Marshall Good Life Magazine - Summer 2019

MARSHALL COUNTY

Here’s what happened to U-27 after it crashed at HydroFest

The Powells kept a historic house in the family for all its memories SUMMER 2019 | COMPLIMENTARY

Take a trip into the isolation, beauty and history of Parches Cove

THIS AREA’S LARGEST SELECTION OF LA-Z-BOY COMFORT FOR YOUR HOME!

THE FURNITURE SHOPPE Just 4 miles from beautiful Lake Guntersville 10276 US Highway 431 • Albertville

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We’ll meet you there.

On-the-go banking is a snap with the Citizens Bank & Trust mobile app.

A concert, school ball games, shopping with friends… wherever life takes you, our mobile app* means banking convenience is right there, too. Need to check your balance? Check. Deposit that birthday check you just found in your wallet? Snap, click, done. With the mobile app from Citizens Bank & Trust there’s no need to miss anything. From the latest technology to friendly bankers, you can count on Citizens Bank & Trust to be there in a big way.

Here when you need us.

Even with the best in mobile banking, we hope you’ll stop in to say hello. Our Guntersville headquarters and other Marshall County offices are conveniently located and ready to serve. *Third party fees for data, messaging, Internet may apply.

Guntersville 256-505-4600

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Welcome

Contributors Who is Deb Laslie, the book review author? That’s a fair question for Marshall County Good Life Magazine readers. But Cullman County GLM readers know she owns Deb’s Bookstore in Cullman and has written reviews in our sister publication since it began in 2013. She’s pinch-hitting in this issue.

Ryan DeGraffenried and checkers, revisited.

‘If You Give a Moose a Muffin ...’

M

elissa Rice lives near Albertville, grew up in Asbury. Her dad knows Elizabeth Burgess, the entertaining and knowledgeable 97-year-old who lives in Poplar Springs and was featured – along with some of her old photos – in our spring issue.

She found Elizabeth’s story “extraordinary.”

One of her photos – of poor quality but still very interesting – grabbed Melissa’s attention. It showed gubernatorial candidate Ryan DeGraffenried playing checkers at a general store near Elizabeth’s house.

It was thought the photo was shot while Ryan campaigned in 1966, just before dying in a plane crash.

Melissa sheds some welcome light on this. The photo was shot in 1962 when Ryan ran, unsuccessfully, against George Wallace.

“A photographer from the Birmingham Post-Herald was traveling the state with DeGraffenried and took the picture at Albert Ward’s store,” Melissa says. “Mr. Ward is the gentleman standing. Playing checkers with DeGraffenried is Roy Cosmer “Jack” Rains, my grandfather, who died in 1965.”

Continuing, she says … “The funniest things can happen: I was searching for some information about DeGraffenried about a year ago. I found a picture on eBay, of all places, of a different shot, where Mr. Ward is seated.”

Melissa bought it and shared it with me. (Thank you.) I share it above with you. (You’re welcome.)

Sometimes a story or photo is like the child’s book “If You Give a Moose a Muffin.” The point being – one thing can lead to another. And that can be interesting.

Mo Mc PUBLISHING LLC Proudly printed in Marshall County by BPI Media of Boaz 6

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

Jacquelyn Hall, a new free-lancer for GLM, writes about Parches Cove, located only a few miles from her house. She is a graduate of Snead State, a stay-at home-mom to her three children and writes part time. If you’re curious, she takes her cream and sugar with a little bit of coffee.

Publisher and editor of the former Yesterday’s Memories, Steve Maze has long been drawn to write about nostalgia. For this issue he pulls out a story of his dad as a kid and the swimming hole where his buddies went skinny-dipping.

Fortunately, he has no action shot of the lads.

David Myers and his wife, Rose, team up to write Good Eats columns for GLM. A NASA contractor, in his spare time when David is not sampling fare at area restaurants, he’s at work on his sixth novel. This one will be set in his hometown, New Orleans, and is expected out later this year.

Advertising/art director Sheila McAnear is looking forward to summer activities ... getting her boat in the water, paddling her kayak. But first things first.

She can’t do any of that fun stuff until she gets off the trampoline she’s bouncing on while juggling all of her ad work ... work she says she’s thrilled to have!

After high school 49 years ago, GLM editor/ publisher David Moore wanted to be a psychologist.

After earning a psych degree 45 years ago from The University of Alabama, he knew that’s NOT what he wanted to be. Now, six years after starting GLM, maybe he’s finally found his niche.

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

Vol. 6 No.3 Copyright 2019 Published quarterly

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

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

Proudly Celebrating Our 50th Anniversary Your One Stop Shop For Better Health Located in Boaz we’ve been serving the Marshall, Dekalb, and Etowah counties since 1969.

Our pharmacy has more than 100 years of combined experience and our friendly staff treats you like family.

We provide a wide range of services to meet your health care needs.

“You have a lot of choices. We are thankful you have chosen us … for 50 years.”

Local People Who Care W

e have never knowingly let a child or an older person walk out of here without their medicine. It’s that way for our hospice customers, too. For 50 years – with the help of others in the community – we’ve been able to do that for people with short-term needs.

W

e take care of patients first. That’s the thing that keeps me going. That’s the way we built this business.

Because of you, we have grown to be one of the largest independent pharmacies in Alabama.

Dale Johnson, Owner/Pharmacist

Pharmacists: Dale Johnson Anna J. Noojin Rachel R. Lambert Brian Williams

Michelle Thomason Bob Blaker David Robbins

Pharmacist Bill Cobb, right, stands with Harvey Powell, one of Boaz Discount Drugs’ customers in the 1970s when it was located downtown. Bill founded BDD in 1969 and hired Dale Johnson in ’72. They became partners the next year. The two pharmacists grew giant watermelons and pumpkins and displayed them in the store every fall. Bill retired in mid1980, and Dale bought his share of the popular store. They were always on the same page when it came how to operate Boaz Discount Drug … they took care of patients first.

10460 Suite 1 AL Hwy. 168 ● Boaz, AL 35957

256-593-6546 ● www.boazdiscount.com

Inside 10 | Good Fun

HydroFest is back but there’s lots more fun to be had this summer

18 | Good People

Long-time Boaz pharmacist Dale Johnson talks missions and drugs

24 | Good Reads

Your summer list: ‘The Persian Gamble’ and ‘Rules for a Knight’

27 | Good Cooking

Guntersville “First Cook” Shirl Dollar is popular at supper time

36 | Full of memories

Visit the historic home of Brad and Scarlett on East Main in Albertville

44 | Top O’ the River

A yummy place to go for shrimp catfish, and a unique “starter kit”

46 | Good Getaways

Visit Florence for the fun vibe of ‘Alabama’s Renaissance City’

50 | The Long Hole

What happened when a bunch of boys constructed a swimming hole

52 | Parches Cove

This isolated corner of the county is steeped in beauty and history

57 | Frank Sargeant

Acclaimed outdoor writer’s job is doing what others do for fun

62 | The story of U-27 Its crash at HydroFest was not the end of the home-team boat

68 | Out ‘n’ About

Chamber groups from Arab and Albertville visit Scotland On the cover | Al Reese, subject of our Good People feature last fall, shot the eagle photo just off Ala. 227 northeast of Lake Guntersville State Park.

This page | Alex Sierra of Arab shot the bagpiper while visiting Scotland. See page 68-69 for more on this chamber trip.

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Now he’s a great boss that employees look up to, setting the example for excellence.

After 34 years, Donnie is going strong and remains passionate about cars and eager to please customers.

Award of excellence winner: 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2018 Jimmy has worked with Nissan for 22 years, starting as a service advisor and moving up to manager. A cancer survivor of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, since 2016 Jimmy has done several Spartan obstacle course races along with his first marathon… and lives with a positive attitude that truly inspires others.

Award of excellence winner: Platinum 2015 and 2018 Chad has worked with Nissan for 16 years. He started out cleaning cars and is now a hard-working manager unafraid to get dirty. As the parts manager he brings the best to our Team One customers. He is also fond of antiques and antique cars.

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MARSHALL COUNTY

Welcomes you to Marshall County, home of

AN EXTREME EVENT ON THE SOUTH’S FASTEST WATER

June 28-30, 2019

6-8 H1 Unlimited Hydroplanes 8 Grand Prix World Hydroplanes — PLUS — Powerboat National Racing!

2 classes (10-15 boats each)

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...

TICKETS:

40 — adult ultimate weekend pass includes

$

trips to boat area, fan pack and more

30 — ages 6-12 ultimate weekend pass $ 20 — adult weekend pass $ 10 — ages 6-12 weekend pass Free — ages 5 and under $

Passes also good for race-venue concerts starting 5:30 both nights!

Friday: Zach Williams, contemporary Christian Saturday: Orleans and Firefall, hits from the ‘70s Sunset Drive venue open 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. (6 p.m. Sunday) $5 PARKING All parking offsite with bus shuttles 8 a.m.-9 p.m. (6 p.m. Sunday) SHUTTLE SITES: Guntersville High, Cherokee Elementary; Vendor Remanufactoring and County Park #1

To purchase tickets online and for more info: www.guntersvillelakehydrofest.com Or buy them in person from Albertville, Arab, Boaz or Guntersville chambers of commerce

• Coming this summer – The Tennessee River: a digital presentation and a floor mural Two projects with indeterminate dates are expected to come together soon at the Guntersville Museum.

An estimated 60-foot long floor mural depicting the Tennessee River from Chattanooga to Florence will be painted by Mason Holcomb, the former executive director of Mountain Valley Arts Council and May art graduate from Jacksonville State University. The mural will be painted on the walkway of the museum’s main exhibition room. Mason will be working on it during May and June, and people are invited to stop and see the work in progress.

Also coming together will be a computer interactive program titled “Life on the Tennessee River,” which can be viewed on a large screen at a kiosk. Through maps, overlays, photos and other media the program will tell how people have interacted with the river during periods of history: Native Americans, Early Settlers, Civil War and Reconstruction and Making of the Lake.

The project is sponsored by museum board member and benefactor Sonny Lewis.

The museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. TuesdayFriday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Admittance is free. For more information, call: Guntersville Museum, 256-571-7597.

Good Fun • May 9, 16, 23 – Free outdoor concerts Mountain Valley Arts Council wraps up its outdoor, spring concert series this month at Errol Allan Park in downtown Guntersville. The free performances are Thursdays 6:30-8:30 p.m. and feature: • May 9 – Section 8, classic rock and R&R • May 16 – Tequila Falls, country rock • May 23 – Joe Cagle Band, rock Bring a lawn chair, friends and your dog. For more info, call: MVAC, 256-571-7199.

• May 10-11 – Wine Walk and SpringFest The Guntersville Downtown Merchants are holding a Spring Wine Walk 5:30 p.m. Friday with appetizers at Stach & Co., heavy appetizers at Baker’s on Main and sweets at Mosley

Who’s up for summer fun?

Main Café 336 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. for Brunchapalooza for brunch, drinks, music and corn hole.

Win-win. Have fun and get a little more healthy at MMC’s Fitness Day. Monogram. Tickets, $50, available at all three locations.

For family fun, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Saturday is the SpringFest. Crafts games, sales, food, art, train rides, face painting, wine, brews and music in the park by the GHS Jazz Band and Two Tone Willie. Stop by Baker’s on

• May 16 – Senior Health and Fitness Day Enjoy a healthy dose of fun at this annual event 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Lake Guntersville Civitan Park. Start with a warmup and a walk on the trail by the lake.

Get free health screenings and visit booths set up by area businesses that look out for your well-being. Talk with local physicians and therapists.

Giveaways, door prizes and games. A free lunch is provided and there will be live entertainment

by Joe Cagle and other groups.

Sponsored by Marshall Medical Centers, the event is free but you do need to register by phone: 256-5718025 or 256-753-8025 for Arab area residents.

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

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Mary Terrell of Guntersville will talk about growing hostas in containers at the annual hosta sale at the Huntsville Botanical Garden May 18. Her gardens and home were featured in the 2016 fall issue of Good Life Magazine.

