Discover St. Clair February & March 2016

Year of Barbecue • Woman Rector • Avondale StackChurch Anniversaries • Buried in St. Clair • World Premiere Coming

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Mountain Delight in AshvilleBLUFF VIEW RETREAT A FEAST FOR EYES AND SOUL

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Features and ArticlesDiscover The Essence of St. Clair

February & March 2016

Marcus H. PearsonSpringville inventor

Page 16

WoMan rector

St. Simon Peter Episcopal ChurchPage 22

Buried in st. clair

Incredible InhumationsPage 28

Historic tiMes

St. Clair Church AnniversariesPage 52

Year of alaBaMa BBQLocal Restaurants Smoking Hot

Page 58

Business revieWJefferson State Expanding

Page 62New Publix in Moody

Page 70Always There Top Ranked

Page 73

www.discoverstclair.com

Triple CrownBouldering atHorse Pens 40

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Page 36

Rememberingthe AvondaleSmokestack

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Hiram looksat boyhood ofHank WilliamsPage 46

Mountain Delight in

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Bluff View retreat a feast for eyes and soul

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6 DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • February & March 2016

Writers AND PhotographersCarol Pappas is editor and publisher of Discover St. Clair Magazine. A retired newspaper executive, she served as editor and publisher of several newspapers and magazines during her career. She won doz-ens of writing awards in features, news and commentary and was named Distinguished Alabama Community Journalist at Auburn University. After retiring, she launched her own multimedia company, Partners by Design Inc. In addition to marketing, de-sign and web services for companies and nonprofits, Partners publishes Discover, various community magazines for cham-bers of commerce and Mosaic Magazine, a biannual publica-tion of Alabama Humanities Foundation.

Carol Pappas

Jerry C. Smith’s interest in photography and writing go back to his teen years. He has produced numerous articles, stories and photographs for local websites and regional newspapers and magazines, including the St. Clair County News, Sand Mountain Living, and Old Tennessee Valley. His photos have appeared in books, on national public television, in local art displays and have captured prizes in various contests. A retired business machine technician and Birmingham native, Jerry now lives near Pell City. He recently published two books: Uniquely St. Clair and Growing Up In The Magic City.

Jerry C. SmithMike Callahan is a freelance photographer who resides on Logan Martin Lake in Pell City. He specializes in commercial, nature and family photography. Mike’s work has been published in Outdoor Alabama Magazine, Alabama Trucking Association and Alabama Concrete Industries maga-zines. Publishing his work to the internet frequently, he has won many honors for pictures of the day and week. One of Mike’s latest assignment’s was to be chosen as one of the photographers for this year’s 2015 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

Mike Callahan

For almost 30 years, Leigh Pritchett has been involved in the publishing industry. She was employed for 11 years by The Gadsden Times, ultimately becoming Lifestyle editor. Since 1994, she has been a freelance writer. Her work has appeared in online and print venues. She holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Montevallo.

Leigh Pritchett

Wally was born in Birmingham. He gradu-ated from Mountain Brook High School in 1973, and went on to Auburn University where he graduated in 1976 with his BA in History and minors in German and Educa-tion. Wally’s skills in photography blos-somed during college. Upon graduation, he entered his father’s business, National Woodworks, Inc. After a 30-year career, he decided to dust off his camera skills and pursue photography full time.

Wallace Bromberg Jr.

Elaine Hobson Miller is a freelance writer with a B.A. in Journalism from Samford University. She was the first female to cover Birmingham City Hall for the Birmingham Post-Herald, where she worked as reporter, food editor and features writer. A former editor of Birmingham Home & Garden magazine and staff writer for Birmingham magazine, she has written for a variety of local, regional and national publications. She is the author of two non-fiction books, Myths, Mysteries & Legends of Alabama and Nat King Cole: Unforgettable Musician.

Elaine Hobson Miller

Jim Smothers had his first work published in The Gadsden Times in the late 1960s when his father, sports editor Jimmy Smothers, had him take games called in from youth sports coaches and put a camera in his hands at Jacksonville State basketball games. For more than 40 years he has been a writer, photographer, graphic artist and editor at publications in central Alabama for which he has won dozens of Associated Press awards. He has degrees from Jacksonville State University and the University of Montevallo and also studied at the Winona School of Professional Photography.

Jim Smothers

Linda Long has worked in communications for more than 25 years in print, broadcast, nonprofit promotion and special event plan-ning and implementation. Her writing has appeared in Business Alabama Magazine, Technology Alabama, Mobile Bay Monthly, Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, Partners Magazine, Birmingham Magazine, Alabama Alive, Cahaba Talk, Hoover Outlook and Shelby Living. She served as news and special projects producer for NBC13 News, where her work won national, regional and state honors, including two Emmy Award nominations. Long has served as a press secretary and a political reporting correspondent.

Linda Long

7

Discover The Essence of St. ClairFebruary and March 2016 • Vol. 28 • www.discoverstclair.com

Carol Pappas • Editor and PublisherGraham Hadley • Managing Editor and Designer

Brandon Wynn • Director of Online ServicesMike Callahan • Photography

Wallace Bromberg Jr. • PhotographyDale Halpin • Advertising

A product of Partners by Designwww.partnersmultimedia.com

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It still amazes me that a simple act, like turning down a road you’ve never been on before, can yield such hefty dividends.

Who would have thought that a turn down a country road near Ashville would bring into view a magnificent event venue of wide open fields, a lake and a spectacular backdrop of mountains all around? But that’s what we found in Mountainview Farms featured in the December issue of Discover. It became a picture perfect cover.

Or when we turned into nothing more than a small, open spot in north St. Clair County and found a Smoky Mountain-like retreat awaiting us – a feast for the eyes…and soul.

It’s the same kind of drive that surprisingly reveals the unexpected. It may be unusual gravesites, like that of a man buried along a roadside, a cousin of the Royal Family buried under the Ashville Armory or the slave cemetery at Bethel Church. At Stewarts Crossroads, you can spot the final resting place for Cherokees. At Liberty, it’s a Yankee soldier you’ll find buried in St. Clair County soil. Or you might just discover some unusual markers atop the gravesites, like the steel boot at Pleasant Hill or the Stonehenge-like array of vertical sandstones at Pope’s Chapel.

Travel to the top of Chandler Mountain at Horse Pens 40, and you’ll see bouldering athletes from around the country climbing St. Clair County’s historic rock formations in the final leg of the Triple Crown.

And if the discovery trek makes you a little hungry, be sure and pull into Charlie’s in Odenville or Rusty’s in Leeds. They both won the Alabama Barbecue Battle as tops in their categories designated by the Alabama Department of Tourism. Rusty’s is the ‘Mom ‘n Pop’ champ, and Charlie’s bested the ‘Dives’ category.

Here at Discover, we take these roads less traveled on a regular basis. It’s how we found these stories and more in this edition of the magazine.

It is our journeys of discovery that turn into the stories you will find in the pages that follow. Turn the page and discover them all with us.

Carol PappasEditor and Publisher

From the Editor

The road less traveled

8

Mountain Delight in

ashville

Bluff View retreat a feast for

eyes and soulStory by Carol PappasPhotos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

Cindy Massey never really thinks of herself as lucky. She knows it.

All she has to do is take a panoramic look around the 130 acres of bluffs, a rushing creek, wide open pasture and enveloping woods that climb upward, almost as if they reach to the sky. It is paradise found, hidden away between a pair of north St. Clair County mountainsides.

Welcome to the appropriately named, Bluff View Farm, where Foxxy, Lulu, Arley and Lottie, Cindy’s four rescues, are just as content as their master. And why not? A rustic, cozy suite, a barn with a more than livable loft and dozens of acres of natural beauty are their home. And they make the best use of it, scurrying in and out, up and down voluminous trails or just settling into the perfect spot for a nap – in Cindy’s lap or in an easy chair.

Oh, and don’t forget, John, Cindy’s stepfather, and his two four-footed friends, Bear and Dora. They’re just as content. They live in the cabin just across the way.

It wasn’t always their home. They acquired the property after Cindy’s mother died a few years ago. Cindy, a retired nurse practitioner at Birmingham Heart Clinic and a former helicopter flight nurse, saw the farm as a getaway. “More and more, I found myself making excuses to leave later and later on Sunday,” she said.

Her two horses had been boarded, and she finally made the decision to move them to the farm. “After I moved my horses here, I never left,” she said.

John decided to get out of the big city, too. He moved to the cabin already on the farm. While planning her own cabin, she lived in the barn’s one-bedroom loft, complete with kitchen, sitting room and a mountain view that Cindy Massey’s new

suite at Bluff View Farm


seemingly has no end. A screened porch overlooks the arena, a meandering creek and a bridge with thick, towering woods on either side of this picture perfect scene acting as curtain wings to a distant mountain backdrop.

It is her vision that makes this place so special. She knew what she wanted when she was looking for acreage in St. Clair County. She could see it. She was working with Brian Camp at Lovejoy Realty, and owner Lyman Lovejoy said he knew of such a place when she described it. Only problem was, it wasn’t for sale.

But Lovejoy persisted, contacting the owner, Tammi Manley, and eventually, Cindy’s vision began to take shape. Tammy agreed to sell.

First, Cindy added special touches to the cabin — a wood burning fireplace and reclaimed wood floors from River Bottom Pine in north Birmingham. Two bridges were added when Cindy’s cabin was built. The first bridge was constructed across the creek to bring building materials to the site. The second bridge was added from the deck from the existing cabin to Cindy’s new cabin.

She redid the barn loft as a quaint, rustic living area, and she enlisted the help of builder Dennis Smothers of Benchmark Construction to create her cabin suite – separate from the existing cabin but joining it in a complementary look and feel.

“It was a bit of a challenge,” Cindy admitted. “But Dennis is a visionary, and he could see it. There is no question. I never could have had this without Dennis,” she said, motioning around the 718 square feet of a dream suite with views all around and special touches that are more like an artist’s creation on canvas than a construction project.

“We had a collaborative, creative relationship,” she said, and they drew the plans to “marry this house with that house (the original cabin). When you drive up, you can see he achieved that.”

A spacious screen porch greets you – along with the dogs – as you enter the suite. Cozy and comfortable, its music is made by the sound of the creek that runs nearby. Its view? Striking bluffs and woods all around.

Step inside, and a wood burning

Bluff View Farm

Big things with small spaces

Down by the creek

Not so typical barn loft

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Cooler door

A view of existing cabin and new suite as you arrive

Horses walk by the creek at the farm.


stove with a couple of easy chairs occupy a corner nook whose walls are floor to ceiling windows.

