them.

So in 1989 she entered the restaurant business, opening Village Inn on the courthouse square in Huntsville. With NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

27

MAMA KING’S BREAD PUDDING (Served daily at Neena’s Courthouse Grill) Bread 2½ Sam’s hoagie rolls, torn and pinched into 1½ inch pieces.

Pudding 3 eggs 1½ cups sugar 2½–3 cups diluted evaporated milk 1½ tsp. cinnamon Mix eggs, sugar and milk.

Sprinkle cinnamon over breadcrumbs and pour in egg mixture. Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Topping 2 sticks margarine 2 cups sugar 2 tsp. pancake syrup Dollop of evaporated milk 1 tsp. vanilla

Neena’s pot roast sells out every Thursday at the restaurant.

Cheri helping remodel the interior of the beautiful, 100-year-old building that seated 52 people, they opened in January 1990, serving home-cooked style breakfasts and lunches. In the latter case, Neena’s baked potato soup with cheese toast, and chicken salad plate were amazing hits.

“We opened and immediately had a great business,” she says. “It took off.”

And she also hired the best server who ever worked for her – her son, Kenny Farmer, now an OB/GYN physician in Dothan.

In 1995 she moved her restaurant to Guntersville’s historic Glover Building.

Moving with her were Cheri and their main cook, Reggie Fletcher.

Two years later, with Cheri and Reggie following, she opened Neena’s Lakeside Grill in the former Holiday Inn, now 28

Wyndham Garden. During that 13-year run, she also owned Lake City Diner where Weathers is now in South Town.

Her sister-in-law Mary Walker ran it.

Neena next owned The Rock House for two years. She was there when a fan, Rhonda McCoy, the administrative assistant for the Marshall County Commission, asked her to bid on the lease for the restaurant in the double-height, indoor court area on the ground floor of the courthouse.

N

eena got the bid and opened another restaurant nine years ago this past summer. Unlike its former incarnation, the new Courthouse Grill is a full-service restaurant.

It was a struggle, at least at first. But with the help of Michael Baker and

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

Melt margarine in a saucepan; add sugar, stir well and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add syrup, milk and vanilla. Return to boil for 2 minutes. Pour over pudding mixture and enjoy.

Lorene Thrasher, who’ve been with Neena for 15 and 12 years respectively, along with Kay Horner and, of course, Cheri, it’s been another great run. Neena is pleased.

“It’s almost like the show ‘Cheers.’

Everyone knows everyone else,” Neena says. “There are lawyers working at their table. We have people who have eaten with us for years – some of them from Huntsville.”

Here’s one way to measure the success of the Grill and Neena’s recipes. Her pot roast? They cook 30 pounds of it every Thursday. It usually sells out.

While she’s reluctant to share many of the Grill’s recipes – she does share her popular Smothered Chicken – here are some of Neena’s favorite recipes …

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SMOTHERED CHICKEN 1 slice of chicken breast 1 serving of rice – steamed 1 slice of Monterey jack ½ onion cut into Julienne strips, grilled

5-6 mushrooms, sliced Salt and garlic powder to taste Pound chicken and grill along with

MAMA’S CHICKEN AND DRESSING (Served every Tuesday at Neena’s Courthouse Grill) 1 large iron skillet of cornbread 3 medium onions, diced 3 stalks of celery, diced 3-4 sticks of margarine 2 large chicken breasts Sage Sauté vegetables in margarine until tender.

Boil chicken breast in 3 quarts of salted water until tender. Cool and shred.

Crumble cornbread; add onions celery and margarine. Add sage to taste. Add shredded chicken; mix well. Add 1½-2 quarts of hot chicken broth and mix well. Pour into very large casserole pan; bake at 350 until golden brown.

30

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

onions and mushrooms in a pan. Season to taste. Top chicken with vegetables, then top with cheese.

Serve with green beans and salad.

EASY CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

2 8-inch packages of flour tortillas, cut into 2x3 strips 2 large chicken breasts 2 sticks margarine 1¼ cups flour 1½ gallons salted water Boil chicken in salted water until tender. Remove chicken from broth, cool and shred.

Strain broth and return to a boil.

Melt margarine, add flour, mixing with wire whip until smooth. Add 2 cups boiling broth to this; mix with wire whip until smooth.

Add remaining boiling broth. Lower heat to medium and add tortilla strips, one handful at a time, stirring between each addition. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes.

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31

What sounds tastier for lunch out than a hamburger? Neena’s makes them with Swiss cheese and sautéed onions.

MAMMAW’S CANDIED YAMS 6-7 orange-skinned sweet potatoes, peeled 2-2½ cups sugar 1½ tsp. nutmeg ½ tsp. cinnamon 2 sticks margarine, cut into slices Slice sweet potatoes into 1x2-3 inch strips. Place in 9x13 baking dish.

Pour sugar over potatoes; sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon; dot with margarine slices.

Bake at 350 until sugar is completely melted and potatoes are tender, about 1 hour, basting every 20 minutes.

APPLE DUMPLINGS

Two cans crescent rolls 2 Granny Smith apples, cut into 8 slices each 2 sticks of margarine, melted 1½ cups brown sugar ½ teaspoon cinnamon 12 oz. can of Sprite

Roll each apple slice into a crescent roll. Place in 9x13 dish. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon and margarine in a bowl; pour over rolls. Pour Sprite over all and bake at 325 for 45-50 minutes.

32

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE 1½ lbs. ground chuck 1 large onion 1 tsp. vegetable oil 2 14 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup 1 14 oz. can tomato soup 1 soup can water 24 oz. spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained Garlic and salt 1 lb. Velveeta cheese 1 8 oz. package of shredded mild cheddar cheese (not fine shred) Sauté onion in vegetable oil. Add ground chuck; brown and drain. Add garlic and salt to taste. (I use lots of garlic!) Add soups, water and cook until hot. Add Velveeta; stir until melted.

Add cooked spaghetti; stir well.

Pour into casserole dish and top with cheddar.

Place in oven at 350 until cheese is melted; about 5 minutes.

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The recipe is a secret, but the chicken salad at Neena’s tastes as wonderful as it looks.

NEENA’S PECAN PIE

NEENA’S MEATLOAF

1½ cups pecan halves 1 cup sugar 1 Tbsp. flour 1 stick butter or margarine 1 cup Karo syrup 4 eggs, beaten 1 tsp. vanilla 1 deep-dish pie shell

2 lbs. ground beef 2 cups fine breadcrumbs 1 medium onion, diced ¼ large bell pepper, diced fine ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup ketchup, plus extra to top 3 eggs, beaten

Mix all ingredients except pecans well. Stir in pecans and pour mixture into pie shell. Bake at 350 for about one hour; in last 20 minutes cover edges of crust with foil to prevent burning.

Mix all ingredients very well. Form into loaf and place in large casserole dish.

Bake at 350 for 50–60 minutes; drain halfway through baking, top with ketchup and return to oven for remaining time.

Know a great cook?

Know a great cook in Marshall County who might want to share recipes as a guest chef in Good Life Magazine?

We’re always interested in good food and good folks with interesting stories.

If you want to nominate someone for a possible feature in a future issue, please email: david.goodlifemagazine@gmail.com.

Besides your name, we need the nominee’s name, city or community where she or he lives, a few lines about food styles and culinary skills and a phone number. And always ... bon appetit!

34

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35

A 12-foot bronze replica of Fredric Remington’s “Mountain Man” stands on the Vernaglia’s house outside of Arab.

Compelled by a love of statues, the thrill of finding them at an auction house in Florida and the competition of bidding, Joe and Louise Vernaglia had bookoodles of bronze artwork – some quite large – when they moved to Arab in 2011. With their eclectic assortment of outdoor sculpture, one would be hard put to find a more unusual yard anywhere in Marshall County. And even without its amazing artwork their Asian-inspired house, built in 1962, came out no cookie cutter.

