St. Clair Memorial Gardens serves as county’s only dedicated veteran burial ground
Story by Jackie Romine Walburn Photos by Graham Hadley Submitted Photos
When folks at St. Clair Memorial Gardens and Usrey Funeral Home decided to dedicate a section of the cemetery to U.S Armed Forces veterans, owner Steve Perry first consulted with local veterans.
“I actively got together with a group of veterans in town,” Perry says. “We wanted their input, to know what’s important to them.”
The veterans’ group with members who served in Korea, Vietnam and the first Gulf War supported the idea and helped Perry work up rules and regulations for the veterans’ section in Pell City, which opened in 2012.
The rules they decided on are pretty much the same as those used by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs’ official U.S. veterans cemeteries. The section is for veterans and spouses and dependent children. Official honorable discharge papers – known as DD214 – are required to qualify.
Alabama’s only official U.S. National Cemetery is the Alabama National Cemetery at Montevallo and is one of 148 national veteran cemeteries, 33 soldier lots and monument sites in 42 states, according to the VA.
The idea behind the Pell City veterans’ section was not to take away from Montevallo but to expand on it and to offer a nearby choice for St. Clair-area veterans.
“The vets were all behind the idea and wanted to see it happen,” Perry said. “They liked the idea of the burial ground being closer to home and wanted to make sure things were done right, and we didn’t just throw up a veterans’ section. That’s why we follow the strict rules and regulations.
Stone markers represent each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
“We take comfort in knowing that vets had a part in putting this together,” said Perry, whose family has been the funeral home business since 1927, with Usrey’s Funeral Home in Talladega, which is now operated by Perry’s brother Mike. The Pell City location – funeral home and cemetery – were purchased one after the other in 2003 and 2004. St. Clair Memorial Garden’s veterans’ section is set off from the rest of the 14- acre cemetery by a U.S. flag and large granite markers for each division of the U.S. Armed Forces – the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard. The first burial in the veterans’ section was in 2012 – the wife of one of the veterans Perry consulted early on.
The veterans’ section is laid out in lots of 16 grave spaces for a total of 352 spaces, which are filled in order – not by selection, the same way official veteran cemeteries are filled.
Spaces can be pre-purchased, but purchasers cannot pick the space location. This tradition of going in order, not pre-selected location, is the way the national cemeteries operate, Perry says. Burial spaces for a veteran and a spouse can be together with companion markers.
All honorably discharged veterans of active service are entitled to a free marker, a burial flag and military funeral honors, regardless of where they are buried. Usrey and cemetery officials help veterans apply for these benefits, including the bronze markers used at St. Clair Memorial Cemetery. No large family markers are used in the veterans’ section.
National VA cemeteries provide the burial space and opening and closing at no cost to the veteran’s family, according to www.va.gov. Families are still responsible for funeral home, cremation or other burial costs.
Because the St. Clair cemetery is not associated directly with the VA, spaces in the veterans’ section are purchased, in advance in a pre-purchase or at the time of burial planning.
However, Perry and staff handle the paperwork for veteran families, applying for the free grave marker, which are bronze as all markers are at the St. Clair cemetery. They also help arrange for military funeral honors at the family’s request.
Military funeral honors provided by the VA for qualifying veterans buried at veterans’ cemeteries or elsewhere include a presentation of a U.S. burial flag, folded and presented to the family and the playing of taps, according to www.va.gov. Federal law defines a military funeral honors detail as two or more uniformed military persons, with at least one being a member of the veteran’s parent service of the armed service.
Word is still spreading about Usrey’s services for veterans and the Pell City location’s veterans’ section, Perry says, noting that some veterans and families don’t know about the section just for veterans and others have family burial plots already purchased or family traditions of church cemetery burials.
“We just want veterans and their families to know this is here. We’ve always supported veterans, and this is a tribute to them,” Perry says.
The support takes on a personal meaning to the Perrys, too. Both of their grandfathers were World War II veterans, with the paternal grandfather serving as a paratrooper and the maternal grandfather serving as a medic in World War II, Perry says.
Story by Leigh Pritchett Photos courtesy of Jerry W. Garrett Jr. and John Bryant Submitted Photos
During the Christmas season this year, it will be a time to reflect on the gift of freedom and to pay tribute to those who secured it.
At 11 a.m. Dec. 19 at St. Clair Memorial Gardens, the second annual Wreaths Across America (WAA) observance will place wreaths at gravesites of veterans.
Hundreds of wreaths will be put on veteran graves at St. Clair Memorial Gardens, Valley Hill Cemetery, Oak Ridge Cemetery and elsewhere in the county, said Mindy and Keaton Manners and Julia Skelton, local WAA organizers.