GLM file photo.

• May 17-18 – Poke Salat Festival Downtown Arab celebrates the 35th Annual Poke Salat Festival with a tip of the hat to the best dish cooked from the wild poke weed – with a big dash of fun. Free bounce houses, fun scavenger hunts with prizes, new interactive activities and a world of booths set up by artisans and crafters, civic groups, church and school groups and businesses.

The top three band videos in the online voting for the Battle of the Bands will play on the stage Friday night.

Saturday includes a costumed fun run for kids and the Side Dish Showdown to see who makes the best cornbread, potato salad and pound cake. For entry info: www. facebook.com/pokesalat. Register 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. near the gazebo on 1st Ave NW for the 12:45 pet parade and Poke Salat Top Dog contest.

There’s open mic at the gazebo for singers or musicians seeking 30 minutes of Poke spotlight. And the bluegrass jam session starts at 11 a.m. Saturday afternoon brings the

Street Corner Pickin’ Bluegrass band competition; winners get cash prizes and a 45-minute stage set at 5 p.m.

Sign up for the Buck Dancing Expo and perform a one-minute routine to wow the crowd; cash prizes in three age groups.

The Arab Junior and High School Art Clubs will be painting the street – and you can bring donations of art supplies. To register as a vendor or for any of the events: pokesalat@ gmail.com; call 256-200-5270; watch for updates online: www. facebook.com/pokesalat.

• May 17-19 – Audition for ‘The Will Rogers Follies’ Directed by Jane Kohl, the production will be the last two weeks in July. For information on available parts and materials, contact The Whole Backstage: 256-582-7469; or visit: www.wholebackstage.com.

• May 18 – Annual hosta sale The Hosta Society of North Alabama is holding its annual hosta sale 9 a.m.-2 p.m. under the Grisham

532 Gunter Avenue, Guntersville

256-860-0462

Tues.- Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-1 Owner: Tyler Hawkins

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MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

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Pavilion at Huntsville Botanical Garden. You can buy rare cultivars you don’t see at the local outlets, plus regional favorites.

Hear talks at 10 and noon on Growing Hosta in Pots by Mary Terrell and Transplanting Hosta by Sue Toole.

Garden admission is not required for the sale, parking is free and the site is handicap accessible. For more info, contact Cookie Kruvand: rkruvand@gmail.com • May 31 – Movie at the Park Bring lawnchairs, blankets and the kiddos to see “Cars.” The free movie, sponsored by the Arab Chamber of Commerce, is held at the amphitheater at Arab City Park. For more info: 245-586-3138.

• June 15 – Wakeboard tournament Spring2Summer returns to Lake Guntersville for its 12th year with action from 9 a.m. to about 7 p.m. It’s expected to draw 50 or more regional competitors age 5-77. Professional wakeboarders sponsored by Red Bull

Catch some air action June 15 at Spring2Summer on Lake Guntersville. and others are expected to show up. Spring2Summer is part of the Southern Wake Series point chase

This is you without electricity ...

That’s why we strive to be here for you.

and includes stops at Smith Lake Park (July 13), Oak Mountain State Park.

TWIN LAKES GOLF COURSE

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MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

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• June 16 – Aug. 31 – Vintage Map Exhibit Anyone interested in maps and history will be fascinated by this exhibit The Guntersville Museum is compiling of maps of the city and surrounding areas, including old road maps. The maps are from its permanent collection, Marshall County Archives, Guntersville Historical Society and private collections.

The museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admittance is free.

For more information, call: Guntersville Museum, 256571-7597.

Free to observers, it will again be at Steel Ford Boat Launch on Thomas Avenue, located off Ala. 79 beside Publix. It’s the best place to watch from, though it’s always good to get on the lake in a boat. Join the after-party at Buffalo Eddie’s if age appropriate. For more info, call: Shane Cook, 256-509-3785.

•June 21 – Movie at the Park Bring lawnchairs, blankets and the kiddos to see “October Sky.” The free movie, sponsored by the Arab Chamber of Commerce, is held at the amphitheater at Arab City Park. For more info: 245-586-3138.

• July 19-28 – “The Will Rogers Follies” A tribute to the Alabama bicentennial, Sonny Lewis and The Whole Backstage present the return of this beloved production. It will be directed by Jane Kohl, who previously directed performances of the musical comedy in 2003, 2007 and 2008.

“Follies” tells the story of famed humorist and performer Will Rogers, who was the great-great grandson of Guntersville founder John Gunter.

Will performs rope tricks between scenes, and the revue presents 14

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

snippets of this quintessentially American figure and his famous homespun style of wisdom, who often said, “I never met a man I didn’t like” and “All I know is what I read in the papers.”

Shows are at 7 p.m. July 19-20 and 25-27. Matinées are at 2 p.m.

July 21 and 28. Tickets – newly priced at $12 students, $18 seniors 55 and up and $20 adults – can be ordered at: www.wholebackstage. com. For more info: 256-582-7469.

• July 4 – Fireworks over the lake Enjoy the spectacular tradition exploding over Lake Guntersville in celebration of Independence Day. The show starts at 9 p.m. The best viewing area is between Lurleen B. Wallace Drive and Civitan Park, unless you have a boat.

• Aug. 3-4 – “Acapella The Musical” Outside its seasonal lineup, The Whole Backstage collaborates with the Art City Institute and Foundation at Alabama A&M to bring this groundbreaking, romantic musical comedy to the WBS stage.

It tells the story of Jeremiah, a gospel singer who leaves the “music of praise” at home in search of the “music that pays.” A jaded

roadie rushes him from an arena full of screaming fans while an old forgotten street musician belts some beautiful blues just because it feeds his soul.

Jeremiah realizes that somewhere along the way he’s lost something.

Can he return to the place he once was?

Shows are 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets – $20 each – are on sale at the WBS office or online: www. wholebackstage.com. For more info: 256-582-7469.

• Sept. 28 – Southern Belle Riverboat Cruise Make your reservations now for this fun event through Marshall Gold Care 55+.

It’s a picture-perfect way to enjoy the fall-color views of Lookout Mountain and the beauty of the Tennessee River in the fabulous city of Chattanooga. Includes luxury bus transportation, a sumptuous menu and a bonus game of bingo onboard the Southern Belle and a visit to Hunter Museum of American Art. Cost is $99, payable upon registration. For more info or to register: 256-571-8025; or 256753-8025 in the Arab area.

Be prepared for storms Ment io ad for n th is a disco 5% u any e nt on quip purch ment ase.

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Power Outage

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Flooded Basement

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Food Loss

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• Aug. 2-3 – Main Street Music Festival The Marshall Tucker Band stars Friday night and country hit songwriter and singer Easton Corbin headlines Saturday at the 10th edition of Albertville’s free downtown blast. Gates on Main Street open Friday at 4 p.m. and Whiskey Myers opens the show at 6.

Saturday, gates open at 9 a.m. with tons of food and retail vendors, the water park and other activities for kids, all day long.

Opening at 6:30 p.m. will be Ashley McBryde, country female vocalist of the year.

For more info: www. mainstreetmusicfestival. com.

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MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

17

SNAPSHOT: Dale Johnson

• Early life: Born 1947, Gadsden; son of the late Alfred and Faye Johnson. Moved to Sardis in first grade; his dad taught there. Siblings: Nina Gilbreath (Kenny), Lane Johnson.

• Family: Married former Donna Bone, 1970. Three children and eight grandchildren, all of Sardis: Dr. Evan Johnson (Amanda); Drew, Cale, Caroline. Carrie Beth Handley, communications disorders specialist (Wade); Ella Kate, Reagan.

Anna Leigh Noojin, pharmacist at BDD (Seth); Allie Grace, Eli and Isabelle.

• Education: Sardis High, 1965; Gadsden State; graduated Auburn University School of Pharmacy, ‘69.

• Career: Pharmacist at Holy Name of Jesus (Riverview Medical Center), Gadsden, one year; Boaz-Albertville Hospital (Marshall Medical Center South), ‘70-72; Boaz Discount Drugs: one year; became co-owner, ‘73; owner since mid ‘80s.

• Activities: Currently: American Pharmaceutical Cooperative, Inc., board member; Sardis Baptist Church, member since 1957, deacon, Sunday school teacher, choir member; Sardis City Water Board member. Former member or officer: Sardis Volunteer Fire Department for 13 years, Dixie Youth Baseball coach, Carlisle and Sardis PTAs, Sardis Athletic Club, chairman of the board of First Bank of Boaz; nine years on board of Shepherd’s Cove and a volunteer for 20-plus years.

Recipient of Heart of Hospice Award; 2009 National Community Pharmacy of the Year Award.

Good People

5questions Story and photo

by David Moore

C

oming out of Sardis High School in 1965, long-time Boaz pharmacist Dale Johnson never imagined he’d become a farmer. He never imagined he’d eventually make more than 20 medical mission trips. He never imagined his business, Boaz Discount Drug, would celebrate its 50th anniversary this year.

He had no clue he’d become a pharmacist.

Plan A coming out of high school was getting accepted into a management program at Goodyear in Gadsden. Dale got turned down.

Plan B? He applied to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis.

And it wasn’t to see the world.

“I really thought I might get in and play sports,” Dale grins. After all, at Sardis he played football, basketball and ran track. Would’ve played baseball if they had a team.

That he was a good athlete was validated when Gadsden State offered him a scholarship. The following year his application to the Naval Academy was accepted.

“But I turned it down because I was playing basketball for Gadsden State,” he says.

His junior year, Dale transferred to Auburn, took an aptitude test and scored high in pharmacy.

“Once I got into pharmacy school, I knew it was for me,” he says. “I enjoyed it the first day I sat down in the classroom and still enjoy it today.”

H

is career direction might have been slow in coming, but his matrimonial direction was not.

A friend arranged a blind date with Donna Bone, a Gadsden State student visiting Auburn for a football weekend.

Dale Johnson

Dispensing medicine for 50 years, the gospel overseas ... and the Heisman?

The date got off to a rocky start … or a wet one, as the case might be.

“I worked at the Union Center, and we had a commode burst on the third floor that morning. I spent part of our date cleaning up water,” Dale recalls.

What he doesn’t recall is who Auburn played that day. Donna had him distracted.

“We watched the game and our date ended with our first kiss in front of Samford Hall,” Dale says. Nine months later they married.

Donna finished her undergrad degree at Jacksonville State University, got her master’s from Alabama and had a 27-year career in the classroom plus 15 years as principal at Carlisle Elementary.

Dale’s career started in the pharmacy at Gadsden’s former Holy Name of Jesus Hospital.

“A nun hired me,” he recalls. “I remember my first Christmas bonus – two $1 bills. They were frugal. That’s why they ran that hospital for a lot of years and met a lot of needs.”

After a year, Boaz-Albertville Hospital hired him as its first full-time pharmacist.

The previous year, 1969, the now late Bill Cobb had opened Boaz Discount Drugs. Dale knew him growing up and began working there in his spare time.

Though trained as a hospital pharmacist, he realized he desired closer contact with the patients he helped, and went to work full time for Bill in 1972.

A year later, Dale bought into Boaz Discount Drugs. He and Bill became partners.

A

t the time BDD was located downtown. A few years later they added a store in Piggly Wiggly, later combining the two stores into one location on Mill Street. The business has been in its current location since 2011.

“When you enjoy what you do, your

profession, and try to meet the needs of people … ” Dale’s sentence trails off into a satisfied smile. His heart is in it.

He and Bill coined the slogan, “Never closed to the sick.”

“It’s involved getting out of bed lots of nights and trying to keep hours for people,” Dale says. For years they even opened Sunday afternoons after working all week. Out of necessity, that went away after Bill retired. But their patients – you don’t hear the word customers – appreciate the attention they get.

“They are loyal to us,” Dale says.

“Families have continued to use us when the kids are grown up and bring in their families. They remain loyal to us and trust us. We try to engage and help them manage their meds.”