Going once, going twice, and sold to the couple with …

A house – and yard – full of sculpture Story and photos

by David Moore

J

oe Vernaglia never had the intention of making a career out of art, but his love of art emerged while growing up in Fort Lauderdale. He made the front page of the Sun Sentinel with his high school art project for Halloween, in which he stuck his head through a hole in a table, staying perfectly still as people gathered around it, then suddenly opening his eyes and spitting tapioca out of his mouth.

OK. That particular “work” was a bit off the wall, but his talent and appreciation of art so impressed his teacher that she mailed him birthday and Christmas cards for decades.

“It came to me naturally,” he says.

“Mrs. Styles was a great art teacher, and I fell in love with it.”

“He has a great eye for art,” Louise says. “When he wants to hang a picture he’ll ask where I want him to put it. I’ll say, ‘Just go ahead and hang it.’ There’s nothing he’s done that I don’t like.”

Louise, who grew up on Long Island, N.Y., might have gone into art full time had she not become a physical therapist. After she retires, she wants to begin sculpting.

“I have a piece of oak just waiting for me,” Louise says. “If it’s got good lines and is anatomically correct, I love it.”

For her part, Louise got a graduate degree in physical therapy from New York City University and had another life there before moving at age 30 to Fort Lauderdale in1981.

“The main reason I left New York was

Louise and Joe Vernaglia (the Italian “g” is silent) have a bronze marlin with painted overlay in front of the outside living area of their house.

The piece is plumbed for a fountain, which is how they used it in the pool area of their former house in Loxahatchee, Fla. Joe does construction work in South Florida. Louise is a physical therapist at River City Center, a skilled nursing facility in Decatur. Photo by Sheila McAnear. because there were a lot more physical therapy jobs in Florida,” she laughs.

She flew down, got off the plane,

scoured newspaper want ads, thumbed rides to interviews, got hired, flew back to New York on a Friday, packed, drove her

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

37

Joe and Justin were in the lengthy process of helping friends Teddy and Sandy Rotellini move to Arab when Joe first spotted the nine-foot tall bronze bull at Firehouse Antiques in Huntsville. He stopped, made an offer. The owner said it wasn’t for sale. Joe stopped four more times to buy it before the owner agreed. It took four people using a dolly to finally get the 600-pound statue in Joe’s pickup. Because he still lived in South Florida, the bull was a point of big curiosity to travelers on the long ride home. A few years later, when the Vernaglias moved the bull to Arab, they used a Bobcat to unload it. car back to Fort Lauderdale and started work on a Monday.

Louise worked for an orthopedic surgeon who walked her to an exam room one day to introduce her to a new patient.

“He put his arm around me as he walked me down the hall and said, ‘You’re going to thank me for this one day,’” she laughs.

T

he patient was Joe. He’d slid into home during a company softball game.

He was safe, but his leg was broken badly enough to warrant wearing a halo to keep the rods and screws in place.

“It was pretty nasty,” says Louise, who sat him in an adjustable metal chair, put his leg into a tub of water and attached electrodes to Joe to begin electrostimulation therapy.

“Water and electricity don’t mix where I come from,” a concerned Joe insisted.

38

“Would you stand in a puddle of water wearing plugged-in electrodes?”

But Louise insisted, and Joe must have been impressed. That evening he told his roommate he’d met the girl he planned to marry – she just didn’t know it yet. Send flowers, his roommate urged.

The next day at work peach-colored roses arrived for Louise. The card read “Joe.” Co-workers wondered which Joe, but Louise knew.

Things progressed slowly, other than Joe taking her out for lunch. Soon his appointments all seemed close to her lunch break. They ate out whenever he had PT. “I’d try to get a little kiss from him just for the nice lunch,” she recalls. “But he said, ‘You’re not like the other girls. I’m not going to treat you the same.’ ” After months of lunch, he asked her on an actual date, and things took off. After a

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

year they got engaged, married in 1985 and lived near Fort Lauderdale.

Years earlier, through a high school jobentry program, Joe began driving trucks, helping support his family because of his father’s debilitating health issue. Joe was driving for North American Van Lines, transporting computers for IBM, when he and Louise married.

They wanted to have a child, but their jobs offered no health insurance. So Joe started driving for a construction company; made $5.60 per hour, Louise says.

“I don’t think I was making that much,” Joe laughs. But they had insurance, and it opened what became a lucrative construction career.

Their son, Justin, was born in 1986.

J

oe advanced in the construction company. However, after the owner died, his son liquidated the business. Joe,

The Komodo dragon is made from fiberglass. The first time the meter-reader from Arab Water Works came to the house they called before entering the gate and asked the Vernaglias to please put their lizard in the house. Justin Vernaglia, 31, stands in the circular arch built off the front of the house in Arab. He lives in Lake Worth, Fla., where he’s an exterior superintendent for his dad. Justin, below, with his girlfriend Lesley, spent a week with his mom in October, catching up on chores around the grounds for his dad. More painted bronze fountain marlins stand behind the circular arch, left.

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

39

however, stayed on to properly close out the jobs under contract.

A good friend and boss of Joe’s at the company, Ortelio Barroso, was offered a job with M. Ecker and Company of Florida. He accepted on the condition they hire Joe, too.

So he went to M. Ecker as an estimator and moved up to project manager, then operations manager. Later, when Justin was grown, he also worked for the company.

“Anything over 15 stories on the East Coast of Florida, from Stuart to the Keys, we were all over it,” says Justin, who lives in Lake Worth, Fla., but recently spent a week with his mother in Arab.

The Vernaglias lived in Fort Lauderdale until 2000 when they moved inland to a house on a canal in Loxahatchee with just enough room for Louise to keep her horse, Mustang Sally.

That’s when the statue collection started. Call it the “Bronze Rush.”

Joe found an interesting brochure for World of Décor, a large showcase and auction house that handles new product and estate sales all over the country. Along with Justin and a good buddy who worked for Joe as a field supervisor – Teddy Rotellini, along with his wife, Sandy – Joe visited World of Décor.

“Teddy was a very high-quality guy with good taste,” Joe says. “He liked the finer things of life.”

On that first visit, Joe won the bid on his first statue in what grew into an estimated 87-piece bronze collection.

W

ith floodgates thrown open, he, Justin and sometimes Louise went to the auctions monthly. Joe loved the auctions and approached them very deliberately.

He’d case out World of Décor the day before, looking for bronze statutes he liked, that he thought would be a good buy and a good investment. He careful noted the pieces in a little booklet he carried, along with a price he’d firmly resist exceeding, regardless how hot and heavy the bidding got.

“It was the game,” he says of the attraction. “Everything I do is pretty calculated. You know your limit. You stop.

There is always another day.”

“I also enjoyed meeting a lot of nice people. Of course, you’re looking for a good deal. That’s the bottom line.”

As regulars, Joe and Justin got a permanent bid number – 333. The auction 40

The open split-level design of Joe and Louise’s house alone would make it distinctive, but sliding rice paper doors on the bedrooms, ------ shaped kitchen cabinets and what was once a koi pond in the sunken living room – now a gas fire pit – reflect the Asian touches its former owners added.

house owners called them “The Bronze Men.” One day, after about six months of bidding, Justin nudged his dad and pointed to what they jokingly called “The Wall of Shame.” It’s where the owners hung banners with the numbers of their biggest bidders – people Joe and Justin laughingly said spent way too much.

There on The Wall of Shame hung a new banner with 333 on it.

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

“Oh,” Joe had moaned, “it’s gotten that bad.”

After that, laughs Justin, who’s collected his own share of bronze, the auction situation spiraled. Joe bid on tables, chairs, lamps, oil paintings, objects d’art.

“Every time I went I got a piece of jewelry,” Louise says. “He’d say, ‘Go pick you out something.’”