The first WAA event in St. Clair County was Dec. 14, 2019. That morning, families, friends and volunteers placed 300 live, evergreen wreaths on veteran graves as part of a nationwide effort.
“Each year, millions of Americans come together to remember the fallen, honor those that serve and their families, and teach the next generation about the value of freedom,” notes the national WAA organization. “This gathering of volunteers and patriots takes place in local and national cemeteries in all 50 states” and some American cemeteries in Europe. “… In 2019, approximately 2.2 million veteran wreaths were placed on headstones at 2,158 participating locations around the country in honor of the service and sacrifices made for our freedoms.”
Broken Arrow Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), along with Steve Perry and Usrey Funeral Home, worked to bring the local event together. Giving their assistance were St. Clair County High School JROTC, Canoe Creek Society of Children of the American Revolution (CAR), Henderson Builders Supply Co. in Pell City and numerous residents of Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home.
JROTC members salute during service at St. Clair Memorial Gardens.
Susan Bowman of Pell City was touched by the number of wreaths and the number of people who came to help place those wreaths.
This was her first time to be part of such an observance.
She got to place wreaths at the graves of her father, Jesse Hooks, and her sister, Kathy Lynn Hooks, both of whom had served in the Army.
“I was very proud and teary-eyed. I was very teary-eyed,” she said. “Just emotions running through me.”
Those same words would describe the writer of this article and her sisters as well. Only two months before WAA, our dad – retired Chief Master Sgt. Porter Bailey – had been buried with military honors.
Getting to place a WAA wreath at his gravesite stirred the pangs of grief. But it also filled our hearts with pride for the 37 years he served this nation in the Army, Air Force and Alabama Air National Guard.
The day brought emotional extremes for Lyle and Shelly Harmon, who are the parents of three sons.
Well in advance of the ceremony, Harmon – who is St. Clair County’s district attorney and chief warrant officer 4 with Alabama Army National Guard – had agreed to serve as master of ceremonies. Then, hardly a month before the observance, son Sloan (known as “Boo”) was fatally shot just off an I-20 exit.
An airman first class with the Air Force, Boo was a KC-135 crew chief at the Alabama Air National Guard’s 117th Air Refueling Wing in Birmingham. He had just turned 20 a few days before the murder.
Though serving as WAA master of ceremonies so soon after Boo’s death was difficult, “I felt I should,” Lyle Harmon said. “… I can’t even express how humbling that was to do that. … It was quite humbling.”
At the same time, it was “a huge honor,” Harmon added.
During the ceremony, veterans of the Army, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines each placed a wreath at the respective monuments that stand at St. Clair Memorial Gardens. Because the veteran who was to place the wreath at the Air Force monument could not attend, Shelly Harmon did it.
Lyle Harmon watched his wife – a grieving, heartbroken mother – place a wreath of tribute at the Air Force monument.
Thinking back on what Shelly did that day, Harmon recalled, “I’m just so proud of my wife. She is unbelievably faithful and strong.”
The origin
The simple request of another grieving mother was the catalyst for the local WAA observance.
In early summer of 2019, that mother contacted a DAR group in Birmingham, explaining that she was unable to place a wreath or flag for Memorial Day on her son’s grave in St. Clair Memorial Gardens. Mrs. Manners – a member of Broken Arrow DAR in Pell City – and her husband volunteered to lay the wreath.
When Mr. and Mrs. Manners went for that reason to St. Clair Memorial Gardens, which is the only cemetery in the county with a section specifically for the military, the couple were surprised by the number of veterans’ graves they saw.
In the two-mile trip from the cemetery back to their home, Manners – an Army veteran – and Mrs. Manners decided they must organize a tribute to veterans interred there.
Honoring St. Clair veterans at the memorial service
For about six years, the couple had attended WAA observances at Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo. Now, they felt it was time to bring that tribute to St. Clair County.
They set a goal of 300 wreaths, 260 of which would be for St. Clair Memorial Gardens. The remainder would go to graves in Valley Hill Cemetery, Oak Ridge Cemetery and Broken Arrow Cemetery at the request of various families.
St. Clair County High School JROTC joined the effort, raising funds for 100 wreaths and providing military color guard for the ceremony.
The JROTC leaders, Retired Maj. Channing McGee and Retired Sgt. 1st Class Vicki Glover, said participating in WAA “teaches cadets the importance of community service and instills patriotism by honoring these veterans and their sacrifice.”
For the 2020 event, the cadets plan to provide another 100 wreaths. (For information on how to help the cadets meet their goal, see the accompanying story, “Sponsor a wreath.”)
St. Clair debut
The first WAA event in St. Clair County was met with such support in the community that the entire ceremony was finalized within three months, the Manners said.
But the enthusiasm following the event brought the 2020 ceremony together even quicker.
“Two days after this past event, we had it all lined up for this year,” he said.