“We’ve always tried to treat everyone like family, both the employees and the patients,” he adds.

He has 33 employees, including himself and six pharmacists. And Dale’s had the pleasure of training a number of pharmacists, some who’ve stayed on Sand Mountain, some who have gone on to other states.

“We are,” Dale says with a modest touch of 50-year pride, “one of the largest independents in Alabama.”

D

ale and Donna lived in Gadsden about a year during his first job, moving to Sardis in 1971. In 1980 they moved again, this time to 40 acres nearby where he planted some row crops and began raising cattle. The farm now has 200 acres and 140 cattle.

“My brother-in-law had cattle, and I got into it through him and enjoyed it,” Dale says.

Cranking his newer cab-over tractor – or, preferably, his old blue 4000 Ford – is a pleasurable way to get outside after being in the pharmacy 40-50 hours a week.

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

19

Bible school, evangelism and this year adding dentistry and a tennis camp.

“We try to see 100-150 patients per day at SCORE clinics in different villages, maybe 500-600 per trip. That amounts to dispensing 2,000-2,500 prescriptions. Dale donates the medicines, going through eight or more suitcases full per day.”

“I don’t ever look at the dollar amount,” he says. “Most villages have a church presence, so we don’t run into opposition to medicine. But witchdoctors are still down there. They are not the leaders in the villages, but their presence is real. They have not interfered with us.”

Several years ago Dale also made a three-week medical mission trip to Tanzania, and the Johnson family has done home mission trips in Indiana and North Carolina and to youth camps in Alabama, Tennessee and Florida.

T

hat Plan B Dale once had? The Naval Academy? He sometimes wonders what direction his life might have taken had he gone to Annapolis. At the time, Vietnam had escalated to its turning point …

“I had classmates who lost their lives there,” Dale says. “I had many friends wounded, a lot of them still carrying scars. I am forever grateful for what they did. My life could have greatly changed.”

A fork untaken. But then …

“I made mistakes in my life, wrong choices a few times, but the choices I made in occupation, in marriage and in faith ... those things dominate my life, as I think they should,” Dale affirms. “And I’ve been perfectly happy.”

1.

What kind of perspective on life and the world does medical missionary work give you?

Three generations in missions – Dale Johnson, center with granddaughter Caroline Johnson and son Dr. Evan Johnson. Photo provided.

Another major interest outside of work – medical mission trips – was the idea of his oldest son, Evan, a doctor in Sardis. Through SCORE International Ministries in Chattanooga, in 2001 they began making one, perhaps two annual trips to the same area in the Dominican Republic.

20

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

“I was all for it,” Dale says. “We have always been a mission-minded family.”

They have carried up to 55 people in a group. This spring, they took 33, some from Albertville and Arab, doctors, nurse practitioners and nurses, plus some of Dale’s grandchildren. Besides medical work, they also do construction ministry,

What I take away is how fortunate and blessed we are to live in a place like we do. On our trips we see people in their home … it’s not as good as where we put our livestock.

We can provide medicine for the time we are there and provide three to four months of medicine for those with chronic illnesses. But unless another group comes in behind us there is still going to be a need.

You always work hard. You always

feel good about trying to help, and you’re forever changed by just going.

The reality is we’ll see some of these people in heaven.

In the Dominican, it is people taking care of people. They have no healthcare system administering to the people in the villages and cane fields. Just having clean water to drink … they are excited to get a bottle of water.

We visited an orphanage for about 30 abused and mistreated girls. They are provided shelter and food until they can assume a safe life. Women here in our church make dresses and clothes to send to those girls.

They are thankful and kind to us.

They are a sharing people, and you realize they are doing the best they can with what they have. But they do not see a way out of their present situation, past where they are. It’s sort of helpless.

Baseball is one way out, and there is some evidence that the successful players who make it out and to the major leagues are coming back to help.

Many people go to the Dominican to a big condo for vacation or a honeymoon. On the other side of the

road, people live in tin and cardboard houses. And out in the small villages … to paraphrase one of our construction guys, “No one should have to live in something like this.”

ago I had to explain to a Dominican how to use a suppository. I was trying to physically tell him how to use it.

It proved quite humorous to the folks around me, but I think I got the message across.

He finally got it worked out … or worked in. It could have been worse.

It could have happened here at the drug store.

We would be at a huge disadvantage without our interpreters. We usually have about 10 with us. We have to have them with crowd control, with each doctor, with triage and evangelism.

For several trips we carried prescription eyeglasses. We did not do exams, just gave old glasses to those who needed them.

You should hear those people the first time they see across a river, or see a picture, or see someone’s face clearly.

The older ones literally cried. The younger ones were amazed.

A nursing home we go to is churchsponsored locally. That church and community give the residents three meals a day and a bed. It is heartbreaking to see the patients and their surroundings

2.

Can you give a few incidences that have impressed you on these trips?

I think it was the third trip to Dominican. We had just been picked up at the airport by a bus, and the bus driver ran over a person on a motorcycle.

We had two doctors with us. They realized he needed to go to the hospital.

An ambulance came, but it did not have enough gas to make it to the hospital. We took up money to fill up the tank, and the driver carried him to the hospital 20 miles away or so.

The director of our mission and my son Evan went to check on the man the next day. He was not at the hospital. The hospital refused to treat him because he was Haitian.

That taught me that the divide between the immigrants of Haiti and the Dominicans is a very strong divide.

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– it’s open air with flies everywhere – but it is good to see the church doing the best it can.

3.

In the course of 50 years as a pharmacist, what are some big changes you’ve seen?

Computers … that technology changed the pharmacy practice. Digital pharmacy is increasingly needed and almost demanded.

The drive-thru … it took me longer to get used to that than anything, not seeing the faces of the people. That’s why I left hospitals. I prefer being face to face, seeing people.

New drugs … diabetes is the number one threat in our county. It’s related to heart disease and blood pressure. But there are many drugs out.

In the beginning insulin products were not very pure. And the oral drugs for diabetes were not always effective.

Some people still use them. Now we have more sophisticated medications, home testing. We push better eating, exercise, weight management, lifestyle changes.

Higher prices are another change.

Specialty drugs and navigating insurance coverage has increasingly become a part of our daily job along with bigtime regulatory demands. Audits and Medicare, third-party insurance issues are a big challenge.

When I started there was no such thing as generic drugs. Now the generic drug market makes most medicines affordable.

In pharmacy and the mission field, the one true advantage to success is teamwork. Each person knows his work and does his job. Or her job. That has not changed.

They said technology would make for less jobs, but I have not found that to be true. Technology is good, but there is still a great need for personal contact and interaction.

4.

There are a number of good independent pharmacists in Marshall County. Why do you take pride in being one of them?

Pharmacy is more than just a profession. The independent pharmacist 22

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

longs for a relationship with a patient and is interested in the family and health of the family.

Patients usually see the same face and hear the same voice. They learn to trust their local independent pharmacists. They are the ones that you go to church with, raise your children with and meet on the street or out in town.

There is a misconception that independent pharmacy prices are higher than chains. This misconception was recently documented on a national, CBS program. Independent pharmacies associate with different buying groups, such as the American Pharmaceutical Cooperative, which allows them to purchase as a chain and thus have the advantages of a chain pharmacy but not lose the personal aspect of pharmacy care.

We like to see your face, know your name, take your calls. We are truly interested in outcome, prevention and your total health.

You can ask us the hard questions about money, about costs, about alternatives and change. We like to help you in making right choices about you and your family’s health.

I think I can speak for all of the independent pharmacists in this area.

We have a common goal of being successful, independent businesses and professionals, plus engaging you in the best way possible. We like to hear your stories and enjoy being a part of your lives.

5.

What’s something most people don’t know about Dale Johnson?

Everybody knows I’m an Auburn man. Most people don’t know I’m a Heisman Trophy winner. My wife and I went to the national championship game in 2011 in Arizona. That was the year Cam Newton won the Heisman.

Maybe I didn’t win it, but I prophesied it the day before when I struck a Heisman pose. The original photo got lost, but I keep a rough copy of it framed in my office.

I’ve also had three near-death experiences most people don’t know about.

As a 4-year-old, I fell out of a car

‘The Auburn Man’ says he prophesied Cam Newton’s Heisman Trophy. going 50 miles per hour and really rolled down the road for a while.

When I was 17 or 18, I was with some friends and slipped off a ledge at DeSoto Falls. I grabbed a small tree and was dangling from 150 feet up in the air.

Then the roots pulled out. I was slipping away and one of my friends grabbed me by the arm.

I was shook up and always thought it was this one friend who had saved me. Years later I was with another of the friends as he was dying, and we talked about that day. He said, “Dale, that was me that grabbed you.”

Then about eight years ago, I rode a tractor off Garrett Mountain in Jackson County, backwards ... only to be saved by the last tree that could have possibly saved me.

We were sowing green fields in a conservation easement by the mountainside. I was driving the tractor up a slope when it hit a rock and the front end of the tractor came up off the ground.

It happened so fast that I thought I hit the brake pedal, but I pressed the clutch down, and the tractor began rolling backward toward a good 100-foot drop – and to have a Ford 4000 on you, too …

The last tree that could have saved me did. It stopped the tractor.

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Good Reads

Rosenberg strikes hard, fast, never letting up in this thriller

That Ethan Hawke offers us a compass to a better world

n typical Joel C. Rosenberg style, “The Persian Gamble” (sequel to “The Kremlin Conspiracy”) starts off like a house-afire and doesn’t let up until you’ve turned the last page and breathlessly put down the book.

The entire time I was reading (not long!) I “It’s President Luganov.” couldn’t help but wonder what was real and what “What about him?” was fiction. But you can “He’s been assassinated.” say that about any of Mr. “What?”

Rosenberg’s books.

“And not just him – Ripped from the Dmitri Nimkov, too,” headlines and sometimes Vinetti explained, prophetic, his thrilling story is like no other. referring to the head of There are North the FSB, Russia’s main Koreans, Russians, intelligence service.

Middle East Sheiks and “That’s not possible.”

Mullahs, good guys, “It’ s true, and there’s more. really, really bad guys and The guy you just put on our hero Marcus Ryker juggling more than just that G4 to whisk out of hand grenades.

Moscow – the Raven – What could go wrong? that’s the guy the Russians Full of history, action, say pulled the trigger.” truly believable characters (now friends of mine) and, yes, with the fate of the entire world at stake, “The Persian Gamble” is a book you must read. Now. While there’s still time.

– Deb Laslie

ules for a Knight” by Ethan Hawke, (yes, that Ethan Hawke) is quite possibly the best book, besides the Bible of course, that can be given to young readers to provide them with a clear moral compass on which to base their lives.

Sir Thomas Lemuel There is no dirt in heaven, Hawke is on a quest. It is very dangerous and and we are here to make far from his home. the earth as much like He fears he may not Heaven as we can. return.

A knight is the best kind So he pens his last of servant, leaving every letter to his children in space he enters brighter the hopes of teaching them everything he will and cleaner than when he not be able to share with arrived. His surroundings them in person. reflect his state of mind.

The knight’s short Constant awareness musings on solitude, of even the smallest humility, forgiveness, detail trains your mind honesty, courage, grace, pride and patience not to be observant and only give us insights conscientious. A knight into this man, but also knows where he keeps in the love he expresses his flint box. for his family and all humanity.

We should all read this book and share it with our young ones. We – and our world – will be better for it.

– Deb Laslie

I

24

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The Dollar family votes on their favorite recipes by the ‘First Cook’ Story and photos

by David Moore

I

t’s Friday evening and Guntersville “First Cook” Shirl Dollar, per usual, is in charge of supper. He’s surrounded by all of the joyous, hungry, family chaos that can be created by two of three semigrown bantering kids, the fiancée of one of them, his grandson and Shirl’s motherin-law, who lives next door.

Shirl’s wife, Mayor Leigh Dollar, just home from her accounting office at the end of tax season, looking anything but frayed, is the last to join the fray, which is under Shirl’s casual control.

