MARSHALL COUNTY
Usually people tell Santa things; this time he fields five questions Seth Terrell discovers the past by listening to Virgina Benson WINTER 2016 COMPLIMENTARY
Never seen Cathedral Caverns? Go If you have, it’s as beautiful as ever
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Welcome
Up the creek without a dry camera is simply not a good place for me to be
W
here would a cook be without an oven? A farmer without a plow? An soldier without a gun? Or an artist without a brush? Probably up the same creek I’d be up without a camera. Next to my keyboard and the portion of my brain with any remaining functionality, my camera is the most important tool I use at work. Well, my iPhone, too. But more on that in a minute. Twice in the past month or so I thought I’d lost my camera. Not lost as in, “Hey, Diane, have you seen my camera anywhere?” But lost as in it was kaput. Both times, water was the root of all evil scares. The first came in September when Hunter, our son, and I took a boat up the Tennessee River from Guntersville and spent the night in Chattanooga. It’s a wonderful little adventure I knew I’d write about sooner or later. In this case, it’s still later, because Sheila McAnear, my MoMc Publishing partner, brilliantly suggested I save the story and run it for Father’s Day. It was in the early stages of drought that Hunter and I made the river run. And while it was mostly dry in Marshall County that weekend, on our way home we hit a downpour at Nickajack Dam that continued for 90 minutes. It was a blinding, biblical rain. Had we been driving on the interstate, we’d have parked under an overpass until it passed. Though I stowed my camera in a dry box on the boat, it still got wet. And my heart sank a few hours later when it simply died. I was bracing to pony up a few grand for a new camera when, at Diane’s suggestion, I amazingly resurrected it with her hairdryer.
T
hen, on deadline to get sunrise photos at Cherokee Ridge, I was shooting from the No. 4 green when suddenly the sprinklers came on. It was like standing in a crossfire between four water hydrants. And, of course, my camera quit working. So my phone is important. I shot my lead photo for the Cherokee Ridge story with it. My trusty ol’ Canon fixed itself when it dried out – at least for now. But I worry that one day this drought will break. And my luck’s not been too good lately.
David Moore Publisher/editor 6
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
Contributors Seth Terrell adds a new voice to this issue. Minister at Albertville’s North Broad Street Church of Christ, he longs to expand his writing talents. With a history background, he holds a MD from Vanderbilt and is pursuing a second master’s in creative writing at Spalding. Annette Haislip likes who-dunits, but now she’s working on a what-zit. A furry, brown, six-inch critter brushed her leg while watering plants and vanished down a drain. No chipmunk or mole, she says. It burrowed up her begonias and azaleas. Please, she hopes, no babies. Is it a good nose? Or a good ear? Either way, Steve Maze has a knack for digging up interesting stories. Hence the success he had for a number of years publishing Yesterday’s Memories. In this issue, he continues his string of interesting stories for GLM. Look at Extension Agent Hunter McBrayer and you can tell he has a smart-aleck gene or two lurking behind that grin. That streak also has shown up in story discussions with the editor. Hunter is absolutely sure readers want information on raising chickens in their yards. Some might say Patrick Oden’s self-portrait, at right, is the best photo of him they’ve ever seen. At any rate, it is rather representative of his approach to photography. Check out his work in this issue and his exhibit in November at the Mountain Valley Arts Council gallery. Sheila McAnear bought a kayak in August and hasn’t used it yet. Not because of the lack of rain, but the lack of time. She’s lived in front of her iMac this cycle producing ads for Marshall and Cullman GLM as well as the Cullman Oktoberfest Magazine. Maybe now ... if it rains.
Publisher David Moore finds plenty to fill up GLM without politics. But, like many people, he’s often stuck in slow traffic on Ala. 69 between Arab and Cullman. Arab Mayor Bob Joslin is asking officials here and in Cullman County to push DOT for passing lanes. Here’s one vote.
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There’s a just down the road from you MORGAN CITY 593 Rockvale Road 256-498-2008
SCANT CITY 8191 AL Highway 69 256-753-2452
JOPPA 1438 Midfield Road 256-586-1733
GUNTERSVILLE – 2 2112 Henry Street 265-505-0646
ARAB – 3 8640 U.S. Highway 231 N 256-931-9509
1928 Gunter Avenue 265-582-1577
500 North Main Street 256-931-0567
ALBERTVILLE – 2 9080 U.S. Highway 431 N 256-857-7092
2276 U.S. Highway 231 S 256-586-4353
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Fueling Your Life In Marshall County ... For Less NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016 7
Inside 10 Good Fun
Open houses, Christmas fun and eagles
16 Good People
OK, if Santa Claus and his magic don’t qualify as “good people,” who does?
20 Good Reads
”Hillbilly Elegy” and “The Black Widow”
23 Good Cooking
Kay Jennings shares Thanksgiving recipes – and her 24/7/365 decorations
32 Good Eats
On the cover: A light snow powdered Arab City Park Jan. 22, 2016. What this winter holds in terms of weather, who knows? But it’s a safe bet that it will get cold. This page: Boulder Boulevard stretches into the dark vastness of Cathedral Caverns. Regardless of how cold it gets this winter, the cave will remain 57-60 degrees. Photos by David Moore
Eddie and crew at Boaz’s Gridiron are all about family, fun, food and football
34 Good ‘n’ Green
Can’t fight drought; you can plant smart
36 Cherokee Ridge
A new day dawns for golfing community as an Arab native continues a vision
46 Pat Upton
Steve Maze offers a fond remembrance
50 Oral history
Seth Terrell finds it important to lend an ear when Virgina Benson of Albertville speaks
57 Big Brothers
Hang out with banker Casey Walker, a volunteer Big Brother to a Boaz lad
62 Cathedral Caverns
Ever wonder what goes on under the ground in Marshall County? It’s stunning
70 Out ’n’ About
Stuffy “folks,” of a sort, spotted in Arab
David F. Moore Publisher/editor 256-293-0888 david.goodlifemagazine@gmail.com
Vol. 4 No. 1 Copyright 2016 Published quarterly
Mo Mc PUBLISHING LLC
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
Proudly printed in Marshall County By BPI Media Group Boaz, Ala.
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NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
CELEBRATE C e l e bY rOUR at e L YIFE o uA r TNC eHEROKEE x t e v e NR t IDGE at C h e r o k e e r i d g e To arrange a private tour of our facility contact April Smith at 256-498-5300 or F R O M IN TIMATE G ATH ERIN G SApril@CherokeeRidgeCC.com TO L AV I S H B A N QU E T S W E C AT E R TO Y OU R N E E D S email
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pecial occasions bring excitement into the air, and even more so when surrounded by friends and family. Whether you are planning an anniversary celebration, milestone birthday party, black-tie charity dinner or office holiday party, Cherokee Ridge will provide you with that special touch - whatever the size or occasion. Our catering staff, with an impeccable attention to detail, will pull out all of the stops to make your event a memorable one. Choose from indoor and outdoor settings with picturesque golf course and lake views. Then set the date and we’ll take care of the rest – from food and drink to décor and entertainment.
To arrange a private tour of our facility and to see a selection of our catering menus contact April Smith at (256) 498-5300 or email April@CherokeeRidgeCC.com H O Lpremiere I D AY PARTI North Alabama’s 18-hole ES golf AR I TYwith D Ispecials N NERS course. OpenC toHthe public like CO CK TA I L •PA RTIGolf. ES • Stay and Play • All Inclusive Family
R PO E E T ING S From B AB S H$25,000-$60,000 O W E RS CelebrateCO your nextRAT eventEatM Cherokee Ridge. New lots Yfrom with views O F FICE L UNCH E O NS DAY E B RAT IO Nswimming, S intimate gatherings to lavish banquets we cater to B IRT of H lake and CE golfLcourse. Tennis, RET IRE Mand E NT PART IE of S the rest. ANNIVE RS ARY PART IEclubhouse. S your needs. Set the date we’ll take care walking trails and a full-service
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The Holiday Tour of Homes S
anta visits homes for the holidays, and you can, too. And you don’t need a sleigh full of toys, just $20 that goes to a good cause. The Guntersville Ladies Civitans Third Annual Holiday Tour of Homes 1-5 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 4. Take a peek at a wonderful variety of homes decked out in their Christmas finery. There are five altogether, each with its own unique charm. As an added bonus, all five homes boast a lovely water view of beautiful Lake Guntersville. Visit all five homes and be eligible for a door prize. Guntersville Transit will provide transportation. Participants will board the buses at appointed areas and will be transported to and from each home. You can start at any of the pickup spots and see the homes in any order. Parking for each pickup area will be noted on the tickets. Tour tickets are $20 and available from any Ladies Civitan member and from ticket outlets in town … Generations Footwear, Swords Jewelers, The Corner Market (formerly Kala’s Kottage) and the Mountain Valley Arts Council. Tickets are also available at any home the day of the tour. Proceeds will benefit Every Child’s Playground and other Ladies Civitan projects. For information: visit the Ladies Civitan Facebook page: or call Linda Hearn, 256 582-6056. Tour homes are, top to bottom, are those of: Larry and Sharon Fortenberry, Bob and Connie Hembree, Ken and Becky Scheinert, Jim Nix and Beth Wheeler Dean. 10
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
Tis the season for parades and eagles at the state park • Until Christmas – Free giftwrapping The Boaz Area Chamber of Commerce is offering free giftwrapping for items bought in the city. Stop by the office 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at 100 East Bartlett Street and bring your receipts and a box, if one is needed. • Nov. 10 – Countywide Early Bird Hospice of Marshall County – Shepherds Cove hosts members from the county’s five chambers of commerce from 7:30–9 a.m.
by Carson McCullers. Performances are 7 p.m. at the Bevill Center. Admission: $5. • Nov. 17-Jan. 1 – Norman Rockwell An exhibit of 80 images at the Guntersville Museum by the iconic artist offers reflections on American family life during the mid-20th century. The “American Family” exhibit is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 1-4 p.m. weekends. For more: www. guntersvillemuseum.org; or 256-5717597.