This year’s event will also feature a replica of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. (For more information, read the accompanying story, “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier replica to be on display.”)
After attending last year’s WAA, John Bryant of Alpine encouraged fellow members of the Knights of Columbus, Assembly 2972, Our Lady of the Lake to volunteer to lay wreaths of remembrance on graves of fallen heroes and to honor those who served the nation.
“I can’t think of anything that shows more patriotism than to honor and to show respect for our veterans,” Bryant said. “… I feel like we need more patriotism. We need to let this country know we love it, and we need to remember that the privileges we have today are because of our veterans.”
Skelton, who is also a member of Broken Arrow DAR, said volunteers will be needed to help place wreaths at St. Clair Memorial Gardens and possibly at Valley Hill Cemetery and Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Wreath placement generally is guided by military designations on headstones or footstones. However, Mrs. Manners said wreath-placement requests can be made for veterans whose grave markers have no military designation. A copy of the veteran’s DD-214 or a photo of the veteran in uniform will suffice as proof of military service.
Editor’s Note:To request wreath placement and provide documentation, email Mrs. Manners at mindy.manners@yahoo.com.
Amazing handiwork tells a story in every delicate stitch
Story by Leigh Pritchett Photos by Graham Hadley
Carolyn Hall is surrounded by heritage.
In her parlor are shelves of medical books belonging to her grandfather, Dr. R.A. Martin, and a wicker baby scale from a nursery unit at Martin Hospital. A collection of apothecary jars recalls the three generations that her family ran the corner Rexall drug store in downtown Pell City.
In a sunny room down the hall are two exquisitely detailed quilts that her grandmother Ada Kincaid made prior to 1936. The stitching of one quilt forms an intricate feather design, while the stitching of the other quilt is an equally complex rose pattern.
Treasured heirlooms they are.
Such a setting seemed appropriate for discussing keepsakes – those Carolyn inherited, as well as those she is creating for her four children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
The trove of cross-stitch artistry she has sewn for her family represents thousands of hours of work spanning decades.
“I have done a little bit of everything with cross-stitch,” Carolyn said.
She has made switch-plate covers, Christmas ornaments, a multi-dimensional Christmas train, tablecloth and napkins, pillows, pictures and cross-stitch designs on sweatshirts.
Several colors of thread were used to get the shading just right.
Cross-stitch afghans are the bulk of her work. She has completed many different afghans, featuring lighthouses, dogs, cats, stars and sailboats, ABCs, mallards and fruit.
Each piece has its own unique story and exhibits the special bond between the giver and receiver:
The afghan with an Aztec motif was the choice of daughter Cindy, who lives in Tennessee.
Daughter Stacy, who lives in Birmingham, wanted the afghan of “ice cream colors” that Carolyn made in the 1990s. “This is my favorite (afghan),” Carolyn said.
Daughter Mick, who lives in Colorado, displays one of her mother’s afghans as an art piece. Mick’s features wild birds perched on branches that stretch from square to square across the afghan.
For the afghan of son Rob, who works in construction in Florida, Carolyn chose storefront designs. She even altered the size, shape and lettering on the apothecary sign to make it read “Pell City Drug Co.”
Each grandchild and great-grandchild has one of Carolyn’s afghans, and a stash of afghans awaits future great-grandchildren.
Susan Mann, assistant director of Pell City Library, said Carolyn’s creations are priceless treasures the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren can “cherish. … They will be special keepsakes forever. And each time they see them or use them, they will think of her, and remember those sweet moments shared.”
Friends and neighbors also have been beneficiaries of some of Carolyn’s handiwork.
Much care goes into each cross-stitch piece because Carolyn wants flawlessness.
“I don’t want to do anything that isn’t first class,” she said.
Joyce Thrower of Pell City, who has known the Hall family at least 50 years, has seen nearly every piece Carolyn has finished.
“She does beautiful work. Everything she does is perfect,” Joyce said.
Susan, likewise, described Carolyn’s work as “meticulous.” She pointed out that Carolyn’s cross-stitch is as pretty on the back as on the front.
When trying to decide which of Carolyn’s afghans she likes best, Susan confessed, “Every time she does a new one, it becomes my favorite.”
But Susan did say her top three would be the colorful birds on a pale mint afghan; a kitten whose spilled milk “drips” down an afghan, and the Victorian “painted ladies” homes of Chincoteague, Va.
The last one is in progress. Carolyn started the “painted ladies” afghan around Labor Day 2019. In August 2020, she reached the halfway point.
Carolyn may spend a year or two, working almost every day, on one afghan until it is completed.
Her longest project took more than two decades. She started the piece – a cross-stitch, bed-cover quilt – when pregnant with Rob, her fourth child. She finished it when he was 23. In between, the project got shelved while she reared her children, was a homemaker and helped her pharmacist husband, Robert “Bob” Hall, run Pell City Drug Co.