T

he thrill of bidding at World of

Décor wound down with the economic meltdown of 2007-08. High-rise construction ground to a halt. M. Ecker eventually closed.

One of Joe’s work friends, Jerry “Boats” Nydam, had a friend in Arab and moved. Like dominoes, Jerry convinced Teddy to move to Arab. Teddy convinced Joe to at least come and look around.

Teddy said he’d open a restaurant; Joe and Teddy’s daughter Robin would run it.

Joe visited in 2011, liked the area, liked the plan (it never panned out and Teddy died in 2016). But Louise, undergoing treatment for breast cancer, couldn’t move yet.

So Joe researched the Arab housing market, narrowing the possibilities, and Louise visited long enough to check out the prospects. Grabbing her attention was an unusual house on a gravel road just beyond the city limits.

The house was built in 1962 by Garland and Jacqueline Phillips. He was a Korean War veteran, and his time in Asia influenced their house, from Japanese maples ringing the house to a koi pond in the living room and sliding rice paper doors.

“I love the stonework,” Louise says.

“The house is just cool.”

The place is built like a bomb shelter.

Its inner walls of filled, 18-inch concrete

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

41

The Vernaglias have nearly 90 bronzes, including: clockwise, Neptune; overpainted sea turtles and a dancer; and their first piece, an Indian.

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block would probably survive most tornadoes, which is a good thing. From inside Louise can’t hear the storm sirens.

Sealing the deal for Louise, the house set on 10.5 splendid acres, plenty of room to buy a few more horses and turn out Mustang Sally to run free.

On top of everything else, there was plenty of room for their outdoor sculptures.

and a couple of hand-carved totems from World of Décor. “There are a lot of places nicer than Florida.”

The only real drawback, which is only temporary, is that Joe returned to Fort Lauderdale.

After a few years of semi-retirement, in 2015 he got a call from Lotspeich Co. of Florida, a construction company that knew Joe’s reputation and offered him a job as an exterior superintendent.

“They came to an agreement we couldn’t resist,” Furthermore, Joe could stay with his 89-year-old mother.

“How are you going to manage?” Joe asked.

“I’ll manage,” she’d replied.

“How you doing,” he asked, when they saw each other a few months later.

W

ith Justin’s help, Joe got most of their belongings moved in 2011.

Louise, cancer-free now for five years, came up in 2012.

“This is gorgeous,” Louise says from their raised, outdoor living area, decorated with nice aluminum furniture

Antiques & Sweets

“I’m managing,” she said.

“And,” she adds today, “not bad, I think, considering.”

J

oe will go into semi-retirement again, sooner or later and return to Louise, return to Arab. Flipping that, she and Justin believe Joe will come out of his retirement from buying bronze sculpture.

“He still looks,” Justin laughs. “He has his eyes open. It won’t stop. We’re not done.”

“It’s the excitement of the auction,” Louise says.

That, and Joe’s artful love for a good deal, perhaps even an investment, on bronze sculpture.

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The hooded merganser is rare in many areas, but Lake Guntersville sees one of the largest annual migrations of the odd bird. Most often seen at first dawn, it prefers backwater and flooded timber areas, which Todd captured in this environmental display. The fish eater has an elongated sawtooth bill and raises and lowers its black and white hood during mating rituals.

This is the most difficult waterfowl to mount due to its incredibly thin skin and loose, fatty neck.

44

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

Todd Carroll and the art of

weather is bad you can’t get outdoors a lot.”

Mounting birds was t started as a a good way to pass those competitive thing, but days. taxidermy for Todd Carroll As he got into has evolved into his creative taxidermy, Todd saw the outlet. He approaches it as art behind it, especially an art form concentrated with mounting waterfowl, primarily on waterfowl. had progressed above Indeed, Todd has shown and beyond gluing a dead his birds at Art on the Lake bird to a piece of wood. and other venues. A few Taxidermists were upping years ago, his work was the skill bar. featured at the Guntersville “The guys and gals Museum and received doing it were looking to accolades for the beauty of create not only a more his birds. natural pose but a natural “I don’t create the habitat for the mount,” beauty,” he counters. “I Todd says. “I was glad to be Mallards are one of the most common North American just help preserve what was a part of it.” ducks, though relatively rare on Lake Guntersville. already there.”

Drawing on experience They’re also known as “greenheads” for Along with his wife, as well as an evolving eye a beautifully obvious reason.

Janna, Todd is a financial for art, he found himself advisor by day (and often by walking in the woods or evening) for Edward Jones. by the lake, looking at As he invested more time and money Taxidermy is worked into sticks, downed branches into his new-found hobby, and as demand and driftwood. If a piece of wood might nights and weekends as a hobby. for his services quickly grew, Todd started look realistic in a waterfowl habitat, or A native of Colorado, Todd has long Backwater Taxidermy in 2001 as a side been drawn to the outdoors and duck spoke to his artistic side, he’d store it in job, working out of a basement shop in hunting. That, not surprisingly, helped him his shop. It might sit there for years, but their River Pointe home. fall in love with Lake Guntersville. when a client with the right bird wanted When not working or hunting, he used an environmental mounting, Todd was hile he enjoyed the work and the ahead of the game. to watch a cousin of Janna’s mount birds, and about 2000 Todd gave it whirl. Janna’s competition, Todd found his new hobby/ part-time job had another benefit. cousin was impressed and encouraged f course it takes more than the “It was a really good stopgap for any him to enter an international taxidermy right stick to do justice to a beautiful competition in Huntsville. Others were also sportsman for the depression that kicks duck. It takes skill and time. impressed with Todd’s early work – judges in during the February time frame,” he Todd developed his skill in the arena laughs. “You get used to being out and awarded him first place in the novice of state and national competitions he once hunting with the guys, but when the division. entered – and entered to win. For instance, Story and photos

by David Moore

I

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Todd’s mounting of this female mallard seems to freeze her in time at the instant of flight. While some mallards are present on Lake Guntersville, he says, they are more prominent to the east and west. in 2004 Todd won the Joe Ferebee Award for highest scoring bird in the professional division of the Alabama Taxidermy Association; in 2005 he won the Alabama Ducks Unlimited Commissioners Award for Excellence in Waterfowl Taxidermy.

“Judges go over your work with a finetooth comb, with a magnifying glass and a flashlight,” he laughs. “They score every part of the bird on a scale of zero to 100.”

They look closely, for instance, at the eyes. So Todd took the time to rebuild the membranes around the eye and the eye lip. He’d work on the nasal cavity, apply polyurethane to a duck’s bill to make it look wet.

While he’s not competed for years, Todd is compelled to mount birds very close to competition standards. And that takes time.

“The little tiny details you have to do on a competition bird, I do on most birds,” he says. “Whether it’s four or five hours, or eight 46

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Todd holds a canvasback he mounted. Considered king of the ducks, the large ocean bird was rare on Lake Guntersville until about 10 years ago.

One of the most prized ducks in Guntersville is the elegant and graceful pintail, above, Todd says. Its elongated neck and center tail feather is unusual among waterfowl. Hues of iridescent purple can be seen in the chocolate brown head and wings. With color patterns ranging from dark metallic iridescent to white albinos, the ringneck pheasant, upper right, is now found only on game preserves in Alabama. Besides being beautiful birds, Todd says, they are great table fare. The surf scoter, right, is an ocean duck that winters along the South Carolina shores. It uses its unusual bill to crack open the clams and mussels it dives deeply to find for supper.

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47

or nine or even more with complicated environments, the clock doesn’t matter.

It doesn’t have to,” Todd adds. “I’m not having to crank them out to put food on the table. I’m doing it for me.”

