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Rotary Club of Pell City

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.”

Rotary at Work: J.P. Dailey and Don Smith help out on on a playground project.

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.”

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Robert L. Curl

D-Day vet remembers that day, many more, at age 97

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Richard Rybka

Robert L. Curl was just a boy, like so many others, when he enlisted in the Navy. It was the summer of 1943, just a day after graduating from Minor High School in Adamsville. He had to take his dad with him to sign his enlistment papers because he was only 17. “My dad told me he wished he could go with me,” remembers Curl. “He was the best man I’ve ever known.”

The next three and a half years would take him all over the world as a member of the special amphibious unit, “Scouts and Raiders.” A precursor to the modern-day SEAL teams, these special forces were expected to identify landing beaches for troops during World War II and to lead forces to those landing zones.

Veteran Robert Curl shows a V-mail he sent to his sweetheart during World War II.

Curl was a radarman aboard a Landing Cruise Control (LLC) headed to Normandy leading up to D-Day. It was his job on LCC-10 to find Omaha Beach and lead the first two waves of soldiers ashore. “That morning I was scared to death,” he recalls, “But I told myself I’m going to do my best. They had me wear an impregnable suit with a special armband that would change color to let us know if the Germans were using poison gas.”

They had already practiced the invasion during a top-secret mission called Operation Tiger, performed less than two months before. To prepare the Allied Forces as much as possible, this full-scale rehearsal for D-Day took place on the south coast of England. “It’s a good thing we did it,” said Curl. “There was a problem with what they called the Mae West lifejacket. During Operation Tiger, these were new, and the soldiers didn’t wear them right. So many people died in the waters because of that. They learned from it and taught people how to use them right.”

At 97 years old, Curl is sharp as a tack and recalls stories with vivid detail. Despite the wartime and personal tragedy he has experienced, he is one of the most positive and genuinely happy people you could ever meet.

He spent more than 70 years with the love of his life, whom he met just before the war. When he talks about his Nell (Spring) Curl, his face beams.

He met her the first Sunday after his Methodist minister father moved them to a new town. “When we got to church that day, I saw the most beautiful girl in the world doing the devotion,” Curl tells. “I leaned over to the guy next to me and told him I was going to marry that girl.”

He had to wait until the end of the war, but in 1946, he married his sweetheart. He shows me a piece of Victory Mail (V-Mail) that he sent to her during Operation Tiger dated “April 1944 – from somewhere in England.” Though she passed away in 2015, he still talks to her every evening before bed.

Curl still drives and often goes on road trips with his two sons, Rick and David. He tells of his first car, long since traded. “Ever heard of a Crosley,” he asks. “I had a ’46 Crosley and it had a whopping 46-horsepower engine the size of a carton of cigarettes,” he adds, laughing.

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Home of the brave

Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home a model for the country to follow

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Richard Rybka

As the country honors its veterans this Veterans Day, Pell City is celebrating the 10^th anniversary of its innovative Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home. This year’s celebration includes a party with special guests, along with a road trip to participate in the 75^th Birmingham Veterans Day Parade.

Twelve years ago, construction began on a state-of-the-art facility for veterans on 26 acres of land in Pell City donated by the St. Clair County Economic Development Council. After two years of construction, the $50-million home opened its doors. Named for Col. Robert L. Howard, a highly decorated United States Army Special Forces officer from Opelika, it was one of a handful like it across the nation.

What’s different about Pell City’s veterans home is both the design and management. It was built using the “Green House Model,” a design concept that features residential houses built in small neighborhood-style configurations. This contrasts the more typical multi-bed, multi-hall, single-building style of nursing home.

In the case of the Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home, the 240,000-square-foot facility has three neighborhoods, each with three 14-bedroom houses. The houses also have their owncommon spaces, including living rooms, dining rooms, staffed kitchens and porches. A single roof connects all three neighborhoods, so residents and staff do not have to go out in the weather to get from one place to another.

Gone, too, are the bustling nurses’ stations. Instead, smaller “home offices” contain the computers and information nursing staff need to assist the residents of a particular house. Specialized nursing equipment is tucked neatly away in storage rooms.

The structures are designed to feel like single-family homes, with services in the neighborhood like you might find in a typical town. Residents can go to the main building, called the “Town Center,” for services including dining options; physical, occupational or speech therapy; and even a haircut. Residents can use the onsite medical director as their family doctor, while still going off property to see specialists.

