Marshall County
Glenn McNeal proves that Mr. Nice Guy does win sometimes Once so well-known, Stocklaw’s legend lives on as a colorful character Summer 2015 Complimentary
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Welcome
Jerry is a foamer, but I’m not really; are you? J erry DeBene is a foamer. His train set fills his garage. Check it out on YouTube. He’s got about 90 locomotives, maybe 1,500 cars. When Jerry was a teen, his dad was at a crossing and busted him as he passed by driving a locomotive. Guess what? Today he’s an engineer – and a foamer. See the train story starting on page 65 for a better understanding of the term. I’m not a foamer, but I really like trains. I harbor indelible memories of Dad, an Army Reservist, off to summer camp, putting Mom, Danny
and me on the L&N Humming Bird in Birmingham to visit grandparents in Bowling Green, Ky., or Cincinnati. A porter made the beds in our Pullman car at night. Clickety-clack lulled me to sleep. Awake, I was thrilled to cross the enclosed gangway between two rocking passenger cars, especially if the window was open. As a teen living on Shades Mountain south of Birmingham, I heard distant train horns off in the valley at night as I lay in bed longing to be aboard going ... anywhere. Diane and I once rode the No. 610 steam excursion from Birmingham to
Chattanooga. Most passengers wore railroad striped overalls and hats, red bandanas in their pockets. Some had reel-to-reel tape recorders, stereo mics capturing the 610’s sounds out windows on both sides of the mail car. Foamers all. Foamer or not, I hope you enjoy the train story in this issue. Heck, I hope you enjoy all of Good Life Magazine. Thanks for reading.
David Moore Publisher/editor
Contributors Anette Haislip as a teacher sometimes read to her students. A man saw her shopping one day recently and said he still remembers her reading to his second grade class. He said her dramatics while reading Uncle Remus stories sparked his own love of reading. Patrick Oden is somewhere in this issue. Actually, he wrote about and photographed SomeWhere, the restaurant/bar in Warrenton where Jimmy Buffett would feel at home. FYI ... if you need a pro photographer, drop him a line: patrick@odenimaging.com. You see the artistic work of Sheila McAnear in every issue of GLM. She creates nearly all of the good looking ads in the magazine. This is the truth: Some business owners have only to look at an ad Sheila designed for them, and that’s all it takes for the sale. 6
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In this issue, Steve Maze writes about “Stocklaw,” one of the county’s more colorful characters. He says the two of them have much in common. “We’re both country bumpkins and spiffy dressers. Fortunately, we’re both good looking ...” David J. Cline, Ph.D. knows all about ornamental ponds. He’s an aquaculture specialist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Auburn University’s Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures Department. (Plus, he has an ornamental pond in his yard.)
It’s no big deal to anyone else, but June will mark the two-year anniversary since David Moore left The Arab Tribune to publish Good Life Magazine. Again, no big deal to anyone else, but despite losing a little more hair, he’s still having a blast.
Take Your Game To A Higher Level (And enjoy a fabulous meal, too!)
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One of North Alabama’s premier courses, Cherokee Ridge Country Club is now a semi-private course under the management of Honours Golf. Pay-as-you-play and enjoy all of the practice amenities and pro shop. Home of the 1994-1998 Nike Alabama Classic, the 6,574-yard tree-lined course has bentgrass greens and lush Bermuda fairways. A sparkling 17-acre lake guards much of the front nine. And the back nine offers views of an 80-foot waterfall. Cherokee Ridge combines the best of nature with a commitment to excellence, creating a top-level golfing experience you’ll never forget. Course open to the public! To schedule tee times: 256-498-5300
After your game – or anytime you’re ready to relax with a good meal – the Cherokee Ridge clubhouse is now The Grove restaurant, formerly Brix of Huntsville.
The Grove offers beautiful views of Cherokee Ridge while you enjoy southern casual gourmet meals. It also has a full bar and patio seating.
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Restaurant and Catering MAY | JUNE | JULY
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Inside 10 Good Fun
Summer “menu” has poke salat, wine
18 Good People
Meet Glenn McNeal, the mild-mannered champ who asks to speak to the manager
24 Good Reads
Summer reading: “The Son,” “The Heist”
27 Good Cooking
Becky Ray cooks treats, sweets, chicken
34 Good ‘n’ Green
Garden pond brings joy to Rakestraws
38 It’s all about the view
Visit Jim and Martha Tellefsen (and Blue) in their mountainside house in Grant
46 Characters from the past Meet Dora and Stocklaw
52 From vine to wine
Follow the ancient cycle of wine-making with Jules and Becky Berta in Albertville
61 Good Eats
Bubba, Mason and Germany will be at at SomeWhere; Jimmy Buffett should be
65 Ride the ATN Railway
Marshall County takes on a different look from the cab of a locomotive
74 Out ’n’ About
Lakeview Community Choir performs
On the cover: To photograph this stunning sunrise over the Tennessee River and Sand Mountain, Martha Tellefsen traveled all the way from her bed to her deck. This page: An Alabama and Tennessee River Railway locomotive climbs from Guntersville to Albertville. Photo by David Moore.
David F. Moore Publisher/editor 256-293-0888 david.goodlifemagazine@gmail.com
Vol. 2 No. 4 Copyright 2015 Published quarterly
Sheila T. McAnear Advertising/art Director 256-640-3973 sheila.goodlifemagazine@gmail.com
MoMc Publishing LLC P.O. Box 28, Arab, Al 35016 www.good-life-magazine.net
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L-Rancho’s still going, so guess what else is, too Story by Whitney Adrienne Snow
N
estled in the heart of North Alabama, Arab is largely known for its Mayberryesque small-town aura, high school football (and band) and poke salat. Wait, what’s that last thing? Poke salat is a wild, poisonous plant, but when detoxified by boiling a few times it makes for a tasty dish, especially when mixed with scrambled eggs. Sponsored by the L-Rancho Café, Arab’s Poke Salat Festival consists of arts and crafts, eating contests, pet parades, kids’ activities and live music. It all began with the “Liar’s Club,” a group of men who drank coffee at and eventually purchased the L-Rancho in 1984. Around that time, member Curtis Williams Sr. visited a poke salat festival in Blanchard, La.
Upon returning home, he suggested a similar event in Arab to promote the city and bring notice to the downtown area. Thus, the Poke Salat Festival was born. Over the years, various aspects have come and gone. At one time, the festival included a political forum in which Fob James, Bill Baxley, Jim Folsom Jr., George Wallace Jr. and other politicians spoke. There was an “Ugly Woman Contest,” in which men dressed in women’s clothes and paraded down the street. Other past activities included a Confederate reenactment, fish tales, golf tournaments, impersonations and hat contests. Poke salat cook-offs were particularly noteworthy with dishes from quiches and dip to casseroles and pie – all made with poke. In 2011, there was an effort to transform the event into the Poke Salat Bluegrass Music Festival in
Here’s what’s lined up for PSF XXXI
The Poke Salat Festival continues its 31-year tradition of fun in downtown Arab May 15-16, rain or shine. Friday’s events run 9 a.m.-9 p.m., and Saturday the PSF XXXI lasts an hour longer.
1 p.m. – Karen and Betty • Saturday on the Poke Salat Stage will be: 5 p.m. – Jeremy David Jones 6 p.m. – Misti and Louie 7 p.m. – The Johnny Collier Band
ENTERTAINMENT • Friday on the Poke Salat Stage on First Avenue NW will be: 5 p.m. – The Crackerjacks 7 p.m. – Microwave Dave and The Nukes • Saturday on the Main Street Stage will be: 11 a.m. – The Circle Appalachian String Band Noon – Phillip “Red” Mulkey and Friends
HAPPENINGS BOTH DAYS • Arts and crafts vendors throughout downtown • Learn about beekeeping with Maze Family Apiaries • Watch pottery being made by Turmans Pottery • Observe basket weaving by Chafin’s Chair Caning • See metal art sculptures by Relic Art • Ride “Big Jake,” the mechanical bull with Southeastern Buc-N-Bulls
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an attempt to attract more out-of-towners. Dailey and Vincent, Canaan’s Crossing, Boxcars and others performed at the amphitheater in Arab City Park. The festival’s name reverted to plain Poke Salat Festival the next year, but music has always played an important role.
A
ttendance has wavered over the decades from hundreds to thousands, but, rain or shine, folks come from far and wide. While ownership of the L-Rancho has changed from the old days, the future of the festival is not in doubt. As one Liar’s Club member once said, “As long as the L-Rancho is in business, we will always have poke salat and the Poke Salat Festival.” NOTE: A graduate of Arab High School, Whitney Snow holds a doctorate in history and is an assistant professor at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. • Play inside the inflatable Water Walker balls • Let your kids have fun in the play area 2-8 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday. • Enjoy downtown cafés, diners and coffee shops, or the food court where you’ll find BBQ, Cajun cooking, burgers, shaved ice and more HAPPENINGS SATURDAY ONLY • Lace up for the 5K and 1-mile fun run at 8 a.m. • Meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse • Enter your pet in the 1 p.m. pet parade; win prizes for best dressed pet, biggest pet, more; help the Arab Animal Shelter with your $5 entry fee; register at shelter’s booth The 31st Annual Poke Salat Festival is sponsored by the Arab Downtown Association and the City of Arab.
Wine tasting ticket deadline is June 1 If you love wines or want to expand your knowledge
of them – heck, if you like a big party – plan to be at City Harbor in Guntersville 4-9 p.m. Saturday, June 6, where tents will be set up with more than 150 wines to taste. It’s the first City Harbor Crush wine tasting. And if you want to go, June 1 is the deadline for buying tickets. Besides lots of different wines, you can enjoy live music, food wagons and, if you feel like kicking off your shoes, a wine stomping area. All will be set against the glistening summer evening waters of Lake Guntersville. A similar event last year, Big Spring Crush in Huntsville, drew 1,800 people. Like that wine-tasting festival, City Harbor Crush is organized by Huntsville-based Homegrown.
Good Fun
“I’m excited for this to be the first venture outside of the box of Huntsville,” said Ashley Ryals, Homegrown founder.
A
limited number of $45 general admission tickets remain; after that, tickets are $50. Through May 17, the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau and Hampton Inn at Lake Guntersville are offering $165 weekend packages that include an overnight stay and two general admission tickets. Hotel packages with VIP tickets to the high-end wine-tasting area are available for $180 and $225. Festival entrance restricted to those 21 and older. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.homegrown.events.
Take a trip, catch a show, enjoy and buy some art • May 5-June 23 – Concerts on Lake Guntersville The Mountain Valley Arts Council’s spring-summer concert series on the shores of Lake Guntersville continues Tuesday night with Rose Wood. The free, 90-minute concerts are held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at Civitan Park in Guntersville. Also lined up to play are: • May 12 – Big Daddy Kingfish • May 19 – Jed Eye • May 26 – U.S. Army Raw Material/ Fusion • June 2 – Maple Hill Band • June 9 – Shane Adkins • June 16 – Erik and the Idols • June 23 – U.S. Army “Made in America” full concert band.