•Nov. 11 – Veterans Day services The public is encouraged to attend the annual services in front of the courthouse in Guntersville and sponsored by the VFW posts in Boaz, Guntersville and Arab. It begins at 11 a.m. A second service will be held at 2 p.m. at the All Veterans Monument at Arab City Park. • Nov. 11-13 – “And Then There Were None” Audition for a part in Agatha Christie’s famous who-dunit, directed by Denise Resler for The Whole Backstage. Auditions are at the WBS in Guntersville at 7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Performances will be the first two weekends of February. For more audition information: 256-5827469; or visit the WBS website www. wholebackstage.com. • Nov. 12 – Holiday Bazaar The 46th Annual Arab Mothers’ Club Holiday Bazaar will be 8 a.m.-3 p.m. in the Arab Junior High School gym. Christmas shop at more than 100 booths. Check out the bake sale and silent auction too! Admission: $3 adults, $1 students. Proceeds benefit Arab City Schools. • Nov. 17-20 – “Sad Café´ Snead State Theatre Department presents “The Ballad of the Sad Café”
Liz Smith, a member of Marshall County Photography, shot this image which will hang in the group’s exhibit at the Guntersville Museum. • Nov. 19-Dec. 31 – Festival of Trees Opening reception at the Guntersville Museum for the annual Festival of Trees will be combined with the opening of the Norman Rockwell exhibit (see above) and “Scenes of the Season,” a showing of 33 images captured by 15 members of Marshall County Photography. The reception is 5-7:30 p.m. and includes live Christmas
Good Fun
music, food stations and wine/beer tasting. It’s free to museum members; $15 for all others. The museum will feature more than 40 Christmas trees, decorated by community organizations. Other than opening night, the tree exhibit is free and open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. TuesdayFriday; 1-4 p.m. weekends. For more: www.guntersvillemuseum.org; or 256571-7597. • Nov. 2-Dec. 2 – Patrick Oden exhibit Patrick Oden, whose work first appeared locally in Good Life Magazine, will have a show titled “Rough around the Edges.” The 25 pieces, featuring mostly street photography, are 14x39-inches, mounted and sealed on rough-edged wood. The MVA Gallery is open 1-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays at 300 Gunter Ave., Guntersville. For more information: 256-571-7199. • Nov. 21-Dec. 22 – Free giftwrapping BYOB – bring your own box – along with a receipt from any merchant in town to the Albertville Chamber of Commerce for free gift wrapping. If it’s a really big present, the chamber folks will make you a really big bow. • Nov. 25–Dec. 31 – Christmas in the Park The annual tradition comes to life that Friday just after sundown when Santa will help turn on some two million lights, transforming Arab City Park into a Christmas wonderland. The park is lit nightly until about 10 p.m. Donations are appreciated. Entertainment is being planned for opening night and weekends in the Old Rice Church at the historic village. • Nov-25-Dec. 17 (weekends) – Santa in the Park
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
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In conjunction with Christmas in the Park, Santa will be at Arab Historic Village – located in the park – from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Kids can have pictures taken with Santa, have fun and eat a snack. Admission is free for kids 2 and under, $5 per person or $20 per immediate family. More info? Call: Arab Chamber of Commerce, 256586-3138. • Nov. 25-Dec. 3 – “It’s A Wonderful Life” In this Christmas classic, George Bailey wishes he had never been born, and an angel is sent to earth to make his wish come true. Directed by Diane DuBoise for The Whole Backstage, this faithful adaptation has all your favorite characters: George and Mary Hatch, Clarence, Uncle Billy, Violet, and, of course, the Scrooge-like villain, Mr. Potter. Running time is about 1 hour, 35 minutes. Shows are at 7 p.m. Nov. 25, 26, 29, Dec. 1, 2 and 3; 2 p.m. matinée performances will be staged Nov. 27 and Dec. 3, 4. Tickets for this production are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors, $10 for students. They are available at the WBS office 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays; by phone at 256-582-7469; on the WBS Facebook page; or at: www. wholebackstage.com. • Nov. 29 – Guntersville tree lighting The city’s annual Christmas tree
lighting ceremony starts at 5:30 p.m. You’ll probably see the 20-foot tree in Errol Allan Park downtown. There will be Christmas singing, treats given out and Santa. Need more info? Call: 256571-7561. • Dec. 1 – Albertville Christmas Parade It starts with the tree lighting at 5 p.m. at Rotary Park. “The Light of Christmas” is the theme of the parade sponsored by the Civitans and Albertville Chamber of Commerce. It starts at 5:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church, goes up Main Street, then left on South Hambrick, then loop back to the church On Sand Mountain Drive. To register an entry, call: Jason Simpson at Alfa, 256-878-1412; or the chamber, 256-878-3821. Dec. 1 – Arab Christmas Parade It starts at 6 p.m. Thursday at Arab First Baptist Church and runs south down Main Street. The theme is ‘The Lights of Christmas.’ Grand marshal will be Joe Collier, winner of the 2016 Outstanding Citizen Achievement Award. For more information or to participate, call: Arab Chamber of Commerce, 256-586-3138. • Dec. 2 – Boaz Christmas Parade The annual parade starts at 5:30 p.m. This year’s theme is “The Lights of Christmas.” Prizes and ribbons will be awarded to top floats and the best decorated horse. The parade starts
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• Dec. 3 – Boaz Open House Christmastime means special sales, refreshments and giveaways downtown. For more info: 256-5938154; or boazchamber@gmail.com. •Dec. 5 – Douglas Christmas Parade The fourth annual parade starts at 6 p.m. at the Douglas Senior Center. It circles the Douglas School campus, turns down Ala. 75, and ends at the football stadium. The theme is Christmas Lights – Red, Green, and Blue. Local law enforcement personnel will be grand marshals. Cookies and hot chocolate with Santa will be afterward at Douglas Town Hall. Everything is free. Weather date is Dec 9. Entry forms are at: www.douglasal.com. For more info, contact: Mayor Corey Hill at the town hall: or April Daniel, danielas@ marshallk12.org • Dec. 7-Dec. 30 –Christmas Card Contest The 7th Annual Marshall County Christmas Card Contest exhibit will
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Love presentation at Shepherd’s Cove on Martling Road in Albertville. A reception at 5:30 p.m. will be followed at 6:30 by the outdoor tree lighting ceremony, roll call of those who have passed and other events. For more information call: 256-8917724.
• Dec. 13 – Christmas Concert The Community Choir will perform at 6 p.m. at the Bevill Center at Snead State Community College. Admission is free. draw several hundred entries from school kids countywide. Their card art will hang in the Mountain Valley Arts Council Gallery, open 1-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays. Deadline to enter (forms at the gallery) is Nov. 18. A reception will be held 4:30-5:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, in conjunction with Guntersville “A Night Before Christmas.” The MVA Gallery is located at 300 Gunter Ave., Guntersville. For more information: 256-571-7199. • Dec. 3 – Cookies with Santa See Santa ride “The Polar Express” into the Albertville Depot at 9 a.m. for Cookies with Santa. The free, two-hour program by the Albertville Chamber of Commerce provides parents and grandparents with lots of photo ops. Kids can sign up for door prizes and, of course, put in a good word for themselves with Santa. • Dec. 4 – Community Wind Band The Community Wind Band will present its fall concert at 3 p.m. in the Bevill Center at Snead State Community College. Admission is free. • Dec. 8 – Winter Showcase Snead State Community College’s Fine Arts Winter Showcase is free and starts at 6 p.m. at Fielder Auditorium in the administration building. Hear student ensembles and soloists including the Jazz Band, the College Chorus, the College Street Singers and the Brass Ensemble. 14
• Dec. 9 – A Night Before Christmas Here’s a prediction: It’s supposed to snow Friday, Dec. 9 – at least that’s what’s planned for Errol Allan Park and this big annual Guntersville event sponsored by North Town Merchants Association. It runs 5-9 p.m. for shopping and tons of fun. Each store plans activities ranging from a live Elf on the Shelf, Disney Kids and cookie decorating, to carriage rides and Santa at Fant’s. Last year he gave out 1,000 pieces of candy, if that puts anything in perspective. Guntersville First United Methodist Church will again set up a replicated Bethlehem market place visitors can stroll through on their way to see baby Jesus at the stable. Along with the planned snow machine, school choirs will sing in the park and there will be a hot chocolate bar there. • Dec. 10 – Grant Christmas Parade Sponsored by the Grant Chamber of Commerce, kicks off at 1 p.m. Saturday and runs through downtown. • Dec. 10 – Guntersville Christmas Parade The annual parade cranks up at 5 p.m. on Scott Street and ends just before the intersection of U.S. 431 and Ala. 69. Applications will be available online and at the Lake Guntersville Chamber of Commerce. For more info: 256-582-3612. • Dec. 13 – Lights of Love Hospice of Marshall County will hold its Seventh Annual Lights of
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
• Dec. 16-18 – “Black Tie Christmas” As a reprise from the successful 2015 Black Tie Christmas choral concert, and initiated by a request from Marshall Medical Centers, director Johnny Brewer is reuniting the singers for three special presentations. The show is being incorporated into a resurrection of the Living Christmas Tree program at Guntersville First United Methodist Church. Presentations will be at 7 p.m. in the Family Life Center on Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday. The extravaganza is free, but tickets are required. They can be obtained at the church office or at the door. Though not a production of the Whole Backstage, for info contact the WBS office: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays; by phone at 256-582-7469; on the WBS Facebook page; or at: www. wholebackstage.com. • January – Art exhibits Details are still being worked out, but burgeoning Florence artist Rachel Wakefield will have an exhibit this month at the Mountain Valley Arts Council gallery, along with the annual Crain Court Youth Exhibit • Jan. 6-7 – Big Fish auditions Want to try out for The Whole Backstage production next April for “Big Fish, The Musical”? At 6 p.m. this Friday and Saturday are chances. Directed by John Cardy, the musical is based on the celebrated novel by Daniel Wallace and the acclaimed film directed by Tim Burton. It centers on Edward Bloom, a traveling salesman who lives life to its fullest… and then some. For more info: 256-582-7469; or visit the WBS website www. wholebackstage.com.
A bald eagle takes flight for nature photographer Dan Berry.
• Jan. 20-Feb. 19 – Eagle Awareness In addition to field trips to see the great American icons, in its 31st year, every weekend of the program at Guntersville State Park offers live birds of prey presentations on Saturdays and Sundays as well as special Friday night programs highlighting other nature topics. The programs themselves are free, and special packages are offered for rooms and meals. For more info: www.alapark.com/lake-guntersvillestate-park-eagle-awareness-weekends; or call Kate Gribbin, 256-571-5445.
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Snapshot: Santa Claus
Early life: Top secret. Education: Top secret. Family life: Married long ago to Mrs. Claus. Occupation: Building and delivering toys to make children everywhere happy. Awards: Receives millions of fan letters annually.
16
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
Good People
5questions Story by David Moore Photo by Brian Lacy
H
o! Ho! Ho!” “What’s so funny?” I ask the jolly old fellow sporting a beard and wearing his iconic red and white suit. “I actually laugh a lot because everything I do is enjoyable,” he chortles. “I don’t do anything I don’t enjoy. I am around kids and kids light up a lot. They are always smiling and laughing. That brings out the best in me.” “Beyond that, what’s so funny is here you are very interested in Santa in August. Most people forget me and don’t think about Santa in August.” I explain that I heard he was visiting Albertville, and I hoped I’d be able to interview him before the Christmas rush. “I came to Albertville to check on things I’ll be participating in this Christmas. I’m working on my schedule for the parade and Cookies with Santa. Also,” he laughed, “I love trains – I’ve made a lot of them over the years, you know – and I love riding the train into Albertville every year.” As he laughed, I noticed his little round belly did not really shake like a bowl full of jelly. I found myself wondering about his beard. I needed to make sure he was the real Santa, but in case he was, I didn’t want to do anything to land me on the Naughty List. “Of course it’s real,” he said, reading my mind about the beard. “But I understand. One time I was visiting children at the Department of Human Resources in Guntersville, and one of the field workers asked who I was.” “I spread my arms out and said, ‘Red suit. Big beard. You don’t know?’” “‘You aren’t going to tell me, are you?’ the woman huffed and walked off. A co-workers laughed and said she was just a busy body and deserved that.” “So, you are the real thing.” “For as long as I can remember,” he
Santa Claus
If anyone out there qualifies as ‘Good People,’ he’s the magical person laughs. “But I must say, time is not of any importance to me – other than knowing when Christmas is coming!” “OK, then,” I beam. “I have some questions for you …”
1.
Why do you do this job? And is “job” even the correct word for working with elves making toys all year and delivering them around the world on Christmas Eve? To me it’s not a job, it’s just what I do for the joy of making kids happy. I get such a kick out of Christmas and enjoy it. Christmas always brings people closer together. There is more giving for the less fortunate at Christmastime. By me being Santa, I’d like to think I help encourage that. I also love flying. I love to feel the cool air blowing past my face and flying behind my reindeer and seeing the world below me go by. I have a little nosiness in me, but it’s for a good reason. I need to know what people are up to because it determines how I distribute my toys. That’s why I read my letters and emails. I love to see what the kids want for Christmas. Girls usually write me longer letters. And, yes, I have left lumps of coal. I’m not naming names, but they know who they are. Kids are not always bad. What they think is bad, or what someone else thinks is bad, I may not agree with. I may just think they’re kids being kids, growing up. I tolerate a lot more out of an 8-year-old than an 18-year-old. Anyway, Christmas doesn’t seem like a job. It’s what I do. It’s probably a calling, but it was so long ago I don’t really remember how I got started.