An unexpected benefit of the smaller-home style of skilled nursing care became evident at the onset of the pandemic. “Having private rooms and smaller units definitely helped keep COVID from spreading,” said director Hiliary Hardwick.

The Green House Model advantage is not just about facilities, though. The staff offer residents choices in most aspects of the daily schedule. Whether the choice is what time to get up, what to eat, or when to eat, the choices at Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home honor the veteran’s dignity and quality of life.

Over the past decade, delegations from several different states have come to town to see how this model facility works. Most recently, the veterans home hosted groups from Mississippi, Idaho and Oklahoma looking to experience the real-life application of the Green House Model prior to planning for their own veterans homes.

The Pell City veteran residents are happy to have been among the first in the country to take advantage of the new style of home.“I want to thank the people of Pell City and all of Alabama for building this place,” says WWII veteran Robert Curl. Showing the day’s menu choices, he adds, “Look at what we get to eat! I tell everyone I live in a country club. It’s a really great place.”

Talladega native and veteran Kenneth Scoggins agrees. He moved in just four months after it opened and has served as president of the residents’ council for the last seven years. “It’s great, very clean and none of those smells you smell at other places,” he says. “I told someone (when I moved in) that I must have died and gone to nursing home heaven. We do things all the time, even go to ball games and out to eat.”

“We do have a lot to do around here,” agrees Hardwick. “There are always activities offered. We have Bible studies, pet therapy visits, musical guests, and special speakers. James Spann, author and weatherman from ABC 33/40, was recently here with us.”

The facility does have a waiting list of nine months to a year, but Hardwick encourages anyone who qualifies to fill out an application. Qualifications include having served a minimum of 90 days of active duty, with at least one of those days having been during a period of war; having been honorably discharged and having been evaluated for medical needs.

Hardwick was a nurse at Trinity Hospital before leaving to help open the Pell City veterans facility. It’s a move she is very happy to have made. Her enthusiasm for her work is evident when she talks about the residents she spends time with each day. “I love being here where I get to interact with and help people who lived and breathed the history I’ve only read about in history books,” she says.

The 254 residents look forward to all holidays, Hardwick says, but none as much as they do Christmas. “At Christmas time, it looks like you’ve gone to Gatlinburg, we have so many trees decorated,” she explains. “We have an angel tree that we do for the veterans. People can take an angel off the tree and buy a couple of things a veteran wanted. Then at their Christmas party, they have gifts to open.”

Hardwick encourages anyone to get in touch with her if you would like to participate in the angel tree, help with the home’s benevolence fund or even donate bingo prizes. They also have in-person volunteer opportunities for those who might like to spend some time visiting a veteran.

Editor’s Note: To apply to the Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home, contact them at www.va.alabama.gov. For volunteer opportunities, contact Hiliary Hardwick at 205-338-6487.

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Hiking St. Clair

Sport finds new home in Pell City

Story by Scottie Vickery
Submitted and archive Photos

When the day-to-day demands begin to get overwhelming, Urainah Glidewell knows it’s time for a little outdoor therapy. That’s when she laces up her hiking boots and heads for the woods in search of the road – or trail – less traveled and the joy she finds out in nature.

“Hiking is one of my favorite things to do,” she said. “Getting away from technology and the stresses of life is very peaceful and calming. It really helps to clear your mind. We focus on the things around us, and when the things around us are calming, you feel more calm within.”

Glidewell doesn’t have to go far to find the peace she craves. St. Clair County, nestled at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains, has an ever-growing list of beautiful options for getting away from it all. And fall, with its cooler temps and breathtaking colors, is the perfect time to plan an escape.

It’s one of Josh Reyes’ favorite times to head to one of his preferred places, Horse Pens 40, an historic park at the top of Chandler Mountain in Steele featuring ancient rock formations. Although Reyes, an avid boulderer, goes for the climbing, he usually can’t resist heading to the end of the trail that overlooks the valley. “It makes for some gorgeous sunsets,” he said. “It’s a beautiful view you don’t have to work hard to get to.”

Enjoying the beauty that St. Clair County has to offer is the main draw for Glidewell. “For me, it’s being out in nature, enjoying the flora and fauna and seeing If I can spot any animals,” she said. “I’m not as focused on how many steps I’ve taken. Pretty soon, I’ve hiked five miles, and it doesn’t feel like it. Five miles on a treadmill feels a lot different.”