• May 6-29 –Out of The Box Art This Mountain Valley Arts Council exhibit features traditional and “out of the box” artists from The Arts Factory, as well as the community. Items on display for sale include paintings, painted furniture, mixed media, jewelry, artist trading cards, fabric art, original authored books and much more. A reception for the artists will be held at the MVAC gallery 5:30-7:30 p.m., Thursday, May 14. Located at 300 Gunter Ave., Guntersville, the gallery is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. For more information, call: 256-571-7199. • May 21 – Senior Health and Fitness Day
From 8 a.m. to noon at Civitan Park in Guntersville join with hundreds of others for a healthy dose of fun sponsored by Marshall Medical Centers. Walk the trail by the lake, get health screenings and learn health tips from businesses, physicians and therapists. There’ll be games, door prizes and entertainment. It’s all free, but if you want to eat lunch, call to register: 256571-8025 or 256-753-8025. • May 28-31 – Mommy Monologues / Daddy Dialogues Eight to ten moms and dads will present unique vignettes from their lives, telling funny and serious stories about their parents or their own parenthood experiences … everything MAY | JUNE | JULY
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from working mom, to stay-at-home dad, to dog mom. Working with The Whole Backstage crew, these individuals and their stories have been woven together to create a unique “readers theater” experience in the Duff/McDaniel Black Box Theatre. Performances are at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $5 at the door or reserve a table for six for $35 and bring your own wine and food. • May 7-July 5 – Michael Banks art exhibit Guntersville Museum will exhibit works by the city’s acclaimed and selftaught artist Michael Banks. The show is titled “Chromophobia.” The museum is open 10 a.m.-4p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 1-4 p.m. Sundays. Admittance is free. • June 3-June 26 – Micah Craft and Adam McBride Their two different styles collide to provide an interesting look into the world of art. A reception for Craft and McBride will be held at the MVAC gallery 5:30-7:30 p.m., Thursday, June 11. Located at 300 Gunter Ave., Guntersville, the gallery is open 9 a.m.4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. For more information, call: 256-571-7199.
• May 25 – Memorial Day ceremony It’s not “good fun,” but attending a VFW memorial services is a fitting thing to do today. There’s a service at 11 a.m. in front of the Marshall County Courthouse and a second one 2 p.m. at Arab City Park. Speaker will be Lt. Col. Tim Maples of Madison County, who has served two tours in Afghanistan. Services are sponsored by the Veteran of Foreign War posts in Arab, Boaz and Guntersville. Above, Walt Dempster, then commander of the Arab post, speaks at last year’s service in Guntersville.
• June 18-Sept. 17 – Downtown Arab concerts A free summer concert series begins on the third Thursday night of June, and continues in July, August and September and will bring a mix of music to downtown Arab. Details are still being worked out, but the Arab Downtown Association plans to bring a Celtic group, an ’80s cover band, a country group and others to a stage by the Gazebo on First Avenue NW. Concerts will be 6-8 p.m. Watch and listen for more information in the local media. • June 27 – Get a jump on the Fourth The headliner has not yet been finalized, but the $10,000 worth of fireworks has. It’s the Boaz Annual Independence Day Free Concert and Fireworks – and it’s free. In the past it’s drawn Ronnie Milsap, The Oak Ridge Boys, Tim Watson, Lee Greenwood
Sankaty Head, Nantucket; photo by Christopher Peterson.
• Now – Tour the islands of New England Now is the time to sign up if you want to tour the “Islands of New England” Oct. 12-19. Rates start at $2,569 and include air travel from Birmingham and 11 meals. From the Hilton Providence in Rhode Island and Red Jacket’s Riviera Beach Resort on Cape Cod you’ll explore Providence, Boston, Newport, Cranberry Bog, Plymouth Rock, Plimoth Plantation, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Hyannis, Provincetown. Play on sand dunes or go whale watching. Eat a lobster dinner. Albertville Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the trip through Al-Bo Travel Agency. For more info: Marcheta Chandler, AlBo Travel, 256-891-0888; or mchandler@albotravel.com. MAY | JUNE | JULY
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• July 1-Aug. 28 – Jennifer Baker photography Mountain Valley Arts Council will exhibit the fine art photography of Jennifer Baker during this two-month show of local scenery and sights. Now living in Guntersville, she became a professional model at 17 and later lived in Europe eight years where she studied photography. She enjoys shooting architecture and interiors, wildlife, landscapes, teens, sports, weddings and lake scenes, such as the paddle wheeler at right. A reception for the artist will be held at the MVAC gallery 5:30-7:30 p.m., Thursday, July 9. Located at 300 Gunter Ave., Guntersville, the gallery is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. For more information, call: 256-571-7199. and others. It cranks up on Billy Dyar Boulevard with an opening act about 7 p.m. and ends with fireworks about 9:30. Bring a lawn chair. Food vendors and local restaurants will ensure you – and 10,000 others – don’t starve. • June 19-21 and 25-28 – “The Things We Do For Love” Local writers David Chupp and Tim Hays and local director Diane DuBoise along with Chupp have strung together an original plot tied to 50 hit songs from the ’70s. Tickets can be purchased online: www.wholebackstage.com; at The Whole Backstage office, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday; or by calling during office hours: 256-582-7469 (SHOW). • July – WBS Children’s Theatre summer camp Little Actors Camp, ages 3-6, will be mornings on July 8-11:30 a.m. Advanced musical “show-offs” for ages 12-18 will be 8 a.m.-4 p.m. July 13-17. Camp Sock Hop, ages 5-15, will be mornings, followed by musical theatre “show-offs” in the afternoons, on July 20-24. For more info call: The Whole Backstage, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. MondayFriday, 256-582-7469 (SHOW). • July 4 – Fireworks over the lake A favorite tradition continues 9-9:20 p.m. on the Fourth of July with a fireworks extravaganza over Lake 14
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Guntersville. Many people watch the fireworks from the lake. From land, it’s best viewed from the walking trail along Lurleen B. Wallace Drive between Civitan Park and the pier. Come early and expect a crowd stretching across the Ala. 69 causeway. Guntersville spends about $20,000 on the big drawing event. WTWX 95.5 FM will simulcast music to the fireworks. For more information call: Milla Sachs at Guntersville City Hall, 256-5717565; or Lake Guntersville Chamber of Commerce: 256-582-3612. • July 7-Aug. 30 – Westervelt Collection exhibit Guntersville Museum will exhibit works by famed ornithologist and painter John Audubon, contemporary bird artist Basil Ede and contemporary realist painter Andrew Wyeth. The works are on loan from the Tuscaloosa Museum of Art: Home of the Westervelt Collection. Guntersville museum is open 10 a.m.-4p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 1-4 p.m. Sundays. Admittance is free. • July 9-11 – “Black Tie Broadway” auditions Got a voice? Got dance? Love Broadway music? Then tryout for a vocal or dance part in this revue directed by The Whole Backstage’s Johnny Brewer based on arrangements by Mac Huff, Ed Lojeski and others. Performance dates
are Oct. 9-18, but auditions will be held at the WBS in July. Come prepared to sing a 2-minute selection from any of the following Broadway musicals: Rent, Into the Woods, Godspell, Wicked, Shrek, A Chorus Line, Secret Garden, Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Beauty and the Beast, Sunset Boulevard, Guys and Dolls, Spamalot, Mary Poppins, Hairspray, The Lion King, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sound of Music, Evita, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown!, Cats or Will Rogers Follies. Soloists, duets, small group and full ensemble cast members are needed. A separate dancing ensemble will be chosen along with non-dancing vocalists. For more information, call: The Whole Backstage, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday, 256-582-7469 (SHOW). • July 30-31, Aug. 1-2 – Greater Tuna John Everett Brewer directs this summer extra by The Whole Backstage that spans a hilarious day in Greater Tuna, third smallest and most colorful town in Texas. The town’s eclectic citizens, kids and animals, played by two people, deal with UFO sightings, celebrity murder and a used weapon sale. Performances are at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday in the Dot Moore Auditorium; admittance, $10 at the door.
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You found the love of your life. And Cherokee Ridge can now make your dream wedding come true. Twenty-three years ago, Sid McDonald envisioned Cherokee Ridge as a luxury community with a firstclass golf course nestled against a scenic Appalachian backdrop. And a wedding/event venue now shares this wonderful setting. The spacious wedding tent accommodates up to 200 people for a service or 140 at tables. Hold a small wedding at the pond-side pergola. Customize your special day to include the Cherokee Ridge Clubhouse, now The Grove restaurant (formerly Brix of Huntsville). Rent the Lake House for on-site accommodations. Rest assured, the staff of Cherokee Ridge and The Grove will provide impeccable attention to every detail, making your wedding day – or any other celebration or event – as worry-free and memorable as it is beautiful and fun. Weddings at Cherokee Ridge … exceed your dreams. Cherokee Ridge is located 7 miles north of Arab off U.S. 231.
Taking reservations now for your dream wedding 256-498-5300
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Step aboard a classic boat or take a ride in a biplane Nothing says “ship-shape” like a beautifully restored wooden boat. See 35 of them from across the region at the Lake Guntersville Antique and Classic Boat Show 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, June 6, at the Lake Guntersville Yacht Club. You can tour the Grand Slam, a 58-foot ChrisCraft from Huntsville. Tommy Gray, show chairman, says 500 people last year saw 30 gorgeous boats, ship-shape details of which are shown here. He expects more this year. Sponsors are the yacht club and Dixieland Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society. Stop by Guntersville Municipal Airport that morning for a huge $5 breakfast sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association. If you’re still hungry they’ll be serving burgers and hot dogs for lunch. Kids 8-17 can get a free plane ride as part of the Young Eagles program, says Bill Greenhaw, president of the local EEA chapter. For a real thrill, $100 gets you a 25-minute lake flight in a Stearman biplane from the airport’s Homer B. Wilson Vintage Museum. Shuttle buses will run between the yacht club, airport and downtown to make shopping and fun convenient. Photos by David Moore
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Good People
5questions Story and photo by David Moore
Motorcycle guys and mildmannered nice guys … hmmm. Sounds like mixing engine oil and water, especially if you’re thinking stereotypical Hells Angels. As with most motorcyclists, however, Glenn McNeal is about as far from Hells Angels as his home in Arab is from the gang’s birthplace in California. Like the piercing whine of an offroad competition bike, motorcycles have revved Glenn’s life for some five decades. But it’s a safe bet that anyone who knows him – inside or outside motorcycle circles – will tell you, “He’s a really nice guy.” “I have thought about that and concluded that I am not consistently a nice guy,” the nice guy insists. OK. No one’s perfect. But here’s an example of what Mr. Nice Guy likes to do … He’ll sit down, order and eat at a restaurant, mild- and well-mannered throughout his meal. When the bill comes, Glenn will tell the server, “I want to speak to the manager.” With the worried server standing by, the manager will inquire what’s wrong. “I just want you know what a fine, attentive, professional person you have working for you,” Glenn will say. “I had great service, and the food was wonderful.” When it comes to motorcycles, his love is mototrials and bikes. Unlike other racing motorcycles and off-road trail bikes, mototrials bikes have no seats. Drivers race standing on the foot pegs. Races are non-speed events; they’re designed to test a driver’s finesse balancing 18
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Glenn McNeal
Mild-mannered motorcycle champ proves that Mr. Nice Guy really can win and controlling his bike over a grueling course – maybe 14 miles long, divided into 18 sections – filled with rugged natural and man-made obstacles. Motorcycle trials, or observed trials – as they were called in Glenn’s heyday – are not raced against the clock. Instead, competitors are given penalty points for touching the ground with a foot, dismounting, stalling or going backward or out of bounds. The driver with the lowest score wins. Glenn hit his motorcycle pinnacle from 1977 to 1985 racing the North American Trials Council (NATC) circuit. He won back-to-back national senior championships in 1983-84, proving that nice guys can, in fact, win. Off his motorcycle, Glenn made his mark on the sport as president of the Huntsville Trials Club and the Southeastern Trials Riders Association. As a trialmaster for the STRA, he brought the first NATC championship event to North Alabama and laid out the course for the event, which the top riders in the country voted best of 1978. The following year he won honors for STRA for hosting the year’s second best event. In 1999, Glenn was inducted into the STRA Hall of Fame. Topping that, this January he joined the NATC Hall of Fame. These two groups, without a hint of encouragement from the Hells Angels, did that for mild-mannered Mr. Nice Guy …
1.