2.
year?
How do you do this year after
Part of it’s magic, but I stay in good
physical condition and good mental condition. If I didn’t enjoy it, it could be very stressful. Mrs. Claus is a tremendous help in keeping me going. She encourages me, takes good care of me. I’m not on a strict diet, but she makes sure I eat healthy. She loves Christmas and has as much fun with this as I do. Behind every good Santa there is always a good Mrs. Claus. Part of keeping this up all these years is a mental attitude that keeps fun in my life. Laughter, after all, is good exercise, physically and otherwise. I’m sure that’s had an effect on my longevity … so far! On top of that, I’m not ready to retire. I wouldn’t know what to do with a free Christmas Eve.
3.
Where do your magical powers come from, and do you know how and why you were chosen to receive them? Magic is a gift you can’t pin down. As far as describing it or saying where it comes from, even I can’t do that. I don’t have a clue. I do suspect it feeds off the Christmas Spirit. My neatest trick is the ability to move from one place to the other in the manner I do – which is by magic. I can’t describe it. It just happens, the reindeer take off, and I’m just along for the ride. I never use my magic in other areas, like politics. I could see where I would totally get confused. Besides, my magic has limitations. I’m not God. I just enjoy using what I have. Everybody has gifts that are given to them. I feel they should use those gifts for the betterment of humanity, for making the world a better place to live. All I’m doing is trying to make the best with what I have. My Christmas wish would be that other people would do the same with their gifts.
4.
like?
What’s a year at the North Pole
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17
The toy business will start immediately after this Christmas. We have elves that go straight into the planning stages. They figure out what toys will be “in” next year and try to keep up with trends. You have to do that over the course of the whole year. They take care of that aspect of it, and the production of toys. They are part of my magic. The elves work in groups with group leaders, sort of like a Scout troop. The responsibilities are divided up among the groups, and the leaders make sure their group’s responsibilities are carried out. They are very well organized fellows. What I get involved in, as far as toy making goes, is old-timey, handmade toys. Wooden toys. That is what I enjoy – not the electronics and the plastic. You gotta’ remember, I’m old school. I’ve been around a long time. After all the milk and cookies I eat at Christmas, my diet is very slim for a week or two. I still love chocolate chip cookies during that time, but I’ve just had my fill. I’ve had a “bait” of them, as we old people say.
During the year I do take some time off and ease around among the people to see how they are living and what’s going on in the world. That’s an enjoyable time. I don’t wear my red suit, but I don’t shave either. Grown-ups don’t recognize me and ignore me when they see me out and about, but kids will recognize me. They wave and smile at me, and I realize they are aware of me and who I am, even in the middle of the summer. The reindeer pretty well have it made for much of the year. They graze and lie around. They start conditioning in the fall and getting ready, but in the spring and summer they have it made.
5.
What’s something people don’t know about you? I talked about it some, but people don’t really know how much I enjoy mingling with the human race year round. Santa undercover. I am not exactly human, you know? People might not realize that with all the millions of miles I’ve traveled, I’ve never had even a near crash.
Most years I cut it close getting finished on time, but I have never missed a deadline. I’m always home by dawn. I have been caught a few times, but it’s always worked out. Elves on the Shelf … I have been photographed by them a lot since they became popular. Kids will leave a camera with their Elf on the Shelf, and the first I’ll realize it is when I hear a click and look and there’s an Elf on the Shelf taking pictures. I have gotten very conscious of them and try to sneak in while they are sleeping or not looking, but it’s added a whole new dimension to slipping in and putting presents under the tree. I never have tripped alarms or had the police come in. I can maneuver around that stuff. I am magic, but the Elves on a Shelf have some magic, too. Momma has tried to kiss Santa Claus. That’s happened more than once, but that’s not a children’s story, and besides Santa loves Mrs. Claus. People I’m sure know this, but I do wish everyone a Merry Christmas. That’s my usual ending. Good Life Magazine
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19
Good Reads
Beautiful memoir offers a look at white, working class issues
‘Black Widow’ takes readers deep inside barbaric ISIS
n “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” J. D. Vance has written a sometimes heartrending account of a large segment of the American people, the descendants of the Scotch-Irish who settled in the Appalachian Mountains. Because of the lack of “America called them available jobs, many joined hillbillies, rednecks, or the large migration to the Rust Belt for economic white trash. I call them security. But those neighbors, friends jobs are long gone and and family.” unemployment, poverty
he Black Widow,” Daniel Silva’s new novel, presents a timely, fictional account of horrific ISIS attacks in Europe that closely resemble the events that occurred in Paris and Brussels. Islamic terrorism has cast its fearful shadow over the major cities of Europe. Thousands of Muslim “It was early evening, a light immigrants are crowded into areas where none rain falling like tears are assimilated and only from the sky.” Arabic is spoken. Women silently walk the streets covered in the hajab or the cumbersome black burka. Mosques sound the call to worship five times daily, and sharia law reigns supreme. This is where ISIS finds willing recruits among the uneducated, unemployed young men and women who are willing to martyr themselves to further the spread of Islam. When Paris is hit with a massive bombing, a desperate French government requests the aid of the Israeli secret service. A team led by legendary spy Gabriel Allon recruits and trains a young Israeli woman called The Black Widow, whom they insert into war-torn Syria as a vengeful ISIS recruit. She is to penetrate the barbaric inner circle and locate the mastermind behind the attacks, the mysterious Saladin. Subtle references are made to the current actions taken by Western governments in their approach in dealing with ISIS. Elected leaders seem so fearful of offending Muslims that their secret services have become impotent and security non-existent. When the unthinkable happens and a final attack occurs, the results are unexpected and devastating. – Annette Haislip
I
and drug use are rampant in cities where factories lie idle. These are conservative, white, working class people who are very religious, patriotic and independent. Vance’s grandparents moved from the depressed coal mining areas in Kentucky to the steel mills of Ohio, raising three children in a home of domestic violence, alcoholism and poverty. Two children succeeded, but the third, Vance’s mother, did not. She has a string of disastrous relationships, eventually drifting into drug abuse and homelessness. Vance seeks security in his grandparents’ home, where his fouled-mouthed grandmother became his rock and salvation. Unsure about entering college after graduating from high school, Vance joined the Marines, whose discipline and order brought him a measure of self-reliance and assurance. He subsequently graduated from Ohio State and Yale Law School, but as evidenced by this novel, his chaotic background and Appalachian culture still remain a large part of his character. – Annette Haislip 20
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
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NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
Charles, left, and Kay Jennings, fourth from right, gather in the kitchen with family prior to their 2015 Thanksgiving feast.
Good Cooking
Kay’s recipes are special at Thanksgiving, but her house stays decorated all year
Story and photos by David Moore
I
f you know Kay Jennings, the first three things to come to your mind might likely be that she’s a … • B-Team Angel • Very talented lady • Delightful bit crazy. Unless you believe Charles, her husband of 55 years, you might also know the Arab woman is a great cook. As such, she’s sharing her mother’s Thanksgiving recipes in this issue of GLM. But did you know Kay leaves her elaborate Thanksgiving decorations and table settings up year round? “It will be like this as long as I’m alive,” Kay says. “I don’t care when people come in and say, ‘Thanksgiving?’ That doesn’t bother me at all.” Surely there’s a reason, you must think. Actually, she has three. “First of all,” she counts, “I don’t have anywhere to put it all. And if I did pack it all away, I wouldn’t ever put it
back up that extensively. I don’t want to climb on a ladder and hang all of this again.” “Also, we don’t have a lot of company, so it works out really good. If people do come to eat, I take the plates in the kitchen, wipe the dust off, and the table’s already set.” Hard to argue with such logic. Back when her son and two daughters were young, Kay went all out for Easter, Christmas and Valentine’s Day. She started running out of storage room, and the kids went off to college. In 1994, Kay, her neighbor Paula Joslin and five friends started a zany ministry. Dressing as glitzy white and gold B-Team angels who had not yet gone to heaven and gotten their wings, they went to nursing homes and churches sharing a message of Jesus’s love through original skits and songs. Kay, dressed in white gowns and wearing Army boots of painted gold, went by the B-Team name of Kathedrial.
D
uring these years, Thanksgiving
and the other big holidays moved to the home of Kay’s parents, Donald and Lee Jernigan, in Nashville. “It was a tradition in the family, but her mother and father had the headquarters then,” Charles says. After Kay’s father died in 2001, holiday headquarters moved to the Jennings’ house. It’s been Thanksgiving there – every day– ever since, as far as decorating goes. But with the house already decorated, Kay has time to pull out her now late mother’s recipes and whip up a feast for the actual holiday. Her mom started teaching Kay to cook when she was 10. It’s here that Charles interrupts to tell one of his favorite stories on Kay’s cooking. She had tried out a coffee cake recipe that actually called for a half cup of coffee. “That’s pretty good,” Charles had commented, moving his jaws in a funny way. “But what’s the grit in there?” OK, she didn’t brew the coffee. What’s the big deal? Kay laughs and recalls the time she
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
23
wanted to make her mother’s banana pudding. She called Lee and asked for the recipe. A long silence followed. “Kay,” asked Lee, “do you use vanilla wafers?” “Yes.” “The recipe is on the box …” When it comes to Kay’s Thanksgiving meal, Charles says his favorites are her turkey and dressing. For regular meals he says she makes fabulous fried okra and fried green
tomatoes, plus he loves her peas, beans and collard greens. “She has a list of my favorite foods but doesn’t prepare any of them,” he chuckles. “If she finds out I like something, she puts it on that list and I never see it again …”
A
ctually, 2015 might have been the last Thanksgiving at the Jennings house, at least for a while. Charles says it would be cheaper not putting
up everyone up in motel rooms in Arab if they met to eat, say in Nashville at Monell’s at the Manor. Kay’s about to agree. “It’s fabulous,” she says of the restaurant. “We’d make desserts and forget everything else. All that matters is everybody is together.” If you go to Monell’s, look for the Jennings gang. If you’re cooking, you can try Kay’s mother’s recipes, written here pretty much from memory …
A plate with a little bit of everything on it, from Kay’s 2015 Thanksgiving dinner. TURKEY 1 completely thawed turkey 1 onion (sliced) 1 apple (sliced) 1 h.f. (handful) of sugar Couple inches of water Remove the insides of the turkey and wash it well. Rub the inside cavity with sugar. My mother said it removes any wild taste. Add onion and apple inside the turkey. Place in a large, thick pan. Add water and place in oven pre-heated to 500 for one hour only. Turn off oven and leave turkey sitting there overnight. Do not open oven until morning, and it turns out perfect. 24
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
DRESSING 1 large onion (chunked) 2-3 stalks of celery, cut 1 stick of butter 2-3 cups of Pepperidge Farms bread crumbs 30 oz. of real turkey stock (or two 14.5 oz. cans chicken stock) 1 large, black skillet of cornbread Sauté onion and celery with butter in a skillet. Break cornbread into large bowl; mix in cornbread crumbs, sautéed vegetables and enough stock to ensure it’s all moist. Bake about 30 minutes at 350.
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MAMA’S ROLLS 2 pkgs. yeast 2 cups warm water ½ cup sugar 2 tsp. salt 3 cups flour 1 egg (beaten) ¼ cup shortening Mix well
Mix first five ingredients in a large bowl. Add shortening and egg and mix well, then add 2-2/3 cups more of flour and work into dough with spoon. Cover bowl with wax paper and place a dishcloth, rinsed in hot water, over the wax paper. Refrigerate.