T

The golden pheasant is a beautiful domesticated bird with extraordinary natural coloring. The golden rooster, pictured here with a detail shot below, lived a long life with its hen-mate on a local farm. Todd’s mother-in-law, Judy Parris, admired the bird, knew the owners and mentioned that, when it died, she’d love to have Todd mount it. A few years ago the hen died. “The golden rooster lasted a few more days but passed shortly after of a broken heart,”Todd says.

“His owner called Judy and asked if she really wanted ‘that’ bird. Well, the rest is history, and he’s as striking now as he was when scurrying around the farm.”

hat “me” he’s working for has become an artist.

At Art on the Lake or even outdoor shows, Todd would watch people browsing or walking past his booth.

Some, he could tell, weren’t hunters, yet an appreciation for his taxidermy still shone in their eyes.

“Others put their nose in the air and looked disgusted,” he says. But few if any artists have ever appealed to everyone.

“For me, it truly is an art form. You’re really competing against yourself,” Todd says. “You know you can never recreate the bird perfectly, but you push yourself to see just how natural you can make that bird look.”

When clients come in, Todd asks how they’d like their bird positioned.

“I try to honor their wishes … and this might sound strange unless maybe someone works with some kind of art form … but I know when what the client wants is not working.”

“But if I let go of what they want and feel the energy of that bird, or what have you, it will tell me what to do – if it wants its head tucked a little more or its wing turned this way. And all of sudden it all pops into place. All of the feathers want to lay in the right way.”

Maybe, he adds, it’s like a sculptor with a chunk of clay or a piece of wood.

“It will come out,” Todd says.

S

ometimes Todd starts on a client’s bird and finds a flaw, something his art, his skill, won’t be able to hide.

“I’ve called people and said, ‘Let’s let this one pass. I won’t be happy with it.

There will be another one next season,’” he says.

Over the years Todd’s had only one customer override his request, to have him go ahead and mount the bird anyway. It flies in the face of the artist within him.

“I want to do the best job I can,” Todd says.

After all, it’s the least that beautiful bird deserves.

Good Life Magazine 48

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

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49

I am no longer ... an immortal Story by Steve A. Maze Illustration by Sheila McAnear

F

ather Time is often depicted as a bearded old man holding a scythe and hourglass.

Maybe they should call him “Borrowed Time” since that’s what we all are on.

As a teenager, however, I was immortal.

Oh, I was aware we all died at some point, but just old people. Never mind that tombstones were engraved with ages ranging from 100 years old down to infant.

Dying was so far off in the future for me that I never gave it any thought.

Now my body and mind scream that I am old every single day. Each morning my shoulders, back and hip creak like an old screen door.

Old age and the wear of time have a way of changing your outlook on dying.

I was reminded of that when I made 64 visits to doctor offices or medical facilities within a 12-month period of time. After four surgeries and numerous medical procedures, I finally realized I am not immortal.

Each month the medical bills, prescription statements and test results arrive in the mail. It’s death’s way of reminding me that we become pen pals before the big day arrives.

O

k ... I admit it. I am not a good patient. I don’t know if I caused it, but one of my doctors died and two quit their practices while I was under their care.

Nurses scramble about the office whenever I show up for an appointment.

“I had to deal with him the last time he came in, it’s your turn this month,” they would whisper to each other.

The first surgery I had was to remove a skin cancer on top of my head. I was lying on a gurney being prepped for the operation when a nurse walked in and told 50

me to remove all my clothes … including my underwear.

“Hey, wait,” I said. “Ya’ll are operating on my head. Why do I have to do a strip show?”

“We don’t want any contamination in the OR,” she said.

“OK, when are you and the doctor taking your clothes off?” I retorted.

“If my clothes can contaminate the OR, yours can, too.”

In the gap of the nurse’s surgical mask I could see her forehead turn red and Author Steve Maze, depicted kindly before and after. eyes begin to narrow.

Suddenly she turned “Wouldn’t a couple of Advil do the to a medical guy same thing?” I begged. standing beside something that looked like “It probably would, but I have to do propane tanks and snapped her fingers. what the doctor ordered,” she replied, a The next thing I remembered was hint of revenge in her voice. “I’ll check waking up in the recovery room. back on you in about 30 minutes.”

She returned shortly and asked how he nurses that treated me after open everything went. heart surgery probably caught the brunt of “I liked to have never swallowed that my sense of humor. thing,” I said straight-faced.

It always got under my skin when the “Tell me you didn’t swallow the nurses asked for my name and date of birth suppository,” she gasped. “Please!” every time they came in my room. I told I hope she noted that on her little one of them that nurses should be required medical chart. to take a memory course. If they can’t remember something as simple as your ut I wasn’t that bad of a patient name or birthday when they are looking while in the hospital. OK, so there was that at it on a chart, maybe they shouldn’t be one time when I put my hospital gown on treating sick people. backwards and walked down the hall. But Once a nurse walked into my room it really wasn’t my fault. They had me so with my morning meds. I noticed a small doped up on painkillers that I didn’t know box that wasn’t normally with the medicine what I was doing. and asked what it was.

Before being released from the hospital, “It’s a suppository,” she replied.

I was taken to see a physical therapist.

“You’re running a low-grade fever, and the “We’re going to have you riding doctor ordered it for you.”

T

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B

a stationary bicycle and running a mile a day after you start physical therapy,” she brightly chirped.

“Look lady,” I replied. “If someone calls and says I had a heart attack while riding a bike that goes nowhere, or they found me dead on the side of the road wearing a pair of tennis shoes, you have an autopsy done, because someone is lying to you.”

I didn’t do that PT session, but I did serve out two other sentences before and after my neck surgery.

My last therapy session was a three-month stretch for neuropathy in my legs. A wiry guy was my first therapist. He carried his clipboard in a holster. Marching me to the exercise machines, he insisted that I do a requisite amount of pedaling, calf stretches, toe-to-heel steps and side-to-side walks.

Any minute I was expecting my Barney Fife therapist to shout, “Here at the rock …”

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hile taking PT, I tried to get some of the other inmates … er, patients, to bust out with me.

“We can put some pillows on one of the big mats, cover them with blankets like they do in the movies,” I desperately told them.

“But the screws will catch us before we hobble out the door,” one curmudgeon snarled.

“And I only have two days left to serve,” another patient whimpered. “I miss my great-grandkids and don’t want to add more time to my sentence.”

I ended up begging my doctor for a pardon based on good behavior.

“Good behavior?” he laughed. “From what I hear, I probably need to add another three months to your sentence with supervised probation to follow.”

T

o make matters worse, I fell in the garage at home when my trick knee decided to buckle on me. I managed to soften the blow by ramming my head and shoulder against the cinder block wall. I staggered into the house with blood streaming down my bald head.

“What happened!” my wife exclaimed.

“I fell in the garage,” I moaned, blood poured down the front of my face.

“You didn’t hit my car, did you?” she asked, more concerned about the blood dripping on her kitchen floor and the possible damage I might have done to her Chevy Equinox.

Somehow, I finally managed to serve out my PT sentence.

Ahhh … the smell of fresh air!

All they gave me as I was walking out the door was a T-shirt.

“At the Big House they at least give you a hundred bucks and a suit of clothes,” I complained.

Faced with immortality, I told my wife when I die to just bury me in a garbage can. They only have two handles, and I figured I wouldn’t be able to get more than two pallbearers anyway.

Borrowed Time, or rather Father Time, still reminds me that the sand in his hourglass is a constant one-way movement – down. And as much as one would like to, we can’t flip the hourglass over and start life anew.

Oh, well, at least I’ve lived long enough to grow old. And if you’re lucky, you’ll get old, too.

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51

Good Eats

Papa Dubi’s

Don’t judge a restaurant by its façade – mouth-watering Creole in a casual, fun family-owned spot make it a fav for many 52

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

Story and photos

by Patrick Oden

T

he simple façade of Papa Dubi’s Cajun Kitchen is deceiving. Nestled in an unassuming shopping plaza on the border of Albertville and Guntersville, its eclectic décor, laid back vibe and delectable Creole menu make it a quick favorite for those who venture into the restaurant.