Directly across is a spectacular kitchen with a “truly custom bar” — a sheet of copper that has been allowed to patina, forming its counter top. John Ward, The Concrete Farmer, did the concrete work that finishes the bi-level island bar. He built the farm sink at his place, brought it to its new kitchen and then poured the concrete around it.

Don Leopard of Leopard Construction was the framer, and the structural beams are of repurposed lumber.

In a small space like this, every inch counts, she noted. Bedroom, great room, kitchen and sitting area are all in one open floor plan, but she gave each its own unique feel.

She wanted black skins for the lumber beneath the bar and in the living area. They found them at Evolutia, a lumber yard in north Birmingham. A custom cabinet from River Bottom Pine in the ‘living room’ beneath an oversized flat screen television holds everything from AV components to shoes.

The bedroom is a few steps away, but almost feels as if it is a separate place. The door leading to a separate bathroom and walk-in closet looks to be an old ice house cooler door. The sink is an antique biscuit table. Cabinet handles are old chair casters. Enter the closet through an old weathered, storm shelter door, which is fitting because the closet doubles as a storm shelter with its poured concrete insulation.

Only a few pieces of art – all by noted painter Arthur Price – accent the house. But as Cindy puts it, there’s no need for much. “The art in this house is out the windows” – bluff views all around, trees, sky and sunlight – they are the natural masterpiece.

French doors lead to a garden beneath the bluffs, accented

Bluff View FarmWhen you can’t be there.

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Cindy and Foxxy

Kitchen in the new cabin

Bluff view from wooden bridge

Screened porch of new cabin

Art, angled windows highlight sitting room


from river rocks found in the creek. Native ferns and hydrangeas surround. It is a peaceful refuge, created by Rodney Griffin of Gardens by Griffin. “He’s so talented,” Cindy said. “He told me, ‘I let the land tell me what to do.’ ”

The land does speak in this place. It is a haven for all seasons. In fall, the leaves’ colorful palette show brightly through angled windows near the top of the A-frame roof line. In winter, the creek overflows its banks like rapids. Spring brings the picturesque colors of seasonal rebirth. And Summer showcases its vibrant greens and myriad hues.

Cindy understands the allure and appreciates just how lucky she is. “I pinch myself every morning that I get to wake up to this.” l

Bluff View Farm

Bluff view just outside cabin

Rushing mountain creek after heavy rain

MARCUS H. PEARSON

Young Marcus H. Pearsonand his plow


Story by Leigh PritchettPhotos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.Submitted photos courtesy Carol Waid

Marcus H. Pearson was a small, quiet, humble man, with big ideas that made an impact on farmers, herdsmen and churchgoers.

Those big ideas netted two patents (one when he was just 26), made putting up wire fences a little easier and aided congregations with their building projects.

Oh ... and his chicken house once held Auburn University’s live War Eagle mascot.

According to granddaughter Carol Pearson Waid of Springville, Pearson was quite the entrepreneur. “Granddaddy had several different businesses.” Among them were Pearson Lumber Co. and Sawmill, a grocery store and a gristmill.

All were on property situated at US 11 and Cross Street. Also on the site were Pearson’s home, workshop that was full of punches and patterns, and, of course, the famous chicken house.

“All of this was Pearson property,” Mrs. Waid said about the expanse that surrounds Pearson’s home, where she and husband Frank Waid now live. “This is the house Grandma and Granddaddy built.”

The 1931 home features original wood floors and cabinetry, four fireplaces, a telephone directory from 1956, Pearson’s accordion and a bed that belonged to his grandmother.

The yellow building at the corner of US 11 and Cross Street that currently houses Louise’s Style Shop and C.E. Floral Gifts and Novelties was the grocery store.

Mrs. Waid worked at the grocery store as a girl. “I worked there for a nickel a day,” she said.

The lumberyard was behind Pearson’s house, as is the current home of grandson Tommy Burttram.

As for the gristmill, Burttram’s parents – Ed and Willie Pearl Pearson Burttram – remodeled it for their home as newlyweds. When they decided to build another dwelling, they relocated the gristmill and incorporated it into the architecture.

Being enterprising seemed to be a family trait as Pearson’s father, W.R. Pearson, was also a business owner. He operated a blacksmith shop just across US 11 from where the Waids live. Working in the blacksmith shop, Marcus Pearson learned smithing, buggy repairing and woodworking.

Kathy Burttram, Tommy’s wife, has a ledger from the blacksmith shop chronicling the work done there daily.

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MARCUS H. PEARSON

Close to the blacksmith shop was the home of Pearson’s parents. They had the first telephone, first radio and first bathtub in Springville. Mrs. Waid said neighbors came to see the bathtub with their towels in hand.

Born in 1879, Marcus Pearson received from his mother, Frances Amelia Truss Pearson, the lineage of the Truss family for whom Trussville is named, Mrs. Waid said.

As a child, Pearson watched the creation of what became a tourist attraction in Springville until the 1960s. Mrs. Waid explained that Springville gets its name from a spring, which later was transformed into a lake. “Granddaddy saw them dig (the lake) with oxen,” she said.

In 1909, Marcus Pearson’s red, Pope-Hartford Model B became the first automobile recorded in Springville. His was only the fourth vehicle to be registered in all of St. Clair County.

He married at age 41, played the accordion and harmonica, and did not believe in working on Sunday.

“He thought Sunday ought to be kept holy,” Mrs. Burttram said.He was a disciplinarian, lived 95 years and enjoyed hearing Mrs.

Waid play What a Friend We Have in Jesus on piano.“Granddaddy was on the building committee of the ‘Rock School,’”

Mrs. Waid said, referring to Springville’s historic hillside school constructed of rocks. “He wanted to build it on the level ground. But he was outvoted because people wanted it built on the hill so people from the train could see it.”

Mrs. Waid said one of Pearson’s friends was James Alexander Bryan, who was a noted minister and humanitarian in Birmingham. In fact, “Brother Bryan,” as he was called, officiated when Pearson married Opal Jones.

The Pearsons had three children, one of whom was Marcus M. Pearson. Son Marcus — Mrs. Waid’s father — assumed the lumber

Pearson on front porch in rocker

1951 Patent Drawing

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MARCUS H. PEARSON

Carol Pearson Waid, left, and Tommy

Burttram sit on Carol’s front porch. To the

right of them is a plow for which their grandfather, Marcus Pearson, received a

patent.

Blacksmith shop with

Pearson on far right

business in 1950, served on the board of education and was mayor of Springville in the 1960s, Mrs. Waid said.

When another son, Frank, decided to play baseball for Springville, the automobile that father Marcus H. Pearson had at that time served as the team “bus.” It was spacious enough to transport the whole team to the games, Burttram said.

Marcus H. Pearson actually held patents on two different plow designs. The 1907 patent was for improvements to make the wooden plow more durable and easier to manufacture, according to his application to the U.S. Patent Office. This farm implement also had adjustable handles and a design that would “take the ground better and … not choke up as rapidly as the ordinary plow.”

That plow and his Pearson Fence Stretcher — to keep wire fencing from tangling during installation – received a blue ribbon at the 1907 Alabama State Fair.


In 1951, he received his second patent, this time for a “regulator for flow of material from a hopper” affixed to a plow.

The hopper, explained Burttram, distributed guano (fertilizer) simultaneously with tilling.

The patent application states that the design offered “lever control without stopping use of the hopper, adjustment without a ratchet or wrench, (and) locking in a fixed position without a tool.”

Burttram quite literally had a hand in the manufacture of this model when he was but a lad of 10 years old.

“Tommy’s first job was working for Granddaddy Pearson,” said Mrs. Burttram.

With a chuckle, Burttram recalled that his grandfather did not ask Burttram if he would like a paying job. Instead, Pearson asked the boy if he would like to have a Social Security number.

Having a Social Security number was something to be envied, so Burttram naturally wanted one. When he received it, his grandfather put him to work painting distributor boxes on plows.

Burttram said he was paid 10 cents for each box he painted.“I thought I was really something,” Burttram said with a

grin.Mrs. Waid warmly recounts going with Pearson to sell and

deliver his plows. Traveling to Oneonta or Blountsville or wherever made the preteen girl feel pretty special.

She and Burttram said Pearson’s blue Studebaker pickup served as the delivery truck. All these years later, Mrs. Waid parks her automobile under the same carport where Pearson kept his Studebaker.

Also, one of the 1951 plows has a place of prominence on Mrs. Waid’s front porch.

At one point, Sears & Roebuck asked Pearson to put a gasoline engine on his plow as a prototype. It also had additional wheels for stability, Mrs. Waid said.

Through his lumberyard, Pearson established a legacy in several churches in the area, Mrs. Waid said.

For example, Pearson assisted in 1926 with the manse of Springville Presbyterian Church, which is noted by an historical marker, Mrs. Burttram said. (Incidentally, Mrs. Waid is secretary at that church.)

For Burttram and Mrs. Waid, the lumberyard was not a place of business, but rather a land of adventure.

They explained that the freshly milled lumber was placed in triangular stacks to allow the wood to dry.

“They made great, little playhouses,” Mrs. Waid said of the triangles. She and playmates also would get into them to picnic.

The imaginations of Burttram and his friends transformed the stacks into army bunkers.

And finally, we come to the story of how Pearson’s chicken house entered the annals of collegiate trivia.

In the mid-1960s, when Mr. and Mrs. Waid were married students attending Auburn University, Waid was a volunteer trainer and handler for the live War Eagle mascot. After a game in Birmingham between Auburn and its in-state rival, the University of Alabama, the couple spent the night with Mrs. Waid’s parents, who lived next door to the Pearsons.

Because the cage used for transporting the eagle was a little tight for an overnight stay, Waid decided to give the bird a place to spread its wings, so to speak. Thus, the little fowl guest was given accommodations out back in Pearson’s chicken house ... minus the chickens, of course. l

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The smiles come easily to the woman they call Mother Mollie. Dressed in a casual skirt and sweater, accessorized only by a small cross on a silver chain, she could almost be any soccer mom on any given Saturday. That is except for the iconic, white clerical collar Mollie Roberts wears. As rector of St. Simon Peter Episcopal Church in Pell City, she dons the collar and cross proudly. It has been a long time coming for a little girl who has known since she was 11 years old exactly what God had in store for her.

“I’m sort of late to the game,” said Roberts, “although I’ve known since I was a child that God was calling me to be a priest. Women weren’t even allowed to be priests back when I first heard the call.

Reconciling herself to the imposed gender limitations, Roberts’ career took her down a different path. As an accountant, she owned her own firm in Savannah, Ga., her hometown, and taught for more than a decade at Savannah State University.

It wasn’t until her youngest of three children was in college that Roberts answered that long ago call.