A Pell City legacy
Carolyn’s grandparents – Dr. R.A. and Mary Martin – arrived in Pell City in its infancy.
“My grandfather moved here in 1903. He was a surgeon at the Gertrude Comer Hospital” at Avondale Mills, Carolyn said.
After the hospital closed in the 1920s, Dr. Martin opened a six-bed clinic above Pell City Drug Co.
When the building next door became available in the 1930s, Dr. Martin moved the hospital there. For more than 30 years, Martin Hospital occupied that building, which is now the law offices of Hugh E. and Gibson Holladay.
Carolyn and all four of her children were born in Martin Hospital.
Carolyn shows off one of her favorite afghans depicting famous lighthouses.
As for Pell City Drug Co., Dr. Martin established it soon after arriving in Pell City. “That was one of the first Rexall franchises (in the nation),” Carolyn said.
Her mother, Mary Ruth Kincaid, later inherited Pell City Drug Co. and then Carolyn and Bob acquired it after Mary Ruth’s death. Carolyn and Bob, who had met while studying pharmacy at Auburn University, operated the drug store from 1961 to November 2001. In just two more months, the store would have been 99 years old.
The drug store, with its iconic soda fountain, was such a fixture and a necessity in Pell City that is was open every day except Christmas.
Until her last child was in high school, Carolyn worked at the store only when needed. But after long-time bookkeeper Annie Scott Stephens died, Carolyn assumed that job.
Bob passed away six years after retiring.
No idle hands here
When Carolyn was in junior high school, her grandmother Mary Martin taught her to embroider. Carolyn’s first pieces were pillowcases and dresser scarves, most of which she still has.
Though she gave up needlework for a time, she resumed after college, putting it down again during child-rearing.
What drew her back to it is the fascination of creating an art piece one stitch at a time.
“The creating is what I like,” Carolyn said. “This satisfies my creativity.”
Instead of using pre-stamped, cross-stitch patterns, Carolyn prefers the challenge of starting with a blank “canvas.” She must align the subject perfectly and count each stitch she sews in order to be precise.
“With cross-stitch, you’ve got to pay attention,” because one mistake affects the entire design, Carolyn said.
Some of her projects are so complex that they may require as many as 75 different thread colors.
Though dealing with macular degeneration and glaucoma, Carolyn sews for hours each morning. Often, she becomes so engaged that she does not want to put it down.
“It’s calming. It’s peaceful. It keeps your mind occupied. And you’re creating something. What’s not to like? … My grandmother would be proud,” she said. “… My grandmother didn’t believe in idle hands sitting around at night.”
Carolyn also walks four times a week, reads mysteries and is a volunteer hostess for library events. She might also be found on a travel adventure, such as Iceland in winter.
Just the same, she is always looking to the next cross-stitch challenge. Already, she has another afghan to begin after she finishes the “painted ladies” … in about a year.
Summer-ending concert may become yearly event on Logan Martin Lake
Jason Rogoff and Jeff Thompson found the cure for the quarantined summer blues: an outdoor rock concert … during Labor Day weekend.
But it cannot be your normal concert.
This one has to be arranged in less than eight weeks; it has to feature a sought-after performer who just happens to be available because of pandemic cancellations; it has to provide seating that socially distances audience members attending by land and huge video screens visible to those attending by boat; it has to raise funds for two entities, and it has to be full of energy.
That concert – which was on Sept. 4 at Pell City Sports Complex on the shores of Logan Martin Lake – fulfilled all the requirements and quite possibly began an annual event.
For the concert, the Black Jacket Symphony performed the songs from the Queen album, A Night at the Opera, and featured the vocal talent of Marc Martel.
The stage lights up the night
Martel provided some vocals for Bohemian Rhapsody, the biopic about Queen’s late lead singer Freddie Mercury, said Rogoff, director and producer of the Black Jacket Symphony.
Thompson, who is director of the Center for Education and Performing Arts (CEPA) in Pell City, said Rogoff approached him about an outdoor concert patterned after others that the Black Jacket Symphony had held in Birmingham.
For the Black Jacket Symphony, this would be a return visit to Pell City.
In February 2020, the Black Jacket Symphony performed Fleetwood Mac’s album, Rumours, in concert at CEPA and had scheduled Led Zeppelin IV for May. But COVID containment measures canceled Led Zeppelin IV.
Springville-bred food artist finds home in Birmingham’s noted culinary scene
Story by Scottie Vickery
Photos by Graham Hadley
Submitted Photos
Cory Bolton had barely started walking when his grandmother plopped him on the kitchen counter with a spoon and a mixing bowl full of corn meal. It was an easy way to keep the toddler entertained while she cooked, so she told him he was helping.