But for the three Younghouse brothers who run the place, it’s not merely a restaurant, it’s part birthright and part legacy.

Named after their maternal great-grandfather, Harold Dubuisson– or Papa Dubi, as he was known to his grandchildren – the restaurant’s name is an homage to the man who anchored the family in the Mississippi Gulf Coast tradition.

“Papa Dubi wasn’t much of a cook,” says Will Younghouse.

“But Nana Dubi was a wonderful cook, and some of her recipes have been used at the restaurant from time to time.”

Meet the Dubi brothers: above, from left, Will, Tyler and Patrick. A few of their great dishes are: top from left, blackened mahi-mahi with shrimp and Cajun rice; crayfish fettuccine; the Shrimp Four Ways appetizer; 12 oz. rib eye served with broccoli and hush puppies.

Like Papa Dubi, Will leaves most of the cooking to someone else. In this case, his older brother, Patrick, who along with their father, Dan, opened the restaurant back in December 2006.

Will says it’s Patrick’s hard work, dedication and refusal to fail that have really been at the heart of Papa Dubi’s success and growth.

“Papa Dubi’s would never have made it without my dad,” says Will. “And Patrick … he just kept grinding away until the point we are right now. He went six years without more than two days off in a row.”

While most of the Younghouse family has deep roots in the restaurant business, it’s Patrick who got Nana Dubi’s knack for cooking and is responsible for all of the palate-pleasing dishes for which Papa Dubi’s is known.

Rounding out the trio is Will’s younger brother, Tyler.

“He’s definitely a kitchen guy,” says Will. “He’s really helped solidify the backbone of the restaurant … the kitchen.”

“Tyler and I just ride Patrick’s coattails,” Will adds in a joking manner that rings of truth and sincerity. “And we’re thankful that he lets us ride them.”

T

he reality is, in the 11 years since Papa Dubi’s opened, most of the Younghouse family has worked in the restaurant at one point or another, and, to this day, it isn’t uncommon for Dan to spend his Friday nights in the restaurant bussing tables or washing dishes.

Just as any great dish begins with a great and complete recipe, the recipe for quality and success in the restaurant business is the sum of not one, but all of the ingredients.

In the case of Papa Dubi’s, that recipe has evolved to be what it is today … equal parts of three determined brothers with a dash of the rest of the Younghouse family. And patrons love the dish that comes to their table.

Good Life Magazine NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

53

Alexander Campbell Walker took seas less traveled, resurfacing through the fog of time to stake a claim as

Perhaps Albertville’s most interesting man In October, with great pomp and circumstance, the Volvo Ocean Race began in earnest. Sailors from all over the world, who have trained their whole lives, began the trek across the globe in search of wealth and renown and the unadulterated feel of old-fashioned adventure.

The winner will come sailing eastward into port at The Hague, Netherlands sometime in June, after having rounded the Cape of Good Hope, faced 30-plus knots of wind in the Southern Ocean, the unpredictable gales and changing tides of the Atlantic, not to mention the inner turmoil that comes with braving the waters for nearly eight months.

The Volvo Ocean Race may be the greatest adventure race on the planet, full of heroism and romance and all the trappings of our most daring fantasies. But long before million-dollar sponsorships and satellite navigation, long before the glory of sailing around the world was live-streamed and blogged, there were sailors adrift on the high seas with only their thoughts, their bravery, a few rations and little else.

Now, picture this …

Story by Seth Terrell

U

pon surface of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, a ship dodders on the waves. On board is a crew of a few Englishmen, hungry and tired but driven by an uncommon sense of duty, urgency and adventure.

It is early in the year of 1868, and a young sailor sits aboard The British Princess. He has trained at the HMS Conway School of Sailing, near Liverpool. He is now en route as part of a special crew tasked with sailing 54

from England, around South Africa to India to pick up supplies and soldiers. From there, they will cross the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and dock in Abyssinia (modern day northern Ethiopia) on the horn of Africa.

There, they are under order of the Queen to aid the rescue of a large group of people held hostage by the unpredictable Abyssinian King, Theodore. The hostages are British citizens – missionaries, ambassadors, artisans – and the crew is a group of men who will transport soldiers, thus aiding in completing a nearly impossible mission: The soldiers

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

perform as an old-world version of Navy SEALs and help rescue the hostages before transporting them to India.

The young sailor among the crew has been at sea for many weeks. Before the sight of the horn of Africa, and before the mission is completed, he has been enthralled in the once-in-a-lifetime experience of sailing for the Queen, a witness to the beauty of the oceans and their many exotic coasts.

“The sun is out,” he writes in his diary, in immaculate lettering, “and it gives

While sailing from England to Africa to help rescue missionaries as a young man, Alexander Campbell Walker sketched and painted drawings of ships he encountered on high seas, such as this one. A number of the untrained artist’s drawings and paintings survive.

the seas a grand look; their white crests sparkle like diamonds.” The young sailor is Alexander Campbell Walker.

He doesn’t know it yet, but 35 years in the future, he will settle down in Albertville, Ala., 7,834 miles away from the horn of Africa.

His bravery on the high seas will become legendary, otherworldly, but nearly kept a secret, scrawled not in the margins of history books, but in magnificent penmanship on the pages of his personal diary.

A

few years ago, retired Marshall County Circuit Judge David Evans of Guntersville, along with cousins Chris Walker and Julie Hartley of Gainesville, Ga., began a search into the life and legend of their great-grandfather, A.C. Walker. Today, A.C.’s family understands him as more than just a romantic figure; they view him as an inspiration.

David – an adventurer himself, having hiked the entire Appalachian Trail and freshly returned from Alaska’s Kodiak – sees

the story of A.C. as ancestral permission to, as he says, “Live life without boundaries. If he did all of that, what’s possible for all of us?”

But he knows the story of his greatgrandfather was not all glory and romance.

“The life of a sailor was no walk in the sun,” he says. Indeed it was not.

“We are nearly eaten up with rats,” wrote a young A.C., “and it’s almost impossible to get any sleep from them at night. We are all miserable and discontented. I would give all I have to get off of this ship.”

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55

But the success of playing a part in Through his personal diary, he our grandparents’ house for over 40 years a one-in-a-million rescue mission must carries his unseen reader each step of without anyone taking the time to explore have raised his spirits while changing the way, employing poetic musings and them,” says Julie Hartley. “So one day I his life forever. One can almost imagine vivid descriptions. There are comical thought, ‘I’m just going to read them and his face blush with joyful disbelief as he tellings of pet cats that stowed away transcribe them, and see what information transposes a letter from the Queen, is in them.” copied by hand, to describe the As she uncovered more and victory: more information on A.C. Walker, “The Queen and People of she kept her brother, Chris and England entrusted you a very cousin David in the loop. And led arduous and difficult Expedition

by Julie, the family could not get To release our countrymen from enough. Each diary reference of a a long and Painful Captivity. town or a person, became its own . . I congratulate you with all research project. my heart on the noble way in which you have fulfilled the oon, the cousins had painted commands of your Sovereign. for themselves a fantastic mural You have traversed often under of family folklore and unheard of a tropical Sun or amidst storms adventure. A.C. Walker began to of rain and four hundred miles come to life before their eyes. of mountains. You have crossed While genealogy has become a ranges of mountains (many steep hobby unto itself, with most local and precipitous) more than 1000 libraries having dedicated entire feet in altitude where your supplies wings and rooms to the quests could not keep pace with you. In of uncovering the past, for Julie, 4 days you. . . fought for many David and Chris the project became hours without food or water. You something more. defeated the Army of Theodore “He had an adventuresome After his sailing days, Alexander Campbell which poured down upon you spirit,” says Chris. “It shows Walker worked three years in a gold mine in from its lofty Fortress in full his risk-taking threshold, his Australia. Coming to the U.S. through San confidence of victory. . .You have willingness to sail across the world. captured and destroyed 20 pieces He represents all of our ancestries Francisco in 1873, he continued east to Wheeler of Artillery many of great weight and histories.”

