It’s somehow fitting that the Howard Family Holiday Farm in Moody has quickly become a go-to destination for folks hoping to create wonderful family memories. After all, the farm, which opened in September and was a celebration of all things fall before getting decked out for Christmas, is the culmination of a dream that grew from the childhood memories of owner David Howard.
“When I was 14, I told my grandmother I wanted to start a business,” Howard said. “She asked me what I wanted to do, and I said, ‘I’m going to sell Christmas trees.’” He set up a stand at a gas station at Moody crossroads owned by a family friend, Clemons Macon, and got to work.
“He had an old produce truck that sat out front,” Howard said. “I would ride the bus there and sit inside that old produce truck and do my homework and sell Christmas trees until my parents (Charles and Mary Ann Howard) came to get me at 8. My dream was that I would become a Christmas tree farmer, and it stuck with me all my life.”
Forty years later, Howard has turned that boyhood job into a way of life. And the best part, he said, is that after living and working in other places for 25 years, his dream brought him back home.
“Moody helped create the foundation of who I am today,” he said. “To be able to come back and do this and bring something wholesome and family-centered to the community is amazing.”
All the holidays
Although Christmas trees, wreaths and garland are getting top billing now, Howard opened the farm as a pumpkin patch. More than 5,000 visitors came through between opening day on Sept. 20 and Oct. 26, when they closed for a few weeks to gear up for Christmas.
Fall visitors could pick their own pumpkins from the patch or choose from a variety of gourds offered in an assortment of sizes, colors and shapes. The hayride was a huge hit with the kids, and the cut-your-own-flowers field of zinnias and sunflowers was a big draw, as well.
The farm reopened for Christmas on November 22, and two days later, Santa Claus arrived in dramatic fashion. He landed at the farm in a helicopter just in time for “Ice Cream Sundaes with Santa,” something Howard plans to make an annual event.
Santa’s arrival by helicopter on November 24 is just one of many events planned
Guests had their pick of flavors, thanks to the Hershey’s Ice Cream bar located inside the farm’s country store. In addition to the 24 ice cream flavors, which Howard plans to expand to 36 next Spring, there is an array of toys, gifts and assorted jams, jellies, and other treats sold under the Howard Family Holiday Farm label, including pickled okra, candied jalapenos and peach halves.
“We have sold out of the apple butter so many times, it’s crazy,” Howard said. The peach butter, blackberry preserves and fig preserves are favorites, too, and the offerings also include muscadine grape jelly, red pepper jelly, green pepper jelly and peach preserves.
“We provide our family recipes, and a company produces it for us,” Howard said. “These are all flavors that I grew up on and helped can, pick or both.” They also offer GunRunner Gundog Honey, made by Howard’s cousin, Kenny Armstrong, a beekeeper.
The big draw now, though, is the Frasier Fir and Black Hills Spruce trees that were cut and shipped from farms in Michigan and N.C. Howard hasn’t given up on his dream of being a Christmas tree farmer, however, and he plans to plant a field of Murray Cypress trees so visitors can cut their own.
“It’s a variety of Cypress that’s specifically bred for Christmas trees,” he said. “We’re going to plant some real mature trees so we can speed up the process. We hope that in two years, we’ll be cutting 7-foot trees.”
The plans don’t stop there. They’ll take a break after Christmas and build an outdoor pavilion before reopening in March for the rest of the year. Howard said they’ll offer Alabama-grown produce, some of which will be grown at the farm. “Our first crop will be watermelons, cantaloupes, and various peppers, and then we’ll grow from there next year,” he said. “We’ll also plant Silver Queen corn, and ultimately, that will be a corn maze.”
Howard said they’ll offer seasonal potted plants and three acres of flowers, including zinnias, sunflowers, dahlias and peonies. “Folks can come pick flowers for their special events and have photo shoots in the field,” he said.
“We’re going to do anything we can that’s community-driven,” Howard said. “We’ll just see what the community will support, and that’s what we’ll morph into.”
The road back home
Howard and his partner, Gary Perkins, are thrilled to be back to their rural roots. Perkins, a pharmacist, grew up on a tobacco farm in Kentucky, and they both were ready to get back to a slower pace of life.
After graduating from Moody High School and then college, Howard worked in the RV industry, in marketing and advertising, and owned a martini and sushi bar. He’s also worked in the residential construction and real estate industries. For the past 15 years, he’s owned Panama City Beach Properties, a full-service real estate brokerage company that he recently sold. “I would build five houses, keep one in my inventory of rental properties and manage properties for other people,” he said.
David Howard and Gary Perkins have Christmas trees ready to sell
While he loved his career, having a heart attack three years ago at age 51 changed his perspective. “Being faced with the possibility of something catastrophic, I felt like there is so much more for me to do,” he said. “At the beach, there’s constant tourism and everything is always ‘on.’ You can’t just go out to dinner without waiting at least an hour. Something just clicked, and I said, ‘I’m done.’ We were both done. I didn’t have to convince Gary; he was ready to make the leap to farm life long before I could get the words out of my mouth.”
Although his new venture is a far cry from the fast-paced world of real estate, Howard said he and Perkins couldn’t be happier. “We’re here to stay,” he said. “I’m back home. I think about that, and I get emotional.”