It turns out those early days in the kitchen with his grandmother, Sandra Bolton, were much more than a diversion. They were the first cooking lessons Cory, who grew up in Springville and is now the executive chef at Fancy’s on 5th in Avondale, ever had.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” he said. “She made biscuits pretty much every day, and she’d put me on the counter with this big green glass bowl. By the time I was three or four, I was kneading the dough, and she would teach me as she went. That really set into motion for me a lifetime of enjoying food.”
These days, the 32-year-old Bolton is giving guests at Fancy’s on 5th plenty of food to enjoy themselves. The restaurant, which bills itself as an oyster dive and burger bar, offers everything from seared ahi tuna and oysters served with golden kiwi strawberry mignonette to a fried flounder BLT, grilled octopus tacos, and a burger featuring chipotle aioli, pico de gallo, fried jalapenos and pepper jack cheese.
“I cook a little bit of everything, but my specialty is definitely seafood – Southern-style food and seafood,” he said. “I’ve cut about every fish in the Gulf of Mexico.”
Home cooking
Cory has been at a number of restaurants in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa over the years, working his way up from dishwasher to cook to sous-chef to head chef to the co-star in an online cooking show. His start in the restaurant business, though, came close to home when his parents, Mike and Beth Bolton, opened Big Bolton’s BBQ in Argo in 2009. Cory, 21 at the time, helped them run the place.
Mike, Cory and Beth Bolton in the kitchen
Mike, who had just retired after 25 years as an outdoor writer and columnist for The Birmingham News, definitely knew his way around a grill and a smoker. “The men in my family like to cook meat, smoke meat,” Cory said. “Dad was always doing the hunting and fishing stuff – cooking Boston butts or brisket at the hunting camp.”
Mike, the author of several books, including Preparing and Cooking Alabama’s Wild Game, is quick to declare his son the expert. “He’s a much better cook than I am,” Mike said. “I was pretty simple, but he was always trying different things. He came up with a marinade for grilled chicken that was incredible. People just loved it.”
After moving Big Bolton’s to a new location in Springville, the family closed the restaurant in 2011 during the economic downturn. “I tell people that saying, ‘You can cook good, you ought to open a restaurant’ is a lot like saying, ‘You put your seatbelt on good, you ought to be a NASCAR driver,’” said Mike, now the editor of Alabama Outdoor News and the owner of Victory Lane Catering.
While the experience led Mike to say “never again” to the restaurant business, the disappointment inspired Cory to work even harder to achieve his dream. “I’m definitely a person who, if I get knocked down, I’m going to get back up,” he said. “If Big Bolton’s goes out of business, then I’m going to show everyone that I can be a chef.”
He’s drawn on his St. Clair County upbringing throughout his career. Cory was especially involved in extracurricular activities and sports at Springville High School, and the lessons he learned on the field have helped him in his career.
“All of the team-building stuff, I use it every day,” said Cory, who was captain of the football team and helped with coaching after high school. “Trying to get an 18-year-old kid to focus, and not text girls, is a lot like a chef trying to get guys to focus intently for six hours. Sports taught me to lead a team and be part of a team.”
Flat iron steak with manchego smashed potatoes, creamed spinach and crispy artichokes
Growing up, Cory traveled to barbecue competitions, Bassmaster Classics, and trade shows with his father, and he got early exposure to some of the more exotic foods. “I’m eating rattlesnake, fried crappie, squirrel soup and all this crazy food most kids don’t get to experience,” he said.
At church, he found more than a spiritual foundation. His parents were the kitchen managers at Clearbranch United Methodist Church for about 12 years, and Cory and his sister, Lauren, could often be found helping with spaghetti dinners and other events. “Even as a 12-year-old, I’m learning how to use industrial kitchen equipment at my church,” he said. “I never knew I was in training.”
The real foundation, though, was set at the nearby Trussville home of his grandparents, Sandra and Clyde Bolton. “I have four grandchildren, and Cory is the only boy,” Sandra said. “The girls didn’t care much about being in the kitchen, but Cory always was. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and Cory is like me on that. It’s not work for us, it’s fun.”
Pursuing his dreams
Despite his love of cooking, Cory is self-taught and never attended culinary school. As a student at Jacksonville State University and Jefferson State Community College, he envisioned a career in public relations, or as a journalist or sports information director. The kitchen, however, kept calling his name.
He worked in a number of places over the years, including food trucks and Primeaux Cheese & Vino in Birmingham, and he enjoyed a stint as head chef at a sushi restaurant. His years at the award-winning Ocean, in Birmingham’s Five Points district, shaped him the most, however.
“That was a real turning point for me because I had a real mentor,” Cory said of the restaurant’s owner, George Reis. “George is a real live chef – intense, not accepting less than perfection. He helped me develop my cooking for sure, but he taught me how to be a chef.”