Station. When he arrived in Albertville in 1903, and efficiency with ample Stores A.C.’s story is at once unique Captain Walker, as he was known, was 55. of ammunition. You have stormed but also universal. As the cousins the almost inaccessible fortress. . . have uncovered more and more of You have released not only British the man, they have discovered not Captives but those of other Nations. You on the ship, of suppers of cooked shark only a world-class sailor with adventure to have unloosed the Chains of Abyssinia. caught by the men on board. spare, but also an Everyman whose fears . . Success is due to God whose Hand I But sometimes on the voyage, and passions and dreams were much like feel assured has been over us as a just fear would overtake excitement; it is those of modern folks. The diary entries cause 2nd to the high spirit with which palpable in one of Walker’s entries: “A are quirky and fun, full of longing and you have been inspired.” man was murdered ashore last night. hope.

He appears to have had his brains “I am anxiously waiting a letter from orn in 1848 in Grangemouth, knocked out then to have been thrown Janet,” A. C. wrote, “but alas- [the saying] Scotland, Alexander Campbell Walker in the water.” ‘those women-fair and fickle’ applies was named for the famous religious But amid the drudgery aboard the ship, almost to all I think. I intend giving her leader of the American Restoration in the moments in between excitement another week and if no answer [I] shall Movement, an offshoot movement of and fear, Walker diligently recorded his give them up [the letters, or perhaps the Second Great Awakening. journey as if he were writing with the women] entirely.”

After he completed sailing school in entire world as audience.

According to a few diary records, it England’s HMS Conway, (with grades Such detailed diaries are treasureseems A.C. Walker somehow surfaced in of ‘Good’ and ‘Very Good’ in regards troves for descendants of families with a Alabama near Wheeler’s Station, west of to ability and conduct, respectively), touch of wanderlust in their own hearts.

Decatur and about five miles south of the Walker found himself a part of A.C.’s are not only filled with poetry and Tennessee River. In addition to working a the specialized sailing force of the eloquent prayers, but also philosophies large farm with his brother, he worked as a British Navy, on the British Princess, about the world. secretary and possibly a tax assessor under embarking on worlds unknown.

“The diaries just sat on the shelf of Continued on page 59

S

B

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Campbell had a romantic streak A

lexander Campbell Walker possessed a romantic side, or vice versa. It shows in some of his art, for instance the watercolor at right.

The author of the prose poem below is unknown, but a copy of the piece was found in one of A.C.’s diaries.

It’s not clear when he married Julia, but apparently it was while living in Julia Walker Wheeler Station.

She died in 1903, the year the family moved to Albertville. A.C., 55 at the time, lived another 18 years. They are buried side by side.

The Art of Kissing

The author is unknown, but this word poem, edited for length, was found A.C.’s diary, so apparently it held some meaning to him. ... Take the left-hand of the lady in your right, Let your hat go to any place out of the way ...

Throw the left hand gently over the shoulder and Let it fall down the right side.

Her head will follow up on your shoulder ..

Don’t be in a hurry ... .You’re nearly heart to heart.

Look down into her eyes.

Take good aim. The lips meet, the eyes close, the heart opens.

So hides the troubles and sorrows of life.

Don’t be in a hurry.

The world shouts under your feet As a meteor flashes across the evening sky Don’t be afraid.

The nerves dance before the just erected altar of love.

The Heart forgets its bitterness, And the art of kissing is learned.

A.C. Alexander’s watercolor above is titled “Five Minutes Late.” More advanced, it appears to have been done later in his life than “Good Bye, Ducky,” at left. Apparently most of his paintings were small and many were glued onto heavier surfaces. The glue left brown streaks, visible above, where it soaked through the images.

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Julie Hartley has plied through her greatgrandfather’s diaries, transcribing them for posterity – no easy feat even with A.C. Walker’s attractive hand. Below is her untangling of the page above, which he wrote in July during his time sailing ... “A very amazing accident occurred this morning, a little before 8 AM. I was sitting taking my usual smoke after breakfast it being our watch (before) when the mate took a flying leap off the Poop & rushed frantically forward shouting “breakers ahead all hands about ship” “Hard a lee there” & (?) all hands immediately got hold of the braces some hauling the main sail up & as the ship was coming too fast & everyone expecting to feel her bump when the second mate ran down the poop ladder laughing like to split his sides, the mate who was in a great state of excitement looked at him & then over the ships side & there close alongside of us was the breakers-jumping and splashing & blowing a porpoise show which the nervous old skipper had taken for broken water.

(Sounds) of laughter was heard.

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Alexander Campbell Walker sits for a partial-family portrait with five of his 11 children. A.C. and Julia’s names are listed, in the center of the photo below, on the 1902 membership roster of McCord Avenue Church of Christ, now North Broad Street Church of Christ. Photo below by David Moore.

the immediate authority of General Joseph Wheeler, who by that time was serving the U.S. military after having served also as a Confederate general during the Civil War. But as the doldrums of life-on-land begin to replace the whims of sailing around the world, his story becomes a bit blurry. The records of adventure are in abundance for Alexander Campbell Walker, but scarce is the information on why exactly a young Scottish sailor eventually arrived in Albertville after having once sailed around the globe.

T

here are, of course, theories. Chris suggests that heading east toward Sand Mountain, after the death of General Wheeler, must have been like viewing the Scottish highlands from afar.

“I was looking at a picture of Scotland’s rolling hills one time,” Chris says. “And it hit me that it looked very similar to Sand Mountain, especially as it probably looked years ago before development came.”

Intermingled with the family’s theories are at least some pieces of the puzzle: we know Walker spent some time in Australia, presumably with some of his own kin (Julie, Chris and David still have family there); we know he arrived in San Francisco, but the city burned over a century ago, leaving no records. So we know more about his sailing around the globe than his trek across the United States.

And perhaps this is the second most intriguing aspect of A. C.’s story – what adventure or necessity drove him to Sand Mountain?

From the diary entries, we know that land was bought in Lawrence County and Walker began to farm. The adventurer and hero eventually took a wife, Julia, and settled into the new life of raising 11 children.

Often, as you might imagine, out in the fields at work, he longed for the days of his youth, and still kept a diary.

“William and I have been working all day at the fence and are getting on very well,” he wrote. “I still feel a little dull, but time will cure me of that, although I cannot efface the reminisces of past days.”

And we know this: Alexander Campbell Walker eventually moved to Albertville, (where family think he might have sold life insurance) and is buried in the Old Albertville Cemetery, having died in 1921.

David Evans visits his great-grandfather’s grave in the Old Albertville Cemetery on Ala. 205. Photo by David Moore.

O

ne cannot help but wonder how or if the world-class sailor, adventurer, poet, theologian and amateur artist kept his stories to himself. Was his diary the only listener to the tales of perhaps the most interesting man to live in Albertville?

Did he reminisce about India and Africa and Scotland to friends in town?

Did he stand around after church services at the McCord Avenue Church of Christ (Now North Broad St. Church of Christ) where he was a member and share tales of the high seas?

We may never know. Perhaps settling on a farm, subject to the hard work thereof, was the most logical thing for the “Most Interesting Man” to do. Chris seems to put

his finger on the story beneath the story.

“Understanding where we come from is part of understanding who we are, and maybe why we are the people we are now,” he says.

And perhaps he’s right. The same vigor it took to sail the world was always present, even while A.C. cleared his fields and erected his fences and raised his children during the fifteen years he spent in Albertville prior to death.