So how did mild-mannered Mr. Nice Guy get into motorcycle racing, and what did the sport mean to you?
Competition was the big thing. That’s the one word. I am a competitive person. I started racing stock cars in 1964, eight years after I started working at Redstone Arsenal. I raced figure eight in a ’56 Ford, progressed to the hobby class in a ’52 Chevy and later to late model sportsman at Huntsville’s round track in a ’64 Fairlane. I didn’t spend my family paycheck on the cars, but in order to drive them I promised the owners I would work on them. So I worked on cars Monday through Wednesday nights, raced on Thursday night, worked on cars Friday night, left Saturday morning to race in Nashville that night, then rested up Sunday to get ready for another week. So, I denied my family my presence. I didn’t realize that at the time … or refused to acknowledge it. I lost my ride in 1972, but I absolutely suffered from a severe case of racing fever, so I bought a dirt bike for motocross racing. A couple of years later, I was involved in a mid-air collision during a motocross event in Jasper. While recovering from a couple of breaks in my collarbone and cracked ribs, I read magazines looking for a relatively safer motorcycle sport that maybe my boys could participate in with me. That’s what led to the sport of motorcycle trials. I won a few national events, but the great thing about it is that all of my boys participated in it with me. It was still competition, though. When Steve was in high school, Cherie would tell me I ought to let him beat me at an event. I said, nope, when he beats me it will be because he beats me.
Snapshot: Glenn McNeal
Early life: Born Jan. 2, he still won the 1937 New Year Baby title for Logan County, Ark. Graduated high school in Paris, Ark., 1955. Family: Married the former Cherie Horner in 1956. Their grown children are: Dan, construction, Arab; Mike (wife Jane), manager of Albertville Piggly Wiggly; Steve (wife Laura), electrical engineer Intuitive Research and Technology Corporation, Huntsville; Tom (wife Kerrie), work force development, Southern Co., Birmingham. They have eight grand and three great-grandchildren. Career at Redstone Arsenal: U.S. Army guided missile instructor, 1956-58; defense contractor technical writer, 1959-61; civil service, Army missile project office, international programs and Patriot missile project office, 1961-95. Other: Longtime member of Arab First United Methodist Church; former assistant scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 60.
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At trials in Ohio, we rode the same sections and did the same number of laps. After it was over, he asked what I scored, and I told him. He didn’t tell me his score, he just yelled out, “Yahoo!” and sped away roosting me, slinging dirt up in my face. That was one of my biggest thrills in trials racing. I loved my kids taking part in them with me. In fact, Steve and I were the first father-son combination to win our respective classes at a national event. That was in Sacramento, Calif., in 1980. Another was being a fullysponsored member of the U.S. team that competed in the international 1982 Scottish Six Days Trials, along with some of the best riders in the world with the United States best … Bernie Schreiber, Curt Comer Jr., Dan Suffin, Scott Head. My son Steve was also on our great team.
2.
What got you started with the complimentary practical joke you play on restaurant servers and managers, and do you recall any particular times you pulled it? Back in the late ’60s, I was in Boston with six or seven others on our missile command review team from Redstone Arsenal. We got marooned by a snowstorm and ate dinner in our hotel’s crowded restaurant. We learned that the staff had walked out after a big disagreement with the management. Tension was
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intense as patrons waited for the one and only waitress to take their orders, so I asked if I could serve our group coffee and get their orders. I not only received a heartfelt yes for an answer, but I got a white server jacket. I took off my suit coat and put it on. After getting orders from our table, I was headed to kitchen when a disgruntled patron, sitting with a woman, grabbed my arm and said, “I know you are short-handed, but that table just got waited on, and we were here first!” I said, “Sir, can I bring you cup of coffee?” Of course, he said yes. After the meal I changed back into my suit coat and entered the elevator. The man and woman were there but didn’t recognize me in my suit. They smiled and commented on the situation in the restaurant. I agreed it was bad. Then the man said, “I had to grab a waiter by the arm to get any service.” I couldn’t resist and said, “Sir, that was my arm you grabbed.” Dead silence. Then he apologized. After I explained my role, we all laughed. But I learned restaurants could be interesting places. I also learned a little about what it’s like to work in one. The first time I put that knowledge to use, Cherie and I were eating at a restaurant near Princeton while traveling in New Jersey. The crowd was noisy, the staff frantically
rushed, but the food was great. When the waitress brought the check, I looked at it with a solemn face and asked to see the manager. She put on an “Oh-no!” face and asked me to follow her. I introduced myself to the manager and said, “We came here expecting good food and good service …” Long pause. “But we received great food. And the service was great! Thank you both.” I still do this occasionally so I don’t get rusty. I also make it point thank checkout people at stores, to say something nice to them. Never pass up a chance to compliment someone for a job well done, whatever the job. It doesn’t have to have been perfect, only deserving.
3.
You’re 78, but it’s been said you don’t go to the Arab Senior Center because you are too busy going to the Arab Senior Center. Care to explain that? The Arab Tribune lets me shoot pictures sometimes, and I like to go up to the senior center and do that when they have their “senior prom” sponsored by the HOSA Club at the high school. I also shoot pictures at their other activities, like the Valentine’s party, fashion show and Christmas party. They really like seeing their picture in the paper. I remember my hometown
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their parents. I also shoot pictures at the Poke Salat Festival and horse shows. Sharing is the greatest thrill about photography. And if you get your picture in the Tribune or another newspaper, now that’s a real high. By the way, the absolute best advice I ever got about taking pictures was “Get closer.” An old editor at the Tribune told me that.
4.
You seem to enjoy injecting a little happiness into people’s lives. What’s your philosophy behind that? I was blessed with great parents. My mom taught Sunday school for 40 years, and my dad was the favorite uncle of all my cousins. Mom and Dad always told me, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything.” I should try to follow that more! Your contributions to this world can be positive or negative. I say help make the world a better and happier place. Spread some cheer.
5.
What’s something most people don’t know about Glenn McNeal?
Glenn finesses a boulder-strewn creek during a national trials event in 1982 in Donner, Calif. newspaper when I was growing up, and you were really “in” if your picture was in the paper. Also, when my sons and I began competing regionally and nationally at motorcycle observed trials, and climbed toward first place in our classes, we’d see lots of the same people at different events. Some of them had cameras, and it was always a nice thrill when one of them handed me an action shot of one of my boys or me. So I go to track events and the junior high volleyball and softball games and shoot pictures of the kids. I get prints or CDs made and at the next event give them to the kids or
That racing fever I mentioned first got me into stock cars, and I eventually moved up to NASCAR late model sportsman racing. My last car race was probably my greatest, even if I didn’t win. I was driving a ’64 Chevy at the Bristol Motor Speedway LMS 300. I was trying to catch the eventual winner, David Pearson, but I finished 13th after a late wreck in the race. But while I was intent on chasing Pearson, I passed this one car and glanced over to see Cale Yarborough driving it. I thought, “Wow! I just passed a legend!” If that wasn’t enough to make my day, I also passed Bobby Allison. I ended up losing my ride after that race to another guy, but in the end he did me a favor. That got me into motorcycles, and I was able to race with my sons. Good Life Magazine Our New Lot Is
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Good Reads
Meyer unfurls a Western epic of ruthless power in ‘The Son’
A timely spy thriller, ‘Heist’ raises ‘the’ political question
usty, violent and racist, are words that describe “The Son” by Phillip Meyer, a historical novel that was a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize. Covering a period of 200 years, it covers the rise and fall of a powerful Texas family through five generations and whose history is The Comanche philosophy written in blood, greed, toward outsiders was to and ultimate destruction. torture and kill the men, The story is told in the voices of three rape and kill the women, family members living take the children for 50 years apart and covers slaves or adoption. events stretching from the time of the Indian wars to the rise of cattle empires and the chaotic days of the oil boom. This is certainly not a revisionist history. It portrays the savagery of the Indians as well as the soldiers who pursue them, the ruthlessness of the ranchers who kill to protect their land and cattle and the destructive greed and corruption of the wealthy oil barons. The strongest character is the family patriarch, Eli McCullough, who was captured by the Comanches when 13 years old and held captive for three years. He quickly learns that to survive he must adapt to his situation. From his days as a Texas Ranger to his becoming one of the most powerful landowners in Texas, he not only survives but prevails. – Annette Haislip
n “The Heist” by Daniel Silva, a fallen British spy turned stolen art smuggler is found brutally tortured and murdered in his villa in Italy. Legendary Israeli intelligence officer and art restorer Gabriel Allon is involuntarily brought The Middle East was in to investigate. He like that. It turned hope discovers a cache of to despair, idealists into stolen art worth millions and a hidden clue. Machiavellians. In his search for the collector who is buying the stolen masterpieces, he is drawn to major cities in Europe and to the Middle East. He is forced to engage with, and even employ, some of the cleverest criminals of Europe, art smugglers, master forgers, professional assassins, money launderers and even a helpful expat Russian oligarch. Allon enters into this shady underworld by staging the brilliant theft of a Van Gogh to lure out the hidden collector. The trail leads him to discover the hidden bank accounts of the brutal ruler of Syria who is engaged in killing thousands of his own people in a horrific civil war. This timely spy thriller deals with today’s explosive events in the Middle East and with the ultimate problem facing the civilized world – whether to choose sides with extremist Muslims or autocratic despots. The ultimate truth revealed is the value of one human life. – Annette Haislip
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Becky Ray
Good Cooking
‘Boaz bred and baked,’ she knows her way around a kitchen Story and photos by David Moore
It’s not a written agenda item for the monthly
back in a few hours and they’re done – and moist,” Becky says.