“I learned that God has a very long memory,” she said with a smile. “He just kept tapping on my shoulder. I finally came to the realization that God has called to this all these years. He’s not giving up, so I better look into it.”

After more than five years of study, prayer and preparation and a theological degree from Sewanee, Roberts has been an ordained minister for two-and-a-half years and a priest for two. St. Simon Peter is her first parish. This is also the first time the 40-year-old church has hired a woman pastor. Roberts admits the question of how she would be accepted was a concern when she first interviewed for the position – a question she asked the search committee outright.

“I asked them how is the parish going to react to a woman priest if we should come to an agreement, and they said, ‘that’s a really good question and one we’ve been asking ourselves.’ After discussing it,” Roberts continued, “they decided it was really an unimportant issue. They felt this group of 10 was a good representation of the parish, and that it was much more important to have the right person for the job than worry about gender, and it has been a non-issue. I have not felt any push back from anyone in this parish at all.”

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St. Simon Peter Episcopal Church


for Roberts. She’s been blazing new trails for women throughout her career. “Every position I’ve ever held as I sort of climbed the corporate ladder, I was the first, or one of the first, women in that role. I’ve never felt the need to be defensive about that. I’ve always felt if I approached people the way I would want to be, then the rest would take care of itself.”

Having served some 250 parishioners at St. Simon Peter for just a little more than a year now, Roberts believes God has her firmly “planted” exactly where He wants her to be. “One of the things I like about this community,” said Roberts, is that people live in Pell City because they want to, and that makes for a very positive atmosphere.”

Roberts says she also has found great joy in her parishioners’ giving spirit. “St. Simon Peter has a fabulous history in the community for having gotten things started here,” she said. “When these people see a need, they find a way to fulfill it. About 20 years ago, members realized there was no hospice in St. Clair County, so, they started one, which has now blossomed into Lakeside Hospice, a separate entity that serves all over the county.”

The Love Pantry, a county-wide food bank serving the area indigent also got its start “in a closet in our Parish Hall. And there wasn’t a Habitat for Humanity chapter until we got that started. We have a great history of looking into the community and saying where is there a need?”

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Evidence of that can be seen in how the parish chose to celebrate its 40th anniversary. “We wanted to do something for the community, so we decided to hold a dinner to raise funds for the WellHouse.” Roberts said the dinner netted $6,700 for the nonprofit, which helps victims of sex trafficking.

On this particular day, one of the parish’s oldest ministries is well under way in the chapel. About a half dozen ladies are spending their Wednesday morning much as they have for the past two decades – praying, chatting and knitting prayer shawls for folks in need.

According to Roberts, the hand-stitched shawls are given to anyone in the church or anyone connected to someone in the church who’s going through some sort of ordeal, usually health-related, but not always so. “The prayer shawls are blessed on the altar during a Sunday morning service,” explained Roberts, “and then given to the person in need. The idea is that the person who receives it, though unknown at the time the shawl is made, is prayed for with every stitch, so they are wrapped in prayer as they receive the shawl. It is hoped that the shawl will provide comfort. Of course, we keep an ongoing list of who has received them so they stay close to our hearts on an ongoing basis. These ladies have been doing this for years. They’ve given out more than 200 shawls.”

One of the parish’s newest community outreaches, and one which Roberts admits is her pet project, is called the Little Free Library. The Pell City parish is one of some 30,000 nationwide which make up The Little Library Association.

Obviously, she said, it is to promote literacy but it is also there to provide community outreach. “We provide the books which can be borrowed at will. You can either return the book or pass it on to somebody else.”

Looking ahead, Roberts’ vision for the parish might be surprising. “Everybody always has plans to grow the church, but I’m not about the numbers. Sure, I would like to see us bursting at the seams and have to add services. What a glorious problem that would be, but I’m much more concerned about welcoming anybody who is seeking and helping all our folks spiritually. We walk in a journey. My hope is to accompany our people on that journey. l

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Traveling theBACKROADS

Burried in St. ClairIncredible inhumations

Mize Marker


Story and photos by Jerry C. Smith

Some St. Clair County folks became local legends in their own lifetimes, while others are better-known post-mortem, in part for their mode of interment. Some of the county’s citizens were laid to rest in very unusual places, unknown to most who pass nearby every day.

An Odenville war hero is memorialized by an empty grave, his body reportedly lost somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle; a British royal reposes under the Ashville Armory; a lonely gravesite in Caldwell clings precariously to the edge of a bluff, next to a major US highway; a church cemetery near Coal City has strange pillars of rock that bring caves to mind.

Let’s explore these remarkable sites.

Vanished in the Bermuda TriangleA family tombstone in Odenville’s Liberty

Presbyterian Cemetery tells a cryptic story: “FORMAN AUSTIN MIZE — LOST ON USS CYCLOPS — MARCH 1918 — Gone But Not Forgotten— Son”

It’s certainly odd that such a fine marker bearing this even odder inscription would grace an empty gravesite. A little research uncovered a remarkable tale of wartime sacrifice and unsolved mysteries.

The Cyclops was a collier ship, designed for transporting huge quantities of coal, much in the manner of today’s supertankers. Indeed, she was a super-ship in her own right, one of the largest such vessels built during those years, and still has the grim distinction of being the biggest ship and the most crewmen to ever vanish without a trace.

World War I was going full-force at the time. After being refitted for hauling other strategic minerals, the Cyclops was loaded with manganese ore in Brazil, destined for defense manufacturing ports in the United States. She put in at Bahia for loading before sailing to Baltimore via the waters of Bermuda.

Once the Cyclops left Brazil, she and more than 300 crew and passengers were never heard from again. To this day, not a single part of her, not a body nor life jacket nor even a scrap of paper or oil slick has ever been found. Among the missing was Odenville’s Seaman 2nd Class Forman Austin Mize, who had enlisted in the U S Navy in Montgomery on April 16, 1917, a few days shy of his 18th birthday.

Educated at St Clair High School, Forman was described in Find-A-Grave by a distant cousin, Betty Venable Phillips, as an excellent student in music and academics, and of the Presbyterian faith.

He was the son of Louis and Marze (Forman) Mize, both old-family natives of northern St. Clair. They’re buried on either side of Forman’s empty plot, where all three share a large marker among dozens of other Mizes and their kin buried at Liberty Church.

Another cousin, 84 year-old Billie Jean Mize, routinely decorates more than 50 gravesites in that cemetery, although few of her line now live in Odenville. At one time, the Mizes were a large and prominent pioneer family in that area, but most migrated to nearby Overton during the mid-1900s.

Forman Austin Mize and his Brother

Forman Austin Mize’s ship, USS

Cyclops



They are perhaps best known for Mize Bus Lines, which ran between Odenville, Overton and Birmingham with numerous stops along the way.

The USS Cyclops (AC-4), named after a race of giants in Greek mythology, was built in 1910, several years before World War I. With a displacement of more than 19,000 tons, she was a giant in her day. Theories abound on her loss – everything from a killer wave or major storm or giant methane gas bubble, to being sunk by a German U-Boat, from sabotage to structural failure and/or corrosion from carrying metallic ores for which she was not designed.

Many books have been written about the Cyclops, and her fate has been explored in several TV documentaries on History and National Geographic channels.

British peer beneath Ashville ArmoryElizabeth Stuart of England’s Royal House of

Stuart was a niece of Queen Anne as well as a seventh generation descendant of Mary Queen of Scots, according to various genealogical records.

She was a noblewoman, listed in Burke’s Peerage, but was ousted from the aristocracy when she married a Scottish commoner, John Diamond. They had a daughter, also named Elizabeth, who married John R. Duet Thomason, presumably while the family still resided in Virginia.

Thomason (aka Thomasson, Thompson, Tomson) was born in 1724. Some 52 years later, he fought in the Revolutionary War. Because of his service as a commissioned officer, he was given a huge tract of recently-vacated Indian land in northern St. Clair County.

He and Elizabeth brought their family here in the early 1800s. Both were already old (for that era) when they moved here. They had 10 children, among them James Thomason, St. Clair’s first circuit judge. James’ son also became a judge. A grandson, Francis Marion Thomason, developed the now-vanished resort at St. Clair Springs.

John and Elizabeth were buried in Ashville’s first cemetery on land now occupied by the National Guard Armory. Records state that all the graves there were unmarked except one, which was moved to the current cemetery on Alabama 23. The rest, including St. Clair’s resident princess, were left intact underneath the new armory when it was built in 1930.

A simple bronze plaque listing their life dates and Elizabeth’s royal lineage can be seen on the front right corner of this building on Double Bridges Road as you leave downtown Ashville toward Steele.

This plaque was placed by the Broken Arrow DAR, presided over by Elizabeth Hodges Hill,

Lost Seaman, Forman Austin Mize

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wife of world-famed archer Howard Hill, both of whom are buried in the newer cemetery.

(Hill’s own remarkable story is available in the Oct/Nov 2014 issue of Discover magazine, available at discoverstclair.com.)

A lonely tombThousands of travelers who’ve passed Bill Gibson’s grave over

the past 200 years have probably never taken notice of its presence, especially after cars replaced horses and raised travel speeds exponentially. Indeed, it took your writer three tries to find it even though, once seen, it’s in plain sight.

Interred on the edge of a road-cut bluff on U.S. 11, just north of the St. Clair County Road 31 junction, Mr. William Green Gibson has been figuratively watching traffic for a very long time. When he was laid to rest in 1827, not long after both our state and county were born, the current highway was just a wagon trail called the Georgia-Tuscaloosa Road, unpaved until well into the next century.

Born in 1795, Bill obviously met some untimely fate at age 31, and was laid to rest in one of the oldest marked graves in St. Clair. It was re-discovered by highway crews while widening the road in preparation for paving US 11, which now traverses the entire vertical width of the United States.

They graciously diverted their bulldozers just shy of his grave, leaving it mere inches from the face of a freshly-cut bluff. In fact, when you stand beside the bluff, you are probably closer to Mr. Gibson’s remains than when you are standing at the marker on top.

Legends abound as to the cause of his demise; one holds that he was a traveling hat salesman who died while running his route and was buried on the spot by fellow travelers. Another story claims he was a local man who was gored to death by an ox. Yet another fable says he was shot in a duel, but not before burying a huge sum of money in the area. Like most good stories, these tend to improve with age.

Modern obituaries are almost clinical in their diction, preferring simple phrases such as “passed away” or simply “died.” But in more gentile days of 100 or more years ago, newspaper writers occasionally waxed poetic in their grim writings.

Joe Whitten, an Odenville historian, has an unusual hobby; he collects death notices. He’s compiled two major collections, Wedding Bells & Funeral Knells, and By Murder, Accident and Natural Causes, both still available at Pell City Library and Ashville Archives.