Stories of ancestral adventure are, at their root, stories of what it means to be human. For A.C. Walker’s descendants, the journey into the past is also the discovery of self, wrought with the love, pain and adventure thereof.

Good Life Magazine

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Julia Street Memorial United Methodist Church With 126 years of history, a 100-year-old building and contemporary services, one of the ‘Seven Wonders of Marshall County’ strives to ring out like the old bell in its belfry, a voice important to the Boaz community Story and photos

by David Moore

J

ulia Street Memorial United Methodist Church celebrated the centennial of its building on Oct. 29. But its interest level extends beyond being one of Marshall County’s oldest church buildings. Voted first among the “Seven Wonders of Marshall County,” the Boaz church stakes claim to at least as many interesting distinctions.

Julia Street UMC: • Is listed on the National Register of Historical Places.

• Traces its roots to the coming of the county’s only railroad.

• Stands on a lot purchased with an ox yoke and a shotgun.

• Is not located on Julia Street.

• Features neoclassical revival architecture that, at least in part, contains elements of sacred geometry.

• Is home to a seeing-is-believing pencil drawing of Christ worthy of the Guinness Book of World Records.

• Despite a rich tradition and history, has revived a nearly dead conventional congregation with contemporary services.

When it comes to information on Julia Street UMC, Steve Holman of Boaz is the go-to person. In addition to wearing numerous church hats and writing a detailed chronicle of the church (upon 60

which this story is based), Steve’s family goes back 120 years in the church. He was baptized there as a baby Nov. 10, 1959.

“I remember it now,” he grins.

T

he Alabama & Tennessee River Railway operates today as a short-line freight service connecting Guntersville, Gadsden and Birmingham. But Gen. Andrew Jackson first saw the need during his 1813-14 Creek Indian campaign. It took half of a century of acquisitions, legislation, lawsuits and the Civil War before it opened in 1982.

The new railroad ran through the settlement of Boaz. In addition to a welcomed future for the fledgling town, it also brought an unwelcome rambunctiousness. It was 1891 when track-laying progressed through Boaz, and by payday the hard-working men were thirsty.

“I can imagine it got to be a pretty rowdy place, especially on Friday and Saturday,” Steve says. “Alcohol was legal and there were bars and taverns here.

You’d have young men riding their horses up and down the street shooting guns up in the air after a few drinks.”

Buttressed by the promise of a future, preachers organized congregations in Boaz – two Episcopal Methodists, one Baptist. The former later became First Baptist. The Methodist Episcopal Church

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North would become St. Paul’s, and MEC South, established in 1891, later became Julia Street. For the first few years the three congregations and their circuit riders shared meeting space in a log school located on what later became East Mill Street.

To stop the rowdiness in town, the churches’ leaders sought to incorporate Boaz, Steve says, but money was a hurdle. Attorney and legal fees cost $25, which no one had.

Ed Whitman – grandson to Montgomery Gilbreath of Guntersville, a trustee of the railroad – moved his family from Street Bluff to Boaz to be the train station’s first agent. It was Ed who jumped the $25 hurdle, persuading his father- and

Parts of Julia Street’s two turrets, the dome behind them and gable frontings are made of wood shingles. brother-in-law – Guntersville attorneys Thomas and Oliver Street – to draw up the papers, and Boaz incorporated in 1897.

Ed’s thanks? He was elected as the first mayor. And the new town quickly hired a marshal and drew up ordinances prohibiting alcohol sales within a mile of a church.

I

n 1894, MEC South built its own church. The white, wooden building had segregated men and women’s steps, doors and sides of the sanctuary, a commonality in the day.

It sat on a lot given by G.M.E. “Emory Mann, Boaz’s first postmaster and a hotelier. In turn, Mann received an ox yoke and a shotgun from the family of Boaz founder Billy Sparks. So proud

was Emory, he displayed the items in the lobby of Mann Hotel.

The lot and church, it should be noted, is where Julia Street FUM stands today, across from Boaz Public Library – on the corner of Thomas Avenue and Darnell Street. It’s a point of no little confusion to visitors trying to locate Julia Street FUMC on a street that does not exist in Boaz.

Rather than a road, the church is named for a person. The aforementioned Ed Whitman’s wife, Jennie, was daughter of Guntersville attorney (and Probate Judge) Thomas Street and his wife – Julia Street.

Julia and Thomas lived on a family farm on Street Bluff overlooking Browns Creek at the base of Georgia Mountain.

After Thomas died, Julia moved to Boaz

in 1905 to be near Jennie, two other daughters there and their families. Julia built a Victorian-style house on the corner of Sparks and Brown.

She soon financed the addition of a steeple and bell at MEC South, opining that every church should have a bell.

The bell came from her family’s farm on Street Bluff.

By 1908 the church had about 84 adult members, including Julia and Jennie. Members were annually assessed a contribution, presumably based on perceived abilities to pay.

Stewards published all contributions and deficiencies.

The largest assessment that year, $30, went to Jennie, which she paid in full. Other major donating family names

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included Spradlin, Snellgrove, Mann, Chandler, Benefield and Williams.

“In all its history, the church never suffered indebtedness, thanks to the sustaining generosity of families for many years,” Steve says, “and to limited expenditures on the church property.”

T

hrough programs for children and efforts launched by women’s groups, MEC South continued to grow. So did Boaz.

“In 1917, the congregation wanted a new building, one that looked worthy of the prosperity many of the members had enjoyed as Boaz grew,” Steve says. “After a protracted meeting that ended in early 62

August, subscriptions were taken for the building fund.”

With “a neat sum” raised, a brick church projected to cost $10,000 was contracted.

The actual cost is unknown, but Steve suspects that even in 1917 dollars it was much higher.

A point of contention arose during the planning stages: building a belfry for the existing bell. Most members thought church bells were old-fashioned, but when Julia stood up and voiced her opinion, the building committee took heed.

“A church bell,” she said, “is the voice of the church to the community, and I think the bell should stay.”

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The building was dedicated in 1920. Julia Street had prevailed. The church that later bore her name had a voice that tolled out to the community, ringing for fires, for deaths, ringing in the New Year, ringing to call, one and all, to church on Sunday.

And that bell – which hailed from her old family farm – presumably tolled when Julia died June 23, 1935.

E

arlier in the 1930s, a national discussion began about merging the North, South and other branches of Methodism. The merger occurred in 1939, but in Boaz the immediate change was superficial. The two Methodist churches merely took geographic

The sanctuary is laid out in a modified form of the Akron Plan. In addition to the curved pew sections, the rear of the sanctuary and its balcony were divided into nine, open-fronted – and now former –Sunday school classes.

new names: East Side Methodist Church and West Side Methodist Church.

In an attempt to merge the two churches, in 1941, the district bishop sent them a shared pastor. He was first at East Side, then moved to West Side in ’43 to smooth the way for merger.

The merger failed. Instead, Sam Stewart raised enough money that East Side Church, for the first time, could afford its own fulltime pastor.

“To show that the church could go its own way, it changed its name to Julia Street Memorial United Methodist Church,” Steve says. “Thus was honored and memorialized a beloved influential member.”

The church underwent additions over the years, the big one in 1953-54 with the completion of the education building to meet demands for spaces and desires for outreach.

On the flip side, like many churches, Julia Street felt fissures in its finances from time to time.

“They struggled through hard times … the Depression, two World Wars.” Then came the 1970s, Steve continues. “Fewer people wanted to go to church. They were turning away from God and churches. Young people didn’t see the need in going to a church anymore. There were times we had 15 people on Sunday morning.

“There were frugal people here. The

widow’s mite kept this place going over the years.”

T

he widow’s mite, however, quashed maintenance. Deterioration undermined the once staunch structure. Without renovation, it was doomed. Concerned members applied for – and in 1999 received – inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

“We thought getting on the National Register would help with renovation,” Steve says. “But the way we’d have to do it would cost 10 times as much. It was an endless list of hoops to jump through.”