Family has always been important to Howard. “My grandmother owned multiple restaurants, and she instilled that entrepreneurial drive in me,” he said. “My first job when I was 12 was washing dishes in the restaurant because I wanted a dirt bike. When I sold the Christmas trees, I got a taste of making a few bucks, turning that into more bucks, and I was hooked. I’ve been working for myself ever since.”
Now he’s thrilled to be doing just that back home. “Moody helped shape me,” he said. “I love this city, absolutely love it. I wouldn’t have wanted to grow up anywhere else, and our commitment here is community.
“When we did this, it was a leap of faith, and we didn’t know what would come of it,” Howard added. “Seeing all the families and the smiles makes it all worthwhile. Everybody comes in and says, ‘I hope you’re successful.’ We already are, and we’re having a blast.”
Old friends, new friends play golf, celebrate at newly renovated facility
Story by Paul South Photos by David Smith Submitted photos
The legendary South African golfer Gary Player may have said it best when it comes to golf and friendship: “In golf, as in life, it’s the friends we meet along the way that make the journey worthwhile.”
No place does Player’s words ring truer than at Pell City Country Club St Clair County’s only golf course. The 6,100-yard, semi-private layout has forged many friendships over the past 63 years.
Now, the club aims to make new friends by bolstering its membership and by promoting itself as an event venue for wedding receptions, birthday parties, baby showers, graduations, and holiday parties in its newly renovated clubhouse.
A rich history
PCCC was started in 1961 by a group of prominent local businessmen weary of driving to Talladega to play golf.
Dr. Raymond F. “Bam” Cox, Kenneth Tucker, Howell Henderson, Hank Harmon, Judge Edwin Holladay, Forest Walls, J.T. Holladay, Dr. John E. Haynes and Roy Coshatt started the club. Tucker sold the 85 acres where the golf course resides on Golf Course Road.
“It wasn’t like today when you bring in a prominent golf course designer such as Jerry Pate (a former U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open champion) to come in and design the course,” said PCCC board member Jeff Ingram who “grew up” on the golf course. This group of men came up with the idea to build a golf course they could play and be proud of. The golf course is basically the same course as it was when it was built in 1961.
Through the years, the course and clubhouse have weathered numerous storms and a declining membership. Pell City officials even fought off an effort by the City of Birmingham to take over the course to create a satellite airport to what is now the Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport.
Newly renovated clubhouse
The golf course was opened to public play approximately 15 years ago. “That’s one thing that helped us survive,” Club President Derrol D. Luker said. “There weren’t enough younger people joining the club to replace the older members who had quit playing or passed away. The public play has really helped things out.”
According to unofficial club historian Roger Pate, retired principal of Pell City High School, PCCC has attracted more than its share of champions, including UAB standout and 2012 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, 3-time PGA tour winner Boo Weekley, and former local PGA tour player Will Wilcox.
PCCC also is home to Chris Spivey, who has won numerous women’s state amateur titles over her career, and it has hosted football standouts Jay Barker and Bobby Humphrey and NBA star Charles Oakley. Those are some big personalities for a small-town course, especially a “nine holer,” said Pate.
The club has a pro shop as well as a small practice area and putting green. It is a nine-hole course with two sets of tees. Each hole has a set of white and blue tees for men less than 60 years old, yellow tees for men from 60 to 70 years of age, red tees for men over 70 years of age and women of all ages. Greem tees are for players 75 years of age and older. The club currently has 80 members.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, the course hosts an 18-hole “dogfight,” basically a mini tournament filled with fun and fellowship. In past years, when Pell City shut down at noon on Wednesday afternoons, as many as 50 golfers played in the dogfight.
“As far as the course, I think the reason people like it is it’s a shorter course, and it doesn’t take a long time to play. I think that’s what makes it a little special. You’re there to play golf with your friends,” Ingram said. “It provides something for the town that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the county.”
Bar area
But it’s the people, not pars that make the club special. Many of the members were born and raised in Pell City and learned the game as kids on the course.
“The camaraderie and growing up with the members,” Ingram said. “As you get older, you’re playing with the same people you were playing with many years ago. It’s a smaller club. You don’t have as many members. You can put a name with a face. You’re not a number like you might be at a larger club.”
Pate agreed. He’s been a member since 1971 and serves as course superintendent. “It’s the people,” he said. “We have a lot of fun.”
Small country clubs like Pell City have struggled in recent years to keep members amid stiff competition for the entertainment dollar. But the coronavirus pandemic and the raging cabin fever that came with it sparked renewed interest and attracted new members to the club.
“The numbers of rounds have definitely gone up since COVID first came around, and the number of rounds played have increased every year since COVID came,” Ingram said.
“Before COVID, we were really hurting,” Pate said. “It’s grown since then. A lot of people didn’t know this golf course was here. It’s kind of off the beaten path.”
As with Pate and Ingram, the club’s warm, welcoming membership makes PCCC a special place to belong.
“You can go down there almost anytime and find a game,” Luker said. “There are just good people down there.”
Precious memories
Any discussion of PCCC would not be complete without mentioning the late Ray Cox. While Ingram has fond memories of winning numerous tournaments with Ray over the years, the deeper memories are of Cox, the son of one of the co-founders and also a past president of the club until his death in 2007. The founder of Metro Bank, Ray Cox played at PCCC “from day one,” Ingram said.
Golf buddies celebrate hole in one by Drew Alexander
“He played golf all over the world, but PCCC was his favorite course,” Ingram said of his late friend. “I promised Ray before he died that as long as I was able, I would do my best to keep the doors open. So far so good.”