Browsing these works, one is more likely to find phrases like, “… We pen with sorrow the announcement of his passing …” or “all that was mortal of -xxxx- passed quietly away and was numbered with the pale sleepers in the silent kingdom of death.”

One epitaph surely merits some kind of award for sheer verbosity: “His remains were interred in the Ashville cemetery, leaving the angels to guard and the stars to sing their vesper hymns till the arch angel breaks the silence and the beauty immortal awakes from the tomb and is proclaimed ‘behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him”.

Equally intriguing are causes of death, many of which chronicle a much-different era. Among them are a malaria sufferer who “mistook a bottle of morphine for quinine,” and a convicted man who was “hanged to a limb while on his way to Ashville jail.” Also mentioned is a fellow who “committed suicide by shooting himself three times. …”

But those pale compared to an Ashville gentleman who was “out in his stockyard looking after the stock where two mules were running loose and playing, when one of them, passing the deceased, threw up its heels, kicking him in the stomach and knocking him senseless, and he was carried to the house lifeless.”

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Edge Family Plot at Pope’s Chapel

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However, genealogical records show that both William and his father, William Sr., lived in St. Clair at the time, so most likely, he died by accident or disease and was buried near the family home. Records also show that his will was executed shortly afterward.

Ah well, sometimes the legends are much more interesting.

Obelisks in a family plotIt’s easy to imagine stalagmites growing from a cavern floor when visiting the

Edge Family plot at Pope’s Chapel Congregational Methodist Church, on Pope’s Chapel Road near Coal City/Wattsville.

Dozens of graves are marked with roughly-sculpted brown sandstone pillars, varying in height from two to eight feet. Family members have ventured that these mini-monoliths were hewn from the bed of a nearby creek, but no one is sure of their actual origin or why this method was chosen to mark the final rests of a major St. Clair pioneer family.

Only the two tallest stones have epitaphs, on small metal plates at eye level. The oldest is inscribed:

ELIZABETH ERVIN EDGEWIFE OF JAMES EDGE

BORN IN NORTH CAROLINA ABOUT 1780DIED BETWEEN 1850-1860

MARRIED IN WILKES COUNTY GEORGIA12-25-1799

James is buried beside her, tagged with an equally vague death date of “between 1860-1870.”

One might assume these are the oldest graves in the plot. We can only speculate on other aspects of those at rest, including why their dates of passing are not better known and why only two markers are inscribed.

Mystery cemetery at BethelBethel Baptist Church in Moody has two cemeteries; one is of classic style, full

of well-marked graves, both old and modern. But just across the church driveway is another, much smaller plot that inspires more questions than answers.

It’s a snug space, contained within a low fence of concrete stub posts girded with a single steel chain that in no way impedes entry. Of the 15 marked graves, only four stones are engraved. The rest are simple chunks of native sandstone.

The only formal monuments belong to the Kerrs and Chenaults, two of the original settlers of that area, and are the oldest defined graves in the entire cemetery. A few Chenaults of later passing lie in the main cemetery, but no other Kerrs have marked graves there.

It’s entirely possible that many others are interred in this mystery plot, as unmarked burials were common practice in the old days because of the cost of engraving as well as a high mortality rate among infants. Unsubstantiated rumor has it that John Chenault’s personal servant is buried at his feet, per the slave’s own request. This practice is not unheard of, as many planter families developed bonds of friendship and loyalty with their workers that endured well beyond the Civil War.

So, why is this section set apart from the main cemetery? It has been suggested that, because the Moody Crossroads area was decidedly pro-Union and anti-slavery during the Civil War, later generations may have opted for burial in nearby grounds instead.

On the other hand, maybe it was simply the wishes of those two families to be buried with only their loved ones. Who knows?

To add to the mystique, several years ago a tornado touched down briefly in the main cemetery, sending some of the heaviest markers sliding across the ground and damaging many others, but not a single stone was touched in the Kerr-Chenault plot, just yards away. l


36

Triple crownof boulderingHorse Pens 40 partof epic competitionStory and photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

37

Horse Pens 40, high atop Chandler Mountain, is a destination point, or you might say a series of destination points, for boulder climbers from around the country, Canada and beyond.

As home to one of the finest sandstone bouldering fields in North America, climbers from as far away as Colorado, Quebec, California, Virginia and South Florida come to compete in the HP40 segment of the Triple Crown Bouldering competition.

The Triple Crown is the brain child of Jim Horton of North Wilkesboro, NC, Chad Wykle of Chattanooga TN, and Adam Henry of Birmingham. The idea was to create a series of bouldering events in the Southeast with a mission to raise funds for two organizations dedicated to maintaining access to bouldering sites. The Southeastern Climbers’ Coalition and the Carolina Climbers’ coalition are instrumental in procuring land for the climbing community. The motto is “Owned by Climbers and Managed by Climbers.” According to Wykle, the Triple Crown has been visiting Horse Pens 40 for 13 years.

Bouldering is a form of rock climbing without ropes, harnesses or other tools and hardware. It is a bare-handed sport performed relatively close to the ground. Chalk is used to keep hands dry and improve friction while bouldering shoes help feet grip the rock, and a small, stiff brush is used to clean the rocks. Bouldering mats, usually referred to as crash pads, minimize the risk of injury in the inevitable fall.

The lack of sophisticated equipment is more than offset by the physical strength, stamina and agility required for bouldering. Routes up the rocks are referred to as “problems.” But like all problems, the solution lies in breaking it down to the elements, figuring out what moves can be made to conquer the individual elements. Mentally solving the problem is the first step. Physically implementing the solution is where success and failure occur.


Watching a climber is akin to watching a gymnast perform a ballet from the ground to the top of the rock, clinging with fingertips, heels and toes. The burn is intense as a climber swings, suspended by only the fingertips of one hand, in search of another handhold or foothold. The elements of the problem are addressed one by one in an attempt to reach the top of the route.

Many problems require the climbers begin with their back on the ground with only a small crease in the rock. Using fingertips and incredible strength, climbers will lift their bodies from the ground, and find purchase with a heel, toe or another hand on some crack, or even a smooth surface.

The language of bouldering reveals some of the skills that are necessary for success. For example, a “hand jam” is a crack technique in which you slot your hand and cup the palm, wrapping the thumb underneath or beside your fingers, to jam against the crack’s walls. A “fingerlock” is a hold formed by inserting your digits in a finger crack and then twisting, with your weight coming to the lowest crammed knuckle. A “sloper” is a down sloping handhold that relies on skin friction and an open-hand grip. Horse Pens 40 is known for sloper problems.

In the beginning, practice becomes own sportThe sport originated as a method for rope climbers to

practice advanced climbing techniques close to the ground, thus minimizing the risk of injury. The sport increased strength and stamina. Over time, bouldering evolved into a separate discipline, with rating systems to score the routes.

Typically, a bouldering problem involves no more than a 20-foot ascent. This makes it fairly simple to identify and rate routes by their difficulty. Worldwide, there are two primary rating systems. In Europe, the Fontainebleau, or “Font” scale is preferred, while in North America, the V scale is used.

The Font scale got its name from the Fontainebleau climbing region in France. The V scale was named for John Sherman, a notorious climber whose nickname was Vermin. Sherman referred to his V-Scale as “an ego yardstick” he and his friends would use to compare their feats. In both scales, the higher the rating, the more difficult the problem.

Both the Font Scale and the V Scale are open ended, allowing for advances in technique and skill sets in the future. Currently, the most difficult route rated on the V Scale is a V-16, but somewhere, someone may find and climb something more difficult.

Rating the competitionIn competitions like the Triple Crown, problems are

rated and assigned a point value. The higher the rating on the V Scale, the higher the point value. At Horse Pens 40, the most difficult routes were rated V11, with a few rated V$$$, indicating a cash prize for solving the problem. The highest point value, placed on a problem named “The Seam” was 10,000. The next highest, named “Sun Wall,” was 3,000.

At the Triple Crown, teams from colleges as well as various gyms were represented, but the competition was

Triple crown of bouldering

Stan Batemon - continuing to work for you here in St. Clair County and in Montgomery and Washington DC to create jobs, secure grants for education and infrastructure and to oppose ALL tax increases. I also support rescinding the most recent gasoline tax and to demand that the county commission allow a public vote on any more taxes! I pledge to represent you fairly and honestly and to work with others to keep our county moving in the right direction.

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on an individual level within categories, as opposed to a team competition. Competition categories included both Male and Female Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Open. The Unisex Categories included Junior: 12 and under; Ancient Hard Person: 35 years and up; Stone Master: 45 years and up and Star Chaser. The Star Chaser category was open to all ages.

Climbers are placed in the various classes based on their experience and performance history. If a climber is registered as a novice, but their performance at the tournament indicates that they should be rated an intermediate climber, they are moved to the intermediate pool, and scored with the intermediate climbers.

On the Triple Crown website (triplecrownbouldering.org), the spirit of the event is summed up in one line. “Space is limited, and we want only excited climbers who encourage each other.” At Horse Pens 40, everyone had that objective in common. One mother commented that her daughter had been climbing for six years, and she had never seen a more encouraging, enthusiastic group of people anywhere. Everyone seemed to want the other climbers to succeed. Eager to spot, coach, cheer and console characterized the climbers at every problem.

In many formal climbing competitions, coaching is strictly forbidden. This is not the case in the Triple Crown. Climbers are given encouragement and direction from spectators and spotters as they climb. Each new move is cheered, and when one “tops out,” the applause is generous. l

For more images check out the story online

Editor’s Note: The Triple Crown will return to Horse Pens 40 the weekend of November 19, 2016. Spectators are welcome. It is a family friendly event, so bring your children. Camping is available, or simply make it a day trip. You may leave with an insatiable urge to climb a rock.

Triple crown of bouldering

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Photos by Michael CallahanSubmitted photos courtesy Pell City Library

First known as the Pell City Manufacturing Company, when the mill came to town in 1901, it would affect the lives of generations. The seemingly massive plant on the eastern side of downtown would become Avondale Mills, and a community – Pell City – grew up around it. A job at the mill often meant a better life for you and your family.

A village, businesses, churches, a school – they were all a central part of life in Pell City for more than a century. Its best known icons defined its existence – the whistle heard for miles around, signaling the beginning of a new shift, the water tank towering high above and the smokestack, standing sentry over it all.

