Category: St. Clair Communities

Roster, programs growing – even a llama carries a card

Story by Elaine Hobson Miller
Photos by Meghan Frondorf

When the Steele Public Library held its grand reopening celebration, it gained an unexpected patron. Her name is Chenille Borg, and she gives the library the rare distinction of having a llama as a member.

If you don’t believe she’s a bonafide, card-carrying member, see her picture accompanying this article. Her owner, Steele Town Councilwoman Nancy Miller-Borg, is standing beside her, card in hand.

Her membership is all in fun, and Miller-Borg, the library board, librarian Kaitlyn Siewert and town officials hope it will help bring attention to the newly-remodeled facility and all it has to offer.

“The library was closed for a month in the spring while we underwent some remodeling, including new floors in the main room and a new interior paint job,” said Siewert. The reopening celebration had to wait a few months, though, for a few finishing touches inside and outside the building, and for some new shelving to be installed. Kaitlyn herself is fairly new, too, having come on board July 18, 2022.

“We’re hoping that the new environment will be inviting and will bring in more patrons,” says Miller-Borg, a library patron and promoter. The library also is known as the Jane Battles Brown Memorial Library, after its founder. “That’s its official name, but we’re using Steele Public Library so town folks will get to know it better,” says Karen Bowen, vice chair of the library board. She knew Brown, who was affectionately called, “Janie.”

“She worked tirelessly to start the library, much of it without pay,” Bowen says of the library’s founder. “She has been dead about 48 years, and we’ve had several paid librarians since then. Right before Kaitlyn, it was Lynda Fann.”

Brown opened Steele’s first library in a small storage building next door to a gas station at the corner of US 11 and Steele Station Road, according to Bowen. “Next, it was in the gas station building itself,” she says.

Some folks believe the opening was in the early 1960s, others think it was the late 1960s. Ironically, town records are stored in the very building that housed the first library, and no one has gone through them to validate the precise date. The library moved to its current location after the town purchased the house it’s in at 78 Hillview Street, which is right up the hill from its original building, in April 2003. Library board members, in addition to Bowen, include Hannah Parris, chair; Brandy Dunn, RoseMary Hyatt and Esther Dunn.

When Siewert became librarian, she began the laborious task of culling the library cards to remove those that hadn’t been active in five years or more. With the help of Paula Ballard at Ashville’s McCain Memorial Public Library, the cards went from about 8,000 to 685 adults and 254 children, for a grand total of 939. By the end of the grand reopening day, when 26 more signed up (not counting Chenille), that total had reached 965. As of mid-December, it was at 975 and climbing.

Siewert has several new programs in the works, including a free project-supply closet (posters, markers, tape, etc.), a summer reading program for children, and a crochet group. The latter is a “coming together” of crocheters, rather than teaching sessions, but experienced crocheters will be on hand to help beginners. They began in January meeting every Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m. Then on Feb. 4, the library will host a “Bring Your Child to the Library Day” from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. There will be face painting, sidewalk chalk drawing, refreshments and other activities.

Siewert, whom Karen Bowen calls “Janie 2.0” because of the tremendous work she is putting into her job,was in the medical field for 10 years before heading up the Steele Public Library. “I wanted something outside that field, something I could grow into and be helpful,” she says. “So far, this job has been beyond my expectations. It’s the job I never knew I needed. It doesn’t even feel like a job.”

Editor’s Note: The Steele Public/Jane Battles Brown Memorial Library is open Monday through Thursday. Its winter hours are from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., while the rest of the year its hours are 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

Where leaders meet

Giving, serving guide Pell City Rotary Club

Two years of a pandemic certainly changed the way Pell City Rotarians have operated, but their actions have never wavered from their guiding principle, “Service Above Self.”

As daily routines return more and more to normalcy, Rotarians have emerged with renewed vigor – a new determination – to do even more for their community. A synergy is taking hold as a new generation of leaders are stepping up to build on the legacy of making its community a better place.

“I joined Rotary when I attended Smiths Station High School after learning about what Rotary did for our community,” said Casey Cambron, one of Pell City Rotary’s newer members. “We stayed active in our town, visiting veterans’ homes for Christmas, area cleanups and other various community volunteer activities. As an adult, I still believe in volunteering in our community and found that Rotary was active in my area, and I wanted to give back to my community.”

And give back, he has. In addition to volunteering for a number of causes around the city, he has been involved in Rotary’s Father Daughter Dance. “I have helped with the Father Daughter Dance and seen many young girls spending time with their fathers. Seeing them dance together, spending quality time is an amazing experience.”