Regardless of whether you have time for just a quick trek or a full day to explore, finding a change of scenery and mindset is as easy as putting one foot in front of the other. So, when you’re ready to hit the trails, here are some places to start:

Camp Sumatanga

Sumatanga Camp and Conference Center, founded as a United Methodist camping ministry in Gallant, offers a one-mile Mountain Trail that ends at Creel Chapel at the top of Chandler Mountain. There is also the paved Rosenau Lake Trail that begins at Pool Camp, the historic center of the facility that includes eight original cabins and winds around Lake Sumatanga.

The trails are open to the public from August to May but are reserved for campers during June and July, according to Camp Sumatanga’s Leslie McClendon. Visitors are asked to check in at the lodge, where trail maps are available, so the staff can know who is on the property. Dogs must be leashed, and no one is allowed on the trails at night.

“Sumatanga” is the Himalayan word for a place of rest and vision, and that’s exactly what hikers can expect to find. Although considered a more moderate hike, the Mountain Trail is the most popular because of the beautiful view from the chapel. “It’s just you, nature and God,” McClendon said. “We always say that if you can’t find God at Sumatanga, you can’t find God.”

For information and directions, visit www.sumatanga.org.

Double Cove Park

Part of The Preserves, Alabama Power’s public-use properties, Double Cove Park was previously known as Logan Martin Dam Park. The day-use park, open from daylight to dusk, features a beach and swimming area, two fishing piers, grills, picnic tables, restrooms, and pavilions, as well as a view of Logan Martin dam. The park also boasts a playground and several trails ranging from just over a mile to just under two miles. Although leashed dogs are allowed on the trails, they are not allowed at the park.

“This, for me, is a hidden gem,” Glidewell said. “They have some absolutely beautiful trails going back through the woods with some wonderful benches and gazebos tucked away.”

Alabama Power offers more than 70 public-use properties around 12 reservoirs on the Coosa, Tallapoosa and Black Warrior rivers. Some are boat launches or picnic spots while others, like Double Cove, have a number of amenities.

“We have some wonderful recreation sites, and they’re all free for everyone’s use,” said Josh Yerby, a team leader for Alabama Power’s Shoreline Recreation.

For more information and directions, visit www.apcpreserves.com.

Horse Pens 40

Horse Pens 40, with what Reyes calls its “corridors of beautifully sculpted sandstone formations,” is well known and respected in climbing circles and is one of three sites in the Triple Crown Bouldering Series.

“We have a lot more people from out of state than in-state come visit,” said Ashley Ensign, a member of the Schultz family that operates the park. “We have people who come out and stay for an hour or come and stay all day. There’s lots to explore.”

The park is home to 60 rare, threatened, protected or endangered species, and Ensign said it’s like an undeveloped Rock City. “There’s no concrete pathway, nothing is paved,” she said. Instead, the trails wind around the ancient boulder field, ending at the overlook that Reyes and others have come to love. “It’s a beautiful place with absolutely beautiful trails and a lot of history,” Glidewell said.

Billed by the family as “the South’s best kept secret,” Horse Pens 40 was occupied by Native Americans, including the Creeks and Cherokees. “The first humans to see the mountain would have considered it a huge fortress that could provide them protection, shelter, food and water throughout the year,” according to the website.

The boulders form a natural corral, and “it’s called Horse Pens 40 because the Native Americans chased wild horses and herded them up so they could break them and tame them,” said Reyes. He lives in Jacksonville but has become something of an expert about the park he’s been visiting for 20 years, usually two or three times a month. “It reminds us that we weren’t the first ones here.”

In addition to trails and boulders, the park, open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., offers primitive camping, RV hookups, eight cabins, picnic areas and a playground. No dogs are allowed in the park, and the day use fee is $10 per person. Children under 10 are admitted free.

For information and directions, visit www.hp40com.

Lakeside Park

If you want proof that getting away from it all doesn’t mean you have to go far, look no further than Lakeside Park in Pell City. Next to the Civic Center on Stemley Bridge Road, the park is built on 65 acres and is a beautiful oasis bordering Logan Martin Lake.