It’s obvious to a visiting magazine editor with a camera and laptop that this wonderful ruckus around the kitchen is just another supper time at the Dollar house.

It’s also obvious they all love Shirl’s cooking. And he’s not in the least frazzled by a crowd.

“I’ve always cooked for a crew,” he grins. “I’ve not learned to cook small …

Does this need any more salt?”

“Salt, pepper, garlic, onion,” says

Victoria “Tori” Waldrop, who’ll marry John Clay, the eldest son, May 25. “Shirl always uses lots.”

“No vampires around here,” Leigh says. “I don’t like to cook,” she adds.

“You cooked for me when we first started dating.” Shirl feigns shock.

“Tricked me, I guess. I love to eat. I think that’s the reason why I like to cook.”

“You didn’t cook when we married,” she says. “That’s when you started.”

“I was forced to,” he grins.

“Well,” Leigh shakes her head, “never trust a skinny cook.”

s

on of the late John and Dorothy Dollar, Shirl grew up in Guntersville with sisters Kim Williams, manager of the local Factory Connection, and Selena, who was wheelchair-bound by Friedreich ataxia, a rare genetic disorder.

“Mom was a stay-at-home mother,” Shirl says. “I never cooked for the family. My mother would cook all day long, and when we came in it was on the table.”

He started dating Leigh – the alleged

Guntersville “First Cook” Shirl Dollar gets a rousing round of applause from the family voters for another great supper. From left are his soonto-be daughter-inlaw, Tori Waldrop, Leigh’s mom, Dianne Barnett, Mayor Leigh Dollar, grandson John Wilson and sons John Clay and Cale. Voting absentee is son Cade, a student at Auburn.

Good Cooking reason he learned to cook – in 1987, the year before he graduated from high school. She graduated in ’91.

Shirl went to Snead (“He was homecoming king!” John Clay interjects) and graduated from Jacksonville State University in 1992. Inspired by Selena, who died in 1989, he majored in special education.

Leigh graduated from The University of Alabama in accounting, and they married in 1993. She went on to work for McGriff Dowdy in Albertville and is now a partner with Dollar and Watson in Guntersville.

Shirl taught special ed at Arab for three years and was also the last football coach hired by high school icon Pod Patterson.

From there he did the same at Guntersville High for seven years, followed by a short stint as assistant principal at Carlisle Park, principal there for 11 years and three years at the central office as special ed coordinator, athletic director and, essentially, chief operations officer.

Shirl retired in 2017 and now MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

27

HULI HULI CHICKEN 4 lbs. boneless, skinless, chicken thighs (chicken breasts also work) 1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice ½ cup soy sauce ½ cup brown sugar 1/3 cup ketchup ¼ cup chicken broth 2 tsp. fresh ginger root, grated 1½ tsp. minced garlic Green onions, sliced for garnish

½ gal. heavy whipping cream 2 Tbsp. butter 1 pkg. Parmesan cheese, shredded 2 egg yolks Italian seasoning 1 pkg. country ham

ALFREDO SAUCE Cook country ham. Simmer whipping cream with butter and seasoning. Add ham and cook. Add egg yolks. Cook and slowly add cheese.

Serve with tortellini or ravioli or any other kind of pasta. Heck, it’s good with bread.

specializes in commercial insurance for Randy Jones and Associates.

Nope. Never taught culinary classes.

“But I did cook for special education students as a treat on Fridays,” he grins.

I

t’s election night at the Dollar house.

Everyone is voting on their favorite dishes that Shirl cooks. They’re voting the dish, not the party …

“Home pizza on the grill,” says the mayor, casting the first vote. “Then his tortellini with homemade Alfredo sauce.

Fajitas is close third.”

“His chili,” John Clay opines. “He puts whole tomatoes in it. Then probably his Elegant Chicken.”

Democratically, 14-year-old Cale phones Cade at Auburn, puts him on speaker, explains what’s going on and asks for his favorite dad dishes.

Cade doesn’t hesitate: “Potato soup …”

“We knew it,” John Clay interjects. “ … then mashed potatoes and fajitas,” Cade says, finishing his absentee ballot.

28

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

Leigh’s mom, Dianne Barnett is next: “Potato soup. That’s easy. Then potato soup and potato soup. It would probably kill you it’s so rich – and very good.”

“Twice-baked potatoes,” votes Cale.

“Fajitas. Vegetable beef soup.”

“Hmmm,” Dianne says, rethinking her vote. “I’m pretty fond of that, too.”

“Tortellini!” says Tori. “Pizza on the grill. And probably everything Shirl has ever cooked has been very good. I’ve never had a bad meal here, but I would say Elegant Chicken is third.”

“I,” says Shirl,” assuming he has a vote, “like them all.”

W

hatever he’s cooking, cookbooks and recipes are out the window.

“They ask me how long it takes to cook bacon, or anything,” he grins. “I don’t know. You cook it until it’s done.”

In Chattanooga this spring, he ordered a delicious shrimp appetizer made with pico de gallo. Driving home he thought of all the ways he could tweak that. His dish

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ketchup, chicken broth, ginger and garlic. Reserve 1 cup sauce for basting. Add the chicken thighs and sauce to a Ziplock bag and marinate at least 3 hours; better overnight.

Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat for 6-8 minutes on each side or until no longer pink and a meat thermometer reads 165°F. Baste occasionally with reserved marinade during the last 5 minutes. Garnish with green onions if desired.

makes its debut at the Dollar table tonight and may become a future fave.

Shirl also loves sauces.

“Seriously,” he emphasizes.

“We do, too,” says John Clay.

“Growing up, you either ate sauces or you didn’t eat. And as you can tell, we don’t skip many meals.”

Leigh often has dinner functions and, with lots of good restaurants in town, Shirl ends up cooking about three times a week.

“If he cooks more than three, they are not inviting me,” Dianne says.

Whatever Shirl cooks, those around him, by osmosis, are part of the recipe.

“Probably I begin with the family,” he says. “I love to eat – don’t get me wrong – but my food doesn’t taste as good to me when you nibble here and there.”

“When we sit down and eat a meal, we sit down at the table and eat together.

And I,” Shirl says, “enjoy that as much as anything.”

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FRUITY GREEN SALAD 1 small bag of spinach 1 small bag of arugula 1 small bag of iceberg lettuce 1 small bag of spring mix (optional) 1 pkg. candied nuts with dried cranberries

30

Strawberries Blackberries Blueberries Mandarin oranges, drained Mix greens together.

TWICE-BAKED POTATOES 3 large potatoes Butter Sour cream Shredded cheddar cheese Bacon pits Chives

Whole pork loin Pork seasoning of choice Vinegar Liquid Smoke

Bake potatoes until done.

When cooled, scoop out pulp leaving a boat.

Mix potatoes with remaining ingredients and replace in the boat.

Top with shredded cheese. Bake until cheese is melted. Serve warm.

Mix vinegar and Liquid Smoke for baste.

Coat pork loin generously with seasonings.

Cook on the grill with indirect heat at 225 degrees for 2-3 hours or until done. Baste with

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

Slice berries and add them, along with mandarin oranges, candied nuts and dried cranberries.

You can layer or toss all together.

I use a strawberry vinaigrette. You could use any dressing of choice.

PORK LOIN AND HORSEY SAUCE Liquid Smoke mixture every 30 minutes.

Horsey Sauce 1 cup mayo 1 cup sour cream ¼ cup horseradish Dried mustard to taste Dash of Worcestershire Green onions, optional Pepper to taste Mix. Refrigerate. Great for dipping pork loin.

CHILI 2.25 lbs. ground beef 2 jars Tabasco chili starters Chili powder to taste 2 cans chili ready tomatoes, drained 1 large can whole tomatoes, drained 2 cans Chili ready beans Brown beef and add onions. Cook until done.

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POTATO SOUP 4-5 medium boiled potatoes cubed (my family likes a lot more) 6 Tbsp. butter 2 cups diced sweet onions 4 Tbsp. flour 8 cups chicken broth (4-14.5 oz. cans) 4 cups water ½ cup cornstarch 3 cups instant mashed potatoes 2 tsp. salt 1½ tsp. pepper 1 tsp. basil ¼ tsp. thyme 2 cups half and half 1/3 block Velveeta cheese Garlic salt Sauté onions in butter until golden brown. Add flour and make roux.

Add broth, water, cornstarch, potatoes and spices. Bring to a boil and simmer. Add half and half, simmer until desired thickness. Then turn heat off and cover with lid.

Tasty option: add shrimp and a little crab boil.

VEGETABLE SOUP 2.25 lbs. ground beef Onion, chopped Minced garlic 1 box beef broth 2 cans petite diced tomatoes Potatoes, cubed 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables 1 pkg. Knorr’s vegetable recipe mix 1 pkg. beef stew seasoning Salt to taste PICO SHRIMP APPETIZER 1 container of pico de gallo Mrs. Dash seasoning, optional Boiled shrimp, peeled and cut up, bite size Cucumbers, diced This is so easy. And so good. Mix it all Avocado, peeled and cut up, bite size together and squeeze the lime over it.

Cajun seasoning to taste V8 or tomato juice NOTE: I buy my pico de gallo from my Lime favorite Mexican restaurant.

32

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

Brown beef, add onions and minced garlic.

Cook until done. Drain grease.

Add beef broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil.

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Simmer until the potatoes are done.

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Boneless chicken breasts Orange juice (I like it best if it’s freshsqueezed.)

Dale’s Seasoning 1 box Spanish style rice 1 can black beans ELEGANT CHICKEN 4 whole boneless chicken breasts 8 slices bacon 4 oz. chipped (dried) beef 1 can mushroom soup ½ pint sour cream Halve chicken breast and wrap each with a slice of bacon. Cover the bottom of a greased 8x12 baking dish with chipped beef.

Arrange chicken on top of this.

Blend soup and sour cream and pour over chicken.

Bake at 275 degrees for 3 hours. Serves 6-8.

NOTE; If you’re worried this might be too salty, rinse the beef with boiling water, drain well and line dish.

34

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

GRILLED CHICKEN, RICE AND BEANS Avocado 1 container pico de gallo (see note on page 32) Marinate chicken breasts in orange juice and Dale’s. Drain the marinade

Marinade 12 oz. medium picante salsa ¼ cup oil 3 Tbsp. soy sauce or Dale’s 2 Tbsp. lemon juice 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire ½ tsp. minced garlic Filling 2 Tbsp. oil 1¼ lbs. chicken or steak 1 med green pepper, sliced 1 med onion, sliced

and grill, “until it’s done,” as I tell my kids. Prepare rice according to package directions. Mix with beans and warm.

Garnish with sliced avocado and pico de gallo.

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A house of many fond memories

Brad and Scarlett Powell bought this historic house on East Main Street in Albertville last year from his parents – Jan and Shirley Powell – in large part because of the memories that were made there. The Powell family had lived in the house since 1981. Brad’s mother, Shirley, is a reoccurring theme in a house of many fond memories.

The living room is elegantly comfortable. In addition to family photos and portraits, a number of Scarlett’s blueware pieces are on display. The house has some 3,400 square feet, not counting the carriage house apartment.

Story and photos

by David Moore

I

t says something about a house if it has a historic plaque. Brad and Scarlett Powell have one in front of their house on East Main Street in Albertville.

Actually, the marker doesn’t mention the house. It commemorates the “Birthplace of Albertville.” It was on this site in 1860 that James “Cicero” Miller established a post office in his log cabin home/general store. In honor of his fatherin-law, Thomas Albert James, Cicero named it the Albertville Post Office.

An interim house may have stood on the site, but either way banker M.F. Irvin built the current house at 406 East Main about 1937, an example of neoclassicism with four stately columns and triangular pediment.

At some point, Charles Beasley bought the house and lived there with his family.

It had been uninhabited for some years when Jan and Shirley Powell bought it in 1978 from the Beasley family, extensively 38

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

renovated it and moved in with their sons Don, Brad and John David.