Boaz bred and baked, so to speak, Becky graduated
leadership meetings at Boaz City Schools’ central office. from high school there in 1972 and attended Snead State It’s just an unwritten expectation that Becky Ray will Community College before going to The University bring goodies, something of Alabama for a degree she’s baked or otherwise in family and consumer made. science. “I was always the “We called it home ec baker,” she says. “From then,” she laughs. the time I was in middle Becky later earned school I made cakes or her masters degree and pies or candy.” educational specialist As a girl, Becky’s certification, but first she family often had company went to Grassy Middle drop in on weekends, and School in 1975 and taught they always had food to English a few years. She offer. Later, tailgating in taught home ec at Douglas their motor home at games for nine years, followed in Tuscaloosa always by commercial sewing at required preparing a Marshall Technical School, spread. then she was coordinator of “That’s why today I the cooperative education don’t just like to cook for program at Douglas and myself. I want to have a Boaz. bunch of company or do When Boaz started its the desserts and baking,” city system in 2005, BoazBecky Ray has been a familiar face at Grassy and she says. baked Becky excitedly Douglas schools, Marshall Tech and Boaz. In her early days, Becky signed on. She was child learned her way around nutrition coordinator three a kitchen from her mother, the late Mildred Thomas. years then served seven more as career and technical She also learned from her Maw-Maw Bessie Thomas, education coordinator. Even after retiring three years ago, renowned for her teacakes and sorghum syrup peanut she continues the job part time. candy. “I’m still working because it’s Boaz,” Becky says. “I “It was not peanut brittle, it was candy,” Becky says. have a vested interest here that I wouldn’t have at other “I regret to this day that I did not get her to teach me schools, so I’ll just keep working for a while.” that or get her recipe.” This fall she’s looking forward to Boaz adopting But she does have a family favorite recipe for an academy approach where most academies will be Mildred’s Special K candy. based on career tech pathways. This will include the “I only started making it after she died,” Becky says. H3 Academy, which will offer Health sciences, Human “Everyone kept asking for it, so I got her recipe. I have services (home ec) and Hospitality and tourism. For the a lot of her recipes. One day I will do something with latter H, culinary classes will be taught in the lunchroom, them.” which is being renovated with a $221,000 grant. Outside of the kitchen, these days she loves low“I don’t teach culinary classes,” says Becky, who for temp cooking on her Green Egg. Chicken breasts are a years has been so fond of teaching from a kitchen. “But it favorite. sure is fun to hang out in there.” “I like that I can go off and leave them, then come Here are some of Becky’s recipes for your kitchen ... MAY | JUNE | JULY
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CARROT CAKE 3 c. sugar 3 c. self-rising flour 1½ Tbsp. cinnamon 2 tsp. cloves Dash of nutmeg ¾ c. canola oil 6 eggs ½ tsp. vanilla 4½ c. grated carrots Sift together sugar, flour, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Add oil then eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Mix in vanilla and carrots. Pour into three lined cake pans. Cook 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cake completely cool before frosting. Place first cake layer on a large plate; cover top with about one fifth of the frosting. Invert second layer on top of the frosted bottom layer with flat bottomed side on top; spread the top with icing. Repeat with third layer; spread the top and cake sides with icing. If desired, sprinkle frosting with lightly toasted pecans. Keep at cool room temperature until serving time. Can be baked and frosted 2-3 days ahead of time and kept in airtight cake dome at cool room temperature for 2 to 3 days. NOTE: Carrot cake was a favorite of Becky Ray’s father, the late Red Thomas, and was often taken to tailgate parties in Tuscaloosa. CREAM CHEESE ICING 16 oz. cream cheese 1 stick butter 2 tsp. vanilla 2 lb. confectioner’s sugar ⅔ c. chopped pecans (if desired) In a mixer bowl, combine cream cheese and butter; beat on medium until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Scrape down bowl and paddle; add the sugar and vanilla; beat on medium, scraping down the bowl and paddle as necessary, until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in pecans. 28
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Becky makes her carrot cake three layers, which some folks would say makes it twice as good ...
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SNACK MIX 6 c. Rice Chex cereal 48 oz. can/jar salted peanuts 19 oz. M&M’s 1 lb. bag tiny twist pretzels 3 oz. white chocolate Mix cereal, peanuts and pretzels in a large dishpan. Melt white chocolate and pour over mixture. Stir until coated. Add M&M’s and stir again. Dump on wax paper. When set, break into pieces. Can be stored in refrigerator for several weeks. Note: I like to vary the color of the M&M’s according to season. CROCK-POT CANDY 24 oz. package of chocolate candy coating 24 oz. package white chocolate candy coating 4 oz. bar German chocolate 12 oz. bag milk chocolate chips 4 c. dry roasted peanuts Layer above in a slow cooker in order listed. Cook 1 hour on low; stir; cook 1 more hour; stir. With teaspoon, drop onto wax paper. Store in refrigerator. SPECIAL K BARS 6-8 c. Special K cereal 1 c. crunchy peanut butter 1 c. sugar 1 c. Karo white syrup Mix sugar and syrup and bring to a boil. Add peanut butter; stir until evenly mixed. Put cereal in large bowl; pour mixture over cereal until well coated. You have to work fast or this mixture will harden. You can either drop by spoonfuls onto aluminum foil or press into 9x13-in. greased pan. You also can use gluten-free Rice Chex. 30
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Clockwise from upper left are Becky’s Crock-Pot candy, Special K bars, chocolate oatmeal cookies and snack mix CHOCOLATE OATMEAL COOKIES 2 c. sugar 4 tablespoons cocoa ½ c. milk ½ c. canola oil ½ c. crunchy peanut butter 1 tsp. vanilla 3 c. dry oatmeal Mix first four ingredients in a pan; bring to a rolling boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in oatmeal.
Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Note: This recipe was always the first lab I gave in nutrition classes. It involved measurements and timed boiling. It was a class favorite ... they could cook and eat it in a 48-minute class. It didn’t cost much because we got commodity peanut butter and oats.
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ORIENTAL SALAD 1 lb. coleslaw mix 2 3-oz. pkgs. chicken-flavored ramen noodles (crushed) 6 green onions (chopped) 1 c. toasted almonds 1 c. toasted sunflower seeds
DRESSING ¾ c. peanut oil ⅓ c. cider vinegar 1 c. sugar (can use ½ c. Splenda, ½ c. sugar) 2 pkgs. of seasoning from ramen noodles
GRAPE SALAD
8 oz. cream cheese 8 oz. sour cream 1 tsp. vanilla flavoring ½ c. sugar ½ tsp. cinnamon (optional) 4 lbs. grapes brown sugar pecans
Mix first five ingredients together. Wash and dry
grapes; add to mixture and pour into bowl. Sprinkle to taste with brown sugar and pecans. NOTE: This is actually a Weight Watchers recipe that’s become a family favorite. I make with Splenda and fatfree sour cream and cream cheese. It’s prettier if you use the three colors of grapes.
Mix salad ingredients and dressing separately and store in refrigerator until ready to serve. To serve, add dressing and toss well. If you want the salad crunchy, do not add ramen noodles and nuts to mixture until ready to serve. ORANGE SALAD 24 oz. small curd cottage cheese (can use low fat) 16 oz. Cool Whip 9 oz. sugar-free orange Jell-O, (1 large and 1 small box, or 3 small boxes; can use lime, strawberry, etc.) 8 oz. can of pineapple tidbits (drained) 15 oz. can Mandarin orange slices (drained) pecan chips (if desired) Mix cottage cheese, Cool Whip and dry Jell-O powder in a large bowl with the drained pineapple and orange segments. Add pecan chips and store in refrigerator until ready to serve. Note: I have found that using light or fat-free Cool Whip does not allow the salad to congeal well, but I do use fatfree cottage cheese. SMOKED CHICKEN Chicken breasts (bone in with skin) Olive oil Lawry’s seasoned salt
CROCK-POT BAKED BEANS 1 lb. ground beef 1 large and 1 small can Bush’s original baked beans ¾ c. ketchup ⅜ c. mustard ¾ c. brown sugar 32
MAY | JUNE | JULY
Fry 1 pound ground beef and drain. Add to mixture of beans and other ingredients. Cook on low in Crock-Pot for several hours.
Brush chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with Lawry’s. Cook on a Green Egg or other smoker at 325 degrees for 2-3 hours. Use a meat thermometer to test when done (160-165 degrees).
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Good ’n’ Green
Garden ponds add color and the joy of running water to your landscape Story by David Cline, Ph.D. Photos by David Moore
Ornamental garden ponds are
When Wayne and Arlene Rakestraw bought their house on Signal Point Road in 2001 it already had an ornamental pond, or water garden, by the drive in the front yard. Since then, Wayne has added onto it twice, increasing the capacity from 500 gallons to 3,500. The pond – about 21x7 feet – also has two waterfalls. Some of their gardening inspiration came from taking Master Gardener classes. Combined with running water, a garden, Wayne says, “brings us a lot of joy.” 34
MAY | JUNE | JULY
becoming popular landscape fixtures. The soothing sound of moving water or the sight of colorful fish dancing among beautiful plants creates an environment that is easy to love. However, just like any other lovely landscape, it does not happen by itself. Creating a backyard haven that includes an ornamental pond takes planning, labor and money. These watery habitats can range from a few goldfish and plants in a half-barrel on the deck to a half-million dollar oasis with arched stone bridges, elaborate landscaping and only the best quality koi. Before you build a pond there are a number of important questions you should ask yourself. Here are but a few: • What is the purpose of the pond? • Will it be fish only, plants only or a combination? • Will the environment be formal or casual? • Where is the best location? • How big will it be? How many fish will it support? • What kinds of support pumps, filters and piping will be required? • What is the best construction material?