Luker was one of those kids who grew up at PCCC. A third-generation member of the club, he holds fond memories of playing with his Dad. But he, too, remembers Cox.
“Before I was even 16, we lived in Mays Bend, and my Dad would let me drive over to the golf course by myself on Sunday mornings to take golf lessons from Mr. Cox.”
Cox taught young Luker, now a land surveyor, a valuable lesson. “Patience,” Luker said.
“He was a role model to Jeff and myself,” Luker said. “We want to keep his memory going because he meant so much to the club and to Pell City.”
The longevity of the club is based upon the people, the friendships and chance to compete..”
Story by Joe Whitten Photos by Wally Bromberg Jr. Submitted Photos
Today, the recreational waters of Logan Martin Lake wash over the abandoned 19th Century towns of Ferryville and Seddon.
Ferryville grew up around J.D. Truss’ ferry that connected St. Clair and Talladega Counties, lying across the Coosa River from each other.
James David “J. D.” Truss, the son of Enos and Tabitha Bradford Truss, married Martha Cordellia Coleman, daughter of William and Marannah Roberson Coleman of Riverside, on June 10, 1854.
When the Civil War began in 1861, Truss and a group of men met under an apple tree in Cropwell, and organized Company C of the 10th Alabama Infantry Regiment, with J.D. Truss as captain. Thirty-three years after the war, his obituary in The Southern Aegis, Feb. 1, 1899, told of his courage, leadership and love for his companions, but also spoke of his compassion for all people, rich or poor.
The June 30, 1876, issue of The Southern Aegis, published an unsigned letter, titled “Ferryville, Ala.” It stated that Ferryville “…is a little village situated on the banks of the Coosa River.” They listed Ferryville’s businesses as “…a carriage shop, a blacksmith shop, a post office, a good Templer’s Lodge, a Baptist church, and the dry goods house.” Post office records show that in 1868 Sylvester Coolidge served as the Ferryville Postmaster.
W.H. Cather wrote a series of St. Clair County history articles in 1897 for his newspaper, The Southern Aegis, which he established in 1872. In 1972, the St. Clair County Library Board transcribed Cather’s articles and printed them as his History of St. Clair County. One article, titled “An Indian Story,” tells of Ferryville’s connection with the Indians.
W.A. Coleman of Riverside took his four-year-old son, Sidney, to Coleman’s father-in-law, John Roberson, to visit with his grandparents in Ferryville. By the second day, Sidney wanted to go home, and while everyone was busy, he started out.
“He had not gone far,” Cather wrote, “until an Indian by the wayside saw him and knowing him, followed him for the purpose of protecting him … On arriving at home, little Sidney fell down on the doorsteps with the exclamation, ‘Ma, I thought I would never get to your house anymore.’ The Indian who had watched him through the forests, followed in immediately after him, and of course, there was great alarm until it was all understood.” Cather said Mr. Coleman’s eyes filled with tears when he recounted this.
Ferryville to Seddon
Ferryville flourished until the town of Seddon arose about a mile north with the completion of the Georgia Pacific Railroad in 1880. A June 6, 1942, Birmingham News article titled, “This Date in Alabama History,” tells for whom the town was named. It records that the railroad village of Seddon is “…on the Southern Railroad between Birmingham and Anniston. It was named for Thomas Seddon who … was associated with interests that financed the building of the Georgia Pacific Railroad, now the Birmingham-Atlanta branch of the Southern Railroad.”
According to Pell City Library Director Danny Stewart, “Thomas Seddon’s first job was at the Sloss in their railroad section, before he became president of the company.” Seddon died May 10, 1896, and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia.
The “Seddon” article in The Heritage of St. Clair County records the population as 500 when the town was incorporated (1880) and states that some worked at the “…Empire Lumber Company which operated both a sawmill and lumber yard.”
It also records that Ferryville families moved from there to Seddon.
Seddon Depot
Mattie Lou Teague Crow, in her History of St. Clair County Alabama, wrote “The first merchant [in Seddon] was J.K.P. Lacy. Dr. Harry Green Crump was the first doctor. Other settlers were Jack Maddox, W.H. and W.N. Roberson and Harvy Bell. When the timber supply was exhausted, the mills moved away.”
Today, any memory of Seddon is fading like a sepia tone photograph forgotten in the sun. However, one vibrant entity still survives – Seddon Baptist Church.
Organized in 1873 as Fishing Creek Baptist Church, the name changed to Ferryville Baptist Church in 1874. Richard M. Perry served as the first pastor.
Early records are scant, and no one knows where the members met for worship before they constructed a building. Nor is there a list of charter members. However, Stewart’s research found that Seddon Baptist sent J.D. Truss as representative, or messenger, to the Coosa River Baptist Association meeting in 1874. So, it’s probable that Truss was a charter member.
Seddon Baptist provided a first for that association in 1908, as recorded in Coosa River Baptist Association, 1833-1983, by Margaret Keelen Newman. “Early, only pastors of churches of the Association were given messenger status. … The most important change came in 1908 when the Seddon Church sent Mrs. Stella Brothers, Miss Minnie Crump and Miss Lenola Crump as messengers to the annual meeting. During the afternoon of the second day of a three-day meeting, the accepted messengers voted to enroll the women as messengers.”
The church didn’t send a messenger in 1909 but in 1910 sent Miss L.E. Smith and none after. Because of Seddon, other churches began sending women messengers, and in 1913 the Association agreed that “there could be no barring of anyone on the basis of sex.”