The whistle has long been gone. So has the plant. It closed, then fell victim to fire. In November, the smokestack came tumbling down. Officials ordered its demolition when it was deemed too unsafe to remain standing. But the memories it generated will never go away. It is hoped that a planned, new park on the property will become a centerpiece of life in Pell City, much like the mill once was. New memories will be made to share, much like those made in a mill town long ago…

The StackMy first recollection of “The Stack” came from the backseat

of my parents’ 1953 Chevy. My dad had taken me along on a ride down to the mill’s big office – actually, Avondale Mills. As we pulled into the mill office, my 5 year old eyes were transfixed on the highest point in Pell City, the Avondale Mills boiler room smokestack. As I started gazing at the base and moved upward, I thought the stack would never stop its ascension to the sky.

As the years went by and I grew into my teens, the majesty of this powerful structure always held my gaze as we passed by. Growing up on the Old Coal City Road, it did so many times.

At 10 p.m. on Jan. 18, 1964, the day I turned 16 years old, I started my first clean-up man third shift at Avondale Mills’ Pell City plant, joining a family tradition of working at ‘the mill.’

As I walked from my car to the entrance, glancing over to the right that January night, a familiar sight caught my attention. Yes, as she had down through the years, there she was standing tall against the black January sky so many years ago -- The Stack.

Walking through the plant entrance doors that cold January night, I would become one of the many thousands of workers who started their working lives or spent entire lives working at “the mill.” Just like hundreds of other families, my father

AvondaleSmokestackWhen it all went to pieces


AvondaleSmokestack

and grandfather spent their working lives there. It was honest, hard work and provided for the livelihood of so many families in the Pell City and surrounding areas for decades.

Now here we are on Nov. 24, 2015 and our iconic stack is going to be demolished. It was a bittersweet block of time watching and photographing the last moments for her. Proudly she stood strong as it took multiple blasts and finally a nudge by heavy equipment to bring about her demise.

I will forever miss ‘the stack,’ our stack, and I have a feeling many of us old cotton millers and the citizens of Pell City will, too. l

CEPAThe Place for Entertainment

This Season

“Hiram -Becoming Hank Williams”Never before seen story of Hank as a boy! Feb, 26, 27, 20167:00 pmFeb, 28, 20162:00 pmTickets: Adults - $22.50Seniors & Students - $15.00

A new play by nationally syndicatedcolumnist and best selling author,Rheta Grimsley Johnson, and John Williams

Jett Williams to attend opening night. Debut of new song by Jett Williams.

Pell City Center for Education and Performing Arts

T i c k e t s a v a i l a b l e o n l i n e a tp e l l c i t y c e n t e r . c o m o r

C a l l 2 0 5 - 3 3 8 - 1 9 7 4

HIRAM

Corey Kirby as Hiram


Story by Carol PappasPhotos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

At age 29, it hardly seemed enough time to become a legend. But Hiram King Williams, known to most as Hank, possessed an innate musical genius that propelled him to superstardom by the time he was 25.

For the man who garnered number one hits, Grammy Awards and the Pulitzer Prize, it was plenty of time to set the music world on fire, melt more than a few cold, cold hearts along the way and set the standard for country music to this day.

While much has been written about his life as a young man and celebrity, little has been penned about the boy born in Mt. Olive, Alabama, who grew up in Georgianna and Montgomery. Until now.

Nationally syndicated columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson and playwright John M. Williams collaborated to bring Williams to life on stage once again, but not as the country music legend he would become. It’s simply Hiram, the boy from rural Alabama who grew up during the Depression, picked up a guitar at the age of 8 and created music and lyrics that still touch the soul 60 years after his death in 1953.

The world premiere of Hiram, Becoming Hank Williams, comes to center stage at Pell City Center for Education and the Performing Arts, CEPA, Feb. 26-28. Its arrival in St. Clair County perhaps has as many twists and turns as Williams’ life.

The play was first going to be booked at a theatre in Georgianna, home of Hank Williams’ Birthplace Museum and where a festival takes place every year. Johnson, who wrote the book, Hank Hung the Moon and Warmed Our Cold, Cold, Hearts, had a book signing there. Museum Director Margaret

HIRAMYoung Hank Williams world premiere coming to CEPA

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Gaston wanted to take it further. “She envisioned a short play at the theatre in Georgianna,” Johnson said, and Johnson was encouraged to write it.

Johnson called her playwright friend, John M. Williams, and they agreed to collaborate. “I knew Hank lore, and he knew playwrights.”

But, the theatre closed, and Gaston mentioned CEPA Artistic Director Kathy McCoy, who had been a director in nearby Monroeville. “I give her (Gaston) a lot of credit for the idea – “What was the genius? Where did it come from? I am disappointed that Georgianna fell through for her.”

Georgianna’s loss became Pell City’s gain. McCoy agreed to direct, and CEPA’s board of directors welcomed the world premiere to its theatre.

Along the way, there has been a lot of work to craft the final version. “It went back and forth,” writing and rewriting, said Williams. “We spent lots of time listening to good music,” he noted, adding how that music had influenced Hank – Hillbilly, Blues, country.

“We wanted to recreate the South he was in,” Williams said.“Adapting the original play to stage was a challenge,”

McCoy added. “Music was involved, so we had to bring it all together.”

Jett Williams no longer in the wingsJett Williams, Hank’s daughter, co-wrote a song especially

for the play. Appropriately called, Hiram, the song will make its debut opening night – and Williams will be there. In a telephone interview from her Green Grove, Tennessee, home, Williams talked about the song, Johnson, her father’s life and his influence that is still felt decades after his death.

She co-wrote the song with friend Kelly Zumwalt, and Corey Kirby, who plays Hiram, will be premiering the song.

Jet Williams has a longtime friendship with Johnson, who first began writing in her syndicated newspaper columns about

HIRAM

T I C K E T I N F O R M AT I O NFeb. 26 at 7 p.m.Tickets, $22.50

$15, Students and Seniors

Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.Tickets, $22.50

$15, Students and Seniors

Feb. 28 at 2 p.m.Tickets, $22.50

$15, Students and Seniors (62+)

Buy [email protected] call to reserve @205-338-1974

Feb. 25 at noon at CEPABook signing, program by Jett Williams and Rheta

Grimsley JohnsonReception to follow

Hiram playwrights John M. Williams and Rheta

Grimsley Johnson

Corey Kirby helps Melvin Richardson with guitar.

From left, Danielle Daly, Wendy Dewberry,

Julie Funderburg

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Williams’ years-long battle to be recognized as Hank Williams’ daughter. She devotes a chapter in her book about Hank to Jett Williams.

Jett was born to Bobbie Jett, with whom Williams had a relationship. Hank died months before her birth, but he had made arrangements for his own mother to adopt her. She did, but she died two years after the adoption. Jett went into a foster home and then was adopted again by a couple from Mobile and grew up as Cathy Deupree.

Jett said she met Johnson many years ago when her legal battles began. “She’s a fabulous writer. She included me in one of her columns. From the first time I talked to her, she made no secret that she was a huge fan in love with Hank Williams. Other than loving Auburn (Johnson is an AU graduate), that would be it.”

Jett talked about Johnson’s book and how she was “always a champion for my dad – his music and his memory.”

“We started out as reporter and subject. Now, we’re friends,” Johnson said.

Jett likes the angle of the story for this play, she said. “This is a different approach to Hank Williams,” she said. “It’s his childhood, discovering his talents and setting forth to live his dream.”

So much has been written about his death or the Grand Ole Opry. “More has been written about that time of life,” Jett explained. “This goes back to the beginning.” Someone of his stature and genius “doesn’t just wake up at 21 and say this is something I want to do.”

After reading the script, she said, “I am proud of Rheta and Johnny. They did a great job. But reading the play and actually seeing it come to life – that’s why I’m coming to Pell City. I want to see it jump off the paper and come to life. I am excited to see it on stage.”

Johnson and Williams share the excitement of being able to tell this story. “He was born with this great gift, but there were influences,” Johnson said. There was a blues influence, a spiritual influence and a honky tonk influence.

The blues influence on him was “enormous,” Williams said. “He had this air all around him, a lot of influences on him.”

“He put it all together,” Johnson said, citing lyrics from Your Cheatin’ Heart. “That’s not unlike what the bluesman wrote about: ‘Another mule kicking in my stall.’ Nothing requires a footnote to explain what was happening in 1952” in his life.

Jett, who is a country music entertainer on her own and a producer of Unreleased Recordings of Hank Williams, earned a Grammy nomination for it.

She accepted the Pulitzer Prize for him. Take the lines from her favorite song, I’m so Lonesome I could Cry, and the genius is evident:

The silence of a falling starLights up a purple sky

And as I wonder where you areI’m so lonesome I could cry

“Even with no melody,” Jett said, “it shows you

genius. The highest journalist award shows the greatness of the man from Alabama.”

“Good music is good music,” Johnson said. “The lyrics are so poetic, it’s going to last. He’s lasted. It’s Alabama’s best story.” l

HIRAMJohn Harmon as

Hiram’s friend, Harold

From left, Director Kathy McCoy, Noah Parsons, who designed the set,

Johnson and Williams

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Story by Jerry C. SmithSubmitted photos

As waves of new settlers poured into St. Clair County during the first half of the 19th century, churches were often the anchors that held Alabama’s frontier settlements together against many a storm. More than a simple place of worship, these early congregations were a compelling force for stability and fellowship.

Deacon Gerald Ensley says, “Our church was the heart of the community. Mt. Pisgah was also like an incubator, as members later began to spread out and start their own churches.”

Mt. Pisgah Baptist, near Cropwell, is currently celebrating more than 175 years of service, one of several pioneering congregations in southern St Clair County recently honoring landmark anniversaries.

The pride of Fountain RunFounded in the 1840s as Camp Creek

Baptist, on land donated by Jane Mahaley Norris, Pisgah’s original sanctuary sat atop a hill near that creek. It was a crude, log affair with dirt floors, shuttered windows and no heat or running water.

Church historian Maurine Riley Sims describes it as “…small, one-roomed, rough benches, dimly-lighted, and uncomfortable for the seasons. The minister was a circuit rider who made rounds once a month. Those coming to the services arrived by horse, farm wagon or walked.

“Rural, isolated and remote were the best adjectives for southeastern St. Clair County. Even though the church met only once a month, it still served as a means of communication and unification in the settlement. The itinerant parson also brought the latest news and thoughts from near and far.

“The preachers were not educated in formal schools, but in the harsh life of working daily with people. His main commentary was his Bible. His sermons dealt mainly on the simple issues of scripture. He worked another job through the week, then pastored on Sunday. His only source of income from the church was

South St. Clair churches celebrate landmark

anniversaries

Mt. Pisgah Baptist


the love offering taken at each visit. However, he was always invited to a local home for lunch before his return trip home.

“The church budget consisted of taking an offering to pay the preacher. Any other expense was paid by members as the need arose. Evening services were rare because of the distances and the farm animals who needed to be tended. The exception was the Saturday night service when the traveling minister could arrive early. Sunday night services, outside of revivals, were rare indeed.”