When it doubles in size (you can peek) put the rest of the flour on a board and knead by hand. Break into 1-inch balls. Place three balls in each container of a roll or cupcake pan. Set on counter until they rise and blend into one. Bake at 400 until done. CRANBERRY SAUCE 1 bag cranberries (washed) 1 cup water 1 cup sugar Pecans, chopped (optional) Mix water, sugar and cranberries in pan and boil. The cranberries pop when hot enough. Allow about 10 minutes for them all to pop. Let cool, then place in refrigerator. Sprinkle with pecans if desired. CORN PUDDING 3 round packages McKenzie corn (frozen) 1/3 cup half-and-half (milk) 1 stick butter 2 Tbsp. flour 2 Tbsp. sugar 2 eggs Jalapeños (optional to taste. “We like spicy stuff.”) Mix in glass bowl and bake for 30 minutes at 350. FIELD PEAS 1 pint pkg. of fresh peas (I buy fresh in season and freeze.) Chunk of ham or a ham hock 2 Tbsp. bacon drippings
Kay’s formal dining room table, set for Thanksgiving 24/7/365. 26
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
Mix in pan and cook on stove until people are hungry.
Enjoy fine dining at the Aqua Restaurant, unwind at The Liquid Cellar, and take in the view of Lake Guntersville
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Kay’s second dining table, next to the kitchen and den, also remains set for Thanksgiving year round. SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE 8 medium sweet potatoes 1 stick butter ½ cup half-and-half (or milk) 1 cup sugar Peel and cut potatoes into thick
strips. Boil and drain. Add other ingredients and beat until smooth. Warm in Pyrex cookware. TOPPING 1 stick butter
DEVILED EGGS Eggs 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise/salad dressing 1 tsp. sandwich spread Salt and pepper Paprika Jalapeño slices (optional) Boil eggs, slice in half. Remove yokes, mix with next two ingredients and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon yoke mixture back into whites. Sprinkle yolk with paprika and add jalapeños if desired. 28
MACARONI & CHEESE 1 4 1 3 1 1
stick butter eggs small can Pet milk Tbsp. whole milk large pkg. macaroni block New York sharp cheese (shredded) 1 block Mexican cheese of choice (shredded) Mix butter, eggs and both milks. Boil macaroni and stir in with mixture in a 9x13 Pyrex bowl. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and just starting to get crispy.
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
1 cup pecans (chopped) ¼ cup brown sugar Heat in a sauce pan and pour over sweet potato casserole just prior to serving. GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE 2 cans green beans (drained) 2 cans mushroom (or celery) soup 1 bag of shredded cheese of choice 1 pkg. or can fried onions Mix beans and soup in a 9x13 Pyrex casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with fried onions and return to oven for about 5 minutes. HAM Order one from Dawn’s Restaurant in Arab.
Fabulous Events... The Rest Is History
Cullman Alabama Event Venue
A Cantata For Christmas WITH CHOIR & ORCHESTRA By Joseph M. Martin
Sunday, December 18 at 10:55 am Monday, December 19 at 7 pm
Our hearts, our minds and our doors are always open. The people of Arab First United Methodist Church 8 am Early Worship 9:30 am Contemporary Worship 10:55 am Traditional Worship 9:30 & 10:45 am Sunday School 1058 N. Main Street
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Thanksgiving decorations – some simple, others elaborate – are found all around Charles and Kay’s house. The candles and Bible, left, are in the foyer; the decorations above help fill the sideboard in the dinning room. AMBROSIA 1 bag seedless oranges 1 large jar of maraschino cherries 1 can of coconut Sugar (optional to taste) Pecans (chopped) Peel oranges; do not section them, but cut “wicky-wacky” across the grain into chunks. Cut cherries in half and remove stems (or buy stemless). Mix fruit and coconut together in a bowl, adding the cherry juice and, if desired, pecans. (Add some sugar if you want it sweeter.) Serve in a cocktail type dessert glass. If some of your diners don’t like coconut, you can make it without, then people can sprinkle it on individually when serving. 30
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
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Good Eats
Family, fun, food and football ... Get excited at The Gridiron
Story and photos by Patrick Oden
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nyone wanting to gather friends and family in an exciting and flavorful environment need look no further than The Gridiron. At first glance, The Gridiron may just appear to be a top-notch sports bar … and that it is. But looks can be deceiving, and general manager Eddie Hardaway has a laser-like focus on catering to the families of Marshall County. “I want everybody to know we welcome everybody,” Eddie says. “Church groups, kids … everyone.” With 18 big TVs and large projection screens, a large, covered patio, dining room and private banquet room, The Gridiron really makes a great place to take the team after games. A great place to throw a party. The idea behind The Gridiron is pretty straight forward, great food, lots of sports and lots of fun. With every imaginable sports channel and Eddie’s willingness to order special events if requested by a large group, you’ll never have to miss a game again. “Whatever game you can’t get at home, we’ll find it,” Eddie grins with conviction. 32
There really aren’t many lengths he won’t go to make his customers happy. From delivering food to businesses ordering lunch for their busy staff, to arranging special activities for the restaurant. “We’re getting ready to kick off trivia and karaoke,” he says. “We’re here to cater to everyone.”
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ith all their hospitality, and fun coming from every direction, it’s easy to become distracted if not charmed by the atmosphere. But it’s your taste buds that will seal the deal and have you coming back again and again. “That’s my favorite,” Eddie says of the overstuffed Chicken Bliss Potato sitting on the table. And overstuffed it is … with smoked chicken, bacon, cheese, chives, sour cream, butter and a delicious white BBQ sauce. One bite will tell you why it’s Eddie’s favorite. It’s a delicious monster. Or, if you’re a traditionalist on game day, you have to try The Gridiron’s wings. Of course they have traditional homemade buffalo sauce, but you’ll want to try them all. The dry rub is a perfect blend of seasonings in the Memphis style, while
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the cilantro and lime wings with a hint of Sriracha are charged with a refreshing yet spicy flavor. And while it’s hard to single out a favorite, for this writer it has to be the white BBQ wings. With a unique and almost addictive flavor profile, they really shouldn’t be missed. Never complacent, Eddie and The Gridiron are regularly rolling out new favorites … like their new Redneck Reuben. It starts with fresh brisket, smoked in-house for 13 hours. Topped with Gouda cheese, white BBQ sauce, onion straws, and served on Texas Toast, The Gridiron’s Redneck Reuben is really a high-class handful.
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hether you’re looking for a great place to take the family, the team, the office, or just a great place to gather with friends, Eddie and The Gridiron have you covered. So bring an appetite, catch a game, and say hey to Eddie and his staff. And even if your team doesn’t pull off the big W, rest assured, you’ll leave with a happy belly and a favorite new place to eat. Good Life Magazine
Eddie Hardaway, right, manages The Gridiron in Boaz and, if needed, pitches in with the cooking. Among the “hot” items on the menu are nachos, right, a variety of wings, below, and the Chicken Bliss Potato, lower right.
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Good ’n’ Green
Fight drought by planting with smarts
Ornamental grasses are plants we should take advantage of in years like this. One of my favorites is muhly grass, an Alabama native well-suited for dry conditions. and known for its pink or white inflorescence. Muhly grass is a clumping perennial that can reach 3-4 feet tall. Plant it and pretty much forget it. Other than some minor trimming in the winter months, this one is as hands-off as they come.
Story by Hunter McBrayer
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rought situations can be eye-opening for both farmers and homeowners alike. Many of the plants that we use in high-maintenance landscapes have suffered and are beginning to decline in the extended drought of this year. Many horticulturists agree that there will be long-term effects of this drought for years to come, even after the drought has broken. Though not something that we must deal with every year, dry conditions are somewhat frequent in North Alabama and learning from our experiences can save money and heartbreak in years to come. Implementing moisture-saving practices – such as developing a thick mulch layer in ornamental beds and installing a simple drip irrigation system can help – but using drought-hardy plants, those that will both survive and thrive in dry conditions, is key to dealing with a dry spell. Take a look at this list of drought hardy plants and see if you should consider replacing one or several of your water-greedy plants with something nice that does well in less than ideal conditions ... 34
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For a small tree try Ilex vomitoria, or “yaupon.” Taking the same umbrella form as crape myrtle, yaupons average 10-18 feet in height and are great foundation trees to break up height along a house or structure. It does not make a showy flower but does produce red berries like our traditional holly shrubs that are attractive for wildlife. Also native to our area, this plant is very heat and drought resistant.
A small to medium shrub that is heat and drought tolerant is glossy abelia. It produces numerous flowers during its growing season. Individual blooms are not overly showy, but their quantity makes it an attractive option. Many varieties of this plant have been grown in landscapes in Alabama for generations.
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Morning sun lights the main lake at Cherokee Ridge, looking back across the fifth hole green in the foreground.
A new day dawns upon Cherokee Ridge as a native son returns
With purchase of Cherokee Ridge, former Arabian Lance Smith transplants his family from California, as he and April build on the vision of Sid McDonald Story and photos by David Moore
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two vending machines there. They both said soft drinks, and one of them actually had soft drinks in it.” The common secret in those “dry” days was that the other machine was stocked with beer. Lance made tips
“Lying on the beach in the sun, the ocean, having fun … that appealed to me.” Golf still appealed, too, and Lance took it up again while living in Simi Valley, about 30 miles from downtown LA. He worked as a cart barn attendant playing skins with other golfers. “I made a few tips and a little money playing for a little skin,” he says.
t was about 1993 when Lance Smith first played golf at Cherokee Ridge. He was a young golf pro playing with his dad, a member at the private golfing community Sid McDonald had opened the previous year. Lance was duly eveloping impressed that a into a pretty good facility this nice, golfer, Lance this beautiful was took up mini tour just seven miles tournaments, north of his old winning several hometown of of them over the Arab. course of three or The second four years, while time he played the working at several beautiful course different clubs and with its bentgrass eventually moving greens was 23 up to private clubs. years later, this “I started past spring. He was April and Lance Smith sit in her favorite place, the swing on their screenedseeing that I was visiting from Los in back porch. Their oldest son, Little Lance, 10, is a fifth grader at Arab more talented at Angeles and doing being a club pro, if something he’d Elementary School. Johnny, the youngest, is 7 and a second grader you want to call it never imagined at Arab Primary School. April says about 40 children live at that, than playing in his most farCherokee Ridge, and all but a few home schoolers attend Arab schools. tournaments,” flung dreams – “When we looked at the school system here, it was great,” April says. Lance says. “So negotiating a deal I played with and to buy Cherokee taught members Ridge. running back and forth to the other and ran pro shops.” Son of the late Jimmy Smith and vending machine. “There were a lot of people more Carolyn Moore, Lance was born in He played golf in Virginia and, when talented than I at playing the minis, and I Arab in 1970 and lived there until he work took the family to Atlanta, he played didn’t like hotel life. I like being around graduated … kindergarten, that is. If he junior golf there until he was 13. my buddies and the members.” didn’t have his first set of golf clubs in “I got into wresting in high school,” He was the pro at Sunset Hills Country 1976 when Jimmy got a job in Virginia Lance says. “I enjoyed it, but I missed Club in Thousand Oaks for about five and the family moved, he got them soon golf. I still played, but maybe only twice years before going to nearby Sherwood after. a year.” Country Club. It was an enjoyable He recalls riding in a cart as a 5-yearHis parents divorced while in Atlanta, experience. Celebrities and athletes old as his dad and his buddies played at and Jimmy moved to California. When favored the Jack Nicklaus signature Twin Lakes Golf Course. course where Tiger Woods for years “I was his caddy, and I was the runner Lance graduated from high school, that’s where he headed, too. hosted his annual tournament. when they played cards later at the “Go west and all of that,” he grins. Lance was initially one of the pros and clubhouse,” Lance recalls. “There were
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For at least the time being, the Smiths are renting a home at Cherokee Ridge from Foster McDonald. They especially love the view of the No. 3 fairway from their back porch, left. Initially April wondered about the abrupt change from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles to Marshall County, but she quickly warmed to the “small-town vibe.” “I grew up with etiquette and manners from here,”Lance says. “We taught our boys to say yes sir and yes ma’am,” April says. “But their friends didn’t always do that. We want them to grow up to be little gentlemen.” In California, the boys were never allowed to ride bikes more than three houses away. Here, she feels safe turning them loose on the streets. “I don’t have to worry,” she says. As for amenities of a city, Huntsville is but a short drive, though she seldom goes. “This is,” April says, “a happy medium.” NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
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the caddy master but worked his way up to the head golf professional. “I have always loved golf in the back of my mind. I never really thought of it as a job, not even today,” he says. “I got better at teaching, better with the members, better at playing. In all aspects, I think I grew.” 40
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uring this time, another aspect of life began growing. He met April Stafford, who had been born in the Granada Hills area of LA. He’s a little fuzzy on the exact date, but April reminds him: March 6, 1998. She and her sister had a double date with Lance and a buddy to Chili’s Bar and Grill.