Shirley was a gracious Albertville hub of the community, open, giving and involved in many activities. The home reflected her personality and was the site of numerous events.

Brad and Scarlett bought the house and – very hurriedly – moved there in April 2018. A major reason they bought the house was for the memories it holds for Brad. Jan now lives in a carriage house apartment out back.

That plaque out front? Shirley, who died in 2014, laughingly referred to it as a “hysterical marker.”

“There is pride in the house being a part of Albertville history,” Scarlett concedes.

“But I think Shirley is the biggest character in everything this house has seen.”

I

t was the late Herb Hannah who brought Jan and Shirley to Albertville on Labor Day 1967.

Back in the day, Herb was Jan’s high school football coach at Cedartown, Ga.

After the navy, Jan coached three years at Marietta High School, playing for a state championship his last season.

The Powells moved to Albertville so Jan could work for Herb at Hannah Supply Company, a wholesale agri-business distributor covering the Southeast. Living most of that time in the Solitude area, Jan continued with Herb until 1983 when he opened a local office for Wade Jones Co., a poultry distributor out of Arkansas.

With Mick Wagner, Jan later bought the local Wade operation, sold it to Alphamer in ’94 and retired two years later.

Meanwhile, in the 1970s, the big house at 406 East Main had caught Shirley’s eye.

“It set here empty for years,” Jan says, chatting with Brad and Scarlett in the living room. “Every time we’d drive by she said, ‘I’d like to see that house. It has a lot of possibility.’”

He could only say no so often. They bought it in 1978.

“We thought we had a bargain,” laughs Jan, a.k.a “Big Daddy.” “Then we found out carpenter ants were holding up the

A huge screened porch opens off the dining room, past the kitchen then widens out behind the house. Below, at his and Scarlett’s wedding in 1988, Brad dances with a seemingly always radiant Shirley. kitchen, hand in hand. Six layers of linoleum were under the ceiling, which had fallen.”

“You had to have seen it,” says Brad, a sixth grader at the time. “It was in rough shape. The ceiling was falling, plaster was peeling. But Shirley had the vision. She could see beyond the plaster falling – ‘We can move this and do that. It will be perfect, so let’s get to work.’”

Don, Brad and John David were her workhorses. It took two years, but the Powell family moved into the big house in 1981.

“I

t felt like we moved uptown,” Brad says. “I got in trouble one time because my social studies teacher asked me what the sign out front said. I said I didn’t know. But the next day I could tell her what it said!”

Shirley had Jo Johnson of Guntersville decorate the house.

“Shirley had good taste in furniture,” Scarlett says. “It was very grand, well-decorated and yet had a comfortable feel.

“She was always up for a party and was the best hostess. She knew everybody in town. Anytime anybody needed a venue for showers or teas, she was the gracious hostess.”

Shirley’s sons often “got to” help their mom set up for events.

“The boys were like, ‘This is for who? And what?’” Scarlett says. “She would say, ‘You’re doing it for me. Because your momma said so.’”

Shirley invited Brad, Scarlett and a slew of their classmates MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

39

A main feature in the backyard, which extends the width of the block, is the covered living area. The table is perfect for al fresco meals. Set here for family Easter, Scarlett had Brad make the chargers from cuts off a tree trunk. to a midnight prom breakfast in 1984.

It started a tradition at Albertville High School.

“Shirley always welcomed people here for prom pictures and wedding pictures,” Scarlett says. “We still do that.”

In her latter years, Shirley opened the house to groups of 30-40 third graders as part of their historic walking tour. She served them Popsicles and homemade ghost stories.

That the former Scarlett Mayhall knew Shirley so well is hardly surprising.

She and Brad – introduced by Brad Hix, now the Albertville fire chief – have known each other since sixth grade … coincidently, about the same time he started helping restore the old house.

B

rad and Scarlett graduated from AHS in 1984 and both headed to Jacksonville State. She majored in fashion merchandising. Brad’s degree is in marketing. They graduated three months apart in 1988 and married that May. “I had my bridal portraits shot here in this living room,” Scarlett says. “We had our wedding reception here.”

40

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

They lived in Albertville almost four years, with Brad working in sales for Gold Kist, the firm he stayed with until 1999. Caroline and Addison were born here before Brad and the family were transferred to Ellijay, Ga. They later transferred to several locations in South Carolina, where Graham and Madeleine were born.

Brad left Gold Kist and returned to Albertville after being asked to transfer to the sprawl of Atlanta. U.S. 431, he laughs, is scary enough.

The move was on a short fuse. Brad had partnered with Brad Gibson to form G&P Distributing Inc., a refrigerated transportation company with which they hoped to move a lot of poultry. He had that to get up and running, plus he and Scarlett had bought a lot and had a house to build.

Jan and Shirley to the rescue. They had built a garage with a nice upstairs apartment behind the house, and invited “the kids” to move home for the time being, while their home was under construction.

“But Shirley didn’t send us out to the apartment,” Scarlett says. “With

her graciousness, they moved into the apartment and put us in the big house.

“It was an honor to have our whole family welcomed and to be close to them.

A lot of love and patience were shown to us,” she adds.

L

ife rocked along at the younger Powells’ new house. Children grew. Brad’s business grew. Rug rats started college.

Then started graduating, getting jobs. And all this time myriad family parties and celebrations were held at the big house.

From time to time the senior Powells mentioned the possibility of Brad and Scarlett someday buying the big house.

“We were hoping they would,” Jan says.

It was not a pressure sell, but sooner or later he and Shirley would need to downsize. Be nice to keep the house in the family.

“We were happy living at our house,” Scarlett says. “We had built a house and raised our kids there.”

Upkeep on the old house was another major consideration. On the other hand, it was a house full of memories.

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Then shock. Shirley died, Sept. 24, 2014. Jan lived alone in the big house.

A few more years passed. The younger Powells thought of the house often. Finally Scarlett told Brad, “Do you think you could really ride by there with it being someone else’s house, with someone else working in the yard?”

No, he confessed. “It’s been a great place with a lot of good memories, fond family memories. It’s been a fun house.”

So he and Scarlett said yes to the house.

T

here was no rush … at least initially.

Jan could wait for their house to sell. Brad and Scarlett’s two oldest children announced weddings. Of course they wanted receptions – like their parents – at the old house, something Shirley had wanted, too.

Then Brad and Scarlett’s house sold – far quicker than expected. They closed April 1 with a month to move, including resituating Jan in the carriage house apartment. The first wedding, Addison’s, was the second week of May. It was frantic.

“We were here about a good two weeks before his wedding,” Scarlett laughs. “But I think Shirley would be mad if we hadn’t done the reception.”

After Caroline’s wedding, the younger Powells settled into, well, settling in. There were projects of the fixing, refurbishing and furnishing nature.

“I am cheap labor,” Brad laughs.

“He knew what he was getting into,” Scarlett says.

“He grew up with it.”

“Y’all are combat hardened,” Big Daddy adds.

“Brad rewired the house as a little kid. Had to crawl in the basement.”

“If you have enough money you can fix anything,” Brad grins. “I just don’t have enough of it.”

Taking the long view, they consider 406 East Main as a 30-year project. “At least,” the cheap labor adds.

“They have already done a great job in a short time,” Jan says.

“It’s a beautiful, happy, family home, and we love it here,” Scarlett says. “We hope it will stay that way for generations to come.

“Brad’s mom had such a presence in this house. It looked so much like her. The grandeur of the house,” she adds, “was always about her.”

Good Life Magazine

A cauldron fountain and patio beckon at dusk in front of the outdoor living area, top. More memories were made at daughter Caroline’s reception: from left front, Graham Powell, Madeleine Powell, Miranda and Addison Powell; back, Brad Powell, Caroline and Nate Tompkins and Scarlett Powell.

Jan, in his apartment at left, drives vehicles for Wayne Bentley at Howard Bentley Buick GMAC. 42

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

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Good Eats Story by David Myers Photos by David Moore

W

hen you get a hankering for good ol’ fried catfish, you know where to go.

Anyone in Marshall County knows to follow the crowds to Top O’ the River.

That’s what Rose and I decided to do one Wednesday night for supper. We have our favorites. She can eat a pile of fried fillets and hush puppies, or on occasion, the broiled catfish. I, on the other hand, am a whole fried catfish man. My wife is a skeptic but I swear it tastes better cooked with its bones intact.

No one can deny that Top O’ the River 44

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

Top O’ the River hits the spot knows how to do catfish. They cook several thousand pounds on weekends, feeding 2,000 people on Saturday nights alone. Most of them know what they want and order their favorite each time, according to manager Chad Opdycke.

“Consistency is one thing we strive for,” he says. “People know what they like.”

Even so, on this occasion we broke from tradition and sampled other offerings from “Top O,” as it’s fondly nicknamed.

We learned the restaurant also does a heck of a good job with shrimp and steak.

We started off, like everyone does, with a skillet of warm cornbread dotted with corn kernels, a pot of spicy mustard greens and a

tin cup of slaw with a couple of tin plates to load it all on. That’s some down home fare that’s hard to beat.

Chad followed that with a pile of fried pickles and onion rings as big as a bicycle tire, declaring them to be the most popular appetizers. We knew better than to doubt stats like that, but we were amazed at the panko-crusted, hand-battered crispiness of the onion rings, sliced just thick enough for the sweet Vidalia onion to come through loud and clear. And I’ve never had a bad fried pickle. Just sayin’ ...

I

t was upscale from there with the arrival of shrimp scampi and Creole boiled

Clockwise from upper left: The unique and delicious “starter kit;” “The Largest Seafood Platter in the World;” the “Riverboat Special” catfish; cornbread is served; and Creole boiled shrimp. Top O’ the River opens Monday through Friday at 5 p.m., 4 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday. shrimp that hungry diners pick up by the pound. The scampi in a buttery sauce was perfectly cooked with a subtle spiciness.

The Creole shrimp, served cold, had a bite with its tangy seasoning that stopped short of being over the top. As a Cajun myself, I know the sign of a perfectly boiled shrimp is how easily it peels. We left only shells.

Because not everyone loves seafood, Top O’ offers a great steak, and we were willing victims to give one a try. The chargrilled ribeye landed on our table with buttered toast and baked potato. Hand cut in house, the Angus beef was aged for three weeks. It really was deliciously tender and flavorful.

I promise we did not finish the steak that’s supposed to be 12 ounces but weighed in well over that.

The original Top O’ opened in Anniston in 1982. It was followed by the Gadsden

restaurant the following year. The only out of state location is in Michie, Tenn., located 30 miles from Memphis.

The Guntersville site opened in 2003 near where the old Val Monte sat, and we sat looking over the water at sunset. That’s hard to beat. And with boat access, many people come to dinner by water.

Top O’ the River restaurants are familyowned, Chad says. They get the farm-raised, grain-fed catfish from Mississippi and their seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. The menu, emblazoned with the motto “Catfish Exceptionale” hasn’t changed in 20 years.

There’s no need to when it’s working this well.

“People know what they like, and they order the same thing every time they come,” Chad says.

Most often “what they like” is the

Riverboat Special, a barge-sized serving of catfish fillets, hush puppies and a choice of baked potato or fries for $14.95. For the seriously famished, there’s the “Largest Seafood Platter in World!” This one hauls in catfish fillets alongside fried, boiled and popcorn shrimp with crabmeat for $25.50.

A

long list of seafood includes a K-Bob Combo Dinner with a skewer of shrimp and a skewer of chicken or the Grilled Shrimp K-Bob dinner, both for $15.95. Kiddie meals can be catfish, chicken fingers or popcorn shrimp.

Beverages include domestic and imported beer, wine, margaritas and nonalcoholic drinks. A couple of dessert choices are available for those who didn’t stuff themselves silly like the Myers did.

Good Life Magazine MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

45

Good Getaways

Florence stands as a fun river town on a hill awash with its own vibe and sense of well being

Story and photos

by David Moore

Y

ou might think Florence is not on the way to anywhere in particular, but that doesn’t matter.