Ensley adds that his great-great grandfather, C.J. Pike, Sr. was one of the founders and original pastors, as well as serving again as pastor in later years. His son, C.J. Pike, Jr., also served.

This crude facility was razed about 30 years later, not long after the Civil War, and another church built on ground now occupied by the Pike family burial plot. Also of log construction, it sported wooden floors and a pot-bellied stove for heat – real luxuries for that era.

A newer sanctuary was built in 1903 and, by 1908, a Sunday School as well, with L.M. Goss as superintendent. This church was a fine structure, costing a princely $800 to build, with separate front doors for men on one side and women and children on the other, as was the convention in those days.

Other customs of that era are mentioned in Mrs. Sims’ book, A History of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, to wit: “1901 rules of decorum…Resolved, that we as a church will not tolerate the selling of ardent spirits by any of our members. Any…engaged in this business shall be excluded. If any member of this church gets drunk and fails to become his own accuser, …he shall be excluded without notice. Resolved, that we as a church will not tolerate dancing or promenading after vocal or instrumental music.”

It was well-located on a main road between Pell City and Vincent, in an area near Easonville, which was known in those days as Fountain Run. The Harmon family owned a store, cotton gin and other businesses near the church, but were forced to relocate in Easonville when land was acquired for a new routing of US 231 South.

Ensley relates that road construction ground to a halt during World War II. US 231 was ultimately completed in 1945-6 by German prisoners of war who were interred at a camp run by his uncle, on the present-day grounds of Lakeside Park.

By 1924, the congregation had grown enough to need yet another sanctuary. The previous one was torn down, and its wood sold for $1.10 to a local farmer to build a barn. A fine new wooden structure was constructed in 1928-9, but later also torn down and replaced by the brick building built by Eddie Ingram, now used as a chapel.

However, modern amenities were slow in coming. Electricity didn’t arrive in the Coosa Valley until 1939, nor did the church have running water. There was an un-plumbed outhouse in back. Heat was still provided by a pot-bellied stove, and summer cooling was by traditional, hand-held “funeral home” fans, made of stiff paper stapled to a wooden handle.

Mrs. Sims’ book mentions budget expenditures from the 1930s that included 25 cents a month to the Sunday

Original Cropwell

Baptist

St. Mary the Virgin Episcopal


School super for making fires, a dollar to the housekeeper, 75 cents for a well bucket, but a whopping $5.94 for carbide to fuel the lighting system.

According to Ensley, Sunday School was held in the main chapel, with each group meeting behind curtains hanging from ceiling wires. It was a noisy setup with little privacy, but was soon remedied by building a four-room Sunday School building behind the chapel.

By 1935, services were being held bi-weekly, but reverted back to monthly after World War II began in 1941. War’s end brought new prosperity to the church; they installed gas heat, paved the road connecting with US 231, began a Vacation Bible School in 1947, and by 1949, they finally had a full-time pastor, Reverend Foster Glidewell. The church even bought a mirror so the pianist could watch the collection plate’s progress and know what to play.

By 1948, Mt. Pisgah had an electric well pump, running water and modernized restroom facilities in an outbuilding. In 1960, they spent more than $3,000 for an organ. Most of these amenities are taken for granted by city folks but, in the agrarian society of rural Fountain Run, they were hard-won luxuries.

Today’s Mt. Pisgah Baptist is a vibrant, well-attended community center, with an outstanding gymnasium/roller skating rink that was built by Deacon Ensley, using a lot of donated materials from local merchants, Raymond Bowman in particular.

Yet another new main sanctuary was recently built, leaving the classic old brick building to serve as a chapel for smaller functions.

Mt. Pisgah has been around a very long time, only a few years less than the county itself. Like most of its older congregation members, it suffered through some difficult organizational and economic times before reaching its present prominence and luxury.

Ensley mentions that his Aunt Elizabeth Pike, Pastor C.J. Pike, Jr.’s, daughter, walked the entire distance between Ragland and Vincent, soliciting donations and members to keep the congregation solvent during those critical years.

Today’s attendance roll consists of about one-third native families and two-thirds “new folks,” who came after the lake was created. Ensley first attended Pisgah while yet unborn, as his mother was a regular member, and he’s been going there ever since, he said.

He adds that if anyone has any kind of credible insight into the church’s history during the first 50 years after its founding, whether by actual documents, genealogy results or family lore, please contact him through the church office. He’s trying to create an updated addendum to Mrs. Sims’ book.

Seddon makes a bold moveOnly a few decades younger than Mt. Pisgah, Seddon Baptist

Church celebrated its 140th anniversary in 2013 by moving into an unlikely location – a long-vacated 84 Lumber Company Warehouse/Showroom.

In a recent Anniston Star story, Reverend Dale Foote, senior pastor, said, “This was literally a lumber store. There is such encouragement and excitement here. We feel like we have a great opportunity to grow.” Apparently he was right, as their attendance has already increased by more than 40 people.

Services are currently conducted in what will become the Family Life Center after completion of their main sanctuary,

St. Clair churchesFormer Seddon Baptist

“Plays, fundraisers, schoolevents, private gatherings

…they all prove that theCEPA building is a

wonderful jewel within ourcommunity and used by all

the citizens of Pell City.”– Julie

Funderburg

Julie and Erskine Funderburg areactive CEPA Members, and membersof the Pell City Players.

That’s My CEPA!CEPA - The Pell City Center For Education And Performing Arts

was built with overwhelming support from our community. At CEPA we’re proud of the plays and performances, all the events that enrich ourcommunity. Together, with your help we’ve created a vibrant, diverse and world classperforming arts center. But without continued support from our neighbors we knowwe can’t continue to grow.

If you enjoy live performing arts we’d like to invite you to become a member of CEPAso you can proclaim “That’s My CEPA!” Your membership will provide vital supportto our work and every gift is instrumental in bringing performances to life on ourstage.

To say “Thank You!” for your support we’re now providing members with vouchers for FREE tickets to many of the performances we hold each year. An IndividualMembership is just $35.00. A Family Membership is just $50.00. A SupportingMembership is just $100.00 and comes with two ticket vouchers, up to a $45.00 value.

A Director Club Membership comes with 4 ticket vouchers, special discount offers and free lobby rental once a year all for $500.00. You get FREE admission to

Pell City Players events AND the satisfaction of knowing you are one of the people helping CEPA to continue its mission.

It’s your CEPA too! Become a member today! Call 205-338-1974 or go to www.pellcitycenter.com to learn more

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which is planned to seat as many as a thousand people. There is plenty of room for further expansion and ministry ventures, as the site includes more than 11 acres.

Seddon’s old chapel on Hardwick Road now serves another congregation.

Cropwell Baptist makes it officialCropwell Baptist Church, almost as old as her sisters at Seddon and Fountain

Run, recently celebrated a 125th anniversary, although it’s known by many oldsters that this congregation had been meeting under the pastoring of Reverend Washington Wilkes long before its official entry into the Coosa Valley Baptist Association in 1889.

With credentials of some 30 charter members in hand, congregation members petitioned for membership to the CVBA at its 56th annual session, and succeeded.

Like many churches of the day, services were held monthly instead of weekly, with an average Sunday School attendance of around 40. Electricity was connected in 1927. Two years later, a tornado wiped out both Cropwell Baptist and Coosa Valley Baptist, forcing both congregations to meet in the Cropwell High School auditorium until new sanctuaries were built.

Cropwell’s new church was completed in December of that same year, next door to Roberson and Jones Store. It’s said those families were a great influence in the church’s success. The first meeting in the new edifice was attended by 46 people, with a collected offering of $1.26.

In 1956, meetings were held every two weeks and, in 1957, once a week. In the years that followed, the sanctuary was renovated, a pastorium and Sunday School space were added, and a completely new complex of Worship Center and Educational Buildings was built in 1991. These facilities were again expanded in 2015, but the older sanctuary had to be demolished to make room.

A phoenix emergesIn his book, History Of The Episcopal Church In Pell City, Alabama,

archivist Joe Vance claims, “Pell City’s newest church may actually be one of its oldest.”

The Church of St. Mary The Virgin was founded in 1903 by the legendary Sumter Cogswell, who donated land for the Baptist and Methodist churches as well. In 1907, their first official chapel was built at 2117 First Avenue North, on land that would eventually become Mrs. Gloria Roberson’s homesite after the church’s dissolution. It’s at the opposite end of the same city block as the historic Garry House.

Described by Mr. Vance as, “a simple, white church with gothic windows,” St. Mary’s membership rolls were a who’s-who of early Pell City‘s civic leaders. City founder Sumter Cogswell’s family attended there, as well as George Pratt, first president of Pell City Manufacturing, which later became Avondale Mills. Also in the fold were Mr. Draper, the mill’s first superintendent, and McClain Tilton, bank president.

St. Mary’s first priest was Rev. James H. Blacklock, a graduate of Oxford University in England, who rode all the way from Anniston to perform his duties. Other visiting parsons were Rev. Joe Harvey of St. Peter’s in Talladega, Rev. Carl Hinkle from Birmingham’s Grace Church, and Revs. Hart and Oldham from St. Michaels in Anniston.

With all these notables aboard, it is little wonder that the church flourished from Day One, but its horizon, as well as for the whole country’s in general, would soon become very cloudy indeed.

Because of the Great Depression as well as relocations and deaths among its core members, the church was down to a handful of congregants by the late 1930s, finally dissolving for good in 1940. The quaint little chapel was torn down, and its land sold. There would not be another Episcopal Church in Pell City until 1975, some 35 years later.

Mr. Vance remarked upon his church’s rebirth, “The Lord works in strange and wondrous ways to bring about the establishment of one of His churches.” By a truly remarkable chain of relatively unrelated events, local Episcopalians

St. Clair churchesOlder

Cropwell Baptist

New Cropwell Baptist

St. Simon Peter


worked their own version of a resurrection.Sally and Walter Childs, who lived in a cottage beside Lake Logan Martin,

chanced to become re-acquainted with Ann Forrest, a Mays Bend resident whom Sally had known previously. Had these two Episcopalians not bumped into each other, the latter-day history of that area might have played out quite differently.

Ann had recently learned that one of her neighbors in Mays Bend was in fact an inactive Episcopal priest. While visiting Eleanor and Julian McPhillips, Ann noticed a photograph on their bedroom wall of Julian clad in vestments. Although she’d known them for more than a year, somehow the subject had never arisen until she saw the picture. Ann’s friend Sally later contacted Reverend McPhillips, and the rest, as they say is history.