The date for Seddon Baptist constructing a sanctuary is unclear; however, the July 3, 1889, Weekly Age Herald article, “Festival at Seddon,” reports: “The supper last Friday night given by the ladies of Seddon for the benefit of the new Baptist Church was a complete success, the net receipts accounting $206.05.”
The festival also sponsored a “bouquet” contest. “The contest for the bouquet which was to be given to the most beautiful young lady was very exciting and $130.00 was raised from this. Miss Leona Fowler … received the bouquet from Mr. J.S. Lacy.” A total of $336.05 in 1889 was a grand sum. It seems this money helped construct the first sanctuary.
Singings brought together church and community. One for Seddon was announced in Our Mountain Home, Talladega, Alabama, May 19, 1909. “There will be an all-day singing at Seddon on the 5th Sunday in May. It will be a Sacred Harp singing and everybody is invited to come and enjoy the occasion. The old-time music is getting a new start among the people of Seddon.” This singing was acapella because the voice itself was the “sacred harp.”
Regular worship services flourished in the first sanctuary until the demise of the town. From 1926 until 1938 there was no church in Seddon.
What caused this? The town’s economy lay in timber and lumbermills, so when the timber supply ran out, timber companies left. When the timber mills left, people left.
Jack Walker, who grew up in Seddon, recalled history he learned from parents and relatives when he wrote of Seddon’s decline.
“The clouds of a terrible depression were forming. Mills, factories, and stores were closing down. … Seddon which had been a thriving town was fast falling apart. We had a train depot, a drugstore, a general merchandise store, a grocery store, and other businesses as well as two large churches. Within a year, all these businesses were closed and boarded up. Both churches were closed. … Seddon had become a ghost town.” Walker’s memories were published in the Georgia newspaper, Jackson Progress-Argus, May 9, 2008.
According to Betty Clements’ Heritage article, Ruby Walker was the force behind resurrecting Seddon Baptist Church about 1938. At that time the only surviving church building was the Methodist church owned by Dr. John Roberson. Mrs. Walker met with Dr. Roberson, and he agreed to let the Baptists meet in the building; however, he soon asked them to meet elsewhere.
The Heritage article relates that Walter and Leona Crump had an unused barn, which they let the congregation use for church. The Crumps emptied the barn, cleaned it inside and out, painted the interior and exterior white, replaced the barn doors with two double doors, and added entrance steps.
Inside, they installed a wood floor. “They raised the floor in front,” she recounted, “so that the men’s choir would be on one side and the ladies’ choir on the other side. In between, they built a pulpit. The lighting was kerosene lamps.”
The Crumps donated both the building and the property to Seddon Baptist’s trustees.
Linda Haynes Grantham recalled girlhood memories of this church. “To get to church, we drove over the railroad tracks and down a slight hill … Seddon Baptist Church sat on the left, a beautiful church painted white. We had a potbellied stove in the sanctuary and a raised choir loft. A huge window fan was in the window on the right in the choir loft that kept us quite comfortable – even during hot summers.
“…Brother [Lewis] Nixon was our minister and Betty Williamson Turner was our talented pianist.” Lewis Nixon was pastor from 1952 until 1957.
The church thrived during these years, with yearly revivals announced in the newspaper, as in this News-Aegis of July 21, 1955: “The annual homecoming at Seddon Baptist Church will be held next Sunday. The revival will begin Sunday night. At Sunday’s homecoming, there will be singing and dinner served on the grounds at noon. The public is invited to come and bring a basket … Rev. J.S. Williams of Pell City, evangelist.”
In the 1960s, with the completion of Logan Martin Dam and the Coosa River’s waters filling the lake, Seddon Baptist purchased land on Cropwell Cutoff Road (Hardwick Road) and constructed a brick sanctuary. A News-Aegis article of June 4, 1964, announced the dedication to be “…on June 7th at 2:30 p.m. …Bro. Paul H. Mabe will bring the dedication message.”
“The new building,” the article continued, “is valued at $27,000.00. However, the work was done by members and friends in the community, thereby saving the cost of labor.” According to the article, Cady Bryan drew the plans and was in charge of construction. Rev. J.Z. Lipham was pastor.
The first revival in this building was announced in The Anniston Star on August 31, 1963. “The Rev. Barlow Mason, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, will be evangelist for special services at Seddon Baptist Church Sept. 28. The pastor, Rev. J.Z. Lipham, announced the services would begin nightly at 7 o’clock.”
As the years passed, Seddon Baptist attendance ebbed and flowed as was typical of many churches. Current pastor, Dale Foote, accepted the pastorate when attendance was perhaps at its lowest. “I started as pastor of Seddon Baptist Church in April 1995. That was Easter Sunday, April 16. At that time, we averaged less than ten people a Sunday,” he recalled.
A turning point occurred in February 1996, 10 months into Foote’s tenure. The church burned down. “Seddon Baptist Church Destroyed by Fire,” reported Gary Hanner in a Feb. 8 News-Aegis article. Hanner quoted Pell City Fire Chief Mike Sewell, “It appears the fire started around two gas heaters that were behind the baptistery. I saw a tint of blue in the flame and that let me know that natural gas was involved.”