Reis allowed Bolton to change the menu and add his own flair to dishes, and he also taught him to trust himself in the kitchen. “He let me come into my own as a chef, and I really understood what we were doing,” said Cory, who also worked for Ocean’s sister restaurant, 26. “I didn’t have to read the music, I could just play by ear.”
Cooking burgers
to go
That instinct is what makes him stand out from the crowd, Mike said. “Cory really gets that cooking is about 25 percent cooking and 75 percent science,” he said. “He’s really good at that.”
It’s something that came naturally, even as a child helping his father grill, Cory said. “Good barbecue is good but without great sauce, it’s just good barbecue,” he said. “The sauce has to have the right amount of sweet, spice and acidity. Good sauce isn’t just sweet or just spicy or just tangy, it’s a balance of all those things. At 10 years old, if you’re understanding the balance of flavors, you’re really understanding the science of cooking.”
He got to experiment a little in the three years he was executive chef at River in Tuscaloosa before moving back to Birmingham to be closer to home and family. Bolton’s friend and fellow chef Addison Porter followed him to River, and the duo got creative with steaks, seafood and dishes like pork rinds and queso cheese with black-eyed pea relish. “We were doing some really great stuff, complicated food,” Cory said. “It was crazy busy. After an Alabama-LSU game, you’re serving 500, 600 people.”
While at River, Cory and Addison started filming “Chunks,” a cooking show for Allrecipes.com, a food-focused social network featuring recipes, how-to videos and inspiration. They filmed four episodes before the pandemic, and Cory hopes to eventually do more. They made some over-the-top creations for the show, including a 10-pound egg roll stuffed with gameday foods, including burgers, buffalo chicken, chips and salsa.
“We are kind of flamboyant, crazy people, and we’ve had a lot of fun,” Cory said. “We’ve worked in the kitchen together for about seven years and everyone says we speak a different language. One of us will just point, and the other one knows exactly what he wants.”
That rapport comes in handy with Cory’s latest mission of doing the impossible and making his grandmother’s fried chicken recipe even better. “Fried chicken is my favorite food ever,” Cory said. “My ultimate goal is to open a fried chicken restaurant and let Addison run it.”
Green onion and a specially seasoned flour are the secret ingredients in Sandra’s recipe, and Cory and Addison have experimented with additional spices and seasonings. “We started with everything we loved about her recipe and have been adding different things and trying to perfect it,” Cory said. “We’ve worked on it, and I’m not kidding, for five years like mad scientists.”
So, what does Sandra think about his lofty goal? “I don’t know if I can even take it to her,” Cory said with a laugh. “If she knew I changed her recipe, I might not be able to go to Thanksgiving.”
He’s not really worried, though. While he loves being the “crazy, city boy chef,” Cory acknowledges his grandmother always welcomes him with open arms, and she’ll always be the best cook he knows. “You can take a recipe you loved as a child, add high level techniques and skill, but it’s still never going to be what your grandmother cooked,” he said.
Local medical community rises to meet the challenge
Story by Scottie Vickery Photos by Graham Hadley Submitted photos
Anyone entering PCIFM in Pell City had to be screened, including a temperature check.
Long before COVID-19 found its way to St. Clair County, medical professionals in the area were preparing for its arrival. They had been monitoring the progression of the virus, which began in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, even before it first made its way to the United States in January.
Alabama got its first reported case on March 13, and the virus hit St. Clair County four days later. By mid-July, the state’s numbers had risen to well over 58,000 cases with nearly 1,200 deaths. At that time, St. Clair County had nearly 700 cases and four deaths.
“The biggest thing in the beginning was dealing with the panic and uncertainty,” said Dr. Michael Dupre’, who led the coronavirus response efforts for Northside Medical Associates. “When you use a word like pandemic, it gets people’s attention.”
The virus brought challenges that medical personnel had not faced before, and local healthcare officials raced to implement new procedures, alleviate concerns and remove obstacles for their staffs. At the same time, they had to treat existing patients while trying to diagnose and care for those with COVID-19.
Rapidly changing information was an initial challenge since much was still unknown. Lisa Nichols, administrator of St. Vincent’s St. Clair, said that by the time guidelines from sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and the Alabama Department of Public Health were communicated with the staff, new information and guidelines had been released.
“There were a lot of changes,” she said. “Our staff works in 12-hours shifts, and by the time we got information out to everyone, it had changed again. Our team was very resilient and did an excellent job of going with the flow.”
The immediate concern was keeping patients and medical personnel safe, according to Nichols, Dupre’ and Dr. Barry Collins of Pell City Internal and Family Medicine (PCIFM).