Mr. Vance tells us, “…the genesis of St. Simon Peter took place on Sunday, April 20, 1975, 3:00PM, at the home of Sally & Walter Childs on the shores of Lake Logan Martin.”

Rev. McPhillips was a dynamic man whose life-work also included presidency of King Pharr Industries, a food canning business in Cullman whose name is familiar to most older Alabamians. After his ordination, he had served in several Peace Corps operations, both in Washington D.C. and India.

Following its official formation in the summer of that same year, the new church began meeting at Chapel in the Pines, an outdoor religious venue on the grounds of the now-defunct Pine Harbor Country Club. That worship facility has since been relocated to Lakeside Park, just a few hundred feet from today’s St. Simon Peter Episcopal Church in Cropwell.

In advance of our unpredictable autumn weather, a local realtor named Barbara Ferrell agreed to loan them the use of her A-frame office, rent free, for their growing congregation. This building still stands on Alabama 34, next to J & S Store, and was being used by an insurance agency before being put on the market.

Having begun as a mission of St. Peter’s in Talladega, in 1978 they were received as a new satellite parish, known as the Episcopal Lake Chapel. Because McPhillips had agreed to work for free and Mrs. Ferrell did not charge rent, this new church had the unique distinction of giving 100 percent of its collections and other proceeds to those in need during its mission days.

But because it was a rapidly growing congregation, the loaned property eventually became too small. In fact, its first Christmas services were held jointly with Cropwell Baptist Church, a first-ever for a member of the Diocese of Alabama.

Impressed with the earnestness of Lake Chapel, a Seventh Day Adventist minister offered Sunday usage of his sanctuary, which still stands and serves the same SDA congregation atop a secluded hill near present day Alabama Thrift Store in Pell City.

There was no logistical conflict because Adventists meet on Saturdays. It was, and still is, a beautiful structure both inside and out, with rich English style décor, a real pipe organ, choir loft, and Sunday School space.

The only restriction was that no food or drink be brought into the church building. Mary Mays, who lived a few blocks away, continued a local Episcopal tradition of after-service coffee and teacakes by hosting them in her own home.

In January of 1978, Lake Chapel became an independent parish, and given the name of St. Simon Peter Episcopal Church. This name was chosen to differentiate from several known St. Simon parishes, and to include the name of Peter, the accepted founder of Christian churches.

Now a full-fledged, documented congregation, St. Simon Peter yearned for a home of its own. Land sited in a triangle where Mays Bend Road meets Alabama 34 was generously donated by local businessmen, Eddie Lawrence and Barnett Lawley, and adjacent property owner J.T. Morton. Ground was broken in summer of 1980, and the final nails driven in April 1981 on a magnificent new chapel that stands today.

The funding and construction of this superb building is a story in itself, full of hard labor, bake sales, auctions, personal sacrifices and generosity from many who were not even of that faith, all with a compelling desire to make this new parish succeed.

And succeed it did. Today’s St. Simon Peter is one of the most eye-pleasing churches in St. Clair, with a strikingly magnificent sanctuary in Old English guild hall décor. The congregation of some 200 members is currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of a spiritual entity that arose virtually from thin air, beginning with a glance at a family photo.

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Rusty Tucker


Story by Elaine Hobson MillerPhotos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

It was the Year of Alabama Barbecue, a year that had the state’s Tourism Department asking, “Whose ‘cue is best?” Its online contest pitted barbecue joints from across the state against each other in five categories. When the smoke finally cleared, two St. Clair-area restaurants were among the victors. Charlie’s BBQ of Odenville won in The Dives division, and Rusty’s Bar-B-Q in Leeds came out on top of The Mom and Pops category.

Alabama has more barbecue joints per capita than any other state, according to the tourism department’s web site. Everyone has his favorite, and the contest proved to be a competition between the fans of each hickory-sweet restaurant.

“Three years ago, we invited barbecue fans to post on our website their favorite barbecue place,” says Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Department of Tourism, explaining how they came up with the contest and categories. “We got about 300 suggestions. This past year, we decided to level the playing field between the different types of places so as not to have the single locations at a disadvantage versus the ones with multiple locations. We came up with five categories that ranged from Mom-and-Pops to the big boys, like Full Moon and Jim ’n Nick’s, and encouraged people to vote in each division. We were blown away with the number of fans who became engaged in the voting.”

Sentell says the competition demonstrated the depth of loyalty that each restaurant has. “Customers are so proud of their favorites and voted as often as allowed to show their support.”

Charlie’s a fan favorite Scott Holmes didn’t even know Charlie’s was in the contest

for several days. “We have a big Facebook and Twitter following,” he says. “The fans stepped up.” Charlie’s beat out nine other barbecue joints with 12,867 votes. The second-place winner had 9,644 votes, and the remaining eight garnered less than 4,500 each.

Holmes thinks his location at the corner of US 411 and Alabama 174 South, in front of the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and adjacent to a service station, probably placed him in the right category. “If you’re a barbecue place in Alabama attached to a service station, you’re probably a dive,” he says.

Charlie’s opened in November of 2008. Scott ate there twice a week, and tried to talk the original owner, Charlie Wiles, into teaming up for a barbecue venture in Moody. But Charlie was ready to retire. Both parties prayed about the situation, then Holmes bought the place and switched from painting buildings to cooking ‘cue.

“I like food,” he says, explaining why he made the move. “I was a commercial painting contractor, but when the economy tanked a few years ago, I wanted to open a barbecue joint.” Although Charlie taught him how to smoke ribs, he’s mostly a trial-and-error, self-taught chef who says he was fortunate

The Year of Alabama BarbecueWhen it comes to ‘cue, St. Clair joints are smoking hot

to find an established restaurant with recipes, personnel and products already in place. The secret to his success, he says, is in the way he prepares his ‘cue. “We smoke our meats. Not everyone does. Others grill them. We don’t use rubs or injections on our pork butts.”

His biggest seller is the pork sandwich combo, which features meat, bread and two sides. Chicken tenders are a big deal, too. “Odenville is not big enough to support a barbecue restaurant,” he says. “So we also do ‘burgers and tenders. Thirty percent of our sales are in chicken tenders. We also do hamburger steaks and fried catfish. We have something for everybody, but we pour our heart and soul into barbecue.”

He features off-the-menu specials, too, such as briskets on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and the Saint Burger, a nine-ounce, hand-formed, greasy ground beef patty named for the county’s high school football team, on Thursdays. “Briskets are our signature dish,” he says. “We smoke six a week. A brisket is the chest muscle of a cow, and it’s hard to do. We cook them up to 16 hours to get them tender.” There’s a different special every Monday, such as the popular Soul Bowl, consisting of a bed of garlic cheese grits layered with turnip greens, pork and a cornbread muffin on top.

Part of his chef’s education was a trip to Texas he took four years ago, when he tasted at least a dozen different briskets from Houston to San Antonio. “We’re unique at Charlie’s, because we have a little bit of every style of barbecue,” he says. “We have Texas brisket, Kansas City burnt ends (from a brisket) and Memphis-style barbecue, which uses a dry rub and no sauce.”

Another specialty is the St. Clair Cyclone, a soft-serve ice cream treat with chopped Reese’s Cup, Oreos or Butterfinger candies. “Our Otis Burger has a huge following, too,” he says. It’s a double cheeseburger with sautéed onions and Otis Sauce, the latter being a gravy sauce.

A person’s taste preference for barbecue styles and sauce flavors depends on what he grew up eating, Holmes believes.


He makes five different sauces: hot, medium, sweet, vinegar-based and a white sauce. His primary barbecue sauce is made with both vinegar and ketchup. He makes all sauces in-house. He does his major smoking during the night, removing the pork butts and briskets each morning and throwing on chicken and ribs.

Charlie’s is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., and does catering as far away as Pelham to the south and Anniston to the north. Originally open weekdays only, he added Saturdays about three months after he took over, and now that’s his biggest day. “Iron Bowl Saturday we sold 120 pounds of chicken wings, which we marinate, smoke, then fry to order,” he says. “They were mostly to go.”

Rusty’s builds barbecue followingRusty’s Bar-B-Q gathered 28,637 votes to second-place’s

21,369 votes to win The Mom and Pops category in the Alabama Barbecue Battle. The remaining eight contestants had less than 3,000 votes each.

Rusty Tucker started his restaurant seven years ago in a 1970s Jack’s Hamburgers location on US 78 in Leeds. His decor, which could best be described as “continuing customer donations” because that’s what they are, includes concert posters for Hank Williams and the Drifting Cowboys, the Blues Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Elvis and the Allman Brothers Band. Vintage metal signs proclaim, “Fresh Eggs 10 cents” and “El Rancho Motel,” while others display a pin-up girl beside a bottle of Pepsi or advertise Mobilgas. Thermometers take their places on Barq’s Root Beer, Royal Crown Cola and Buffalo Rock signs, and an American League World Series poster from October 1903 has a place of prominence.

An autographed photo of professional race car driver Ryan Hunter-Reay, whom Rusty calls a good friend, and his pit crew, dominates one wall, while other walls display road signs advertising 7-Up, Nichol Kola and Uncle Sam. A trombone and trumpet flank the top of the doorway leading to a hallway and restrooms, while his most recent “gifts,” Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki motorcycle gas cans, take up a countertop next to that doorway. “People bring them to me,” he says of all the vintage finds. He feels obliged to display them.

Tucker grew up cooking barbecue with his dad. He went to Johnson & Wales University’s College of Culinary Arts at its former Charleston, SC, campus, and gravitated toward fine dining in places like the Charleston Grill. Working his way back to down-home cooking, he was at Satterfield’s in Cahaba Heights before returning to his roots. “I love it,” he says of running his own business. He’s open from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays,10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, serving lunch and dinner only. He does lots of catering as well, particularly for nearby Barber Motorsports Park events, UAB basketball and Regions Bank’s Traditions golf tournaments.

His most popular menu item, and his signature dish, is his ribs. He also does a lot of pulled pork and hamburgers, plus smoked chicken, turkey, briskets and sausage. “We do a more traditional style barbecue — open-brick pit instead of a smoker. We make four kinds of sauces, including a tangy vinegar that’s a variation of my granddad’s recipe, a sweet barbecue sauce, spicy and white barbecue sauces.” The white sauce is a mayonnaise and vinegar mixture that goes well with

The Year of Alabama Barbecue

the turkey and chicken. “It’s a North Alabama specialty,” he says.

He also does chicken tenders, hamburger steaks and barbecue-topped baked potatoes.

“People come in and say they found us due to publicity from the tourism department contest,” Rusty says. “We were featured in its Delicious Road Trips documentary, and we’ve participated in events like the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival that promote Alabama tourism.”