Bro. Dale told Hanner, “When I became pastor, we had six people who came the first Sunday. The last Sunday we met here, we had 60 for the morning service. We’ve had 18 saved and 33 additions to the church … We aren’t going to let this get us down. We will rebuild in the same spot. The Lord sent me here for a reason. I just want people to pray for us.”
And it didn’t get them down even though insurance covered only a fraction of the rebuilding cost. “We had $180,000 in insurance,” Foote recalled, “and the estimated cost of building back was half a million dollars. We were $300,000 in the hole.”
Campers on Mission were a Godsend for the rebuilding. “I have a friend – a general contractor – who is a member of Campers on Mission,” Foote said, “and he helped us to rebuild.”
In the March 13, 1997, issue of the News-Aegis, Anne Boone wrote of Campers on Mission in her article, “Building churches, fellowship and faith.”
She quotes Camper Bill Pilgreen., “We are Christians who travel to … disaster areas that need us.” Boone told of Pilgreen and his wife, who, although living in Pell City, “…set up their camper with others from their organization across the street from Seddon Baptist Church.”
Boone reported that other churches, community folk and community businesses came together to help Seddon Baptist Church in the rebuilding. Some donated food, some time and material. Cropwell Baptist provided their kitchen for preparation of noonday meals for the Campers.
At completion, the church owed $90,000 – a lot of money, yes, but far less than the $300,000 insurance didn’t cover.
The church’s Fellowship Hall escaped destruction, so the congregation met there for worship from February 1996 until December 1997. “There were weeks that we didn’t have power or HVAC or water in the Fellowship Hall because of the demolition. We had porta potties,” Foote reminisced, “and we used a kerosene heater in cold weather. We never missed a service.”
“Just before Christmas (1997), almost 40 people with active membership at Seddon Baptist held Sunday morning service inside the new church sanctuary for the first time,” Laura Nation wrote in her Jan. 24, 1998, Daily Home article, “Good will breathes new life into church.” Her article announced a revival running from Feb. 16-20 and a Feb. 28 benefit singing featuring the musical group, “Assurance.” The building dedication would occur on Sunday March 15.
With this new beginning, attendance and membership increased as months turned into years under Bro. Dale’s bi-vocational ministry. In 2003, attendance had grown to over 100 each Sunday and the church called him as their first full-time pastor.
“We filled that building. It held about 150, and we stayed full for years,” Foote recalled. “In 2010, we went to two Sunday morning services, and by the end of that year, we were averaging 300 in the two services.” Although the church desired to expand, the property was land-locked, and no adjacent property was available.
One day, Bro. Dale saw the “For Sale” sign at the old 84 Lumber complex on Cogswell Avenue. The property had gone back to the bank, and someone bought it. In 2010, the church located the owner and began negotiations. In 2013, the church made an offer for the property, and the owner accepted it.
The church renovated the property for a sanctuary, a children’s worship center, and a youth worship center.
So, a facility providing building materials for houses became a facility providing building materials for the soul.
On Sept. 24, 2023, Seddon Baptist celebrated its 150th anniversary. On this day, Alabama Baptist State Missionary Ben Edfeldt presented a certificate of recognition from the Alabama Baptist Association. After the service, the church family enjoyed an afternoon of fellowship, games and food.
Associate Pastor Chris Mayfield first attended Seddon Baptist in 2005 because his girlfriend, Megan Foote, invited him. He continued attending with Megan, and in 2006 he accepted Christ and joined the church. He and Megan married and are parents to two children.
Chris serves in several areas, including adults, but his main area is with children and their Sunday school curriculum. “I’ve been in children’s ministry here for a decade or more, now” Chris commented, “so I’ve had a lot of my former kids come and serve alongside me in children’s ministry.”
Chris and Megan work together in the church’s summer Vacation Bible School, an event for the entire and surrounding communities. “I write the VBS curriculum and lessons,” Chris said, “and right now, I’ve got about four years planned.” Megan oversees the teaching staff, music, and decorations.
According to Bro. Dale, VBS is one of the wonderful ministry events of the church. Attendance averages around 300 each summer.
Micah Kitchen is minister of Seddon Students. “We seek to encourage and equip students to live their lives to the fullest for Jesus,” he recently commented. “We are passionate about teaching students the Word of God and how to live out their lives to make the Gospel known at home, their schools and their communities.”
Kitchen and his students participate in the First Priority Club at Pell City High School. They also partner with the St. Clair Baptist Association for See You at the Pole Afterparty and St. Clair County Night of Worship. Yearly student events include Summer Camp and Disciple Now – an event where students stay at host homes, attend study sessions and spend intentional time in discipleship.
Seddon is a traditional Southern Baptist church, having a senior pastor and two associate pastors. However, it differs somewhat from other Southern Baptists in that Seddon has both deacons and elders. “I am privileged to have Biblical elders,” Bro. Dale said. “I have five to eight men who preach here.”
Chairman of Elders Rodney Ray joined Seddon in 2008. “My wife and I saw the vibrance of the church and how the Word of God was preached. It was so refreshing that we have never left.”
Of the church being elder led, Ray said, “We kind of grew into it. As we studied the book of Acts and the Apostle Paul’s epistles, we saw that Paul’s instructions were always to appoint elders. It was plural. We have eight serving as elders, and we call it our Church Council. Three are paid pastors, and five are bi-vocational, or lay pastors.”
Each lay elder teaches a class and serves in other areas as well. Ray emphasized that members other than elders also teach classes, “… but I do feel that the teaching and preaching of the Word of God lies with the Elders.”