Lance was with the sister and they didn’t hit it off, but his buddy and the sister proved compatible. April and Lance, who’s seven years her senior, ended up together and hit it off. Hitting it off and getting married were two different things. It wasn’t until six years later, on Aug. 8, 2004, that they got married.
“I was going to be a bachelor my whole life,” Lance grins. “She changed my attitude.” While he did his golf pro thing, April, who had gotten her real estate license in 2003, did relocation work for the Amgen and Dole corporations. Prior to the kids being born, Lance and
April moved to Fairhope, Ala., where he worked with a business his dad had started there for about a year. They lived on the bay and had a boat. “I said, Babe, you still live in ‘LA,’” Lance jokes. But it was far from the hustle and bustle she was used to and she missed her family.
April says they plan to redo the “hidden gem” waterfall area and make it more available for weddings. That includes a deck overlooking the falls and refurbishing a one-bedroom cabin just across the dam that a brides’ ensemble could use. NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
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Lance has already started refurbishing the golf course and clubhouse. “They are very nice. They just need a little TLC,” he says. The course is semi-private, meaning individuals are invited to play there. Costs vary by the day of the week, but green fees and a cart for non-members average about $50. For more information, call: 256-498-5300. When the job played out there, they moved back to California. After a total of 15 years at Sherwood, Lance and a buddy left to buy a lucrative golf cart sales and maintenance business. He was doing that – and missing the golf course – when he heard some sad but interesting news about Cherokee Ridge.
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he Smiths were no strangers to Arab over the years. His grandmother, Ruth Pendergraft, lives there. As she got older, his mother spent more time in Arab looking after Ruth, than at her house in Atlanta. Two or three times a year Lance and the family came “home” to visit. It was on a visit last April that he learned that Cherokee Ridge developer Sid McDonald had died May 15, 2015, and that his 18-hole, championship golf course was for sale. The sale included the clubhouse, 128 unsold lots Sid had owned, a wedding venue and the 40-foot waterfall on the back 9. Wow, Lance thought. “I never really had any contact with 42
Sid, but I always knew of him and his family. I was enjoying my business in California, but golf courses are my forte,” Lance says. A friend of a friend arranged a meeting with Sid’s son Foster, spokesman for the three grown McDonald children. “Foster drove me around the course,” Lance says. “We discussed his dad’s vision for Cherokee Ridge and my vision for the course.” It looked like a great match, but there was much to be discussed first – and first among the firsts was April. They had discussed some day, when the kids were out of college, possibly moving to lower Alabama, but moving now? Here? It proved to be a non-existent hurdle when they drove out that afternoon for her first visit to Cherokee Ridge. “Wow!” she recalls saying as they drove through the gates and up the shaded lane to the clubhouse. It had recently rained and the falls at Lynn’s Dam were roaring. “I can totally picture myself living here! It’s gorgeous.”
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hey visited Foster with their investor over Mother’s Day weekend in May. With negotiations now very serious, the Smiths came again over Father’s Day weekend in June. They signed on the many dotted lines Aug. 31. “That was actually very quick,” April says, but they’d had no doubts the sale would happen. In fact, the family had moved from California Aug. 1, and the boys had started school in Arab on Aug. 8. Now it’s a matter of continuing Sid’s vision for Cherokee Ridge and making their own vision a reality. Cherokee Ridge has about 150 homes. High on the Smiths’ to-do list is selling some of the 128 lots they have available. April, who is the Ridge’s real estate agent and for now handles marketing and event planning, says her background with Amgen and Dole relocations should help in drawing new residents from Redstone Arsenal. That, in turn, would be one way to help grow clubhouse memberships.
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The Lake House, below, remains available for guests, but April also wants to see it used more for small weddings and bridal showers. It can accommodate parties of up to 50 people. And there’s plenty of room on the nearby deck, above, overlooking the main lake. Another is to draw younger golfers. “The Ryder Cup drew 60,000 people the last day,” says Lance. “The golfers are there. It’s getting to the young kids. Golf is a perfect way to get them outside, get some exercise and competition.” “As a golf course owner, as a golf pro … I don’t know how but I have to get to kids in general. Attract the Millennials.” He plans to expand PGA Junior League team play at Cherokee Ridge to kids 13 and under. Last year, it drew about a dozen kids. The Smiths also envision growing Cherokee Ridge’s market share as a venue for wedding and other private parties. Toward that end, the wedding tent will be replaced next year with an arbor structure that matches the 44
the gate could prove to be a tremendous convenience to residents.
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wedding trellis beside the clubhouse lake. The dining room will get new tables and chairs this year, new floorings and a different look and feel to the bar. Lunches will continue to be served, but they don’t see trying to run a full-blown restaurant there, per se. Food service will be along the lines of a bar and grill. A general store located just inside
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f current lots start disappearing, other land on the 600-acre development is readily accessible. “Mr. McDonald was very smart,” Lance says. “The roads he built are capable of being extended very quickly. He really had a good vision for what he wanted this to be.” The too few times he’s played Cherokee Ridge since negotiating and buying it, Lance couldn’t help but think about the man who made it all happen. “I thought about Sid and the vision he had,” Lance says of those golf outings. “What a wonderful concept. If I can build on that in any way, how exciting. We want to make Cherokee Ridge into what he wanted it, in the end, to be.” Good Life Magazine
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Remembering Pat Upton and a ‘Garden Party’ friend
Pat Upton, left, with Rick Nelson, Dec. 30, 1985, shortly before Rick flew out of Guntersville Airport. Rick – perhaps best known for his last hit, “Garden Party” – died several hours later when the plane crashed. And now Pat is gone, too.
Photos supplied and story by Steve A. Maze
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he only idols my friends and I had during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s were Major League baseball players and rock ‘n’ roll performers. Any encounter with a Major Leaguer was most often relegated to a flickering black and white image on the family TV set that picked up three local television stations. Still, we wore the ball cap or jersey of our favorite Major League player when playing catch in our back yards or on neighborhood streets. Our exposure to rock ‘n’ rollers was mostly through record albums and local radio stations that played the top hits of the day. We imitated our rock idols by dressing like them and cutting our hair in the same hippie style. We actually met a few professional baseball players by attending Atlanta Braves games with our fathers, but a face-to-face encounter with one of my rock ‘n’ roll idols never came about – until about 20 years ago. I was the editor of Yesterday’s 46
Memories magazine and had the opportunity to interview one of my music idols I had heard many times over my car radio as a teenager. I flipped my radio to a local “Golden Oldies” station while driving toward Guntersville to mentally prepare myself for the interview. Ironically, the iconic sound of “I Love You More Today Than Yesterday” began emanating through the radio speakers. I smiled to myself and thought what a coincidence that I was on my way to meet the person who wrote and sang the hit I was listening to. Winding my way through a nice neighborhood with well-manicured lawns, I reached my destination. I turned into the driveway and spotted a brick house sitting atop a grassy knoll overlooking beautiful Lake Guntersville. I followed a walkway around to the back of the house and was warmly greeted by a youthful looking version of one of my idols – Pat Upton.
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fter shaking hands, Pat showed me inside to his living room.
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“I was born and raised in Geraldine,” he began. “My dad worked out of town, so my family and I spent the first three or four years of my life growing up with Grandpa and Grandma Barnett. They were good Methodists, and I learned to sing in church.” He was also a member of a talented FFA quartet while at Geraldine High School that won many banners and trophies. Pat got his first electric guitar while in high school, but his brother broke it over a bedpost after a sibling fight. It wasn’t until after joining the U.S. Air Force that Pat got back into guitar playing. “A lady who ran the service club talked me into putting a band together for a talent show,” Pat recalled. “It was an all instrumental band, and we only knew four songs.” The band was good enough to make it to the “worldwide” talent contest held at Edwards Air Force Base in California. On a Sunday afternoon while in Sacramento, the band played at a pizza place called the Zomba Zula. Other
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bands were playing too, one of them called the Fydallions. The group asked Pat to play guitar with them that day, and three months later he joined Bobby Raymond, Dick Lopes, Harvey Kaye and Vinnie Parello as a band member. They got a recording contract in Los Angeles with Columbia Records, but the first meeting wasn’t exactly what they expected. “I don’t like the name of your group, your hair, or the way you dress,” a record executive told them. The boy’s image was too conservative. He wanted them to look more like traditional rock groups.
their hearts out for overflow crowds. Pat saw Rick and his band off when their plane left Guntersville Airport on Dec. 30. It would be the last time they ever saw each other. Rick’s plane crashed in Dallas the following day. All aboard were killed. “Disbelief,” Pat said in a cracked voice to his reaction. “When I first Pat Upton with Marlon Maze at a celebrity heard of the crash, there was no proof book-signing for Steve Maze’s former magazine, it was Rick’s plane. I became angry Yesterday’s Memories, in Arab in 1997. when the rumors of drugs began. I flew with him for four years, and he was never involved with drugs that I playing and traveling with Rick,” Pat knew of. I was shocked and devastated recalled. “He was a super nice guy. There by his death.” was no pretense. What you saw on TV was how he really was.” he Fydallions changed their name uring our interview, I was struck by Pat was considering getting off the road Pat’s genuineness, his friendly demeanor. after Dick Lopes’ mother-in-law saw by 1984. The matter was settled when his an old horror movie called “The Spiral He was a kind and easy going man, but wife, Lynn, called and said, “Let’s move Staircase.” The group did a little spelling extremely loyal to his family and friends. back to Alabama.” change and renamed their band The Spiral Even though it had been more than a He and Nelson parted ways on a Starecase. decade since Rick Nelson’s tragic demise, pleasant note and he stayed in contact with Pat wrote “I Love You More Than Pat became emotional speaking of him. He his close friend. Yesterday” in a Las Vegas motel room in was also quite passionate when he spoke of 1969. The band was actually in the process his wife and four children. n 1985, Pat opened PJ’s Ally, a of breaking up when the song hit the Pat also was passionate about his nightclub in Guntersville that highlighted charts. fans. He loved performing and was very up-and-coming musicians. “We decided to become friends again appreciative of the legion of followers he “I had asked Rick to stop by and play at had developed over the years. after the song became a hit,” Pat said with my place whenever he was in the area and a grin. The tune reached as high as No. 12 Like Rick and so many idols before had a few days off,” Pat said. on the Billboard Top 100 that year. him, Pat Upton passed away July 26, 2016. Rick got that opportunity in late Pat later left the band, but remained Still, there is not a doubt in my mind December 1985. in the Los Angeles area for a while. That that his loyal fans, who adored his golden Rick’s band had played in Orlando, is where he met and began working with tenor voice and talented guitar playing, Fla., and had three days off before heading Rick Nelson and The Stone Canyon Band still love him today … even more than to Dallas, Texas. So they flew into in 1979. yesterday. Guntersville where they sang and played “The most fun I had in my career was Good Life Magazine
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Virginia Benson, checking a date in the family Bible, shares stories with writer Seth Terrell.