This city of nearly 40,000 people, located on a hill above the Tennessee River and Lake Wilson, is a destination unto itself. Just under two hours from Guntersville, it’s a perfect getaway for a day or more.

There’s a reason it’s called Alabama’s Renaissance City.

Vital downtown Florence is lined with unique businesses, restaurants and bars sprung from the energy of historic revitalization and modern entrepreneurship. And don’t forget, this is a college town, home to the University of North Alabama.

There’s plenty to do. Singing River Brewing Company always has something, well, brewing.

The Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts holds its annual Arts Alive juried fine arts and crafts festival

46

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

The Tennessee is part of the “feel” of Florence but hardly all of it. U.S. 72 crosses landscaping. It leads to the University of North Alabama, below center, its 130-acre

the river on O’Neal Bridge then veers east at Court Street. The main street downtown, lower left, Court features renovated buildings and campus home to 7,600 students. Florence is also home to the Marriott Shoals Hotel with its rotating 360 Grille atop Renaissance Tower, below.

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

47

Florence lays claim to the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in Alabama, and one of the few in the South. The Stanley Rosenbaum House is considered to be one of the finest examples of the iconic architect’s Usonian (an acronym-adjective derived from the “United States of North America”) homes. It was built in 1940 and sits on two acres.

May 18-19 downtown at Wilson Park, while the Storytelling Festival is May 17-18 at The Shoals Theatre, also downtown.

The 2019 W.C. Handy Music Festival will be July 19-28. And the annual Billy Reid Shindig at midnight Aug. 23-25 is a weekend of intimate, once-in-a-lifetime concerts, mouthwatering meals, dancing, drinking and unmatched bonhomie as well as a celebration of fashion.

Then there’s Wilson Dam and lake in Florence and nearby Pickwick Dam and lake. And Sheffield, Muscle Shoals and Tuscumbia are all in the neighborhood.

For more information on events, festivals and the arts, visit: www. visitflorenceal.com.

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The Long Hole Forget that old saying you heard about being the last one in ...

Story by Steve A. Maze Photo provided by the author

M

ost people head off to Florida this time of the year for a dip in the ocean.

My dad, Marlon Maze, never had that luxury when he was growing up during the Great Depression era. Only rich people and movie stars had concrete swimming pools in their backyards back then. Rural folks couldn’t afford such amenities.

But that didn’t mean they couldn’t swim. Instead, they improvised by letting their kids swim in lakes, ponds and creeks.

Grandpa didn’t see the sense in wasting expensive 12-cent-a-gallon gasoline to drive to Lake Guntersville.

Plus, the ponds were usually reserved to water the cattle, and no one wanted to swim in that green, scummy water after cows had been tromping around in it.

That only left the creek on Grandpa’s farm for Dad and his siblings to splash around in. It ran through the middle of his property and was surrounded by plenty of shade trees. There was only one problem with the creek. It wasn’t deep enough to swim in.

So Dad, his brothers and some of the older boys in the community found a long spot in the creek about 15 feet wide. With the idea of making a suitable swimming hole of it, they hauled in large rocks and bags of sand and dammed the creek.

It was soon deep enough – about three feet – for a community swimming spot. Dad and his friends appropriately christened it “The Long Hole.”

S

wimming was mostly limited to Saturday and Sunday afternoons, but the boys managed to sneak in an occasional dip during weekdays after the plowing was finished. It was only after the crops had been laid in June that they got to swim on a regular basis.

Dad and the others did not know what a swimming suit was. Skinny-dipping was the norm at the time, and it didn’t 50

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This is not a photo of the actual “Long Hole.” Note the kids here are not skinnydipping. The photo captures the fun of those good ol’ days, back before someone’s parents would be screaming about a life preserver, helmet and snakes. embarrass them one bit – that is, unless one of their swimming buddies stole their clothes off the creek bank and made them walk back home in the buff.

Usually the boys dove off the bank.

Sometimes they swung out over the creek on an old tire or long vine attached to an overhanging tree branch. After a

while, they tired of dropping into the water by that manner and decided to make themselves a diving board.

The county road crew was repairing an old bridge near Grandpa’s farm, and the teenagers asked for one of the bridge timbers that had been replaced. They were granted permission, but it took four of them to tote the heavy piece of lumber to The Long Hole.

They weighted down one end of it with a huge rock and began jumping recklessly off their new diving board.

The hidden danger was that they often scrubbed the bottom of the shallow creek with their “frog” dives. Rocks and roots also lurked just beneath the surface.

The cool water attracted another danger … snakes. Water moccasins often liked to sun themselves on rocks protruding from the creek. That didn’t matter to the boys. Dad said the snakes would leave as soon as they dove into The Long Hole.

T

he boys enjoyed pulling pranks on each other. Luck – and the statute of limitations – is all that saved them from winding up in jail at times. Dad, the

youngest of the lot, turned out to be the butt of a particularly diabolical joke.

One day a torrential rain prevented the boys from working in the fields. When it subsided, Dad and the others took off running through the woods toward The Long Hole for an afternoon dip.

They always made a game as to who would be the first in the creek. Dad was leading the pack this particular day. It didn’t strike him as unusual even though he’d never won one of those races before.

As they ran, Dad peeked over his shoulder to see how close the rest of the boys were. He began stripping clothes from his skinny body while making his mad dash.

He streaked silently across the carpet of wet leaves, through the woods until he spotted sunlight reflecting off the sparkling creek water. Dad couldn’t believe his good fortune. He’d beaten his older friends to their swimming hole.

He raced triumphantly across the homemade diving board and made a perfect swan dive into the water that would have scored a “10” in the Olympics.

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ad landed head-first in the soft, muddy creek bottom just below the water’s surface. He was instantly stuck.

He couldn’t see, scream for help, or pull himself free. If not for being rescued a few seconds later by his brother and a swimming buddy, Dad is certain that he would have drowned right then and there in the creek.

The boys howled with laughter after rubbing the mud out of Dad’s eyes, nose and mouth. He found out later that the other boys knew all along that the creek had filled in and had intentionally let him win the race.

Dad didn’t win any more races, but he never again failed to check the water level before diving into “The Long Hole.”

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However … the heavy rain and others that had recently fallen had caused the creek to rise, and the muddy water was on the brink of over-flowing the banks.

Dad didn’t know it, but the deluge had washed in freshly plowed field dirt that had filled in the bottom of the creek.

The muddy water was only six inches deep.

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Story by Jacquelyn Hall

T

he history of Parches Cove is every amateur historian’s dream. It ticks nearly all the boxes for southern history: Native Americans, “cowboys,” farms, settlements and resettlements, Civil War activity – and the residence of the last mail delivery pony.

The area is absolutely picturesque.

Turning north off Union Grove Road at Union Grove First Baptist Church, Parches Cove Road begins like any ordinary country road; a little narrow, full of the usual character of patches and potholes one expects to find on such a road. It is a fairly straight drive until it goes down the 52

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Parches Cove: steeped in mountain. Descending into the cove it starts to become more than your typical country drive.

Going down the incline of Brindley Mountain, the road becomes narrower and twists and turns in a zig-zag fashion, jackknifing every turn until you are in the valley.

In the evenings of late winter, as you drive down the mountain, you can see through the trees how the sun shines like a spotlight on Painted Bluff, which towers over the north banks of the Tennessee River.

Once down in Parches Cove, you can

tell you are in the flood zone. The woods surrounding the road do double scenic duty as marshes and the road itself always seems to look recently washed away and repaired.

Nestled in the trees, quite camouflaged, are the occasional lone chimneys from homes long since torn down. They lend an air of melancholic mystery and a feeling that, if they could talk, their tales would be captivating. These days, small animals enjoy making homes of the structures.

I

f you drive slowly, you might be lucky

history, beauty, isolation to see a significant amount of wildlife, including but not limited to wood ducks, red-headed ducks, red-tailed and redshouldered hawks, bald eagles, pileated woodpeckers and white-tailed deer.

In what seems like an instant, the woods of Parches Cove open up and you are struck with views of well-maintained cropland with a few homes interspersed.

As the road goes on, you pass the old Beech Spring Baptist Church, its cemetery tucked behind. In the woods next to it are the remains of one of the old schoolhouses.

This little area gives an impression of being recently forgotten, as if a caretaker will show up at any second dressed in clothing out of style.

Further down the road, you drive through the Lindsay property, which includes a large pond on which Houston Lindsay has placed nesting boxes for wood ducks, of which there is no shortage.

These are stunning creatures, each drake looking like an exquisitely painted decoy that would be welcome in any museum display. The ducks truly seem to enjoy

The 100-foot promontory of Bean Rock, above, a landmark in Parches Cove, offers one of the most scenic views of the Tennessee River in Marshall County. One can imagine Native Americans there communing with The Great Spirit. The cove has no known “bear,” but it does have Paul Bryant Jr. He owns Bean Rock and several thousand acres on which he’s built an elaborate, private hunting lodge.

Through a secretary, he declined to be interviewed for this story. David Moore shot this panorama from Bean Rock in 2013 when it was owned by Davis Lee. MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

53

their time on Houston’s pond, relishing the tranquility of the area as much as the human residents do.

The Tennessee River, steady and steely gray – or green or blue, depending upon its mood rolls steadily through the valley, surrounded by the sloping walls of plateaus and foothills of the Appalachian Mountains with their stunning naturally “painted” rocky bluffs.

T

he name Parches Cove, as legend goes, comes from the name of a Cherokee chief who was called Parch Corn for his love of the dish.

If you’re lucky enough, you might find Native American artifacts, but collect them only with permission on private property, as it is illegal to excavate them – or even 54

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pick them up – on TVA property. The Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 makes it illegal to excavate archaeological sites on federal property, which includes TVA land, without a research permit, according to a warning on tva.gov.

Chief Parch Corn and his family are said to be buried in an old cemetery out in the woods at the base of Brindley Mountain.

From roughly the 1840s through World War II, the cove was a settled and working community, with several farms, a store, lumber mill, cotton gin, churches, schools, and post office. Steamboats that traversed the Tennessee River would dock in the cove and passengers would disembark to buy goods from the merchants.

While no major Civil War battles occurred in Marshall County, personal

memories of ancestors that lived in Parches Cove at the time recount seeing Union gunships ply the Tennessee, most likely after the battle of Fort Henry in early February 1862 while the Union fleet made its way down river to Florence and Muscle Shoals.

These gunships were also involved in the Federal burning of Guntersville in 1862.

A

round 1900, in the area of Parches Cove known as Big Spring, stood a twostory building that served as school, Baptist Church and community meeting place.

The school taught primary students through the sixth or seventh grade, and in some special cases covered the eighth and ninth grades.

As a consequence of the cove’s rural isolation, older students had to board in

The brick chimney and steps are about all that remain of the old school in Parches Cove, far left.

The first Mercedes SUVs rolled off the line in Vance, Ala., and were tested and shown to media worldwide at the former Parches Cove Hunting Reserve, owned

by Houston Lindsay. On one trip here they used Parches guide Neal Johnson as a model, top center.

Below, third from left, Houston hosts then U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, hunting guide Neal Johnson and U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt at his lodge. Along with the old home site, author Jacquelyn Hall shot the photos of Beech Spring Baptist Church and some of Houston’s Native American artifacts. neighboring areas such as Arab, Joppa, Guntersville and Albertville in order to attend a high school. Due to this difficulty, some students were in their 20s while attending high school.

Later, a second school for Parches Cove was built at Bean Rock, next to Bean Rock Bluff, a large, boulder-strewn promontory overlooking the river. Both schools were used, though eventually only the new site was used for school as well as worship.

Also around this time, a German named Vogganshott owned a large farm, a store, hotel and lumber mill in the cove. He printed and minted his own currency – obviously, only redeemable at his store – which he used to pay his laborers. A few private collections still have some of his coins.

Vogganshott lost everything in a tornado

that hit the cove in 1917, after which he sold his land, left the area and became a laborer, as far as records show.