“This was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before,” Collins said. “To be honest, I was afraid when all this hit, the fear would deplete our staff. They hung in there fearlessly, though, because they knew they were essential to the community.”
Dupre’ said staff members were initially concerned that they would contract the virus and take it home to family members who were at risk for complications, such as aging parents or an immunocompromised child. Employees with chronic health issues or family members who were at-risk were reassigned to other areas where it was safer. The level of anxiety was unlike anything I’d ever seen before,” he said, “There were fears, but our duty and commitment to our community did not change one bit.”
Implementing safeguards
Because COVID-19 required limiting access, Birmingham Heart Clinic’s Dr. Jason Thompson uses a cell phone to get more information from a patient’s spouse.
Once initial fears were addressed, the focus was on treating patients – those with COVID-19 and those without – while preventing the spread of the virus. The first step was to identify potential coronavirus cases before patients encountered anyone else.
“We have so many entry points to the facility, so we changed the way you come into our hospital,” Nichols said, adding that separate entrances and parking lots were designated for patients and associates. Door screeners at each entrance checked everyone for fever and symptoms of the virus, including cough or shortness of breath. Anyone who is identified as having symptoms of the virus is directed into a separate waiting area while waiting for the triage nurse.
At PCIFM, patients were initially screened over the telephone when they called to make appointments, and staff members conducted temperature screenings and checked oxygen levels and symptoms at the door. Anyone who was a potential positive, based on either check, was directed to the practice’s drive-thru testing lane. “We were able to do COVID testing without having the patient leave the car,” Collins said.
Northside patients were screened at the door of all four locations – Pell City, Moody, Springville and Trussville – and only one entrance and exit was used at each office, Dupre’ said. At the Pell City campus, the building housing the ACCEL Urgent Care Center was designated for respiratory illnesses and COVID-19 testing and treatment. Anyone with symptoms of the virus, or those who had been exposed, were directed there.
In addition, hospital and medical office personnel all over the county implemented additional cleaning processes to cut down on the spread of the virus. “We’re constantly changing scrubs and masks and rotating stethoscopes,” said Dr. Jason Thompson, a cardiologist with Birmingham Heart Clinic, which has an office at Northside’s Pell City campus. “Exam rooms are being sanitized between every visit, and it’s not just changing the paper on the table. We’re wiping walls down with Clorox and wiping the table down with Clorox.”
The virus brought additional hurdles, as well. Schools and day care centers closed, leaving medical personnel scrambling for child care. Northside and PCIFM set up day care programs at their offices so their employees could continue to focus on caring for the community.
“We called it Camp Northside,” Dupre’ said of the child care program that operated for three months. “If our employees didn’t have anyone to take care of their kids, we took care of them here,” he said.
Collins said their day care program was largely operated by family members of staff as well as volunteers. “The community really rallied around that idea,” he said. “They were donating lunches and teaching materials for the children.”
Hard decisions
There were other dilemmas, as well. “Probably one of the hardest things we had to do was go to a no-visitors policy,” Nichols said. At first, patients at the hospital were limited to two visitors, but as guidelines continued to change, it went down to one within a few days. Not long after, no visitors were allowed, except for end-of-life situations and patients that required caregivers.
“We struggled with how to get people information about their loved ones. We encouraged patients to connect with their families via social media,” Nichols said, adding that the hospital purchased tablets for patients without smartphones. They also implemented a process to ensure that the nursing staff contacted one family member or caregiver to provide updates, as long as the patient gave permission.
Even though that added more work for a nursing staff that was already stretched, the team didn’t balk at that or any other additional duties, according to Shiloh Swiney, director of nursing for the hospital. “They all chipped in and said, ‘We’re going to get this done. We’re going to get these patients taken care of,’” she said. “We have a strong nursing group, and the morale has been very high.”
The suspension of elective dental and medical procedures caused additional concerns. “Initially, we rescheduled all elective procedures and did Telehealth visits for routine checks of less acute patients,” Collins said. “Not everyone had access to the internet and some patients weren’t tech savvy and weren’t comfortable with talking on camera. We had to educate our patients.”
While some of Thompson’s patient appointments could be handled virtually, other cardiac patients needed to continue to be seen in person. In order to limit exposure in waiting rooms, Thompson said that his office asked those patients to come alone unless a caregiver was truly necessary. That sometimes limited the information he received.
“I’ve got some patients who, if their wives didn’t come with them, I wouldn’t know anything,” Thompson said. “The wife is who would tell me if he had been short of breath. Now, a lot of times I’ll pick up the phone, call the wife and put her on speaker. That’s how I’ve brought them back in the exam room without crowding the waiting room.”