“If you have a quick 15 or 30 minutes and want a nice place to get out and experience some beautiful nature and get some exercise, it’s a great place to do it,” Glidewell said. “If people are just starting out it’s an easy trial. The walking track goes along the lake and there’s a trail through the woods as well.”

The Native Plant Walking Trail, a project of the Pell City Garden Club that spans two acres, is only one draw of the park, where many people go to spend the day.

Along the way, discover Wetlands Boardwalk Project, an effort by Logan Martin Lake Protection Association to preserve Logan Martin’s wetlands area and to raise awareness about the critical role wetlands plays in the environment and to educate youths on its importance.

A hand-built, 70-foot walkway guides you into the natural wetlands, and a 40-by-12-foot observation platform allows you to take in the scenery and sounds of nature. Signs from the platform identify the plants seen from the boardwalk and observation deck.

But the walking trail doesn’t end there, it also winds around the park, which features a beach and swimming area, boat launch, restrooms, picnic tables, pavilions, fishing piers and an amphitheater available for rent, and a newly rebuilt Kids Kastle playground that is a hit with kids of all ages. During the summer months, the Splash Pad is a popular destination.

The park is open from 6:30 a.m. to sunset. Dogs are allowed but must be on leashes. For more information, visit www.pell-city.com/lakeside-park.

Ten Islands

Another of The Preserves’ offerings, Ten Island Historic Park in Ragland, has a long and storied past. Some speculate that the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, crossed the river at this point in the 1540s, according to Alabama Power’s website for the Preserves.

The indigenous Creek first named the site of this park “Oti Palin,” which means Ten Islands, after a series of small islands along the Coosa River, the majority of which no longer exists. The Creeks settled on the largest island, Wood Island, which was later used when Neely Henry Dam was constructed.

Today, the park, which is open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and is part of the Alabama Birding Trails, is considered one of the best public spots for bird watching. Ten Islands offers a boat launch, beach and swimming area, restrooms, multiple picnic pavilions and tables, two fishing piers and gazebos. And although the trails, which total nearly two miles, have long been a big draw, the opportunity to travel through the woods has been opened up to even more people.

“We’ve cut another trail into the woods with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant slopes,” Yerby said of the project that was scheduled to be in September. “It runs alongside the other trail and connects them at certain points, so it will add about another ¾ of a mile.”

The new trail will give those who use wheelchairs “the experience of being in a truly wooded area on a nature trail,” he said. “We have projects like this going on all over the state.”

Dogs on leashes are allowed on the trails, but not in the park area. For information and directions, visit www.apcpreserves.com.

Coming Soon

Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve, a 422-acre Forever Wild property, will soon offer even more options for hiking in St. Clair County. The groundbreaking for the project was held in March, and plans call for a series of trails that will eventually cross the preserve.

For more information, visit springvilleparksandrec.com or bigcanoecreekpreserve.org.

Other Stories

Houston Project

Helping area veterans and honoring a military son’s memory

Story Paul South
Photos by Graham Hadley
Submitted photos

Even as a kid, Houston Lee Tumlin “lit up a room” when he entered. The moviegoing public saw his light in the movie, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, where Tumlin played Walker Bobby, the oldest son of Ricky, played by Will Ferrell.

He played the part to the hilt, his mom, Michelle, remembered. But when the cameras stopped rolling, the then-13-year-old went back to his St. Clair County raising.

“They would be filming, and he would just be cussing people out. But when they would go to break, he would say, ‘May I have a bag of chips?’”

The astonished cast and crew wondered where the on-camera kid with potty mouth had gone. “They were all wondering where those manners came from,” Michelle says.

But that was Houston, a class clown and sometimes “hot mess” who loved to make people laugh, who would defend bullied classmates, and competed in sports at Victory Christian Academy, especially football.

Competition began for him as a toddler — baseball, soccer, wrestling, even dabbling in mixed martial arts.

After high school, he joined the Army, earning medals and commendations and numerous training certifications, serving stateside and in South Korea in the storied 101^st Airborne, based at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Among his honors: the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal and the Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Medal and many others.

“He was a badass,” his mom says with a laugh.

But in his last military posting, life took a tragic turn for Houston Tumlin.

“The year in Korea was not good for him,” Michelle Tumlin says. “There was a lot of bad stuff that happened. “

But on March 23, 2021, the light turned to the deepest darkness. Suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and what researchers at Boston University later determined was CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), Houston took his own life. For Michelle Tumlin, “It was the worst day of my life. The thing that I hold onto is that the doctors said to me that the CTE took away his impulse control. He had an on-off switch, and his flipped that day.