When asked for a comment about Bro. Dale, he said, “There’s a difference between a preacher and a pastor – someone you know was called by God and placed in that position. Dale Foote is at the top of that list. I say that because of the effect he’s had on my life.”
Today, attendance averages around 400. In 2024, the church hopes to complete a Family Life Center in their complex – a gymnasium-fellowship hall. The church serves all age groups, but the median age is 37 years. “We have wonderful senior citizen members,” Foote commented, “but we are still a ‘young’ church and have been privileged to reach young people.”
Bro. Dale’s focus for Seddon’s congregation is that they “Invite, Invest, and Intercede.” Invite someone, invest in them, and pray for them. “Our goal is to continue to share the Gospel and to make disciples,” he said recently. “That doesn’t change; every year, that’s our goal.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 is Foote’s favorite Bible passage: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” He has seen the assurance of these verses proved true multiple times in his 29 years of serving God at Seddon Baptist.
In 1873, not only was Seddon Baptist Church organized, but Fanny Crosby’s hymn, Blessed Assurance, also was published in July of that year. Whether or not Seddon’s congregation sang it that year, we don’t know. What we do know is the assurance of Proverbs 3:5-6 connects well with the hymn’s words:
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, Oh, what a foretaste of Glory divine. Heir of Salvation, purchased of God, Born of His spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song; Praising my Savior all the day long.
Knowing this blessed assurance, Foote continues to trust God and His guidance as he and the elders lead Seddon in sharing the Gospel and making disciples.
From 1873 to 2024 and onward, Seddon Baptist Church continues faithful as a beacon of hope in a dark world.
180-year-old cloth square replicated in acrylics for barn display
Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Mandy Baughn
When Mike Jones’ great-great grandmother, Euphrasia Hannah Gibson, died in 1874, she left a box of quilt squares that she had intended to sew together. She probably had no idea those squares would someday hang in the homes of future generations, much less be replicated on wood and hung on a barn in Cropwell.
“My grandmother had the box of quilt squares, and when she died 15-20 years ago, her daughters rediscovered them when they cleaned out her house,” says Jones. “They got together and passed them out to each of the 14 cousins. So, we have had them that long. My daughter, Kristina Alexander, has one, too. I’m not sure who has the rest of that box of squares.”
Holding their quilt squares in front of the Jones barn are cousins Joy Sanford, Kathy Callahan (standing in for husband Jimmy), Walter Jones, Mike Jones, Michelle Dowler (for her mom, Gayle Boone), Karen Ragsdale, Christy Robbins (for her dad, Don Callahan, deceased), Carol Tucker, and Quinn Stewart (second oldest cousin at 83)
Kristina’s daughter, Jules, was 16 when she translated her 4th-great-grandmother’s quilt piece to a wooden board during the summer of 2023. Jules’ mom did the math and figured out how to enlarge the quilt block pattern to scale for a 6-foot-2.5-inch square piece of plywood that Mike cut for that purpose.
She put a screw in the center of the board and tied a string to it to make a compass, then used geometry to figure out the ratios. That was after Mike had painted three layers of a white base coat onto the board. Jules used a pencil to draw the design, a Dresden Plate with a star in the center and some extra colors in the corners.
“It took me a good while, because I had lots of coats to do,” says Jules. “I had to tape off each section to get clean lines. My grandfather picked the colors. He wanted something fall but bright and festive.”
Jules has been involved in art a long time, and usually prefers working with watercolors. She has painted stationery for friends and family, and helped groups from her church, Pell City United Methodist, to paint murals in a local private high school. “So, when my grandfather asked me to do this job, I was excited.”
The quilt squares are about 180 years old, according to Mike’s wife, Sandra. “The blocks were given to all the cousins in Mike’s generation.”
On Aug. 31, most of those 14 cousins gathered at the Jones House to celebrate Labor Day and compare their quilt squares. Each one features the same Dresden Plate design, but in a different color palette. Some have framed theirs, others haven’t yet. Each is proud of the heritage, though.
The Joneses hope their barn quilt will become a part of the Alabama Barn Quilt Trail. An agricultural tourism project, the Trail is designed to promote travel and community pride by encouraging the public to explore the state’s roads, farms, businesses and historic towns, according to its website. “Barn Quilts are part of what has become known as ‘The American Quilt Trail Movement,’ featuring colorful quilt squares painted on barns and buildings throughout North America,” the site states. “It is one of the fastest-growing grassroots public art movements in the United States. Tourists come to discover the quilt squares on thousands of barns and buildings scattered along driving trails throughout the nation.”
A Jones Family scrapbook displays a photo of Euphrasia Hannah Gibson (woman on right-hand page), among other family members
Regina Painter founded the Alabama Barn Quilt Trail in 2015, primarily in five northwestern counties of the state because of grant money from the Northwest Alabama Resource Conservation & Development Council. “We are very concentrated in north Alabama, but now have grant money from the Alabama State Council on the Arts to cover the entire state,” she says.
A fabric quilter herself, Painter saw her first barn quilt at a quilt show in Tennessee several years ago. “I fell in love with the idea and wanted to see them in Alabama. So, I started the Alabama Barn Quilt Trail with assistance from several groups and individuals.”
By registering with the Trail, a person encourages agritourism and promotes small communities across the state as visitors check out the beautiful quilt blocks and their settings, Painter says. “We promote the Trail with brochures, public presentations, social media and various television and printed publications.”