To Mrs. Virginia it’s mouth-to-mouth history; new-fangled,it’s called intergenerational storytelling Story by Seth Terrell Non-historic photos by David Moore
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he’s 95, and I’m 31 – nearly 65 years her junior. She’s a member of The Greatest Generation. I’m a member of The Millennial Generation (yes, one of those people). At first blush, other than being next door neighbors, Virginia Benson – “Mrs. Virginia,” as I say when conversing with her – and I have little in common. Yet something keeps me crossing my driveway in Albertville, through the shade of our shared fig tree (she says I can have all the figs I want) and up the stairs to Virginia’s front door. Sometimes she asks me to play the piano for her, and sometimes my young daughters run through her house while I hold my breath, hoping the girls won’t break any of her many collectible dolls. But the reason I often find myself at her kitchen table is that Mrs. Virginia, like so many of her generation, has something I just cannot get enough of – deep, vivid stories of the people of Marshall County … her people, my people. It’s called intergenerational storytelling. It’s delivered mouth to mouth. Here’s a small part of her story she related to me ...
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“In 1898, O.D. Williams of Diamond had this photo made by a friend,” begins an undated ad for Ed Neely from an old Advertiser-Gleam. That is O.D. in the photo, though the rest of the comments and people may or may not apply directly to the photo: “In those days, a farmer’s mule was sometimes as important to him as his wife and almost always more so than his mother-in-law.” Virginia Benson keeps a copy of the ad – which she had hand-colored – in a scrapbook. O.D. is a distant relative of hers. “I can remember the old house,” Virginia says. “The cabin was on a ridge. Below it was a big spring. When we were kids, we used to – Mama had five children, three girls and two boys – have reunions at the spring below the cabin.” Though the ties are not fully clear, she says that is Paw Johnson’s mother and her sister that are pictured in the photo. Paw would be Virginia’s mother’s father. A Huguenot fleeing religious persecution, she says, he came to Virginia, then to Alabama, and traded horses with Native Americans for land in what became the Diamond community. “I don’t ever remember seeing her,” Virginia says of the woman standing in the picture.” Then again, Virginia is only 95.
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irginia Benson was born of sharecroppers in a place called Sand Hill, down in the valley on a spot of land that is now eternally under the waters of Lake Guntersville. Her people, like my own greatgrandparents, left the valley in what might be referred to as the Marshall County Migration. In the 1920s and 1930s, families moved in droves from the valley in and around Guntersville and Claysville up onto Sand Mountain. “My daddy had heard the mountain was fertile enough to raise cotton and crops,” Virginia says. While some families moved in hope of more fertile crop ground on the mountain, others, the last to leave the valley, moved out when the TVA dam
was completed on Jan. 17, 1939. The dam and subsequent lake changed the social and geographical landscape of the county. With the coming of the lake – acquiring a nearly 110,000-acre footprint – came the removal of families. Some estimates put the number of displaced people at 1,200. While landowners were compensated fair market value for their underwater properties, sharecropping families were displaced with very little to their names. The up-mountain pilgrimage for the valley farmers was not drastic in terms of distance or cultural change, but it was drastic in a sentimental way – home places and points of origin for many would never again be viable destinations for homesick travelers.
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irginia remembers as a young bride parking on the causeway toward Arab on a Sunday afternoon when the dam was first closed. “The water was coming in so strong when they turned it loose, it would splash on the rocks and hit you in the face,” she says. She and her husband Charles watched with a sense of awe and sadness as the valley succumbed to the flooding Tennessee River, her own birthplace vanishing beneath the surge. There was little about the phenomenon of sharecropping that would be defined as “sharing.” Little was saved and little was earned among those families making the trek across Marshall County from the flooded valley.
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But what was lacking in material wealth was abundant in the form of community. It was in these communities of migrant sharecroppers where stories were handed down, person-toperson and, most importantly, generation-to-generation. “It helps us to know and feels good to know that our ancestors had belief, and tried to be good folks,” Virginia says of the importance of intergenerational storytelling. Though an entire community was lost beneath the lake waters, it remained alive in the form of personal storytelling, offering a sort of inheritance for posterity.
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assing along this torch has always come natural to Virginia. She effortlessly weaves stories from the past into the delightful humor of the present. Yet the finer details remain of utmost importance. “I’ll have to look it up in my Bible,” she says, when asked a question about a particular date. She removes an old Bible from her cupboard. Written there in the margins are the dates of her parents’ birth, of family deaths and anniversaries as well as details about the Buck Island Massacre when her own great-grandfather s the Marshall was killed by Union County migrants built troops in 1863. lives for themselves by In a world where raising cotton, they hung information is a click onto that inheritance away, there is something – perhaps they clung sacred about pulling a to it more tightly than Bible from the shelf, did people elsewhere, perusing the names knowing there would and dates written there, never be a day of return hearing the pages turn, to the home places of smelling the worn leather. their youth. Even the “I don’t understand a long laborious days of thing about computers,” picking cotton were made Virginia says, holding the a bit brighter by oral Bible in her hands. storytelling. As she flips through “It was through the pages, the names picking cotton that I got and dates inscribed are acquainted with people,” more than just words and Virginia says. Virgina listens to Seth play the piano in her living room. numbers scribbled on the Picking was often page. They are reminders, a full-family affair and evidence of a time and even a community event. of a people who were constantly on the move, always in some Virginia always took full advantage. form of perpetual migration. “My daddy pulled me and my brother off the row one “Now days it can go out in the world,” Virginia says about morning because we weren’t picking, we were talking. Just historical information. “But we always had to just keep it in talking away.” Her father set her and her brother down and ourselves.” gently demanded they talk until they had nothing else to say, and then the row had to be finished. “I leaned over to my brother and said, ‘Herman, you like to he inheritance of oral tradition offers a glimpse into pick cotton?’ That’s all I could think of,” she laughs. people and lives that seem almost foreign to folks of the It was not only her gift of talking, but also her gift of millennial generation. listening, that put Virginia in the know about her family and the “That’s how history is built,” Virginia says of the beauty of oral tradition – and, for that matter, of her afternoon talks with community. As a young child and young woman she would pick me. while listening in on conversations and old stories that she still Though she may often fashion herself as an amateur remembers vividly today. historian, having written and submitted several articles about the It was through picking cotton that Virginia came to know Amos and Hannah Terrell, my great-grandparents, people I never history of her family to magazines and newspapers, she still feels that oral tradition – “mouth-to-mouth,” as she calls it – is the had the chance to meet before their deaths. I only know my most powerful way of understanding the past and each other. great-grandparents through shreds of family folklore, stretching “Telling history mouth-to-mouth, makes you keep all the back decades. (Please see related story on following page.) stories and information in your brain,” she says. “It’s the only Virginia picked alongside them, listening to their own way to pass it down.” stories of migration up the mountain, sharing in the fellowship Continued with Epilogue on page 54 of the oral tradition, lighting a torch.
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Amos Terrell lives on in oral history years after his life
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uring the telling of one of her stories, Virginia Benson admits that there once was a custom common to migrants up from the valley that falls a bit outside of her lifelong Sunday school teaching background. “My husband never made whiskey, but he did make homebrew,” she says. In many farming communities, the homebrew responsibilities were taken in turns among friends. Often the brew itself would be stored in five-gallon vats and shared (somewhat) responsibly. “They didn’t do it to get drunk,” Virginia insists. She remembers returning home one weekend when she and her husband Charles had gone out of town, only for Charles to find his supply of homebrew emptied. There was a footpath that led through several families’ yards and overlooked the side of the mountain to the lake where once so many had lived. Amos Terrell lived with his family at the bottom of the trail and was often seen footing the path in front of Virginia’s house, so he was the main suspect in the vanishing homebrew. “I remember Charles saying it was Amos Terrell who came by while we were gone and drank all the homebrew.” Virginia tries not to laugh when she tells the story, still uncertain of Amos’ culpability after all these years. “But,” and she shrugs, “I never had one bad story to tell about the Terrell family.” –Seth Terrell
Amos Terrell and brother Lum apparently head out to hunt in this undated photo. In addition to what he learned from Virginia Benson, writer Seth Terrell got some further “mouth-to-mouth” history from his great aunt, Dorothy Lowery of Albertville when he stopped by to borrow the photo and told her it was for a story he’d heard about his late great-grandfather’s alleged involvement with some homebrew that went missing ages ago. “If there was homebrew anywhere around, he was going to drink it,” she told Seth. Amos actually served a year in Kilby Prison for moonshining. Seth says that didn’t stop Amos from drinking, but the last 10 years of his life he got religion and straightened himself out. NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016
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This photo shows students at Diamond School in Browns Valley, circa 1915, including Virginia Benson’s “mama,” Ethel Riggins, under the arrow wearing a checked dress, left of center, third row from the top. Virginia’s father, Mack Roden, was older and not in this class, but several of his siblings were, including brother Boyd Roden, top center, and sisters Bettie Roden, next to Boyd, Maggie Roden, top right, and Jessie Roden, bottom left. EPILOGUE After all of her years of life, all of the stories and history passed down, I sit across from Mrs. Virginia, a willing listener, basking in the opportunity to carry on the mouth-to-mouth tradition in my own time. According to Pew Research, the Millennial Generation has begun to surpass the Baby Boomer generation in terms of sheer population. While millennials are famously tech savvy, research suggests that adult millennials are in search of and wowed by anything “vintage” or “classic.” Consider the recent trends in television remodeling shows and home décor that lean more toward “rustic” or “repurposed.” Or consider the uptick in microbreweries across the nation. According to the Craft Brewers Association, microbreweries are popping-up by the hundreds every year (though the brew is probably not stored in five-gallon vats in barns). Homegrown food is in vogue among millennials, even in many urban areas in the United States. There is a distinct notion among millennials and generation Y-ers that vintage ways and do-it-yourself lifestyles are necessary for authentic living. 54
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Information is highly convenient, but some millennials, perhaps like Mrs. Virginia’s generation, are in search of the story behind the story, the authenticity behind the information. Mrs. Virginia’s story is my story in many ways. With all of my grandparents now deceased, she is my portal into a world I can scarcely imagine, but one full of common ground and common identity. She fills in the details with inflection and emotion that a computer click could never provide. Therein is the beauty and power of intergenerational storytelling. Like others of her generation with a knack for detailed stories, Mrs. Virginia is a link to a past that marks so many of us in Marshall County. She and others like her are “the gatekeepers of the oral tradition,” as J.D. Vance suggests in his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.” And, like the bridges and causeways that now stretch across the flooded farmland to the mountain, the inheritance of oral tradition continues on, every time the young and the old sit together in the ancient postures of storyteller and listener.
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Big Brother Casey Walker and his Little Brother Joseph Carter hang out together for an evening of manly cooking. Casey’s wife, Lauren, often slips off to workout at the gym when the guys get together.