“You add the brain damage and some personal stuff and then you add the bad stuff that happened in Korea, and it was literally the reason he got out of the military.”

Daily, 22 past or present American service personnel commit suicide, their brains shaken by the blasts of battlefields, souls shredded by nightmarish memories, or concussions caused in competition. In Tumlin’s case, between sports and military service and two car accidents, he suffered an estimated 22 concussions between the ages of 14 and 28, Michelle Tumlin says. Those injuries triggered personality changes, alcoholism and changed Houston. His light was gradually fading to black. Depression, alcoholism, multiple head trauma: the recipe for CTE.

“He suffered the last four years of his life,” she says. “It was confirmed after a brain study at Boston University that he had CTE.” Among other contributing factors, “That’s the reason he committed suicide.”

CTE triggered his symptoms – headaches, happy one minute, sad the next, anger from out of nowhere and a descent into becoming what his mom called, “a straight-up alcoholic.”

“When he was drinking beer with a group of friends, he was fine. When he drank liquor, he would turn into the saddest, most depressed person who never thought he was good. He became a completely different person. That had a huge impact on him doing what he did. It was his kryptonite.”

The Tumlins are one of a growing number of military and NFL families that have donated their loved one’s brain for research at BU. CTE can only be determined after death.

While the Tumlin family’s grief will never die, a year to the day after Houston’s death, Michelle opened the nonprofit Houston Project. Proceeds from the sale of patriotic hats, T-shirts, popcorn, candles and “a little bit of everything” at the store go to help vets and their families. Every cent goes to veterans and their families.

In the Cogswell Avenue storefront, Michelle Tumlin fights a quiet battle. Armed with smiles and encouragement, she wants to give veterans hope.

“I started Houston Project because I needed something in my life that felt good, but to also raise awareness for mental problems, PTSD, alcoholism, CTE – all of the above – mental health, period. Raising awareness was important to me.”

She adds, “I wanted to do both of those things and honor my son.”

While the focus of the project is on veterans, the Houston Project is working with other area organizations to help in the fight against mental illness.

“Mental health is important, whether you are a veteran or not,” Tumlin says. “My platform is to be my son’s voice here on this earth. I’m here to tell his story and to try to keep others from doing what Houston did and help give them awareness before it gets to that. That’s why I exist.”

In other times in other wars, PTSD went by other names: shell shock, soldier’s complaint, combat fatigue or war neurosis. The historical record dates such illness as early as 2,600 years ago. And while researchers and medical professionals know more about PTSD, Tumlin believes veterans aren’t receiving adequate help.

“When (service personnel) get out of the military, they need a way to get back to who they were before they joined the military,” Tumlin says. “The military teaches them to be strong and to be tough and to be soldiers. It was hard for Houston to feel normal again. Not being in the military, he just didn’t feel right, if that makes sense.He couldn’t find his way.”

Houston missed the camaraderie of the military.

“He struggled with depression, nonstop. He was a happy person and a funny person. But he couldn’t find his right place.”

While Army Specialist E-4 Houston Lee Tumlin is gone, he is far from forgotten. While at the time of his death, sordid celebrity news outlets centered on the “Child Actor Commits Suicide” angle, so many others – in Pell City, in the Army and elsewhere – remembered him as so much more – son, brother, fiancé, a soldier who served his country with honor.

Houston Tumlin packed a lot of living into 28 years.

“He walked into a room and took it over. He had the most beautiful smile. He could make people laugh. I mean, the people that started reaching out to us after he passed – from all of these soldiers from all over the map – messaging us, calling us, telling us it was his goal to make people happy,” Michelle says.

There is another story that the Tumlins heard about their son, from a girl recounting the story of a date she had with Houston in the cold of winter.

“She said they were driving in downtown Birmingham,” Michelle recalls. “Houston stopped the car and told her he’d be right back. He got a coat from the back of the car, locked the car, and took the coat to a homeless man across the street. Hearing these stories just filled my heart. I could not be a prouder Mom.”

The Houston Project, created by a grieving family to help veterans and to honor their fallen son, not only helps vets with things like household repairs and moving expenses. It recently helped a veteran’s family in a poignant, particular way, a fitting tribute to the kid who lit up a room.