During that same storm of 1917, many other homes and stores, such as the post office, were destroyed and never rebuilt.

The population of Parches Cove started to dwindle at that time due to the land on the mountains being developed into farmland.

Some of the tenant farmers left the cove to move up the mountain where they could purchase their own property.

I

t might surprise people to learn that, due to the rough terrain of Parches Cove, mail was still being delivered by horseback in the 1950s. Indeed, shortly before World War II, the “Parches Cove Pony Express” fell into the national spotlight for being

the last horseback mail route in the United States.

The mail carrier at the time, Bernard Stone, was given a trip to Washington D.C. by a radio station who interviewed him about his unique job.

Once the cove’s roads were passable in most weather, the horses led a comfortable life of leisure, as mail was then delivered by car, or jeep when the roads became bad.

Unfortunately, a storm in 1961 injured the last of the mail-carrying ponies badly enough that he had to be put down.

The Lindsay family, as previously mentioned, has been in Parches Cove since 1966, when Leon and Ruth Lindsay purchased land, mostly to the northeast of Bean Rock, from a Sam Allison. Sam was a Texan who had his “cowboys” work the MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

55

land much like a Texas ranch, raising sheep among other livestock and crops.

Leon’s son, Houston, farmed the land for a number of years before turning it into a hunting club. The family later sold the preserve, and it has changed hands since then.

In the spring and summer of 1997, Mercedes-Benz used some of the Lindsay land to perform off-road testing for its new SUVs built in Alabama. Houston remembers the company flying the executives in and out of the cove by helicopter, while the vehicles were driven in, slightly disguised as they were new models that had not yet been released.

A

Houston Lindsay operated Parches Cove Hunting Preserve on 3,000 acres. The eastern section offered views of the 400-foot facing of Painted Bluff, above, across the river. When the preserve was sold, Houston kept 150 acres where he lives with his wife, Brenda, next door to their daughter, Jennifer Gibson, who owns The Flower Exchange in Arab. The initial buyer, Danny Yancy of Arab, sold the land to Davis Lee of Cherokee Ridge. Davis later sold it to Paul Bryant Jr. , who added additional acreage to his private hunting club there. Photo provided.

s river transportation has become less significant in recent years, the area has cycled back to being primarily a scattering of private residences and farmland.

The cove is a peaceful, out of the way place, lovely in all seasons. If you find yourself in Union Grove, it’s well worth the little side trip to see the views and let your imagination paint the scenes while you marvel over the history that has shaped this isolated corner of Marshall County.

Good Life Magazine

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256-582-3999 www.duckettfishing.com 56

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

Frank Sargeant

Acclaimed writer built a career doing what others do for fun mom lived with his grandmother in rural north-central Ohio.

“We had no electricity and running water,” he says. “It was 50 yards to the rom a career standpoint, the job outhouse.” that truly opened the door for Frank Drawn to the outdoors, he did a lot Sargeant was hiring on as outdoors editor of catfishing and, as he got older, hunted for the former Tampa Tribune. That was rabbits and squirrels. in 1984, back when metro dailies reeled “At that time, Ohio had in profits like a happy been virtually hunted out,” angler on a school of Frank recalls. “There were crappie. no turkeys and whitetails.”

The job also opened Career plans got no another important door farther than “maybe a for the avid outdoorsman garage mechanic.” But who has long since settled he did well in school, at Cherokee Ridge … the finding English extremely door out of the office. easy. He even wrote a few “The day I was hired, chapbooks. His first story the publisher told me, was about a guy catching a ‘There’s never been deer whale. shot or a bass caught in Frank got a scholarship this office, so we’ll see you and at Ohio University when we see you,’” Frank in Athens, earned a grins. bachelor’s degree in Off to grab his rod, reel, American literature in 1968 notebook and camera, he then a master’s in English couldn’t help thinking, and creative writing. Not “You’re going to pay me surprisingly, he did more for this?” than study.

A man in his element, Fishing is story research for Frank Sargeant, left. Like this spring “Athens has the Frank’s beat covered when he partnered with Ben Jester of Cullman for a report in his Hocking River and Lake the state of Florida and column on AL.com on crappie fishing at Duck River Dow outside of town,” other areas where he Reservoir. Crappie and research both were great.

Frank says. “I was running could fish, boat and hunt, out there all the time. I was where he could interview fascinated with fishing.” and photograph kindred the American Sportfishing Association, And with writing. As a senior he outdoors spirits. True, when deadlines landed a job as The Athens Messenger’s the granddaddy trophy for fishing loomed, he had to hunker down and outdoors writer. writers. write – after all, it was a job and it had “I got a little pocket change, maybe All Frank knew was that things were its demands – but writing is his other 15 bucks a column,” Frank says. “I think taking off. He’d hooked a tarpon of a element, a briar patch in which a rabbit my first piece was about catfish.” career on light fishing tackle, snatching on the run could find sanctuary from a Photography also came into play, and only a glint of his catch so far but foe. he realized the importance of an ability thoroughly enjoying the work of reeling “I had five columns a week to write, to shoot decent pictures. it in. which kept me entertained,” Frank says.

“I struggled with it,” he says, “but “I got established and things took off.” eventually learned.” am a Yankee by birth, but a Little did he imagine how far that Southerner by the grace of God,” Frank flight would go, that he’d eventually says, quoting a bumper sticker. hile in grad school, Frank amass 60 national newspaper and Born in Illinois in 1944, he and his landed a whopper of a bonus. Sports magazine awards and others, such as Story and photos

by David Moore

F

the National Marine Manufacturers Association’s Boating Writer of the Year, and the Florida Wildlife Federation’s Communicator of the Year.

He had no clue he’d be president of the Florida Outdoors Writers Association, or named the Homer Circle Angling Communicator of the Year by

“I

W

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57

Afield paid him $600 for a piece on fishing with plastic worms.

Besides the moola, he was thrilled when the national magazine hit the newsstand.

“This is great,” he thought. “I can do this full time.”

Good work … if you can get it. But his next magazine assignment was several years in coming. To make ends meet, he got a job in 1969 teaching English – but not in Ohio. In Clermont, Fla. “I knew there were lots of bass down there,” Frank says. “I literally went to Florida because of that – and I had not even tried saltwater fishing, which became my first love after I got into it.”

During his three-year teaching stint, he still sold his work. His biggest trophy – a story in Reader’s Digest. He’d seen something in a newspaper about a couple near Tampa who got swept away from their boat and nearly drowned in the ocean.

He queried the Reader’s Digest editor for its Drama in Real Life features, who asked for more information on the story. So Frank interviewed the marina owner who rescued the woman, wrote it up and sent it in. The editor then asked to see the finished product.

It was easy tracking down the couple; the husband was a wellknown auto dealer. So Frank got the whole story in detail … how they were snorkeling for scallops 18 miles from shore, got pulled away from their boat and separated by strong tides. It took the husband several hours, but he finally made it back to the boat.

The water was only a few feet over the woman’s head. She floated for long hours on her stomach, breathing with her snorkel.

She had her little dog with her and struggled as long as possible to hold on to him. Reader’s Digest bought the story.

“I got $3,000, which was a real fortune.”

S

uccess breeds success, and Frank’s byline began appearing often in outdoors magazines. He left teaching thinking he could make it free-lancing full time, but working to make ends meet as a charter fishing captain.

Chartering a female executive at Disney World one day led to a conversation that led Frank to a job as a marketing writer for Vacation Land Magazine. It was a livable salary writing “advertorials” from an office under Main Street at Disney World.

The few years Frank did that, he also wrote in his spare time for boating magazines. This opened the opportunity in 1977 to edit Southern SEA Magazine, one of four regional monthlies by CBS Publishing Division. He wrote a feature, bought free-lance work and made assignments for each issue.

“They’d say, ‘We need you to go to the Bahamas and do a story,’” Frank grins. “I’d buy a ticket and go. It was wonderful. I went all over the place.”

CBS decided in 1979 to consolidate the regional offices into one New York City office and asked Frank to head it. The higher-ups simply did not understand the “outdoors” part of their outdoorsman.

“No way I’m living in New York City,” he said.

Still freelancing, he became a regional editor and senior writer for Outdoor Life. There he met a secretary, Darla Whitworth, in 1975. After a few years, he asked her out, taking her trout fishing.

Frank had been married before in grad school, but Darla was different.

“She caught two fish with one cast using double treble 58

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

hooks,” he laughs. “I thought, ‘Man, this is the girl for me.’”

They married in 1978.

F

rank was at Outdoor Life in 1984 when he heard about the opening at The Tampa Tribune, interviewed, got the job and was shown the door, so to speak. That allowed him to fish and boat in nearly every Florida county. His columns offered him a platform to advocate for fish, wildlife and environmental conservation.

On his own, for a 10-year span Frank wrote a book a year, including a series of seven titled “A Complete Angler’s Guide” to, say, trout, tarpon or snook. Two others are Florida fishing guides to “Frank Sargeant’s Secret Spots.”

A good money-maker was writing “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Boating and Sailing,” which is in its third edition.

“I’ve gotten up at 5 o’clock nearly all my life,” Frank says, recalling milking cows as a kid. “I would write until about 7

Mia, bottom, and Spook join Frank in his home office in Cherokee Ridge. “I am 100 steps from a 17-acre lake where I try new lures,” he says. Darla usually walks three-four miles daily on the golf cart trails, while Frank makes time for a few miles. They have two sons, Dr. Brian Carter of Huntsville and Brock Sargeant of Cincinnati, a pilot with Delta Regional in Cincinnati; and six grandchildren.

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

59

Frank shows off a beautiful snook he caught while inshore saltwater fishing.

“There is nothing common about the common snook,” he writes in “The Snook Book.” “The snook is a backstreet-fighter, without match. ... Hooking a big snook (in narrow inland waters) is like dropping a grenade into a garbage can, then hopping inside and pulling on the lid.”

One wonders if Frank sometimes has more fun writing about fishing than actually getting out and doing it. Photo provided.

Lake in 2009, he also became a contributing outdoors editor of The Huntsville Times and Al.com.

About six years ago, he and Darla began looking for a house closer to Huntsville but out of the city. They went to investigate one in Cherokee Ridge, north of Arab.

“We came through the gate and said, ‘Wow! This place is great.’” And that was that.

Working out of his office with a view of the woods, Frank continues to write, starting daily at 5 a.m. In recent years he’s added a 9 a.m. nap but afterwards works until 3 p.m.

“The most fun part of my whole career,” he reflects, “has been jumping from one thing to another, one kind of writing to another. Books are different from newspapers and magazines and TV. That suited my interest very well.”

Perhaps Frank is not outdoors n 2005, Frank and Darla had Four of the seven books Frank wrote in a series as much as his jobs once bought a large house on Smith titled “A Complete Anglers Guide.” required, but he seems to take it Lake near Arley in Winston in stride.

County. They could move there “If I go once a week,” he began as editor of The Fishing Wire; a after retirement, be close to grins, “that’s enough for me most days.” contributor to The Online Fisherman, grandkids in Huntsville, rent it in the After all, he is retired, right?

Bass Times, Florida Sportsman, Game meantime and, well, you can imagine “And still doing what I love.” & Fish Publications and Boat Test. the lure of a big beautiful lake to Frank. com. A year after moving to Smith Good Life Magazine After he left the Tribune, Frank o’clock on books. And I didn’t have to be at the office for extended hours.”

During the book writing years, he founded and hosted a huge outdoors show the Tribune owned, The Frank Sargeant Outdoors Exposition at the state fairgrounds. “Frank Sargeant” had become a brand. An outdoors legend.

After the books, he wrote voice-over script for the former “Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Television” series – a completely different style of writing than print journalism.

But all things end, as did his job in 2008. Like most newspapers, the Tribune was feeling the crush of disappearing revenue, cutting corners to stay afloat. Sooner or later, Frank would be cut, so when they offered him a buyout, he took it.