On being a Big Brother Y
ou probably know what big brothers do. They pick on younger siblings, right? But did you ever wonder what Big Brothers do? You know, the kind spelled with capitals, as in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Alabama program? Here’s your chance to find out. Casey Walker, his wife, Lauren, and their two cats now live in Guntersville, but at the time of this story they had an upstairs apartment at her grandparents, Jim and Sylvia Gentry’s large house in Albertville. Casey works at Citizens Bank & Trust and volunteered as a Big Brother in August. Joseph Carter is Casey’s Little Brother. He’s 8, lives in Boaz with his mom, Jennifer Stone, and is a third grader at Corley Elementary. He has a sister, Carly, who’s a few years older. It’s a Thursday evening. The guys are hanging out, and you’re invited to tag along …
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throw it up and it gets disgusting from the ceiling … dust all over it.” “That’s why we’re not going to make the crust.” few easy moments pass in silence asey is driving Joseph to Jim and Casey explains they may have the in the car, then Casey asks if Joseph Sylvia Gentry’s house in Albertville. The house to themselves tonight. The Gentrys guys are using Casey’s in-laws’ kitchen to remembers what kind of pizza they’re are on their way home from one of their making tonight. make pizza and brownies for supper. four annual On the ride, beach trips. That Joseph is telling earns a “wow!” his Big Brother from Joseph. about a recent “I’ve only incident in PE been to the class where beach one time a boy was in my life. It was purposefully fun. My mom tripped, hurt and got stung by a cried. jellyfish. And “We all got in we almost got trouble, except ate by a shark. It for me, because was right there. I didn’t have But we got away anything to do from it. Momma with it,” Joseph was right there says. “We got on the beach. our soccer balls She didn’t even taken away.” believe us. I’m “That’s no not sure what fun,” Casey says. Joseph says bye to his mom, Jennifer Stone, for his Thursday hang-out with Casey, kind it was.” “You didn’t get left. They’re now meeting up on alternate Mondays and Wednesdays, a change Imaginary, your baseball perhaps? needed because Jennifer is starting Snead State Community College, and Joseph’s dad, taken away, did “No, it was a you?” Christian Carter, now takes him to Cub Scouts every other Monday. The guys also pretty big shark,” They had hang out on weekends when Joseph isn’t with his dad and Jennifer doesn’t Joseph says. “It played baseball have anything special planned. Casey recently took Joseph to the might have just last week, and been a whale Boaz Harvest Festival, a fun first for the youngster. Casey let Joseph shark, but I don’t take the ball think it was. home. They are usually “I will never deeper.” “A pepperoni!” get my baseball taken away,” the kid says. They also searched for crabs at night, “Guess what kind of brownies I got?” “I was hitting like crazy. I didn’t miss one he continues. “We found a bunch of holes, “What?” hit, and I was hitting ‘em like super far.” but no crabs. I almost fell in one, a crab “Ultimate fudge brownies.” “Are you still on the A-B honor roll?” hole, well my foot.” “Yummmm!” “I haven’t gotten it yet.” “Was it as big as that muskrat hole last “And I hope you know how to make “Are you going to be on the A-B honor week when we were playing by the pond them, because I don’t.” roll?” at Jim and Sylvia’s?” Joseph laughs. “Maybe it’s on the box! “Yeah.” Joseph laughs that he’s not “Yeah.” There’s a lot of people who don’t know taking bets on it, but in his defense he “I told you to watch out for them, then how to make brownies … I’ve made some points out his record. “I was on the honor I fell in one.” with peanut butter in the middle. They roll the whole entire year last year.” weren’t that good. Well, they were pretty “Did you start any new books?” asey is relatively new to Big good. They were just too dry. “Yeah. It’s called ‘The Last Kids on Brothers Big Sisters. But having brothers “I’ve never made pizza before,” he Earth and the Zombie Parade.’” and sisters is familiarly familial territory. adds. “I’ve never even seen anybody “We didn’t have zombie books when I Counting adopted and step-siblings, make pizza before.” was a kid,” Casey says. “Did it have any Casey grew up in the middle of a herd of “I did buy the pizza crust. We’re not brain eaters?” eight kids. making that.” “Yeah! The zombies were actually A son of Tina and Paul Ogle of Boaz “I know. That’s too hard. What if you getting their brains sucked out of them.”
Story and photos by David Moore
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“I think your books are a lot more interesting than ours were.”
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Casey and Joseph work as a team – sort of – on the brownies and pizza. Basically, being a Big – whether Brother or Sister – boils down to offering a gift of a little time, Casey says about six weeks after pizza/brownie night. “It’s a lot more comfortable now. We go to the park and climb on the monkey bars and play on the merry-go-round. It’s like having a little brother. It gives me a chance to be a kid again and have fun. And he teaches me things from the new age of kids and what they do these days.” and the late Mark Walker and his wife Julia of Gardendale, all of his siblings apparently didn’t distract him too badly from his studies. Valedictorian of the Douglas High School Class of 2009, Casey earned a BS in business/finance from Jacksonville State University. Lauren, who went to Albertville High School and was his girlfriend, also attended Jax State, majoring in journalism. After college and marriage, they lived in Georgia for three years where, among other jobs, Lauren was the lifestyle editor for the Marietta Daily Journal. Casey was initially an assistant general manager at the Jacksonville Hampton Inn where he’d worked during college. Soon after, he became a route manager for Waste Management. But setting up new processes across the firm’s South Atlantic region was far more travel than he wanted.
“The commute was crazy, and it was a crazy schedule,” he says. It’s an understatement – he drove between the Carolinas and Marietta while clocking 80-hour weeks. The burglary of their apartment was the tipping point, and after Lauren got a job as the marketing and community impact director for United Way of Marshall County in January, they moved home, taking the upstairs apartment at her grandparents’ house.
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n February, Casey took a part-time teller position with Citizens Bank & Trust, providing him training opportunities in various departments and branches across Marshall County. Now he’s settled into CB&T’s main office in Guntersville. “I enjoy learning the different aspects of banking,” he says. “And I’ve always been a people person.” His impetus for volunteering with
Big Brother Big Sister traces back to the middle child syndrome he felt growing up in a kid-packed house. “It was a loving home,” he says. “But it’s hard for parents to have one-on-one time with kids, especially with so many of them. I once pitched a tent in the backyard and moved out for a week until it rained and I got flooded. “I worked a lot and took care of myself growing up,” he continues. Being a Big Brother, Casey adds, provides him the opportunity to give a kid something he didn’t get much of growing up: time.
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s he and Joseph pull up at the house, they find the extended Gentry family has just returned from the beach. They stop putting up luggage and sorting mail long enough to catch up with Casey and greet Joseph, whom they treat like another grandson.
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Everyone is all smiles after the feast. Casey makes Joseph a fun priority. He never cancels an evening to hang out. Once, he and Lauren had long-planned out-of-town company on what would have been a Joseph night, so the guys hung out a day or two later. If Casey gets a lastminute invite, he kindly declines. “I’m hanging out with my Little Brother,” he says, “I won’t be able to make it.” “Pop” Jim and “Nana” Sylvia ease out of the kitchen, for the most part turning it over to the Big and Little brothers. “Let’s start with the brownies,” Casey says. “They’ll take longer. What’s it say on the box?” “One cup of water.” “Look again. See that slash after the one and before the four?” “Yeah.” “That’s one-fourth of a cup. You want to get the water? “Cold or hot?” Teamwork in motion. “Who taught you how to crack an egg, your mom?” “Yeah,” Joseph says, tapping the shell bowl-side. He then gets introduced to the garbage disposal. “Never stick your hand in there,” Casey says over the whirring. “What’s in there? Saw blades?” Shark teeth. Joseph laughs. Next comes the chocolate mix. Joseph pours; Casey stirs. “Wow! It got thicker. How can it just instantly do that?” “I’ll let you lick the spoon and the bowl.” “Yummm!” “Your mom’s going to kill me. You’re not hyper after chocolate, are you? Maybe a little bit?” “Hmmm, I’ve never really been hyper.” 60
“That’s a little hard to believe.” “Well, not on chocolate.” “That’s a good thing. Maybe your mom will let us keep hanging out.”
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ith brownies baking, they start making the pizza, Joseph occasionally setting down the brownie spoon he keeps licking past the point of any chocolate morsel. They set a second timer for the pizza and clean up the mess so far. Nana returns to the kitchen and chit-chat leads to the topic of sushi. “You like sushi, Joseph?” “I’ve never tried it. My dad likes it though.” “Do you know what it is?” “Stuff stacked in a pile and you have to eat it.” After everyone laughs, Joseph continues. “My dad told me something was a chicken-fry once, but he made me eat octopus.” “Did it taste like chicken? Only chewy?” “Ahhh, I was like, ‘Did they even cook this?’” The question comes up what Joseph likes best about hanging out with Casey. Having fun and having a buddy to talk to are his general answers. And the best part? “Eating pizza,” Joseph laughs.
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ventually, pizza is served. “You want the right half or the left
half?” Casey asks. “Or can you eat the whole thing?” “Hmmm… let me see. I’ve never had homemade pizza. I bet it’s so good.” “I’ll cut it into pieces and start you with two for right now.” A lot of “Ohhing” and “Ahhing” and “Ouch, it’s hot!” ensues. “My stomach is not even close to full,” Joseph chewing on his second piece. “It’s not even a quarter full, yet.” Later come the hot brownies served over Joseph’s favorite flavor, vanilla ice cream. “I’ll never get full of this,” Joseph says. The brownies, at first burn-your-tongue hot, have Joseph fanning his mouth. Then the cold of the ice cream sets in, and he’s trying to suck in warm air. Brain freeze? “More like cheek freeze,” Joseph says. Predictably, the youngster finds himself stuffed. As they clean up, they talk some about plans for future evenings. Nana says she has apples to feed the cows if the brothers want to. Casey says they want to some day see the buffaloes Lauren’s uncle raises. And, if it ever rains, go fishing in the Gentrys’ pond. Tonight, it was cooking. Manly cooking, Casey laughs. “It was,” his Little Brother says, “the best on my homemade pizza list so far.” And maybe one of the best times he’s had just hanging out – so far. Good Life Magazine
Alisha graduated in 2003 from Austin High in Decatur and in 2013 earned a business management degree from Alabama A&M. Finding a tight job market, she volunteered in April to dedicate a year with AmeriCorps VISTA. She might renew her volunteer commitment in April. “I wanted to volunteer with this program since high school,” she says. Raised by busy but loving parents, she believes she could have benefited from BBBS as a child and that her own daughter, Vega, 9, would like to be in the program, too. The program has been hailed by Democratic and Republican presidents.
‘Big’ open to parents wanting to help their children M
ost children mentored through the 112-year-old Big Brothers Big Sisters of America come from low economic backgrounds and single parent households. But it’s a misconception that the program is limited to such children, says Alisha Collier, who heads up BBBS in Marshall County. It’s also a misconception, she says, that parents of Littles – as children matched with a Big are called – are somehow bad parents. Truth is, it’s a parent’s responsibility to discipline their children, to fuss and worry over them. “Sometimes a child just needs someone to hang out, throw a ball, go to the park,” Alisha says. “They just want a friend, somebody to talk to that is not a parent. All children need a mentor.” Parents, she adds, deserve accolades for seeking BBBS to benefit their children.
As a volunteer mentor, Bigs are asked to spend a few hours a week for a year with their Little, who generally are 5-15 years old. It’s not about spending money, it’s about giving time, lending an ear, offering friendship and encouragement. An independent study comparing children of BBBS to ones who are not show that Littles are 46 percent less likely to get into drugs, 52 percent less likely to skip school and 33 percent less likely to hit someone. BBBS is not new here but has been in hibernation several years. In 2005, Carol Sporleder, a Marshall native and the program director over the eight counties under BBBS of North Alabama, awoke it by assigning April Smartt, another one-year volunteer, as the local program coordinator. This year, Alisha took the local helm. Besides Casey Walker, featured on previous pages, she has signed up the following Bigs in Marshall County:
• Seth Sawyer, Albertville • Tina Walden, Albertville • Doris Ireland, Albertville • Nicole Schuster, Arab • Robin Scott, Albertville • Bre Kellum, Guntersville.