P
lanning goes a long way towards success, and, as the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Most people start out with a small pond, and, if it goes well, they will
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The Rakestraws have 38 koi in their pond, including butterfly and straight fin. The water ranges from 18 inches to 4 feet deep. Wayne recently added an ionizer to his circulation system that is supposed to keep string algae off his waterfalls. “I’m excited so far about what it’s doing,” he says. He also has a UV sterilizer/clarifier that reduces unwanted algae and harmful microorganisms, helping the koi and improving water clarity. likely want one that is bigger and better. On the other hand, if it does not go well, they find themselves pulling their hair out trying to figure out why the water is green, the pond leaks or the fish keep dying. Unfortunately, in my job as Extension aquaculture specialist, I usually get more calls from the second group. The most common complaint that I get is from people who have water so green that they can’t see and enjoy the fish. Or the pond sides and bottom are covered with a green filamentous slime that looks just awful. Both of these problems are generally caused by an excess of nutrients in the water.
of one of these algae blooms: water, nutrients and sunlight. You can’t do much about eliminating the water from the water garden, so you are left with nutrients and sunlight. Control the nutrients. Only feed the fish once a day and don’t feed them more than they will clean up in just a few minutes. Fish can be well maintained on a diet of 1 percent of their total body weight. So if you have 10 pounds of fish in the pond, they only need 0.1 pounds of high quality feed to keep them healthy. Fish are also cold-blooded so their metabolism is very slow in the cooler months. Most fish culturists do not feed fish when water temperatures drop below 55 degrees (unless it is a cold water species).
the time you get to interact with them (i.e. feeding time). As a result, people tend to overfeed the fish, creating a nutrient overload. Planktonic green algae are the plants best equipped to utilize these extra nutrients quickly and can rapidly turn the pond to green soup. Three elements go into the creation
t is possible to control the amount of sunlight entering the water by covering a good portion of the surface with either floating plants or rooted plants with floating leaves, such as water lilies or lotuses. Experts recommend 60-70 percent surface coverage. You don’t necessarily want to put
The best part of having fish is
36
MAY | JUNE | JULY
I
a pond in the shade or beneath trees because the leaves will collect in the pond and add additional nutrients. Most water lilies and other flowering plants need 6-7 hours of sunlight to produce blooms. The real challenge is to find and establish a balance between the fish and the plants. Once you find this balance you can feed the fish several small meals a day and the nutrients from the fish and fish feed will be enough to help the plants thrive but not generate extra nutrients that will cause an algae bloom.
When gathering information
online, look at product reviews and information generated by educational institutions. If you have pond problems, planning questions or want to share your successes, feel free to contact the Marshall County Extension office: 256-582-2009. For more info on managing ornamental ponds: www.aces.edu/dept/ fisheries/rec_fishing/ornamentalmgt. php. Good Life Magazine
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A 24-image wide-angle composite photograph, above, helps capture some the scope of the view from the Tellefsens’ deck.
Even before Jim Tellefsen designed his and Martha’s house near Grant ...
38
MAY | JUNE | JULY
It was always about the view
Story and photos by David Moore
A
t the table under the covered section of the deck, classical music piping through Bose speakers, Jim and Martha Tellefsen enjoy a cup of coffee and take in the view. And a rather spectacular eyeful it is – a 20-mile panorama of the Tennessee River. Below the deck, a shallow yard gives way to a 600-foot drop down to the wood–covered southeastern slope
of Gunters Mountain. A mile and a quarter beyond the Tellefsens’ deck, the broad band of the Tennessee River – it’s blue today – courses its way, left to right, through the valley defined to the east by the long, sandstone wall of Sand Mountain. A little to the left and three and a half miles away shines the thin white line of the Langston causeway and bridge. Beyond it, in the seemingly flat wall of Sand Mountain, is tucked Buck’s Pocket. On this side of the river, just to the
right, lies the cove where Adeline’s on the Lake is located and Boshart Creek fans out in the river. Farther downstream, if you look for them, are 4-year-old tornado scars on Preston Island. Inland from Preston Island, a straight stretch of Ala. 79 looks like an airport landing strip. More than 14 miles away, on clear days, you can glimpse the span of Veterans Memorial Bridge in Guntersville. Night skies there glow with town light. Leaning out from the deck at night MAY | JUNE | JULY
39
you can see the light glow of Goose Pond five miles upriver. Thermals climbing the slopes stir breezes on the deck that disappear 50 feet back from the edge. If it’s blowing lightly, Jim and Martha might eat breakfast on the deck table. More often it’s lunch or dinner. In nice weather coffee or cocktails are perfect accompaniments to the commanding view of river and beyond. It’s the view, naturally, that sold the Tellefsens on this lot. Jim bought it the very day they found it 23 years ago. “I don’t care if we never build on this lot,” he had announced. “I want to own it.” It’s always been about the view.
N
A zoomed-in view of the Tellefsens’ house from beyond Ala. 79 shows how it’s mostly windows on the southeastern side facing the river. 40
MAY | JUNE | JULY
ow 81, Jim retired from an architectural partnership at age 50. Martha, 65, was vice president of corporate communications for United Water Resources. They lived for years in Hillside, N.J., near New York City. Their love of fishing in the Florida Keys lured them south several times a year. In 1991, back before personal computers and Google, during a particularly nasty northern winter, Jim did extensive research on weather and other retirement factors in various parts of the country. His top three finds were San Diego, South Florida and Northeast Alabama. Then a New York Times piece on retiring in Guntersville impressed them. Returning home from the Keys in February 1992, they took a side trip and stayed a few nights at Lake Guntersville State Park. They spent their days looking at lake lots and homes. The last day they circled the lake, driving as far north as Bridgeport. Returning on Ala. 79, they spotted a sign at Dobbins Gap advertising bluff lots in Mountain Heights Estate. It was on Gunters Mountain, about seven miles east of Grant, almost to the Jackson County line. There they found their dream lot and, coincidentally, the owner, Jack Hess. It was love and purchase at first sight. Back home, Jim set about designing a house with a mix of contemporary and traditional, but always with the view in his mind.
A long drive leads though a naturally wooded, boulderstrewn landscape. The double front door has stained glass. Inset stonelined windows above the doors light the stairwell to the upstairs. In the living room are signs of two of the things Martha and Jim Tellefsen love – deep sea fishing (that’s Jim’s marlin mounted over the fireplace) and Blue, their standard poodle.
Cathedral ceilings in many rooms accentuate the spaciousness. The house has 7,000 square feet on three full levels, counting the basement. An apartment on a split level is great when any of their four grown children, their spouses, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild come to visit. The Tellefsens also attract old friends from up North passing through Alabama to go sailing or fishing – trips which Jim and Martha sometimes join. Jim had Andersen windows installed throughout the house – and there are a lot of them.
42
MAY | JUNE | JULY
Blue passes through the kitchen as his “mom” checks email on her phone. Jim used liberal amounts of oak throughout the house, including most of the floors. Interestingly, the kitchen, master bedroom, dining room and two sections of the living room (36 feet long) are built on 18x18-foot grids. “I used a surveyor’s topo map,” he says. “I tried to make the house part of the landscape. I didn’t disturb the ground very much, and I used colors that are compatible with the landscape. “It’s not your usual run of the mill house, but it’s not really that outlandish.” “No shock value here,” Martha says. Construction started in 1994. They moved in 1995. Friends said they’d be ostracized in the South, wouldn’t last a year. “We love Alabama,” Martha beams. “All of the people. Everyone!”
By their own confession, the
Tellefsens aren’t just Yankees. They’re “damn Yankees.” But they did more than just stay. They
immersed themselves into the Grant community. In New Jersey, Jim captained an ambulance squad. When they came here, both were basic EMTs but raised themselves to intermediate level through classes at Northeast Alabama Community College. They set out to revitalize emergency medical services to the area through North Marshall EMS. “We did a lot when we first started,” Martha says. “One year we ran 500 calls.” Jim recalls making five EMS calls in one day. In their 18 active years with North Marshall and the Swearingin VFD, they learned back roads many oldtimers didn’t know. Though still licensed members, the Tellefsens are inactive these days, but they’re glad to see Swearingin and Grant now
making medical calls, and they note the good work done by Hebron and Waterfront VFDs. “Being an EMT was rewarding,” Jim says. “People would recognize us. It helped make us part of the community.” The Tellefsens stay busy with Grant’s Church of New Horizons. Martha is church secretary and sings with the praise team; Jim is chairman of the deacons. They also work closely with the Great Expectations Ministry in Woodville.
This particular day, though,
April 1, the Tellefsens are busy with coffee and conversation on their deck with the stunning view. Martha enjoys photographing sunrises from here. “This morning there was not much of a sunrise,” Jim says, “but the fog MAY | JUNE | JULY
43
Jim and Martha’s offices on opposite sides of a connecting bath, offer great views. The stairwell combines an art gallery and library. The door at the bottom left leads to a three-car garage.
44
MAY | JUNE | JULY
was very interesting. There were big clouds of it isolated on the ground around Buck’s Pocket.” Under the table, Blue, their standard poodle, starts after a lizard. “He’s not into the view,” Martha laughs, “but he likes the lizzies.” “He goes crazy when there is a raccoon or possum,” Jim says. Other wildlife lurks on the edge of the mountain, like the bobcat their neighbor spotted on his driveway. One fall there were babies … 12-inch rattlesnakes, that is. Martha found one while raking around some azaleas. The next day another one was on the front porch. Holly Cruger, daughter of a friend who lives on Viper Trail and now a veterinarian, came and collected the babies. Snake talk is interrupted by a surprise – but not totally unexpected – guest: the season’s first hummingbird. “I go through gallons of sugar water in the summer feeding them,” Martha says. “It’s like a war zone out here.” Bald eagles always cause excitement. Martha and Jim have a deal: If either one spots an eagle, he or she is entitled to interrupt whatever the other is doing, to come and see. It’s not long this morning before two birds are spotted soaring high over the mountainside. Soon they venture lower, and sunlight ignites white gleams from their heads and tails. Eagles. “Someone this morning,” Martha abruptly laughs, eyeing Jim, “told me there were 16 eagles flying by. I went running to the window ... April Fool’s!” Jim appears far more pleased than guilty. “We do enjoy nature out here,” Martha says. And enjoy the view, too ... always the view. Good Life Magazine
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Dora would push Stocklaw for a while in the wheelbarrow, then they would swap.
Stocklaw and Dora
Colorful characters who won’t this way pass again Story by Steve A. Maze Photos from his collection
Many business owners hang
photos of politicians, professional athletes and actors on the walls of their stores. But walk into a number of Marshall County businesses a few decades ago and you might have found another portrait hanging on the wall. He wasn’t a hotshot politician or famous actor, but he once was the most well-known man in Marshall County. 46
MAY | JUNE | JULY
Arthur P. “Stocklaw” Johnson was a natural showman and a self-appointed preacher. No one else was the subject of as much interest and conversation as the small-statured man clad in patched trousers and over-sized shoes. He and his wife, Dora, were familiar figures on the streets of Guntersville from the mid-1930s to the mid-50s. Picturesque in speech and action, the couple was always the center of attention on their visits to Guntersville and other Marshall County towns. Stocklaw got his nickname as a 12-year-old boy in Etowah County during a heated debate over a pending
stock law that required rural citizens to keep their livestock confined in a fence. The youngster was against the law and wrote a song ridiculing those who wanted to pass it. Part of the song went like this: Way down yonder where they got no fence – Stock law! Stock law man ain’t got no sense – s Stock law! Rope your cow around the horn Stock lawman ought never been born. The song was a smash hit with those against the law, and “Stocklaw” was
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asked to sing the song several times during the campaign. In fact, he was asked to sing it so many times that he started charging a fee to perform the ditty.