One of the local club’s most anticipated events of the year in the community, it wasn’t held in 2021 because of the pandemic, but resourceful Rotarians found a way around it. They created colorfully decorated boxes filled with treats and ideas for special activities for fathers and daughters to share quality time together. Within a week more than 100 boxes had been given away.

In 2022, the dance was back – bigger and better than ever.

“I have had the chance to be involved in multiple fundraising and service projects, but one of the most rewarding has been the Father Daughter Dance,” said Rotarian Matthew Pope. “To see those fathers all dressed up and the sheer joy on the girls’ faces is so awesome.

“As fathers, we have a duty and obligation to show our daughters how they deserve to be treated,” he said. “Hopefully, we are doing that daily, but this gives a specific event where we can be intentional about loving them and ‘modeling’ what their future relationships should look like.”

Rotarians Meg Clements, a lawyer and mother of two, and Blair Goodgame, tourism coordinator for St. Clair County, make the evening a perfect picture by creating an almost magical atmosphere for fathers and daughters with a themed event that follows through with elaborate decorations and attention to every detail. The memories last a lifetime.

The two also team up on a tennis tournament Rotary holds each year around Halloween, and it’s nothing short of being ‘spooktacular.’ One of the club’s major fundraisers, the community comes together around this tournament – participating, sponsoring, cheering – and it offers an opportunity for competition in a variety of categories.

The club’s oldest fundraiser, chaired by longtime Rotarian Joe Paul Abbott, is the Pell City Rotary Charity Golf Tournament Ray Cox Memorial, another communitywide event that draws golfers from near and far to compete in this impressive display of community spirit.

“The golf tournament brings so many people together for a good cause,” said Abbott. “From the sponsors to the volunteers to the golfers, themselves, it’s a fun-filled day, and the bonus is that the money raised goes right back into the community.”

“When I was in high school, the phrase ‘Service Above Self’ was a quote from Rotary,” Cambron said. “That phrase has stuck with me my entire life. I truly believe that helping your community builds a better community.”

Why Rotary?

“Ihave met many great people with our Rotary Club,” Cambron added. “I have been given opportunities outside of Rotary to volunteer with other organizations that are directly connected to Rotarians.”

When Pope joined, he recalled, “I wanted to be part of an organization that focuses on the community and gives me opportunities to serve the community I live in.    I also love the networking and social aspects of Rotary. I have made some lifelong friends and have developed relationships that have helped me learn and grow in my personal and professional life.” 

Rotary, he added, is “100 percent focused on the community. As a service organization, our conversations constantly center around ways we can improve, support and strengthen our community and community partners. We help support other nonprofits with monetary donations and service projects. We also fund two scholarships each year for a local high school senior” that can be renewed throughout their college experience.

Lunch, learn, network

Weekly meetings of the Rotary Club are more than just a meal. “Our lunch meetings allow me to network weekly with leaders in our community,” Pope said.  “We also have fantastic speakers and programs where we have the opportunity to hear inspiring stories, learn about local businesses and organizations and receive updates about things and events going on in our area.”

The benefits are many, members say. Rotary is an investment, but the return is so much greater. “To be able to point to dozens of Rotary-supported worthwhile causes – people and organizations doing great things for our city – to see our city grow, makes me proud,” said Serge Brazzolotto, the club’s president-elect.

“I joined Rotary several years ago only because of its service to community pledge. I spend as much time as I can serving the club needs and fundraising. I came from another country and have been here for many years, and Pell City and its citizens have been good to me. I have been retired for 10 years and since then, I have tried to give my time to help those in need and serve the community and to give back.  Rotary was a perfect fit.”

He noted the pride in seeing Rotary’s hand in the Christian Love Pantry, Education Foundation, Community Clinic and a host of others benefitting and flourishing “because of our support,” he said. “In turn, we must thank the community. Because they give us a service that we all need, so it is our duty to give back to them and support them.”

Enriching and encouraging friends and family

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Kelsey Bain

“Look at that baby! What a beautiful baby!” the lady says as she watches the petite blonde across the table from her. “She’s so pretty! What a sweet baby!” Smiling, the small woman responds by lovingly wrapping her baby doll in the pink flowered blanket and gently laying her down on the table.

Whenever she comes to Friendship Place, Brenda’s “baby” will be waiting for her. Brenda’s family brings her to St. Simon Peter’s Friendship Place twice a week for stimulation, affirmation, encouragement and love. Brenda and her family are dealing with the effects of her dementia.