Patients with chronic conditions who were concerned about catching the virus often delayed seeking treatment, which led to other problems. “Our ER volume was almost cut in half,” Nichols said. “Some of the patients we’re seeing now are sicker because they waited too long to get the care they need. We want everyone to know that we are a safe place, and we are absolutely taking steps to keep everyone safe.” High-touch areas are being cleaned many times throughout the day, and some chairs in waiting rooms are blocked off to ensure patients have plenty of room between them, she said.
Thompson, especially, saw the effects that fear and suspending elective procedures, like having a stent inserted, had on his patients. In some cases, patients had strokes that could have been prevented, or they lost heart function after a heart attack that might possibly have been restored if they had sought help faster.
“I’ve had patients who sat on their chest pains for fear of the ER,” he said. “With a heart attack, time is muscle. If we can get to you within 12 hours of chest pain, we can salvage heart muscle.” Although his patients’ cardiovascular disease makes them high risk for coronavirus complications, their heart issues still need to be addressed. “We have to be careful, but we cannot ignore their underlying disease,” Thompson said.
A community rallies together
Long before Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statewide mask order in mid-July, all patients and staff at St. Vincent’s, Northside, PCIFM and the Birmingham Heart Clinic were required to wear masks, which were provided for patients who didn’t have them. When supplies were low in the early days of the pandemic, employees at Northside got busy.
Pell City Rotary delivers food to St. Vincent’s St. Clair.
“Our staff made thousands and thousands of masks,” Dupre’ said. “We had hundreds of patients at home making masks with their own fabric and their own money. We’ve always thought the world of our patients, but so many went above and beyond.”
Patients weren’t the only ones offering support. Dupre’, Collins and Nichols all said they were overwhelmed by the love shown by the community as a whole. Individuals, churches and businesses from all over the county provided meals; offered masks, hand sanitizer and cleaning products; and prayed.
Several nights, Swiney said, individuals and church groups gathered in the back parking lot of the 40-bed hospital to pray. “There are so many people out there who wanted to help, and to know they were praying for each one of us here was amazing,” she said.
“The community was absolutely awesome,” Collins said, adding that donated meals meant the staff didn’t have to leave the building and could focus on the crisis at hand. “It reminds you about what is great about the human spirit,” Dupre’ added.
Moving forward
Early efforts to flatten the curve helped because, even though people continued to get sick, the cases were spread out over a period of weeks, so the hospital was not overwhelmed. “Fortunately for St. Clair County, we’re rural enough to spread out,” Dupre’ said. “That’s really helped, and we haven’t had the impact other counties have had.”
Early on, Dupre’ said, Northside looked at designating one of the buildings at the Pell City campus to house overflow patients from the hospital, if necessary. “Thank God it was never that bad,” he said.
It could still reach that point, however, if people relax too much. Alabama saw a resurgence in cases in late June and early July after the state began reopening, and Collins said he worries about the looming flu season. Although flu season is typically considered to be October to March or April, it’s not uncommon to see cases in September.
“There’s been a real spike in (COVID) cases, and now we’re almost back to square one,” Collins said. “The only way we can get this virus to go away is to starve the virus from the host.”
That’s why it’s critical that everyone continues to social distance, wash hands frequently, avoid group gatherings and wear face coverings to prevent the spread. “Wearing a mask can really protect the people you interact with,” Nichols said. “A lot of asymptomatic people are testing positive, even though they have no symptoms. If they’re wearing masks, the likelihood of spreading the virus is reduced.”
Dupre’ said masks are especially crucial for high-risk patients. “We know the masks work,” he said. “We’ve had staff here who have swabbed thousands and thousands of patients, and we haven’t had one catch COVID,” he said in early July. He added that people need to continue to isolate themselves if they are sick and wash hands frequently, especially when they have come in contact with surfaces outside their homes.
Although Thompson said masks have meant that he has had to dramatically slow down his speech so older patients who are hard of hearing can understand him, he agrees that wearing them and taking other precautions is imperative. “We have to take this seriously,” he said. “I think it has become apparent to us that this is not going away tomorrow. We will continue to deal with this for a year or more.”
He added that, while the growing death toll from the virus is tragic, it’s not the only tragedy of this pandemic. Thompson has seen widowed patients suffer depression after being isolated from friends and family for months on end. People haven’t been able to gather for funerals, which has had a negative effect on the grieving process. Couples looking forward to starting their lives together have had to postpone weddings.
“All of this is part of the human tragedy we’re all living through,” he said. “We are social animals, and it’s interesting how you begin to crave that interaction with family and friends. I’m not pretending this is going to be easy, but it can be done.”
Collins said he is hopeful that the newfound awareness among the public about how germs are transmitted will have lasting benefits even after COVID-19 goes away. “Right now, this virus is a curse, but if it changes behavior, it may mean a decrease in other communicable diseases, such as the flu,” he said. “It may be somewhat of a silver lining beyond this nightmare.”