I
t was during the Great Depression era that Stocklaw Johnson became a household name in Marshall County. Even though he had little or no income, Stocklaw refused to accept welfare during the tough economic times. People soon began pointing him out as the man who would not accept relief. Folks admired him and became regular customers when he started his own peddling business. Stocklaw financed his enterprise by borrowing 25 cents from friends and people he knew. The loans were repaid with 25-cent bundles of pine kindling he peddled. Even though Stocklaw’s small farm at Polecat Holler didn’t have enough timber to amount to anything, he always found ways to make money from it … like cutting pine kindling and hauling it four miles to Guntersville in a wheelbarrow or twowheel cart pulled by a bull. Stocklaw pushed the wheelbarrow down the mountain from his home each morning with Dora perched atop the kindling. She pushed him up the mountain in the wheelbarrow each evening. Stocklaw could hardly argue with that arrangement. The businessman added to his income by selling sassafras roots to be used in tea, as well as selling poke salat in the spring and leaf mold for gardens during the winter months.
There was one more way to
supplement his meager earnings. Stocklaw and other ministers would preach to crowds that always congregated around the lawn of the courthouse in Guntersville each Sunday. The appreciative folks among the audience would toss change from their pockets to the preachers during their sermons. Not too surprisingly, that sparked 48
MAY | JUNE | JULY
Dora and Arthur P. “Stocklaw” Johnson in an undated photograph.
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The Johnsons’ house, pictured here in a 1988 photo by Sue Wilkerson of Albertville, was located near the Alabama & Tennessee River Railway, reportedly exists no more. more than one lively argument between Stocklaw and the preachers as they vied for time on the square. Dora, often attired in a feed sack dress, would sing a gospel hymn in her shrill voice to attract onlookers to their location. She would move over to the side as Stocklaw began his sermon, but it was then that Dora’s most important duty began – picking up the coins their listeners tossed toward them. “Just silver!” Stocklaw hollered as he encouraged the crowd to throw nickels and dimes rather than pennies and tax tokens. “You can stop now, A.P., if you’re a mind to,” Dora yelled after one rather lengthy sermon. “We done got enough for dinner.” 50
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Stocklaw abruptly stopped his sermon in mid-sentence, and the couple sauntered off toward a nearby store for a sandwich and RC Cola.
D
ora was not the only singer in her family. Stocklaw was often in demand by people who hired him as a joke to sing in his off-tune voice to one of their unsuspecting friends. Stocklaw would receive two fees for these performances – one from the one who hired him and one from the unsuspecting friend to get him to stop. Stocklaw and Dora were kind and compassionate people who didn’t always charge a fee to sing. Whenever young men were drafted into military service, the patriotic
couple would meet them at the Guntersville bus station as they were being shipped out. They would sing a few gospel hymns and wish the young men good luck. Stocklaw was well known for his wit, especially when it came to the many goats he owned throughout his lifetime. A railroad company used a herbicide spray to kill honeysuckle vines along the track that ran near Stocklaw’s home. Some of his goats ate the poisoned vines and died as a result. Stocklaw promptly approached the railroad company about paying him for the dead goats. “We put up signs warning about the poison,” a railroad representative stated in explaining while they were not liable for the loss. “Yes,” Stocklaw retorted, “but my goats couldn’t read.” On another occasion, Stocklaw was walking across the courthouse square with one of his goats trailing behind him. “Stocklaw, I believe that’s the ugliest goat I have ever seen,” a prisoner sarcastically yelled through the window of his second floor jail cell. “Yeah, he’s ugly,” Stocklaw replied, “but he ain’t in jail.”
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arshall County lost its most colorful character in January 1955 when Stocklaw died at his home at the age of 65. Even though he has been dead for 60 years, he still lives on in the memories of many. They remember him as a smart businessman, as well as someone who brought a smile to their faces. Stocklaw and Dora, who passed away in 1968, were not rich or well educated. Still, their dynamic personalities endeared them to the people of Marshall County like none other – before or since. Good Life Magazine
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Growing grapes making wine
&
Jules J. Berta Winery ... one of a kind in Marshall County
When fireworks explode over Sand Mountain on the Fourth of July, a much quieter explosion will be occurring at Jules J. Berta Winery in Albertville. Ignited by the Sand Mountain climate, clusters of hard green grapes are ripening and sweetening, their skins growing darker, as with the Merlot grapes shown here. This change is called veraison, and the process is part of the ongoing, thousands-of-years-old cycle in the growing of vinifera, or wine grapes. “You couldn’t ask for a more perfect climate for grapes to ripen in,” says Jules Berta, second-generation owner and winemaker at Marshall County’s only commercial winery.
Story and photos by David Moore
The story of Jules J. Berta
Jules didn’t particularly fancy wine but would have a glass or two with his dad when visiting on leave. Wine was even farther from his mind in 1990 when he found himself immersed in the Gulf War. Among
Winery in Albertville starts with neither glass nor bottle, grape nor vine. It’s rooted in the Cold War revolution in Hungary and the hot Persian deserts of the first Gulf War. It was in late 1956 that Soviet forces retaliated with vengeance against the revolt that overturned its puppet government in Hungry. Among the 200,000 Hungarians who fled the bloodshed was Jules Berta, an Old World lover and maker of wine, who lived two years as a refugee in Austria. He then immigrated to the U.S., raising a family as jobs The wine is sold in the winery’s gift shop took them to Illinois, Ohio and on Darden Avenue off U.S. 431 and ABC New York. One son, Jules John stores here and in surrounding counties. Berta, grew up in Ohio. At age 19, during the lagging economy in 1981, Jules joined the Navy. In 1983, he got a call from his other duties, some covert, he served father. as a corpsman with an explosive “Guess where I am,” the elder ordnance disposal team. The had said. Jules could have easier following year, Jules was one of the guessed how many corks a 500-liter 105 men in a Navy SEALS training fermentation tank might hold … his class. A cracked rib and hypothermia dad had taken a job as plant manager forced him to quit four months into at someplace called Web Wheel in the strenuous six-month ordeal. wherever Albertville, Ala., was. “You had your name on the front “I can’t believe people grow cotton and back of your T-shirt,” Jules says. here,” Berta had continued over the “They’d scream at you coming and phone. “This is wine country.” scream at you going. They put gravel So Berta bought a house on five on the floor when you did sit-ups. acres and set out to prove the area They’d stand over you with water was, indeed, wine country. He began hoses in your face. People talk about raising grapes and, as a hobby, making water boarding, and I laugh.” the nectar he loved. After 11 years and three
honorable discharges, he’d had his fill and left the service in 1994. “I was divorced, broke and disgruntled, so what do you do? I headed to Alabama, down on the farm, to regroup with the old man.”
Jules took a few classes
at Snead State Community College and, with an associate degree in science/diesel technology from California, got a mechanic job for Penske Truck Leasing in Huntsville. But as much as anything he found the new life he sought in his father’s bucolic vineyard. “I got involved in the grapes and enjoyed it,” he says. “It was very peaceful and serene. I started ordering grape books. I became self-educated in viticulture and oenology.” Jules also learned that he’d been introduced to wine at age 2, given small amounts to ease the pain of cutting teeth. “In the Old Country they do that. Alcohol is a part of life in Europe. I don’t think I suffered too much from it,” he laughs, “but maybe that’s debatable. Like everything, it needs to be used in moderation. “As I got older, I started enjoying it more. I found it interesting, all the different varietals of grapes and kinds of wine.” He and his dad purchased adjoining property. The “farm” grew to 30 acres, the vineyard to six. Jules and his father harvested so many grapes they sold them to other wineries. MAY | JUNE | JULY
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Varietals ripen at different paces. KÊrfrankos and Sylvaner grapes come in the first or second week of August. Petit Syrah peak in midseason, the Cabernets last. Winemakers want to harvest each varietal at its pivotal balance point between sweetness and acidity, a timetable confounded by numerous agricultural variables, says Jules, above. In the provided photo below, Justin Bailey, the Bertas’ son, helps with harvest, filling bins with 40 pounds of grapes. The green plastic nets keep hungry birds from plucking the crop.
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“We couldn’t process a ton a wine grapes,” Jules says. “That would be highly illegal.” In 2001, he met Becky Bailey through his boss at Penske. On their first date they walked around the property without Becky knowing about the vineyard. In the moonlight, the early season vines looked like long rows of dark alien
pods, weird shapes marching across the eerie landscape, disappearing into the dark woods beyond. “What are those?” she stammered. “Those are my grapevines,” Jules replied. “Man!” Becky laughs at the memory. “That was scary. Had he not worked for my uncle, I would
have thought for sure I was about to be dead.” “It was kind of creepy,” Jules admits.
T
he elder Berta retired from Web Wheel in 2003 and returned to Hungary where he owned a dozen vineyards. Jules, still at Penske and living in Claysville, continued to
Skins and juice are pumped into opentop fermentation tanks and containers for about a week, depending on varietal and other variables. Added sulfites kill natural yeasts that convert sugar to alcohol, Becky says. More predictable winemaker yeast is added to continue the alcohol production. During primary fermentation, the must goes through what’s called maceration; enzymes help break down the skins, releasing tannins and antitoxins. Meanwhile, the formation of alcohol releases carbon dioxide that bubbles the skins to the surface, creating a floating “cap.” This can be pushed down with bare feet, but, shown here, the Bertas use a long-handled punch-down tool with a stainless steel plate on the end. MAY | JUNE | JULY
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After primary fermentation, the Bertas pour the must into a perforated, cylindrical, stainless steel wine press, which filters out the remaining skins and seeds. In this case, it’s with Merlot grapes in the second week of September. Gravity pulls most of the young “free run” wine through the holes in the press. Once the cylinder is full of skins, a lid is affixed and a handle on top screwed down, expanding a bladder inside that presses out the rest of the juice. At this stage, the young, nouveau Merlot shown here is 8-10 percent alcohol.
oversee the vineyard in Albertville. The same year, Jules and Becky married. In 2005 Berta died. “What do you do?” Jules says. “We had all of this work and time and energy in the vineyard.” He and Becky kept up the vineyard and mortgages on it, his house in Claysville and her place in Georgia, all the while selling grapes to other wineries. “It was kind of crazy. I finally worked out something with my brothers and sisters, and Becky and I got full control of this place,” Jules says. “You talk about how bad you want it? We went through the mill on this thing.” Like lees, or sediment, slowly drifting to the bottom of a wine barrel, Berta’s estate finally settled, and in 2004, after Albertville went wet, Jules and Becky began making wine. In 2007 they opened the winery in an outbuilding behind their house. By 2012 they were doing enough business that Jules was able to leave his job at Penske and dedicate himself full time to growing grapes and making and bottling wine. “It was a hobby that turned into an obsession that turned into a business,” he says.