So a major drive was launched.

Through contacting people whose families

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+

Located in the church narthex is a pointillistic drawing of Christ, created not with shades of dots but with tiny shaded words ... all of the words, in fact, of the complete New Testament. It was created by Gwany Hyuk Ree, a missionary in Pyongyang who fled invading communists.

He finally completed the drawing as a refugee in South Korea and later gave it to the Rev. Henry Calvert, a GI chaplain there during the war. Calvert, in turn, left it at Julia Street UMC, where he came to pastor in 1955.

+++

had once been pillars of the church, holding fundraisers and such, $160,000 was raised. Steve found a Boaz-area contractor – Shannon Walls – capable of doing the work.

“He carried us through with, I would say, divine intervention,” says Steve, who rolled up his sleeves and toiled closely with Shannon.

Phase one, done in 2003, required angle irons to shore up warped structural beams in the attic. Other structural problems – plus refurbishing windows, 64

floors, etc. – were addressed in a second phase in 2007-08.

Quotes from other contractors had been for $500,000. Steve said they got it done for $160,000 without taking out a loan.

The work apparently caught the public’s imagination. The Seven Wonders of Marshall County in 2008 was a fundraiser for Marshall County Retired and Seniors Volunteer Program.

At 25¢ a vote, residents cast their quarters for their favorite sites from a

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2017-18

list of 15 finalists. Julia Street garnered 2,867 votes, more than twice that of runner-up Thompson Falls.

The Rev. Travis Warlick, pastor at the time, called the honor a miracle for Julia Street.

W

hile renovations bought the building a lease on life, attendance wheezed on life support. The congregation would fit in three minivans.

That, however, is changing since the

Its stained glass is probably the feature most people first notice about Julia Street. But the main reason it’s listed on the National Register of Historical Places is because its architecture is exemplary of the gravitas found in the Neoclassical Revival style. Steve Holman points out that the design also is heavily influenced by Masonic elements as well as sacred geometry – the belief that God created the universe according to a geometric plan. These geometric ratios and mathematical principles are symbolically incorporated into the architectural ratios found in Julia Street.

Steve Holman chairs the board of trustees at Julia Church, serves as the building/facility coordinator, handles audio and video for services and at one point was the song leader and handled announcements. A wellversed local historian, he’s fascinated with the church’s history and proud of the 100-yearold building he helped restore, but its age is a relative thing. “To me, 100 years ago is not that old. I have a pretty long lens on history,” Steve says. His father, Gene Holman, died in 1987. His mother, Mildred is 95.

Josh Brogdon, the bivocational staff pastor at Julia Church since 2014, will be ordained in February. Originally from Walnut Grove, he and his family – wife Misty and children Ethan and Lauren – live in Albertville. Josh spent three years doubling as worship/praise band leader, dashing on Sundays from earlier services at The Summit in Albertville to Julia Street. “At the time,” he says, “I did not know why, but part of God’s plan was to keep me here to build relationships because He knew I was going to pastor this church.”

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coming of The Rev. Josh Brogdon and a contemporary service with a vibrant praise band.

The Rev. Tony Jones had been splitting time between Julia Street and its sister church, The Summit–Albertville United Methodist. Running thin, in 2014 Tony asked Josh, then the worship/praise band leader at The Summit, if he could also handle those responsibilities at Julia Street, temporarily, of course.

“I committed to him for a year,” Josh laughs. “I was not sure I could keep up.”

“He was spread as thin as peanut butter for a while,” Steve says of Josh’s dash from Albertville’s 10-11 a.m. service to the 11:15 service at Julia Street.

He survived. This past July, Josh was made staff pastor at Julia Street and quit the back and forth.

“A year ago, we had less then 20 people at Sunday worship,” Steve says.

“Since August, it has not dropped under 60. We have 18 to 20 kids here on Sunday morning. We’re proud of Josh.”

Steve heaps praise on the talented 11-member praise band under the direction of Josh’s son, Ethan. He calls the church’s food pantry a turning point for Julia Street. Supported by members and the community at large, it provides food to about 100 families monthly.

“We help people whether they come to church or not,” Josh says. “If they are hungry, we feed them. If they are needy, we give them clothes. It’s unconditional love.

“People know what churches are supposed to do, but many of them don’t do it. So when they see a church doing what it’s supposed to do,” he adds, “they want to be a part of it.”

J

osh finds it “awesome” that a contemporary church is growing inside a traditional church building.

“The 100-year-old church building certainly has a history, and nothing you can do can change history,” he says.

“What we are trying to do is give it a future.

“We may change something here or there, but when we do it, we do it with reverence for our past while anticipating future needs, “Josh adds. “Where that has led us is to a fairly contemporary worship in a really old building. That 66

This photo of Julia Ann Beard Street is undated. “Over the years I’ve looked at this picture,” says church historian Steve Holman. “Sometimes she looks very dour. Sometimes I see a bit of Mona Lisa Smith in her.” Julia led prayer meetings, educated her grandchildren and even some of her great-grands at the two homes she would own in Boaz. During the town’s “era of elegance” in the early part of the 20th century, she also hosted fashionable socials.

For instance, Steve says, in spring 1919 Julia entertained the women’s society of the church. She decorated with snowballs and narcissi, played two selections on her Victrola, staged a contest for additional entertainment and served an “ice course.” shouldn’t work, but it does. And really well.”

Steve calls the format outside of the box, unconventional, but that’s fine.

“Jesus,” he notes, “was certainly not conventional in his time.”

Julia Street was conventional

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in her time. Even though, one can imagine her looking at the spark and outreach of her namesake church today, recognizing in it the tolling of a bell, “the voice of the church to the community.” And, she might well add, “I think the bell should stay.”

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Out ’n’ About You can jog if you want, like the young lady at left, or sit a spell on a bench like the one above. Either way, if you’re out and about Nov. 24 through Dec. 31, make it point to visit Arab’s traditional Christmas in the Park. The free attraction kicks off at dusk the day after Thanksgiving when Santa helps flip the switches to two million lights, transforming Arab City Park into a Christmas wonderland. The park is lit nightly until about 9 p.m., weather permitting. There will be entertainment opening night and on the weekends in the Old Rice Church at the historic village.

Photos this page and next by David Moore.

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Here’s a look at Christmas in the Park, clockwise from left: Megan Van Kirk of Arab, an Indiana transplant, strolls among the lights at the park; Mia Orr, 4, of Arab poses inside the tunnel of light; Eliza Fortner, 3, of Cullman –– visiting with her grandparents, Cindy and Joe Alverson of Baileyton – plays in the gazebo; Barry Guess of Arab visits the park with his granddaughter McNeill Guess and neighbor Bradley Burrows. In conjunction with Christmas in the Park, Santa will be at Arab Historic Village – located in the park – from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Nov. 24-Dec. 23. Snap a photo with the kids and Santa, have fun and eat a snack. Admission to Santa in the Park is free for kids 2 and under, $5 per person or $20 per (immediate) family. More info? Call: Arab Parks and Rec, 256-586-6793.

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If you live in Marshall County, you don’t have to look far to find the first ultra hi-def 4K system in the U.S.

Marshall Medical’s technology leadership is good news for local surgical patients.

4K technology is a huge advance for the OR, bringing ultra high definition clarity and accuracy to minimally-invasive procedures. When technology giants Sony and Olympus were ready for the first installation of their breakthrough system, they could have gone anywhere. Why did they pick Marshall Medical? With excellent surgeons and a proven track record with new technology, we were the confident choice to be first in the country.

First to go big with 4K in the operating room.

55” monitors plus four times the light and resolution — learn more at mmcenters.com.

256.571.8925 (256.753.8925 for Arab area residents) • mmcenters.com