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lisha’s “Big” goal is to sign up two more volunteers a month. Only a few of them already signed and cleared, however, have been matched with a Little, which Alisha is also working on. “Our vision is that all children can succeed in life,” Alisha says. “Short-term goals vary from case to case, but we develop a case plan of items the parents would like the Big and Little to work on.” Goals include building self-confidence, developing interests and hobbies, learning to use school and community resources and expressing and dealing with emotions, Alisha says. For more information: 256-660-5556. – David Moore
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No ducking or fat man squeeze, Cathedral Caverns’ entrance to the world underground is 128 feet wide and 25 feet tall. The mile-and-a-half tour takes about 90 minutes. Kids 4 and under get in free; ages 5-12 pay $8; and it’s $18 for 13 and older. The cave’s paved trail is accessible by wheelchair.
What’s going on under the ground? Cathedral Caverns answers with stunning, other-worldly grandeur
And I feel like I’ve been here before … And you know, it makes me wonder: What’s going on under the ground, hmmm? Do you know? Don’t you wonder? What’s going on down under you? We have all been here before ... – “Déjà Vu,” David Crosby Story and photos by David Moore
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ou are welcome to debate whether or not we’ve all been – much less actually existed – here before, or that déjà vu is just an odd, inexplicable feeling that hits us sometimes. Either way, a trip to Cathedral Caverns State Park can certainly give you a vividly 62
rock solid idea of what’s going on under the ground … right here in Marshall County. The caverns are located in Kennamer Cove, five miles northeast of Grant. It’s a marvelously different world of unexpected beauty, of deeply delved fantasies that would dazzle a magical dwarf; immense in size and mind boggling in terms of the earth’s changes through the eons. You just don’t expect to see a shark’s tooth embedded in the ancient rock ceiling down in a cave. How do you wrap your head around that? This year, 50,000 people from across Alabama, different states and foreign lands ventured into the gaping maw of Cathedral Caverns, followed its tame sidewalk three-quarters of mile and back
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again beneath Gunter Mountain and emerged astounded at the marvels they beheld under the ground. “Most people from Marshall County probably haven’t seen it,” says Lamar Pendergrass, superintendent of Cathedral Caverns State Park as well as Rickwood Caverns, 90 minutes away on the west side of I-65 in Blount County. “It’s like anything local. If it’s in your backyard, you don’t think about. There are probably people in Grant who have never been here.” Lamar says he gave a tour to a speleological society whose members had explored public caves from Carlsbad to Mammoth. “They were blown away by our (namesake) Cathedral Room,” he says.
Goliath, on the tour’s first attraction, is a colossal stalagmite column. A reflecting pool around part of its base adds to its already impressive 45-foot height and 243-foot girth. NOVEMBER | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2016 63
The walkway angles up beside the Frozen Waterfall, where over the eons a coating of flowstone gave a smooth surface to buried boulders. Lights reflect off water that is pumped to the top of the formation to flow down over it. “If we didn’t tell you it’s not natural, you’d never know,” says park superintendent Lamar Pendergrass. Because of the Frozen Waterfalls and other formations, Cathedral Caverns in 1972 was named one of seven National Natural Landmark sites in Alabama. Beyond the end of the sidewalk the cave continues, undeveloped, another 2,700 feet, with what Lamar calls spectacular formations more densely grouped than the front part of the cave, a spectacular chamber known as the Crystal Room. “They said it’s the best they’d ever seen.” In its earlier years, even after it became a state park, guides proclaimed Cathedral Caverns to hold several world records for formations and its huge entrance. Probably, Lamar grins, every public cave claims some world record. “I have tried to steer guides away from saying that,” he says. “We don’t need to talk about world records. The cave shows itself off. This is one of the premier caves in the U.S.”
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1987-88 archaeological dig led by professors at The University of Alabama and Jacksonville State University unearthed flint spear points that show Native Americans stayed inside Cathedral Caverns’ huge entrance 9,000 years ago. Randall Blackwood, park naturalist, says 64
indications are humans might have been here even earlier, and he hopes follow-up digs are held. Evidence from other areas of the entrance – arrowheads, broken pottery, fire pits, small animal bones – link the cave’s use through the Cherokees and Creek. No human remains have been found. Bill Varnedoe Jr.’s informative booklet sold at the gift shop relates family history that Ishom Wright came to the area around 1800 and survived his first winter in the cave with help from the Cherokees. A non-sourced reference in Wikipedia holds that during the Civil War the Kennamer family lived in the cave for a time after Union soldiers burned their farmhouse. Referred to as Bat Cave, it first shows up on an 1869 map. Dates from 1891 through the 1920s can be found on
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walls along with names of several early Kennamers and a descendant of Ishom. All of this pre-history and recorded history is limited to the first two big rooms underground – until a state geologist cataloged the cave in 1930. Jay Gurley, whose name is most associated with the cave, first explored it in 1952. A photographer from Redstone Arsenal, he and some friends crawled down 40 feet of rubble beyond the first two rooms, and made their way as deep as the stalagmite forest today known as the Cathedral Room. So astounded was Jay that he and a partner scraped up enough money to buy the cave, and he moved his family onto the property the same year. When he coaxed his wife back to the stalagmite forest, she exclaimed it was beautiful, a cathedral complete with
Park naturalist Randall Blackwood, above, leans against the continuous railing of the concrete sidewalk, passing here through a mammoth chamber 729 feet long, 200 feet wide and 123 at its maximum height. From the sidewalk, the ceiling is 83 feet overhead. One of Randall’s projects in the caverns is research on safely removing green algae that grows on some of the rock, including the crystallized calcium cup at left. Below is one of 11 shark teeth found embedded in the high ceilings of the cave. Along with small, fossilized shells, they are humbling reminders that in time out of mind this part of Alabama was once the floor of a shallow sea.
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towering columns and a pipe organ, and thus the caverns’ name today. Determined to share the wonders of what he found going on under the ground, Jay invested a lot of money and serious work to open Cathedral Caverns as a private attraction.
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fter cutting a rough and partial trail and lighting the cave – daunting feats – Jay opened a portion of Cathedral Caverns in 66
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1954. A quarter gave you access to a fantastic ancient world that felt especially good in the summer with cave temperatures always 5760 degrees. Jay waged a long war with Mystery River, which flows through the cave and is prone to serious flooding. After bridging the river with logs to continue building the trail, it was 1959 before tours reached the enthralling Cathedral Room. Jay later sold stock hoping to fund an extended footbridge over the river,
but two years later, in 1971, the state rerouted the main highway to the cave, and visitors dried up even if the river didn’t. In 1974, David Duchemin bought the controlling shares, but a year later the cave doused it lights and closed. Jay and David fought court wars for two years until Tom German of Guntersville bought the bankrupt cave at auction. According to Varnedoe’s booklet, Tom destroyed the archaeological dig trying to quarry rock and later tried to
stage weekend dances in the big front room, which also failed. With no maintenance being done, Tom in 1987 finally persuaded the state to buy Cathedral Caverns, but it would be 13 years before the cave opened as a state park. People told Jim Martin, then head of the state parks, that he’d just thrown $750,000 in a big ol’ hole in the ground. Jay was hired as a consultant and worked until 1995. At least when he died a year later,
it was with the knowledge that Reps. Frank McDaniel and Howard Hawk and Sens. Hinton Mitchem and Lowell Barron were acquiring funding for the cave. In August 2000 the park opened at a cost of $1.9 million for modern lighting, a wheelchair accessible, pumped-concrete sidewalk 3,750 feet long and a concrete bridge built to highway standards 37 feet above Mystery River. Another $3.3 million was spent on the access road. In 2003 the
“Improbable” – AKA, The Devil’s
Broomstick – stands 25 feet tall, above, but is only 3 inches in diameter at
the base and 7 inches in the middle.
Upper left, a school class from St. Clair County “Ohhhs!” and “Ahhhs!” and whips out cell phones when a guide
turns on the lights in the three-acre Cathedral Room.
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$1.2 million visitors center was dedicated. The bridge is named the Jay Gurley Bridge, honoring the man who saw dreams under the ground.
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t was on a sixth grade class trip from Guntersville that park superintendent Lamar Pendergrass first visited Cathedral Caverns about 1975. The cave was cool, but what he remembers most is not stalagmites. “I bought a big green cigar in the gift shop,” he grins. “It said Cathedral Caverns on it.” After graduating from Guntersville in 1981, Lamar worked part time at Guntersville State Park while attending Snead State then the University of Alabama in Huntsville. After college, he advanced at the park and in 1999 was promoted to assistant superintendent at Cheaha and later DeSoto State Parks. Since coming to Cathedral Caverns in 2009, short of selling souvenir cigars, Lamar has worked hard to up attendance and revenue. For the fiscal year just ended, the park netted a record profit of $375,000, up from $340,000 the year before. Money now flows out of Jim Martin’s hole in the ground. Another successful move by Lamar is hiring local young people as cave guides. One of them is Alex Prickett, a 2016 graduate of DAR who started guiding tours three years ago. He was 4 the first time he visited Cathedral Caverns. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” he says. Son of Donna and Johnny Prickett of Grant, he attends Northeast Community College, plans to transfer to Auburn University next fall. “I want to be a park ranger,” Alex says. “Lamar tries to talk me out of it.” “I just say don’t do it for the money,” the boss grins. “Do it because you love it.” Talking to Alex, it’s obvious he loves Cathedral Caverns and sharing with people what’s going on under the ground.
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ason Teal had Alex as a guide in October and was extremely impressed with his knowledge and enthusiasm. Jason lived in Grant until going off to college. Today, he’s an addiction counselor near his alma mater, Jacksonville State. “I grew up going in that cave whenever we had a quarter,” he says. “It was a much more difficult traverse than it is now.” While his wife attended a training session out of town, Jason took his kids to visit the cave, his first trip under the ground in nearly 15 years. It was spectacular. “People who live around there and don’t go to Lake Guntersville, I’m like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’” Jason says. “Cathedral Caverns is the same way.” Good Life Magazine 68
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Tour guide Alex Prickett, right, talks about Cathedral Room to Jason Teal, formerly of Grant, who returned to visit the cave with his children Sierra, Jacob and Tyler, far left. While many area people have never been to Cathedral Caverns, Jason is not one of them. “It’s always been something special,” he says.
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Out ’n’ About If you were out and about in downtown Arab this fall, you probably spotted some “stuffy” folks ... scarecrow folks, that is. Businesses and groups put them out every year. A sampling includes, clockwise from above, The Flower Exchange, Premier Family Care, Arab Jewelry and Pawn, Eastons’ Barber Shop, AYSO soccer, Liberty Finance, Carter’s Coffee Café, The Cutting Edge and Chafins Chair Caning. Photos by David Moore.
We strive for high-quality healthcare in everything we do. But it’s always nice to be noticed.
Marshall Medical is proud to receive the prestigious Community Value Five-Star rating. Marshall Medical Centers was recently recognized as a top-ranked hospital in a national study by Cleverley+ Associates. As a leading healthcare financial consulting firm, Cleverley is widely recognized for its credibility in documenting high-value performance by hospitals. The Marshall Medical findings are part of its new publication, State of the Hospital Industry, 2016 Edition. It’s an honor to be included among the recipients of this prestigious award.
Want to know more? See all the details at mmcenters.com/five-star.
256.571.8925 (256.753.8925 for Arab area residents) • mmcenters.com