The Berta winery produces
about 1,600 12-bottle cases of wine annually. About half of that is sweet wine made from muscadine, scuppernong, peaches, apple, watermelon, cherry, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. (In 2013 the Bertas planted 1.5 acres of muscadines and will sell them for the first time this year to hobbyist wine makers on a you-pick-them basis.) “It’s a huge market for us,” Jules says. “There will always be sweet wine drinkers.” But their real love is producing true vinifera grapes and the classic wines made from them. The Bertas make red wines from their Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Syrah and
Becky pumps nouveau Merlot into a secondary fermentation tank. Anytime the wine is moved from one vessel to another, she says, it’s called racking. The wine now ages in stainless steel tanks or plastic flex tanks. During this refining or clarification stage the wine is racked several more times, each time leaving the sediment, or lees, that has settled in bottom of the tank. Sometimes Hungarian oak chips are added for flavor, steeped in the wine like tea bags. “We like to age our white and fruit wines about six months,” Becky says. “We hold onto our reds for a year or more until they are ready.” MAY | JUNE | JULY
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Blaufränkisch grapes. They make whites from Sylvaner, Riesling and Chardonnay grapes.
T
he next chapter in the story of Jules J. Berta Winery may well come from yet another war – this one against Pierce’s disease, a serious threat to grape vines in California and the Southeast. Pierce’s is a bacterial infection that kills off vines over five years. It is spread by bluegreen sharpshooters, which are kin to the cicada. While there is no cure on the market yet, researchers at the University of California–Davis and elsewhere are working to develop disease-resistant vines. The Bertas, along with Randal Wilson, owner of White Oak Vineyards in Anniston, have an association with UC-Davis. “If it takes off, we do have plans for building a larger facility here,” Jules says. “Business has been good and steady.” Meanwhile, work aplenty awaits the Bertas as their current crop develops. But there’s a Petite Syrah or Chardonnay to savor after work. “I have been lucky in life to find something I enjoy doing and can make a living at it,” says the once disgruntled veteran. “There’s a lot to be said for that.” Sounds like a toast. Good Life Magazine Throughout the winemaking process, Jules runs tests at various times. Above he uses a hydrometer to determine a wine’s specific gravity so he knows when it’s time to bottle the product.
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Barren of leaves since first frost, grape vines sleep through winter, the Bertas begin pruning, an almost surgical operation. “You don’t just let anybody prune because you can destroy the vines,” Jules says. “You want someone who understands how that vine grows.” They strive to balance future energy – enough for good fruit growth through summer while leaving enough for vine survival without leaves during winter dormancy. Each twining vine is cut back, leaving four or five finger-length spurs of the two main trunk branches. After pruning, Jules cranks his tractor and tills underneath arm areas with a precision attachment that aerates the soil. “A lot of wineries use herbicides,” he says. “I use them on a very limited basis. I don’t want them in my wine.” Warming March weather nudges the fingerling vine spurs to life. Small buds break out and produce shoots from which new leaves, shown here in Jules’ selfie, eventually sprout. Into April, the shoots produce clusters of shot-size berries that by May have become self-pollinating flowers. Those that successfully pollinate transform into clusters of green grape berries. To protect the growing clusters from fungi and disease, the Bertas spray them with fungicides, such as a 150-yearold mineral based “Bordeaux mix” of copper sulfate crystals dissolved in water. And so with the winemaker’s help, nature does its thing. The grape clusters mature, and at Jules J. Berta Winery the ancient cycle of vine to wine continues.
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Manager Mason Thurman and chef German Rodriquez capture the flavor of SomeWhere on Lake Guntersville in Warrenton. It’s sorta’ like you can tune a guitar but you can’t tuna fish ... or something like that.
SomeWhere
Good Eats
A combo of beach flavors, kitchen flavors, good times and water Pour me something tall and strong. Make it a Hurricane before I go insane. It’s only half past twelve but I don’t care, It’s five o’clock somewhere. – Jimmy Buffett Story and photos by Patrick Oden
J
immy Buffett never would have imagined his song would literally manifest on the shores of Lake Guntersville.
But it did. And it’s always five o’clock SomeWhere. Now SomeWhere didn’t rise from the lake like the lost city of Atlantis, raining bass and glistening in the golden North Alabama sun … nothing that dramatic. SomeWhere was born of a transformative idea and a lifestyle ideal. In 2012, a “Parrot Head” Buffett fan from Nashville saw an opportunity in the Boondocks, and brought a bit of Key West to Guntersville. Morris “Bubba” Thurman Jr. and his son Mason had been vacationing
on Lake Guntersville since the mid90s when Bubba purchased a place in River Bend Estates and relocated from Tennessee. When an opportunity arose to purchase the old Boondocks restaurant at the west end of the Ala. 69 causeway, he grabbed it. Property and entertainment are Bubba’s business, and with land and water access he knew he had found the perfect spot to bring the Key West vibe to life on the lake. “We wanted to bring a relaxed environment … somewhere you can MAY | JUNE | JULY
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A customer pulls into SomeWhere, above. But you don’t have to drive or take a boat to get there. Mason and Bubba, below on a whimsical beach chair, run a free shuttle within a 15-mileradius for patrons who want to let loose on the weekends. Leave the car at home. A good time to visit will be July 25. Father, son and the SomeWhere gang will host Corey Garmon’s Wishes for Warriors, an outdoor concert and beach party to raise funds for the children of wounded veterans. To get the ball rolling, the staff is donating their wages that day.
Accessible by boat, food pickup at the Bama Breeze Patio behind the restaurant is a fun convenience. get excellent food and service without the prices and stiff collar.” says Mason, 27, who runs the restaurant. “We’re a beach bar in the middle of nowhere called SomeWhere.”
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ason gets asked about three times a day if chef German Rodriguez is still there. Answer: yes. He and Bubba knew a good thing when they tasted it and kept German from Boondocks on board to run the galley. German relocated to Alabama from Chicago eight years ago, toting a resumé that includes working in some of the Windy City’s best restaurants with some of its best chefs. In 2014 SomeWhere won an award for “Best Burger On the Water,” but the menu is like an old Caribbean treasure map, each item a glorious bit of booty. German says the prime rib is a classic, and the ginger tuna steaks offered as a weekend special have been a big hit, and he’s very proud of his Cajun tilapia.
“It’s simple and it’s good,” German says. But you don’t have to take German’s word for it, SomeWhere’s patrons readily agree. “It’s a great place to bring a vendor because it’s on the lake, the food is great and the service is amazing,” says Dr. Mark Everett, until recently director of radiology for Marshall Medical Centers. With a great menu, full bar, live entertainment, “I’d be down here every day if they were open,” regular Leon Smith laughs. “This is my watering hole.” And it’s a favorite watering hole for many. About 9 p.m. on the weekends, the lights go low, and the stage comes alive with local artist or those Bubba brings in from Nashville. The patio is abuzz, the bar is hopping, the dance floor fills.
And then there is the lake and
the Bahama Breeze Tiki Bar.
Boaters can literally pull right up to the dock, hop out, grab a seat next to the water and have full menu and bar service without stepping a foot inside. How cool is that? For landlubbers who want to enjoy the Bahama Breeze, there’s dockside parking. You know how it is when in the course of an average day a Jimmy Buffett song catches your ear out of nowhere. You smile. Your toe starts to tap. You sing along. And, at least for a while, your day’s a whole lot better. If you could capture that feeling in a bottle, perhaps add a little Key West air, and release it in North Alabama, it would end up SomeWhere. Stop by. Try German’s Cajun tilapia or bacon wrapped shrimp. Or, if you really want to do it Buffett style, order an award winning cheeseburger … in paradise. Good Life Magazine MAY | JUNE | JULY
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W
hen I approached the Alabama & Tennessee River Railway about riding its freight train through Marshall County, I thought it would make an interesting trip. Under weak pretenses of needing a “camera caddy,” I got clearance for? Liles Burke to ride with me. I thought he would enjoy it. My thinking was way off the mark on both counts. Interesting? Riding in a working locomotive was an absolute blast. And Liles? Ask him if there’s ever been another time he’s grinned seven and half-hours
straight. Me? I doubt I’ve ever had that much fun for an entire day at work.
Somewhere on the run down Sand
Mountain from Boaz, standing on the front platform of the engine, I asked Liles what, other than fun, was his big takeaway from the trip. “I think,” he said after a moment of judge-like pondering, the locomotive rumbling under our feet, “it would be what a uniquely different view you get of Marshall County riding the train.” My thinking, too. Climb aboard with us …
Riding the ATN Railway No. 9401, most of its 13 cars and the second locomotive directly behind it, lumbers through the “Y” intersection after pulling away from the Guntersville Depot, to head southeast, parallel to Ala. 227.
The Alabama & Tennessee River Railway runs 120 miles between the rail barge terminal at the Port of Guntersville and Birmingham, via Gadsden. ATN leases the line from CSX and is its only user. “We’re not highballing 60-80 miles per hour down a main line,” says general manager Matt Long, at left above. Beside Matt are general foreman Phillip Alexander, passenger for the day Liles Burke of Cherokee Ridge, engineer Jerry DeBene and, on the locomotive platform, conductor Scott Browning. Down by the station, early in the morning, See my favorite engine ready to tow. All the other train cars will follow on behind him – Chug-chug, puff-puff, off they go. – Children’s song Story and photos by David Moore
A
t 8 a.m. Liles Burke and I arrive at the old Guntersville station. We have never seen it before, but our new, favorite locomotive, No. 9401, stands ready on the tracks, trailing unit No. 9651 coupled behind it. Three boxcars, seven hoppers and three tank cars train out behind the engines. The train’s night crew, who made the 30-mile run up from Gadsden, is leaving, and we meet the day crew: engineer Jerry DeBene and conductor Scott Browning. With them are Matt Long, general manager of the Alabama & Tennessee River Railway, ATN for short, and Phillip Alexander, regional general foreman for OmniTRAX, the railway’s holding company and corporate manager. It’s rare having a passenger aboard, even more so a journalist, but otherwise it will be a regular, if somewhat light, workday for the crew. For Liles and me, the day is anything but regular. Matt gives us goggles, yellow vests and a safety talk. “Safety is always a big deal with us,” says Phillip. “Not 66
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just for the employees, but for the public.” He oversees maintenance on 48 locomotives OmniTRAX operates in its eastern region, including seven on the ATN. Most of these guys live in the Gadsden area, but Phillip lives in Carlisle, a few miles south of Boaz. That makes him one of the few local people who’ve seen Marshall County from the railroad viewpoint Liles and I will see today. As a kid, Phillip’s grandparents lived in Mountainboro by this rail line. When he heard a train, he’d run out to watch it pass. Later he walked the tracks. “You always heard about going to work on the railroad. Kids kind of had that in their mind,” Phillip says. “I was interested in trains but no more than other kids.” He worked 20 years as an industrial machinist, joining OmniTRAX when it formed the ATN. He’s always on call for derailments or other issues and sometimes works 20hour days, which comes with a good management job, he says. “I wish I had gotten into railroading earlier,” Phillip adds. He’ll ride as far as Albertville today and climbs aboard with the crew and Liles as the train cranks up. Matt and I ride in his truck a mile or so up Ala. 227 to the end of the causeway at Wayne Farms feed mill, where I shoot photos as the train passes.
I
climb aboard the locomotive while it’s switching at Wayne. Liles, grinning, tells me I missed the thrill of the engines starting up.