It paid the family’s utility bill and kept the lights glowing.

Editor’s Note: The nonprofit Houston Project is open Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. The store is located at 1916 Cogswell Ave. in Pell City. Find the store on Facebook. Every cent of sales goes to help local veterans and their families.

Features

Real-Axe-Ing

Sport finds new home in Pell City

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Mackenzie Free

He sights his target at the end of the alley, some 12 feet away. Picking up the axe, he loosens his grip slightly to allow a perfectly timed release. Keeping his eye on the prize, he pulls the axe back, steps quickly forward and releases his throw. The resulting sound of axe blade meeting wood brings a smile to the thrower. This is the sport of axe throwing, and that thrower could be you.

Brand new to Pell City, Logan Martin Axe Throwing may be the new perfect date night activity for your next Saturday night. Or it may be a great option for your next birthday party or group event. They even offer discounts for groups of thirty or more.

Axe throwing is nothing new, but really gained recognition as a sport due to competitions involving logging camps. By the mid-1900s, logger sports were gaining in popularity as loggers looked for ways to entertain themselves while living in camps for months at a time.

Less than a century later, the urban version of the sport of axe throwing is becoming wildly popular around the world. There are even international leagues like the World Axe Throwing League and the International Axe Throwing Federation for competition level players.

“We’re not part of any league; it’s just for fun for groups, date nights and for families. The reason I wanted to open a place here is that my wife and friends and I had to drive to Trussville, Birmingham or Gadsden to enjoy the sport,” explains owner Zayne Ferguson. “Especially now, with the price of gas, it’s nice not to have to drive far. My brother and I always threw hatchets at trees growing up. It’s a lot of fun!”

Ferguson shows just how easy it is to hit the target.

His new venture shares the space with the CrossFit gym he opened in 2020. A competitive powerlifter for five years, he left his job at a local paint store to open a gym in a storefront on U.S. 231.

“Fitness is my passion,” he says, “especially CrossFit.” So, he got certified as a coach and called his business CrossFit231. He quickly outgrew that space and rented the current 8,000-square-foot warehouse building on Cogswell Avenue. He moved into the space in July and quickly realized he had room to start his own axe throwing business inside the gym.

“I was at a birthday party at an axe throwing business in Birmingham. I did the math and calculated startup and operations costs,” Zayne explains. “Then I went to work making it happen.” He admits he probably works more now, but enjoys it much more.

Zayne grew up in St. Clair County, graduated from Pell City High School, played football for a Mississippi college, then returned to his hometown. He and his wife, Irish, enjoy living in the Pell City area.

His extended family has a sawmill in Cook Springs, which is a big help in getting the wood for the targets. They have to be replaced every week or two as the wood wears out from the repetitive strikes of the axe blades. He says using poplar or pine is best.

As expected, the targets have the usual rings and bullseye, but there’s also something perhaps unexpected to the new thrower. At the top of the targets are two blue dots. A strike between those two dots, referred to as “the clutch,” represents extra skill and comes with extra points.

The axes here are a much lighter version than typical throwing axes. Whereas competition axes weigh over two pounds and have long, wooden handles, those at Logan Martin Axe Throwing are under a pound and are made of high-carbon steel. This allows the thrower to easily utilize a one-handed throw style.

“I did extensive research on this,” adds Zayne. “Most places use axes that have a rubber grip, which can make it harder to release right. I purchased lighter, more throwing-sized axes.”

While people are waiting for their turn in the throwing stalls, they can enjoy a quick game of cornhole or giant Jenga. “We want it to feel like we’re just hanging in the backyard having fun,” Zayne says. “That’s what I always shoot for.”

To add even more to the atmosphere, they’re scheduling live music as often as they can. Local food trucks will be set up outside the rollup doors to enable patrons to enjoy a full evening of entertainment.

Every group will receive safety training from one of the coaches or “Axe Masters,” as they are called here. Closed-toe shoes are a must and the minimum age to throw is 10 years old.

Logan Martin Axe Throwing just opened a month ago and are already booking weeks out. They are open Saturdays from 1 to 11 p.m. and additional times for group reservations.

Online pre-booking is highly recommended. Individual throwers pay $25 plus tax for an hour. l

Editor’s note: You can book your axe throwing experience at loganmartinaxe.com.

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