Friendship Place is a respite care facility in Pell City that offers services Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., allowing full-time caregivers of dementia patients a chance to leave their loved one in a safe and loving environment for a few hours.

The break is important to give caregivers a chance to do things alone that would be hard to accomplish with their family member along. “We’ve found this mission to be three-fold,” says Program Director Melinda Knepper. “It is an important respite time for family or caregivers to do errands or have personal time. It’s also a ministry to the dementia patient. It adds purpose and meaning to their lives. The third element is for the volunteer. They start helping so they can be a blessing to others, but more often than not, they end up leaving each day feeling blessed and fulfilled.”

Today’s theme is “Observe the Weather,” so the group is adjusting each activity to include cognitive enrichment associated with weather. The art activity includes painting an umbrella; the word bank for the word search is all weather-related, as is the bingo game board.

Each day is carefully structured to include both physical and cognitive stimulation. Today’s physical activity is balloon volleyball, played in chairs using pool noodles to hit the balloons over the net. Smiles and excited chatter fill the room as more balloons are added to the game.

Two years ago, the mission was conceived through a discovery process at St. Simon Peter Episcopal Church. The rector at the time began a process to figure out the most pressing community needs. As they neared the end of that process, the need to help families dealing with dementia topped their list.

Christian Love Pantry and Lakeside Hospice, two other thriving community missions also born at St. Simon Peter, quickly outgrew the church and began operating as nonprofits outside of the church walls. It was, in fact, a volunteer with Lakeside Hospice that helped to validate the need for the services Friendship Place offers.

“Elizabeth Thomaston – she goes by Bit – was involved in support groups for families dealing with Alzheimer’s in both Pell City and Leeds,” Knepper explains. “She helped us see the need and get on the right track.” With a grant in hand, they opened just two months before the pandemic hit.

“We had a ton of interest as soon as we opened,” says Knepper, “but then we had to shut down for COVID just a couple of months later. We kept up via Zoom meetings, but we were glad to be able to open back up for in-person care.” Currently, they serve four families a month, but hope the numbers will grow as people get more comfortable being together and COVID anxiety eases.

“We had one family that contacted the patient’s doctor to see if they were OK to come,” adds Knepper, “and she told me the doctor said the benefits of her being here outweigh any of the risks associated with COVID.”

Doctors define dementia as a syndrome that leads to the deterioration of cognitive function to the extent that it interferes with daily living tasks and abilities. It is the result of a variety of diseases and injuries, including stroke and Alzheimer’s.

Statistics from the World Health Organization show that 55 million people worldwide suffer from some form of dementia, with 10 million new cases each year. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, contributing to over 60% of cases. And since 66% of dementia patient care comes from live-in caregivers, the stress on those caregivers is often overwhelming.

Build it, and they will come

Joanna Pickett brings her mother, Dot, to Friendship Place every day it is open. “We were actually here learning about it before they opened. We’d been going to a place quite far from here but came to talk to Melinda when we heard they were thinking of opening a place here,” she says. “It’s hard to imagine how important it is. It gives me a chance to breathe. I enjoy being her full-time caregiver, but with a dementia patient 24/7, there are some things that are very difficult to do when I have her with me.”

With that, she tells of a trip to Hobby Lobby that ended in frustration after her mom, a former artist, insisted on filling the buggy with new brushes and art supplies. “She doesn’t need them anymore, but she believes she does, so it’s a struggle in the store.”

Pickett says that being able to bring her mom to Friendship Place gives her a sense of peace, knowing that the volunteers there genuinely love Dot. On days that she goes, Pickett says, she comes back “a different person. You wouldn’t think a person with dementia would need to be encouraged, but they do. When I pick her up, she’s happy. It stirs up her abilities, and she seems more attentive and calm.”

Even though she doesn’t understand what Friendship Place is when she’s told she’s going that day, Pickett says when she describes it as the place “where you sit at the round tables and play games with your friends,” Dot gets ready with purpose and excitement.

That’s exactly the reaction Knepper wants from the program. “We offer theme-based activities, lunch, games and laughs … lots of laughs. We help them express their independence and give them lots of love from our volunteers.”

Volunteers are key

Volunteers are trained in what memory loss means, the different types of dementia, and how to appropriately interact with those with memory loss. Knepper pairs each patient, whom they refer to as “friends,” with a volunteer for the day. Volunteers guide and encourage the friend and participate along with them throughout the day.