ATN’s general purpose locomotive No. 9401 crosses the trestle alongside Ala. 227. The engine was refitted and got its spiffy paint job in 2014 at Mid America Car in Kansas City. ATN is part of OmniTRAX, one of North America’s largest private railroad and transportation management companies with a network of 19 regional and short line railroads in 12 states and three Canadian provinces. Among the group, ATN ranks eighth in revenue and moves 18,000 cars a year, about half of them on the Guntersville-Gadsden run. “Short of the power plant of a large ship, I’m not sure what you could compare it to,” he says. “You can feel a locomotive running as much as you hear it.” In real life, Liles, who lives at Cherokee Ridge, is a justice on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest state office to which anyone from Marshall County has been elected. But in another life His Honor is a “foamer.” It’s a new term for us that we learn from the ATN crew. It describes people who figuratively foam at the mouth over all things trains. Liles laughingly confesses to the charge of foamer. I think he inherited the gene. Starting about 1900, his great-grandfather, W.M. Burke, was a conductor on the Louisville
& Nashville Railroad for some 40 years. “His regular train was #3, which was a local passenger train that left Nashville in the morning and got to Montgomery in the evening,” Liles says. “It stopped at almost every station on the way.” He still has W.M.’s railroad pocket watch. When Liles was a kid, both of his grandfathers took him to watch trains in Cullman. “One of them lived a block east of the L&N tracks, and one of them lived two blocks west, so we would hear them coming and drive up to the tracks,” Liles says. Later he caught rides on trains and, when older, chased them in his car. I also have an old fondness for
trains. (Please see page 6.) But there’s another thing about them, too. Building railroads was dangerous work. And railroad barons of old could be ruthless in their pursuits. But, undeniably, much of our nation was built on steel tracks for steel wheels by steel-willed men.
S
witching operations at the Wayne Farms feed mill and Tucker Milling take maybe an hour. Once we cross Ala. 227, the scenery soon turns to woods and we start up Sand Mountain. We learn that ATN is replacing ties on the line. Until the new ones settle and are adjusted, maybe by spring, engineers limit their speed to 10 miles per hour. This aggravates Jerry and Scott more than Liles and MAY | JUNE | JULY
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Scott Browning catches a ride out of the siding after a switching move to leave a loaded hopper car at Wayne Foods feed mill in Guntersville. The ATN hauls food, feed products, paper products, aggregates, cement, scrap steel and a few chemicals, such as caustic soda. Train size on the Guntersville leg of the ATN is limited to 2,300 tons because of the grade up the mountain, but that’s still equal to what 90 semi-trucks carry. Phillip Alexander and Jerry DeBene, at the engine’s control stand, wait for radioed instructions from conductor Scott Browning, who is coupling up to a car for pickup at Tucker Milling. OmniTRAX stresses safety, and the ATN strives to be injury free every year. Jerry, who also controls the trailing second engine from No. 9401, explains that balancing the air brakes is perhaps the trickiest part of operating a train. Engines have brakes, as do all of the cars, and air pressure has to be maintained at certain levels. 68
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Big No. 9401 is dwarfed by the 40-foot deep cut on the climb up Sand Mountain. No other trains use the short line, so there is no danger in stopping. Right after the cut, the railway crosses its largest and deepest trestle. me. Since we’re not highballing, I get permission to descend the few inside cabin steps, exit the engine’s front door and ride outside on the platform. Fun? Beats convertibles by a factor of 10. The grade up Sand Mountain is 3 percent, a climb of about 475 feet in elevation over a three-mile stretch. While not steep for an auto, that’s steep for a train. Jerry says it’s the steepest and most winding stretch of track in Alabama. He also says a wooden trestle we’ll cross is the biggest one in use this side of the Mississippi. Phillip can’t vouch for the trestle, but he’s not arguing. We appreciate the sense of climbing from occasional views through the still bare March trees. The tracks pass through deep cuts in the solid rock, 18 feet wide wall to wall. It feels as if you could stick out your arm and slap rocks as we squeeze through what’s actually a narrow slice of history. The first official train trip on this line was made in 1892, but grading for the track was completed in 1861. It’s too cool when Jerry stops the train so we can climb off and examine a 40-foot cut, deepest on this side of Sand Mountain. Attesting to the often-rugged topography,
Traffic backs up from the tracks across U.S. 431 in Albertville. Motorists might wonder why they watch the train go back and forth at the crossing. It’s because of a switching operation at a siding that serves a rail customer near the highway. Say the customer has a full boxcar to pick up and needs an empty replacement. The train has to first pass the y-shaped siding, then, with the siding switch changed, back into the siding, couple the full car onto the end of the train, pull out past the siding switch and, with the switch changed again, back down the tracks and uncouple all of the cars behind the customer’s empty boxcar. Then the dance starts again: pass the siding, back into the siding, leave the empty, pull out, back up, couple the rest of the cars then, finally, go on its way. immediately after the deep cut, the train crosses the big 324-foot long wooden trestle spanning a ravine that bottoms out 60 feet below. This is a world away from U.S. 431 between Guntersville and Albertville. I’m having a blast shooting pictures from the cab, from the front platform and from the catwalk behind the cab along the side of the engine. Even Scott and Jerry, regulars to the view, find it scenic. Liles suggests that an excursion dinner train through here would be a hit. Especially, I add, with an open observation car. Cresting the mountain, the land opens around us to nice homes, big lots, small farms, early spring grass and blooming trees. 70
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After a switching operation at
H.J. Baker on Railroad Avenue where the track crosses U.S. 431, Jerry backs away from the highway and shuts down the train. Matt is awaiting us here. We leave the train parked, transfer from engine cab to pickup cab and drive to Los Arcos for lunch. As we walk in I fight off the giddy urge to break into song: I’ve been working on the railroad … None of the crew is moaning, but this is truly a job for them. Today is beautiful. But they are out here in the freezing cold, pouring rain and sweltering heat, moving goods that help keep our local economy chugging along. “These guys make a lot of sacrifices,” Matt says.
A minor sacrifice is no siesta after a great lunch. We crank up the train and rumble toward Albertville. Passing through downtown I wave at people stopped at the crossings. Most smile and wave back. We pass Progress Rail, one of ATN’s biggest customers. It’s a oneway trip for old train cars hauled here from Gadsden because they’re being scrapped. Sometimes ATN picks up recycled train wheels from Progress Rail, but not today. Rumbling through Boaz, three women at a picnic table wave at us. A man and his son wave, three kids run from their yards waving and two kids wave from the porch of a sadly trashed mobile home. Coming out of Boaz we pass the golf course and start down Sand
Most of the rail crossings –and there are not many – are in rural areas and do not back up lines of cars like sometimes happens on U.S. 431. The photo above, shot from the cab, shows a crossing between Albertville and Boaz. Beyond Boaz, three girls run out to wave at the passing train. The stretch down Sand Mountain toward Gadsden criss-crosses Line Creek, which in several places spreads out in large ponds.
Mountain, roughly paralleling Line Creek for some miles. From the front platform Liles and I watch short bridges roll beneath us as the creek runs first on one side of the train then the other. By and far, the scenery offers a fresh take on Marshall County, one few people ever see. The grade is less steep than it was coming up the mountain. We can tell we’re going down by the whitewater rapids as the creek cuts through the mountainside. We see cranes and ducks in the water. “It doesn’t even look like Alabama,” Liles says. “I’m surprised at how little residential housing we’ve seen.” An exclamation point to this section is the 90-to 100-foot deep Sheffield Gap cut we pass through. It’s great to be able to stop the train and get out again.
W
After descending Sand Mountain, the ATN passes through a 90-100foot cut at Sheffield Gap. The grading for the line was completed in 1861. Passing through the cut gives an appreciation of the work that went into building the railroad back in the day. 72
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e make another switching operation before passing Attalla and soon enter Siskin Yard in Gadsden, the end of the line for this crew, Liles and me. Jerry and Scott probably tire of us gushing appreciation for the ride. Liles and I catch up with Matt to talk about railroading and to hitch a ride back to Guntersville. We take the usual route this time. In 1971, Matt says, 1.5 million people worked for railroads in America. That’s down to 150,000. “We are truly a brotherhood.” And, he adds, he’s proud to be part of an institution that was so crucial in the building of this country. “I wonder where our country would be without the railroads,” he says. Only six months into his new challenge with ATN, Matt says he wants to work with Marshall officials to help bring in new industry. “‘Rail Made Easy’ is our motto,” he says. “We help folks; we help ourselves. I think that’s what this country is about. Well, one of the things.” This much I know and say yet again: It’s been a great experience riding the train. “That,” the judge opines, “is because trains make people happy.” Good Life Magazine
Passenger-for-day Liles Burke climbs back aboard No. 9401 after a stop to examine the cut through Sheffield Gap. Below, Scott Browning checks the track switches after the train pulls into Norfolk Southern’s Siskin Yard in Gadsden (technically, Alabama City). From here Alabama & Tennessee River rolling stock is either transferred to the Norfolk Southern lines or hauled by another ATN crew to the interchange with CSX in Birmingham. ATN serves CMC Steel, Progress Rail, Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Cargill, Tyson, Schnitzer Southeast, National Cement, Warren Distribution, Kinder Morgan, Americold, Bakery Feed, H.J. Baker and Regional Recycling. About two-thirds of ATN’s customers are from Albertville north.
Out ’n’ About If you were out ’n’ about March 1 and visited Guntersville Museum, you caught an all-too-rare performance of the Lakeview Community Choir with a celebration of black heritage through song and dance. Those singing and reciting that day were from St. Minor, Livingston Chapel and Spirit Led churches. Jeffery Hope was on piano, and the group was under the direction of Cassidy Staten. His mom, Jeannene Vines, upper left, was one of the choir members. At right, Jameerah Morgan, Kiera Scott, Tashawn Prater and Tamyra Beberry, members of the St. Minor Little People’s Choir, perform. At far right Richey sisters DeZaray and ZaKiya do an interpretive dance. The performance was organized by Brenda May, nice trick when everyone is so busy, which is why it was a rare performance. “If someone asks us to,” says an apologetic Sonata Howell, one of the choir, “we try to get together and do something.” Photos by David Moore. 74
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Marshall Medical is proud to make the 100 SafeCare Hospitals list. The Marshall Medical system has been recognized nationally by The SafeCare Group for three critical categories of quality healthcare: the best Processes, Outcomes, and Efficacy of Care. This recognition covered hospitals between 100-400 beds nationwide for the period 2014-15. Founded in 2010 to help hospitals excel in patient safety, quality and efficiency, The SafeCare Group analyzes such areas as lowest mortality rates, lowest readmission rates, and lowest surgical complication and infection rates. In performing well in these and other categories, Marshall Medical demonstrated its continuing commitment to quality – and another reason we’re the convenient choice for your healthcare needs. For more details on the 100 SafeCare Hospitals list visit mmcenters.com.
256.571.8925 256.753.8925 for Arab area residents www.mmcenters.com