The organization will help anyone pick out a design and colors, and will register a barn quilt for the trail after forms available on the site are filled out and turned in. (See alabamabarnquilttrail.org). If, like the Joneses and at least half a dozen others in St. Clair County, you have already painted your quilt, you can still get it added to the trail. Interested barn owners may contact the organization by email (alabamabarnquilts@gmail.com)
According to the website, the benefits to communities and their small businesses include:
Providing an economic benefit from tourism for businesses and farms on the Quilt Trail
Promoting preservation of our historic barns
Honoring the agricultural roots of the State of Alabama
Creating public art and paying tribute to the uniquely American history of beautiful quilts.
The trail is supported by the Alabama State Council on the Arts, ALFA and the Alabama Farmers Federation.
Of the 204 quilts on the state trail, seven are located in St. Clair County. In some cases there may be more than one wooden quilt registered. The Ashville House of Quilts in downtown Ashville, for example, has three designs. Greensport Marina has one, and one of the marina owners, Beth Evans Smith, has three others registered at various buildings on Greensport Road. The Trousdale Family has three blocks at 22630 U.S. Hwy. 411 in Ashville.
A barn quilt at 4522 County Road 22 is registered to Mark and Emily Taylor of Ashville. But it actually belongs to Emma Bean, the granddaughter of Emily’s deceased sister and husband, Doris and Billy Bean.
Painted in 2022, Grandmother’s Flower Garden is the name of Emma’s quilt square. “This was her grandparents’ barn,” says Mark. “An Alabama Barn Quilt Trail crew drew the quilt pattern.” Father and daughter, Nathan and Emma Bean, along with other volunteers, painted it. The barn and the land it’s on was passed down to Emma from her grandparents.
“We have some at my business, Taylor Fence, at 4097 County Road 22, and at our home, 9463 County Road 31, both in Ashville, but they are not registered on the Alabama trail,” Mark says.
Quilter Joyce Foster, who lives on Belvedere Drive in Ashville, doesn’t have a barn and didn’t fancy mounting a large board on her garage, so she attached her 10-by-10-inch quilt square to her mailbox post. “It’s no particular design,” she says. “I just drew some lines on a piece of plywood and filled them in, then painted it. I think that was about four years ago.”
If the St. Clair County Arena and Event Center needed an exclamation point on its value to the community since its inception a decade ago, the St. Clair County Fair delivered just that.
Reminiscent of days gone by with attractions for the whole family, the fair offered a free, two-day event packed full of fun and community spirit.
Day 1 featured a vendor market, carnival rides and a petting zoo along with a Veterans Appreciation dinner and live bluegrass music. Day 2 offered even more entertainment with a car show, livestock competitions, carnival rides and the popular greased pig contest.
The fair’s finale was a high-energy performance by local band Big Country. It was an ideal way to celebrate a decade of service to the community, and plans call for its return next year.
Children try their best to capture the greased pig
Since 2014, the St. Clair County Arena and Event Center has grown into a hub for both the local community and visitors from across the state.
The covered arena spans 22,000 square feet and features a dirt floor. The space includes room for approximately 800 spectators, a concession stand, and restrooms with showers. It has become the ideal setting for community events of all kinds.
Over the years, the arena and event center have transformed into a destination point that hosts a wide variety of events that appeal to all ages and interests. Rodeos, barrel races, vintage markets, dog agility shows, and car exhibitions are just a few of the diverse range of activities that draw people from all corners of the community and state. It has truly become a must-visit venue.
“The community has greatly benefited from the arena,” said St. Clair County Commission Recreation Asset Manager Ashley Hay. “By providing free or affordable events throughout the year, it offers high-quality entertainment without the need for residents to travel to Birmingham or other neighboring counties.”
The local economy has seen a boost as visitors patronize nearby restaurants, gas stations and shops. “Event hosts and spectators are encouraged to engage with local vendors, further fostering community connections,” Hay noted.
And the arena continues to broaden its community reach by hosting events like livestock shows and the St. Clair County Farm-City Banquet.
She proudly cites recent improvements to the arena, such as expanded parking, upgraded lighting and a new PA system. “We are committed to creating a welcoming and efficient environment for attendees.” The wash bay, ample parking and the ability to accommodate multiple types of gatherings make the arena a flexible and highly valued resource.
Aslyn Weaver and father, Randall, entertain crowd
County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon shared his vision for the arena, emphasizing its role as a “respite from the busy world.” He also revealed his long-term goal to transform the facility into an agricultural hub for the county. “It’s nice that we have the event space, but we don’t want to compete with other event spaces in our area. We want to continue making improvements and partner with schools and farmers to host events.”
The event center was built using federal pandemic relief funds, with the county contributing an additional $1 million to complete the facility. Located next to the arena, the climate-controlled center features a multi-use court that accommodates pickleball, volleyball and basketball. Open-play memberships are available for $10 per day or $100 per year for individuals, with the option to add a family member for an extra $50.
Chairman Batemon has a vision of expanding the space to include an agricultural center that could serve as a 4-H and FFA training facility. “This place could be a central location for schools to host bigger events than what they can on their campuses,” Batemon added. “It would provide a space for students interested in agriculture to learn and grow.”
Looking ahead, planned expansions, such as RV parking and additional recreational spaces will only enhance the arena’s role as a cornerstone of community life in St. Clair County.