Those volunteers are not just from the church. They are looking for more, so anyone who is interested in serving is encouraged to contact Knepper at St. Simon Peter Episcopal Church.

A volunteer in the program from the first day, Mike Dikeman smiles as he describes his love for the mission. He’d recently retired from Time, Inc., and was looking for a place to volunteer his time.

His dad had suffered from Alzheimer’s dementia for more than a decade, so he knew the frustration associated with his care.

“He lived in Kansas and each time I went to visit, I could tell a difference in him. He would ask me if I’d gained weight. Then a few minutes later, he’d ask again. A few minutes later, the same.”

He enjoys the opportunity to help other families through the process. Is it tough? “No,” he says, “we just have so much fun! Melinda is amazing and it’s a very positive environment.”

They even tease him because one day he rescued a turtle from the road on the way to the church. When he came in, he jokingly asked if it was turtle day, since he had one in his truck.

Against all odds, it actually was World Turtle Day, and turtles were the theme of their activities. The friends got a chance to see a live turtle that day. “Now they ask me on Elephant Day if I have one in my truck,” he jokes. “It’s just a fun place to be.”

Defining community service

To Pell City Rotary Club, “Serve to Change Lives” is more than Rotary International’s theme for 2021. It’s the standard for this club this year and every year.

Not even a pandemic could stop Pell City Rotary from its mission. In big ways and small ways, the club leaves a lasting impact that does indeed change lives.

For years, it has been bringing daddies and daughters together for a special evening of dancing, fun and making memories that will last a lifetime. The annual Father-Daughter Dance is one of the most anticipated events in the community each year, serving as a catalyst for strengthening the bonds only a father and daughter can share.

But when the pandemic hit yet another surge, the dance was cancelled. Enterprising Rotary members had a better idea. They prepared hundreds of boxes full of surprises and goodies and an idea list of ways fathers and daughters could spend time together.

One idea was to watch a movie together and nestled in the midst of all the coupons for ice cream cones and meals they also could share, was the starring attraction – popcorn. Father + daughter + popcorn + movie. Now, that’s a winning formula for making relationships stronger.

Always the epitome of a communitywide event where everyone pitches in, under ordinary circumstances, Southland Golf Carts that shuttled fathers and daughters to and from the dance would have been a leading participant.

This year, the community still came together despite no dance.

For the boxes:

Dairy Queen gave coupons for free ice cream cones.
Chick-fil-A provided coupons for free kids’ meals.
DJ Carson Bruce put together a playlist with a QR code for families to scan to listen to at home together.
Main Street Memories added the popcorn as the box’s centerpiece.
City of Pell City stored items at the municipal complex and loaned the space to assemble boxes and distribute.
The Pell City Fire Department set up tents for distribution.
Rotary volunteers assembled and distributed boxes.

And the end result were hundreds of fathers and daughters making new memories courtesy of Pell City Rotary Club.

Giving so Rotary can give

Rotary has two major fundraisers per year besides the Father-Daughter Dance – Ray Cox Memorial Golf Tournament and the annual Rotary Tennis Tournament.

Through these fundraisers, Rotary is able to do what it does best giving in service to others. Again, it is more than just raising money. It is about community in its truest sense, bringing people together for a good cause.

From those who sponsor the tournaments to those who play in them and the countless volunteers that make these successful events happen, the community rallies in support, knowing that their investment of time and funding brings sizable returns for good works throughout the city and beyond year after year.

Benefitting from grants given this year alone are: Lakeside Park, Pell City Center for Education and the Performing Arts, Easterseals Community Clinic, Habitat for Humanity, United Way, Children’s Place Child Advocacy Center, Christian Love Pantry, Boy Scouts, St. Clair Literacy Council, Toys for Kids, Library Guild, YWCA, Mustard Seed Society, Ann’s New Life Center, Logan Martin Tennis Association, PCHS Show Choir, Kennedy Elementary School and the Pell City Education Foundation.

With a boost from Pell City Rotary and a district grant, the Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home now has an impressively designed, professional putting green, a small tribute to their service and sacrifice.

Weekly Mission

Each Tuesday, Rotarians gather together for lunch. Beyond a time of networking and fellowship, it is a time to learn more about their community and ways Rotary can help.

The club hosts expert speakers in their fields and leaders with a cause – all aimed at enlightening and inspiring Rotarians as they seek to make their community a better place for all.

Forty-seven years ago, 25 businessmen founded the club that has grown more than three-fold and continues to thrive. Their focus was service above self.

Today, that vision never wavers, it has only strengthened in time by serving to change lives. l