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61

The home-team U-27 has a dramatic reason for missing HydroFest

Michael Walker of Seattle was at Seafair with his camera and zoom and captured this image when the Alabama-based H1 went airborne, shooting above the maelstrom of rooster tails around it.

Here’s the story of how the Wiggins Racing Team made a strong recovery from a ‘small’ crash in Guntersville; was knocked out of the final in Seattle – literally; has to miss HydroFest this year; but set a goal to return in 2020 – faster, better than ever

Crunch time at HydroFest – U-21 and U-27 had a run-in. Anyway you look at it, the home-team boat lost. File photo.

Story by David Moore Photos by, or provided by, Bill Collins

T

housands of spectators witnessed the wreck on the final afternoon of the inaugural Guntersville Lake HydroFest last year, when U-21 rode up on the sponson of Wiggins Racing U-27. Based in Gadsden, U-27 finished the heat but its damage was too extensive for the hometeam to run in the final.

But most people are unaware of what transpired next. Under different sponsorship, different colors and a different number, the Gadsden team finished second at the Tri-Cities races on Washington’s Columbia River July 28-29.

Likewise, most people are unaware that the following week the team made it to the winner-take-all final at Seafair in Seattle – where U-27 rode up a rooster tail in a spectacular cork-screwing, airborne arc and crashed. Driver Cal Phipps was uninjured, but the boat had to be rebuilt almost from scratch.

The Wiggins team will still enter a boat in the Grand Prix races at the 2019 Guntersville Lake HydroFest. But the U-27 remains out of commission, unavailable to race June 28-30.

Bill Collins of Guntersville, a volunteer on the Wiggins pit crew, recalls the bitter taste left in the team’s mouth after getting knocked out of the HydroFest final. Controversy remains over whose fault it was, but Bill looks at the bottom line.

“Their boat still ran,” he says. “Ours didn’t. They made the final. We didn’t. A 64

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lot of people call it a racing thing. I guess it was, but it was an ugly racing thing.”

It seemed all the more bitter because the wreck sank plans by U-27 owners Charley and Milton Wiggins to race the boat in Madison, Ind., next stop in the H1 season.

A

midst the gloom, good news unfolded, delivered by Larry Oberto of the Oberto jerky and snacks company.

Under his father, Art, the company, well-known in the Pacific Northwest, had consistently sponsored hydroplanes over the years. Now Larry had come to HydroFest to determine if the Wiggins team had the wherewithal to pack up and make a run at the coming H1 races on the Columbia River and in Seattle.

Back in 2000, Charley drove the Miss Madison just before Oberto became the team sponsor, and over the years they built a friendship. Larry liked what he saw of the Wiggins team in Guntersville and offered to sponsor them for at least the Northwest races.

“That was big,” Charley says. “Oberto has been in the sport for as long as I can remember.”

So a buoyed team – with much to do in 21 days – got busy.

Charley did 90 percent of the repair work on the hole in the sponson deck. Bill and crew chief Jason Lowery helped. That took two weeks.

Another major – and stunning – transformation was wrapping the formerly white, orange and blue U-27 with her new sponsor’s red, green and white with

“Oberto” in a bold, black, Old English font. The number was changed to U-1918, in honor of Oberto’s 100th anniversary.

The wrap was created by another volunteer member of the pit crew, Ivan Teal of Guntersville, owner of IT Graphics in Huntsville.

“He probably had 150-160 hours, easy, in that wrap,” Bill says. “It looks like red and green chrome. It was finished literally 30 minutes before we pulled out.”

Charley and his volunteer 10-man crew left July 21. Bill and Bobby Harkins of Sylacauga drove the huge rig with the trailered boat in its new colorful glory.

The 2,400-mile trip to the Tri-Cities took 45 hours.

When they arrived, Bill got his first taste of Oberto jerky.

M

aking the trip with the Wiggins racing crew was Dave Villwock, the all-time winningest hydroplane driver.

Charley invited him as a consultant on propellers, boat setup and gear ratios.

“He’s the Dale Earnhardt of boat racing,” Charley laughs. “But I have always gotten along with Dave. He has a wealth of knowledge.”

Drivers differ in how they use the canard – the adjustable wing on the front of the H1 boats. Dave suggested a major change to help speed, setting up the canard his way, using it aggressively to help create lift as opposed to fighting lift.

“It would have made me nervous,” says Bill, who raced drag cars. “It’s a different driving style, but it made sense.

Cal and everybody responded.”

After the crash at HydroFest, boat co-owner Charley Wiggins, left, and crew had two weeks to repair the damage, above. Crew member Ivan Teal of Guntersville designed and produced the boat’s new wrap, at top with crew, for its new sponsor. The rig Bill Collins of Guntersville helped drive to (and part-way home from) Washington was 90 feet long.

MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

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Bill Collins, driving at left and broken down in Wyoming, used to race the RT Pro circuit. After selling Collins .Auto and Equipment and retiring, he volunteers with the Wiggins crew. He and his wife, Susan, have two married children, Christen Cantrell and Torie Cotter; and four grandchildren.

Cal got faster. The weekend, however, got crazy.

A gearbox went out, limiting the team’s choices. U-1918 broke a propeller shaft in a Saturday heat. It not only lost the prop, but without it the engine hit a sudden burst of RPMs that damaged the turbine blades in its helicopter engine.

Thrown out of balance, it clacked like a fan on steroids that fell over causing its blades to whack the covering. It took hours that night to fix.

Upon arrival, cracks were discovered in the boat trailer. That hung over them.

(After they got to Seattle the crane company at the pits brought equipment to the team’s hotel parking lot and lifted the boat off the trailer, which was taken to a shop and fixed.)

“You felt,” Charley says, “like you were scrambling all weekend.”

D

espite the obstacles, Cal at the wheel of U-1918 won a heat, placed second in the final and second overall in points at Tri-Cities. It was a podium finish, in the top three.

“That was my first time to be on the podium, and it was pretty cool,” Bill says.

“They do like Indy racing. The whole crew got to go to the podium. Cal got to speak. We were jacked up about the season.”

“We felt like we were making strides in the right direction as far as speed and boat setup,” Charley says. “We’d lost one of our gearbox selections, but we were heading the right direction going into Seattle.”

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He treated the crew to a Mariners game one night before the races started that Friday.

They found that Seafair is big doings in Seattle – big enough to close down I-90 for several hours each day over Lake Washington to accommodate shows by the Blue Angels.

“It’s a truly big deal,” Bill says. “It’s like Talladega or Barber Speedway with lots of events going on around it.”

Into this the Alabama home team rolled, one of eight of the fastest boats in the world looking for speed and dominance on Lake Washington.

U-1918 finished third of four in its first heat. It was last in the second heat but won the third one, qualifying for the Sunday afternoon final.

Jockeying for position in the fiveminute period preceding the start of the race, Cal out-positioned the others to grab the initial lead and take the coveted lane one on the inside as the big H1s hurled across the start line.

The great start soon went bonkers.

L

ap one. Heading into turn two.

Andrew Tate in lane four and Jimmy Shane in lane three – the fastest qualifiers – had five or six boat lengths on Tommy Thompson, running third in lane two, just in front of Cal on the inside.

It’s dangerous to run too close to another hydroplane. The tons of water in the massive rooster tail can wreak havoc with any boat in the next lane, even lift it out of the water. So H1 drivers are required to maintain a lane of 15 feet on either side.

Or be seven boat lengths ahead before pulling into an opponent’s lane.

What happened next at Seafair might depend on whom you ask. This is Charley’s opinion …

Close racing is exciting, and referees had allowed it all weekend. Now, in final, drivers pushed the limits.

Andrew and Jimmy took turn two tightly. Jimmy encroached on Tommy’s lane. This forced his U-11 to squeeze into Cal’s lane, engulfing U-1918 in a maelstrom of flying water.

“Whatever the case, when Cal got to the entrance buoy to the second turn, he had nowhere to go and got caught up in Tommy’s rooster tail,” Charley says.

The rooster tail hit hardest underneath U-1918’s right sponson, spinning it counterclockwise as the boat was launched into the white deluge spraying the blue Seattle sky.

It’s hard to tell exactly what happened to U-1918. The crash was a sort of hybrid between a cartwheel and a stem-to-stern blow over. With a corkscrew. The result is the rooster tail slingshot the Oberto boat, spinning it 360 degrees as it flipped some 40 feet into the air before landing hull down with a 7,000-pound smack delivered at as much as 175 mph.

It was over in a flashing few seconds.

C

harley saw it all from a lift perch in the pit where he maintained radio contact with Cal during the race. The crash was at the far end of the track, but Charley could see the boat shoot briefly above the wall of white water.

Hope were high for the Wiggins team when it reached Seattle, and Billy Collins was high on a scissor-lift when he shot the photo at left prior to the races. Above, the U-27/U-1918 is being taken down to the aluminum frame after catastrophic damage at Seafair.

“My first concern, obviously, was, ‘Is Cal OK?’ Fortunately, the radio still worked fine. He confirmed he was not injured. I was able to relay that to his wife. We were quickly able to settle everyone down.

“Then he climbed out, and at that point I wondered, ‘How badly is the boat torn up?’”

It was still afloat and looked fine as it was towed to the pit. But looking closer, Charley saw ominous cracks and suspected major structural damage.

He and the crew were numbed at first.

Then frustration with other drivers set in.

Blame.

Everyone was glad Cal was OK. But if Bill and the rest of the crew thought it gloomy after the wreck in Guntersville, this was lights out.

“It was hard to load the boat because it was broken so badly internally,” Bill says.

Dejected, they left Seattle at 8 a.m.

Monday. But the nightmare was not totally over for Bill and Bobby Harkins.

Tuesday, driving the big rig and trailered boat into Buffalo, Wy., the truck broke down, stranding them on the roadside.

“There is nothing in Buffalo but prairie dogs,” Bill says. “I promise.”

They had the truck towed to Casper.

They rented a car Thursday morning and finally got back to Gadsden Friday afternoon, exhausted.

“I

f you race them,” Charley says, “you are going to crash them at some point. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when.”

At his shop, he and the crew removed the sponsons, took the middle section of the boat down to its bare bones. Only the cockpit remained intact.

“It will take a lot of work and a lot of money to put it back together,” Charley says. “Everything is custom fabricated.

There is no Home Depot for boat racing.

I have to put my nose to the grindstone and make the parts and come up with a plan to address what happened.”

As of the third week of April, a dwindling long shot remained that Charley might find a sponsor and another H1 boat to race in Guntersville this year.

“My biggest hope is that the event continues to be successful so that once the boat is finished we will be back for 2020. If we are back, we will be more competitive than ever, a new, lighter, faster and stronger boat.”

While the Wiggins Racing unlimited hydroplane will not be at the 2019 HydroFest, he and his father will have their Grand Prix series boat there. It runs with an engine more akin to a drag racer than a helicopter.

With all of the disappointments since the first HydroFest, it says something about the racing spirit involved that Cal is expected to drive the GP at Lake Guntersville. And, like others on the crew, Bill has volunteered to work in the pit.

Perhaps the story is not yet over.

Good Life Magazine MAY | JUNE | JULY 2019

67

Out ‘n’ About Combined groups through the Albertville and Arab chambers of commerce visited Scotland this spring. It was the third chamber trip for Alex and Crystal Sierra of Sierra’s Mexicanismo in Arab, and Crystal took these photographs. Clockwise from top left are: the Palace of Holyroodhouse, residence of the British monarch when in Scotland; the Standing Stones of Stenness on the Orkney Islands; the bucolic Dairsie countryside; Urquhart Castle at Loch Ness (no sightings); Edinburgh Castle; and St. Andrews Castle on the North Sea. At left is the Marshall County group.

“It’s fun,” Crystal says. “We’d probably go again.”

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Postcards

Boat racing has been held during several periods on Lake Guntersville, dating to 1942 and later continued by the Jaycees. These old postcards, provided by Sam and Lynne Karel at Antiques and Sweets, capture some of the popularity of the races.

HydroFest revived the tradition last year and continues it June 28-30 this summer.

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