Editor’s Note: For updates and a calendar of upcoming events, follow St. Clair County Arena on Facebook at facebook.com/stclaircoarena.
From an acre of God’s good earth, a small army of volunteers at Pell City Community Garden helps feed the hungry
Ten years ago, Renee Lilly and like-minded people had a vision for a place where hope and fresh food grew for the food insecure.
On the old Avondale Mills property in Pell City, Lilly wanted to create a space where needy folks could learn to tend a small piece of God’s good earth and grow their own herbs, fruits and vegetables.
Two years later, Pell City’s Gateway Community Garden and its small army of volunteers moved to an acre or more of land donated by St. Simon Peter Episcopal Church across the road from the church.
The result? A bumper harvest, not just of fresh food, but of hope. The garden, Lilly said, has exceeded expectations.
When the garden began at Avondale, the hope was to inexpensively rent out plots to individuals to allow them to grow their own food. But there were few takers.
Renee Lilly and Rhonda Dial talk to a crowd at the garden
Two years later the effort moved to the church and the mission changed direction.
“We just decided, we’ll grow the food, and we’ll just distribute that food to the people who need it,” Lilly said. “Once we made that decision, everything just took off.”
Since 2018, the garden has produced more than 14,000 pounds of fresh food for county residents in need, Lilly said.
Volunteers – the number varies, but usually there is a core group of a dozen – tend, nurture, harvest and distribute seasonal fresh foods.
More have joined the effort. In fact, some 3,500 volunteer hours have been sown into the garden since 2018.
The work is vital, especially in a county where 13 percent of residents are food insecure, according to U.S. News and World Report.
“Boy Scouts have helped us. We’ve got the Boys and Girls Clubs, and other groups have helped us,” Lilly said.
Because the garden has been so successful, and because of its partnership with the Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama, it has been designated as one of 16 “Open Spaces, Sacred Places” sites located in nine Alabama counties.
Those sites are “intended for the encouragement of community well-being and resilience of mind/body/spirit of both individuals and communities,” according to the Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama website.
“Our garden is one of those sacred spots. It’s an incredible thing that we have that here,” Lilly said.
For Lilly, certain things make the garden sacred.
“It’s a healing and restorative garden,” she said. “Not only is it a working garden where we are harvesting chemical-free food out of that garden. We also have an area in nature where people can come and sit. We have a bench with a little book library, and there’s a picnic table in the nature area where people can come and reflect on the beauty of the garden.”
The garden wouldn’t happen without the collaboration with the Community Foundation and St. Simon Peter, as well as corporate and individual support, Lilly said.
Attendees tour the garden and grab food and drinks
Though a secular organization, Gateway’s work dovetails with the mission of the church by feeding the mind, body and spirit of those in need. “We’re serving people,” Lilly said.
The garden’s harvest changes with the season. This fall, cabbage, kale, Brussel sprouts, broccoli and Swiss chard made up the crop. In past years, collards were a fall staple.
Herbs – parsley, thyme, basil and mint among them – call the garden home.
What does the success of the Gateway Community Garden say about the people of St. Clair County?
“What it says was that there was a core group of people who decided that it would be nice for Pell City to have a community garden that could take care of people in need,” Lilly said. “I think that core group of people spread the wealth, if you will, with their hard work, and more people have joined that mission.”
There is a commonality they share.
“There is a love for serving and a love for gardening.”
Recent evidence of that growth, a woman who is a master gardener enlisted her green thumb in the garden’s efforts. Some volunteers are masters, others are newcomers to putting their hand to the soil.
“We have new people coming in and joining us all the time,” Lilly said.
One of the beneficiaries of the garden is a local senior center, where food is distributed. More than once, encounters with local seniors have assured Lilly that her vision was spot on.
“A lot of times, we get to see their faces when the food is brought in,” Lilly said. “They love it. They get all excited, and they run over to us to see what we’ve brought. It’s an awesome thing.”
Lilly recalled one senior who needed food during the Covid-19 pandemic. She was driving a vanload of cabbage.
“Would you like a head of cabbage?,” she asked the man.
“I wouldn’t know what to do with it,” he replied.
“You just put it in a pan with water, salt and pepper and cook it, and it’s awesome. You’ll love it,” Lilly answered. Cabbage may have won a new fan that day.
The problems of the underprivileged are often misunderstood or dismissed outright. Lilly sometimes hears that the reason her cadre of volunteers is not as large as it could be is “because they don’t want to distribute food to lazy people.”
As the product of a broken home that faced food insecurity, she bristled at the notion.
“I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, there are a lot of people who aren’t lazy who are just in situations out of their control. I understand people who are going through a divorce or they lose a spouse, or somebody gets sick, there are all kinds of situations where people need help,’” Lilly said. “That’s why we have been distributing healthy food to people in need since 2014.”
Along with its cultivation efforts, Gateway Community Garden celebrated its third annual fundraiser earlier this month. In exchange for a $20 donation, donors were given the opportunity to win a chest freezer full of beef and pork. Chili, white and red gave extra flavor to the event, along with live music. Polly Warren prepared the beef chili and Wade Reich of the popular barbecue eatery, “Butts To Go,” prepared white chicken chili.
Back in 2014, if someone had told Lilly that the garden would flower into a success, there may have been a few weeds of skepticism.
“I would have probably said, ‘I know it’s going to take a lot of hard work. But I would have never thought that it would be the place that it is today.’”
She added, “It’s an awesome space, and we do good work there.” l