He gets a lot of repeat customers, many of them in town for the annual Barber’s Vintage Festival, plus Indy car drivers. He has developed relationships with people from coast to coast, keeping up with them on social media. “There’s a group of about 10 guys from Japan that comes into town for Barber motorsports events,” he says. “I can’t talk to them, but they’re nice guys.” When he first opened seven years ago, he had a group of 25 guys from France, all Mustang enthusiasts.

What’s Rusty’s secret to attracting a following from across the globe to just around the corner? “We try to treat everyone like family.” l

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Business ReviewJefferson

State’s Kay Potter explains new workforce

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Another Turning Point

They are called watershed moments. Looking back, they are unmistakable turning points.

Such is the case with Jefferson State Community College. Some may see the watershed moment as the announcement of a new wing for Nursing and Allied Health at the college’s Pell City campus. But there were plenty of watershed moments along the way.

When the late Judy Merritt became the first woman president of an Alabama public college in 1979, the moves that would follow were as bold and visionary as she was.

It was all about accessibility to a quality education for the masses. She knew that couldn’t happen in a big way unless she made it truly accessible.

She did. Growing from the single campus in Pinson that started with 1,200 students to more than 12,000 across four counties, Jefferson State Community College became the largest community college in Alabama and is second only to University of Alabama at Birmingham for colleges in the Birmingham metropolitan area. That’s larger than Samford, Montevallo, Lawson State, Miles and Birmingham Southern.

For Jefferson State, first came the Shelby campus in Hoover. Next, would be St. Clair in Pell City in 2006, followed by Chilton in Clanton.

As it celebrated its “Fifty Years of Changing Lives” in 2015, Interim President Keith Brown in December announced yet another tipping point. At a luncheon of community leaders in a third floor, empty wing of the Pell City-St. Clair Campus, Brown unveiled plans for the Nursing and Allied Health Wing. Classrooms, labs and offices will occupy that space, signaling a new era for the college in St. Clair County.

It is part of the vision Merritt and St. Clair County officials saw years ago when only woods marked that very spot on which the college now stands. With St. Vincent’s St. Clair and Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home locating just down the road, it was an obvious partnership for the school’s heralded nursing program.

And they were right. Since expanding nursing to the Pell City-St. Clair Campus three years ago, the employment rate

Story by Carol PappasPhotos by Wallace Bromberg Jr. and from Goodgame Company

Jefferson State to expandnursing and allied health

Keith Brown, interim president of Jefferson State


Business Review Jefferson State

for graduates is 100 percent. It’s hard to get much better than that unless you couple it with an expansion that makes the nursing and allied health programs more accessible than ever before.

That’s precisely the aim of this $500,000 project expected to be completed by fall. Brown called it “making meaningful decisions” — seeing where the jobs are and tailoring programs to meet those needs.

He noted that the impact is felt well beyond education circles. For every dollar Jefferson State spends in a community, the return on investment in that community is 13 to 1. Do the math. That’s $6.5 million in St. Clair County as the college expands to meet its needs.

It is for good reason that these moments are taking place, Brown said. “This community works together better than any other community we work with.” They see the value in partnerships like that of St. Clair Economic Development Council, St. Vincent’s and the veterans home, and they work across lines to make good things happen for their citizens.

Guin Robinson, director of the college’s Community Outreach, recalled Merritt’s assessment of it — a simple observation, yet defining. “She said, ‘There’s really something very special about that place. They just found a way to love each other out there.’ ” l

Architectural renderings of

new wing

Norma Bell, Lisa Nichols, Dave Feldman, Nick Kin, Keith Brown, Kay Potter, Guin Robinson,

Mike Hobbs and Don Smith


Business Cards Business Directory








Business Review

Story by Graham HadleyPhotos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

The latest major economic news for Moody has thoroughly cemented the rapidly growing city as an ideal fit for retail businesses.

When the new Publix grocery store held its grand opening Dec. 2, it was just the latest in a string of financial success stories for the city.

“We view it as a retail anchor for part of the city. We went without a grocery store for over a year,” according to Mayor Joe Lee. “The Publix is 45,600 square feet. That’s a big Publix. It brought in 140 new jobs.

“By bringing in Publix, it solidified we are a good place for retail development.”

The influence of the new grocery store was almost immediate, resulting in the redevelopment and revitalization of the aging Village at Moody shopping plaza.

“Barber Companies worked with us, revitalized the Village at Moody, and because of Publix, we were able to revitalize the entire shopping center. Working with Barber, we brought in Publix as an anchor store,” Lee said.

“We were able to revitalize a 20-year-old shopping center that will be good now for at least another 20 years.

“And the other stores in the shopping center are at 100 percent occupancy.”

With every available business space in the shopping center full, the city is looking at adjoining property for more development.

The City of Moody already owns 26 acres behind the Publix, all of which are zoned for retail, Lee said. Plus there are another 65 acres of additional land being promoted for development.

Lee sees a world of opportunity there.“We would love to see something like the Summit or

the Oxford Exchange. We are helping all the landowners promote their properties.”

Publix is just the most recent in a series of major business openings in Moody.

“With all our new growth, we have 140 jobs with Publix, about the same with Red Diamond, and probably another 100 between Valero and Love’s” travel plazas that opened next to the I-20 exit, Lee said.

“Moody has grown every year I have been here. We are centrally located on I-20, sandwiched between Barber Motorsports and the Talladega Superspeedway

New Publix anchorsMoody as retail success

Making it official


Business Directory

Piers SeawallsKeith 205-473-5750


Business Review Publix

and two major auto manufacturers. It is easy for people to live here and go east or west to work and for people in those places to come here to shop,” he said.

Lee also gives credit for much of this success to the high quality of life Moody offers, something Publix is already playing no small part in.

“Our citizens were having to leave the city of Moody to buy groceries for the past year. It means a lot for our residents to be able to shop locally — and that also keeps our tax dollars local,” Lee said, adding that they expect the new grocery store to generate more than $400,000 in additional revenue for the city.

“It gives us the opportunity to show off that Moody is a good place to live, and the money helps with things like the splash pad and new civic center, which will open in July. We could not have done the splash pad without the projected revenue from Publix or the civic center without the retail growth we are experiencing. Then, we are going to start on the new library,” he said.

Lee calls Publix, the company’s 61st store in Alabama, as a win-win for Moody.

“It’s a project that I worked on for the past eight years, worked with many different developers to bring in a Publix. I knew what it would mean to have a premier store chain like Publix locate in Moody. Working with Barber, we made that happen.

“It affects the entire city, and not just the city. People in surrounding areas now have a great place in Moody to come buy their groceries.” l

Crowd turns out for

opening.

State Rep. Jim Hill (left) and

Mayor Joe Lee

ALWAYS THERE


Story by Graham Hadley

For the past several years, one Pell City business that prides itself in making life easier for its clients has consistently received top marks in the Alabama business world.

Always There In-Home Care, which specializes in providing medical care and assistance to people in the comfort of their own homes, has been ranked either No. 1 or in the top 10 female-owned businesses in the state.

Dee Harrell, the registered nurse who is the owner and founder of Always There, said she was surprised and “shocked might be the word” when she found out about the rankings.

Harrell said someone else had helped get them the recognition — she did not even know it was happening. Her focus is on the day-to-day operation of the business she built from the ground up.

“My husband said I should be proud, but it almost embarrasses me. I am proud, though. I give all the praise to God because I believe God has stood behind me all these years. I believe I had God’s graces behind me when I started the company,” Harrell said.

That’s not hard to believe given that Always There was born out of personal loss, the need to take care of her family and a strong desire to help others.

“We opened in 1999, just at the end of that year, December, and have been in business over 15 years now,” Harrell said.

“I worked in an adult day center for seniors in Birmingham. There was another company that provided private care and nursing services. I

Recognized as one of the top female-owned businesses

Dee Harrell

Always There offers in-home support for

families when they can’t be there for a

loved one.


thought I could do a better job. I started doing research on what it would take to start a company. I was a nurse, and everything I read said do what you do best. I loved working with and taking care of seniors, talking with them,” she said.

“I took the plunge and started my company. I had recently lost my husband and had three small children. I thought, naively, that it would be simpler working for myself. I had no idea the commitment I would make. It ended up being twice the time.”

Though Always There may employ more than a thousand people in a year, with a steady payroll of around 300, in those early days, it was just Harrell.

“We were a hit from the beginning. I developed all our forms and procedures from the school of hard knocks. I really wanted to take care of a senior or family member (she stresses many of their patients are young, even children) when someone called — wanted to find the best way to get that done.

“I was the office manager, nurse. I did everything that first year. Then I hired one employee at a time until I was not the only one going out to make all the calls.”

As her business continued to grow, so did its reach. She opened another office in Tuscaloosa, which she later sold. Offices in Pell City and Huntsville soon followed.

After three years, Always There was so successful, she had the option to sell franchises in cities not in direct competition with her existing coverage area. Harrell said she has not really pushed that part of her business, but the option is always there.

“I have not pursued that because I enjoy running all the parts of the business in this area, but someone could buy one and open Always There in another city I am not in,” Harrell said.

And she remains a very hands-on owner involved in the day-to-day operations of her business.

“Most of the employees don’t know I am the owner. I am out there working with them,” Harrell said.

Currently, Always There serves right at 200 families in the Birmingham and Pell City areas and another 50 in Huntsville.

The services range from basic caregivers who do things like help with basic household tasks to skilled nurses who have the ability to go and administer medications, with many of their clients just needing a little extra help.

“Most people age pretty gracefully,” Harrell said. “The majority of people live to a ripe old age peacefully. To stay in their homes, they only need a little help. They can’t bend over to scrub the bathtub, or to go to the store, they may not be driving any more.

“Most of our clients are pretty sharp, pretty independent. They only need that little bit of help once a week or so.”

Other patients need more care, whether it is a child on a ventilator or someone who needs medications administered.

And that care extends not just to the patients, but to their families as well.

“We are there for the whole family. A caregiver can get physically sick if they are not getting sleep and rest, getting out of the house,” she said.

Equally important, Always There knows where to send families and patients to find any additional resources they may need. “When you need help, knowing where to turn for the best help is very important,” Harrell said.

One of the keys to the long-term success of Always There is that it is truly a family affair.

“All of my children are involved,” Harrell said. One son, who is a web and graphic designer has built their website and designed some of their brochures. Another son who is an attorney provides advice and counseling.

“My youngest daughter graduated from Alabama with an advertising degree. She is coming on board to do our marketing and advertising. She was at al.com and has grown up in the business and understands what I do,” Harrell said.

“My husband came to work for me about five years ago, he handles the billing, IT. I am the dreamer; he is the one who keeps it grounded.” l

Business Review Always There

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