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Springville, AL

Marching to its own rhythm

Story by Paul South
Photos by Susan Wall

In one sense, Springville rocks to the gentle rhythm of a quintessential Southern small town, where folks speak to everyone – even strangers – on the street. In the mornings, locals and visitors feast on steaming plates of biscuits and gravy at Springville Café, a meat-and-three at lunch, seasoning their food with talk of politics and football and gossip.

They worry when their neighbors are sick, celebrate when a new baby is born and mourn when a neighbor passes away. It’s a rhythm of Springville Tiger football on fall Friday nights and heartfelt prayers on sun-washed Sunday mornings.

But in another sense, this town of nearly 4,100 souls marches to its own drumbeat, crowding the local library for the latest literature, tapping their toes at intimate music venues like Local Color, or celebrating local artists and craftspeople at Homestead Hollow. It loves the cool, clear water of Big Canoe Creek, the same ancient waters that brought Native peoples and white settlers to the area centuries ago.

This town that once boasted its own college cherishes history and education, like the Old Rock School, crafted from stones yanked out of the ground by locals, and the current Springville High School that strives for excellence in and out of the classroom

Like its sister cities in St. Clair County, Springville is growing, but at its own pace, with its own sense of how things should be done. It’s a stained-glass window of a town, vibrant in life and color, where the light of possibility shines through.

“Springville is a very welcome, gentle, conservative-minded but progressive-thinking city for people to live in. All of those are here,” said Springville Mayor William “Butch” Isley. “They are all seeking for it to be slow and easy for people to live here. The daily life here is easy. The town is welcoming and warm to all who come here. That’s why I’m here.”

A rich history

Why the Springville area’s first settlers came here is simple: Water, pure water. The area’s crystal clear waters from natural springs made it a popular rest stop for Native peoples and later European pioneers who traveled through and settled in the area. The first settlers came to Springville – first known as Big Springs – before Alabama achieved statehood in 1819. The first church was established in 1817. With the establishment of the first post office in 1833, the town’s name was changed to Pinkhill, but was again changed a year later to Springville. The town was incorporated in December 1880.

Descendants of families who settled in Springville in its earliest days – Woodall, McClendon, Bradford, Forman and others – still call Springville home.

A co-educational academy was built in 1861 and in 1873 was renamed Springville High School. The 1870s were marked with both triumph and tragedy. The Alabama Great Southern Railway came through the town in 1870. Sadly, the advent of the railroad brought with it the dreaded disease cholera, killing many of the railroad workers.

Telephone and electricity came to Springville in the first quarter of the 20^th century. And the town’s water and sewer system came into being in 1935, in the heart of the Great Depression. In 1957, a new city hall was constructed.

Donna Davis is part of a cadre of volunteers working at the Springville Museum and Archives. Once located in the upstairs portion of the Springville Public Library, when the library moved to a new building, the museum made the Masonic Lodge on Main Street its home.

In late October, Davis and the museum volunteers bustled, decorating for a Christmas exhibit. She remembers one of the milepost moments of Springville history, the explosion at the local train depot in January 1969.

“I was in the second grade, and it was two days past my birthday, and I remember it very well. We were all in school on that day,” Davis recalled. “What I remember was the panic of everyone. We all were evacuated from the school and ran up the hill behind the school, trying to get to safety. The explosions were shattering the windows of the houses around town.”

In the panic, children piled into the cars of neighbors to get home. Firefighters from as far away as Birmingham, as well as the Alabama National Guard came to fight the blaze, sparked when a train carrying propane exploded. Miraculously, despite the damage to buildings, no one was killed.

One former town landmark, now gone, brings happier memories. Residents of a certain age will remember a lake constructed by the city in the heart of town. Filled with carp, bream and trout, the lake was popular for picnics and other social events, as well as for folks who simply wanted to feed the fish. A hill behind the lake was home to Easter sunrise services, a celebration of resurrection and renewal.

Springville Lake was a popular spot until the late 1960s when the state health department ordered that the lake be covered over and filled with dirt, opening the floodgates of protest. Letters to the editor flooded local newspapers, and the lake’s closure generated coverage from big city papers.

Writing in the Birmingham News more than 40 years ago, the late Frank Sikora reported, “Springville Lake was a natural park. You could hardly walk around the place through the crowds that came on July 4. Now it’s gone. Where the water was, there is now only red-yellow dirt. Nobody wanted it to happen, but it did.”

The lake was the heart of the town, said lifelong resident Donna Davis. In the early part of the 20^th century, Springville had its own college, attracting students from as far away as Texas, many of whom roomed at local homes. Spring Lake College burned down in 1912.

The lake even spawned a number of businesses, flour mills and axe handle mills and hotels. Most notable was the Herron Hotel, which attracted politicians, movie stars and travelers who flocked to Springville to dine.

“It was famous for its fried chicken, which you could get for 50 cents,” Davis said.

Big Canoe Creek and other tributaries of the Coosa River have helped the city keep its time-honored ties to the water. And as water enriches life, some natives of Springville have enriched and entertained America, like former major-league ballplayer Artie Wilson, a four-time all-star in the Negro Leagues who hit .402 in 1948.

Wilson broke briefly into the National League, where he was a teammate of Hall-of-Famer and Fairfield, Ala., native Willie Mays. Wilson was also a four-time batting champ in the Pacific Coast League.

Aubrey Willis Williams was head of FDR’s National Youth Administration during the New Deal. He was also assistant federal relief administrator during the Depression, the second-highest ranking American relief official at the time.

And the late Springville native Hank Patterson performed the unforgettable role of Fred Ziffel in the classic television comedy, Green Acres. Patterson also had a recurring role in Gunsmoke and appeared in a number of television classics, including The Twilight Zone and Perry Mason.

Smart growth, economic diversity

Like other municipalities in St. Clair County, Springville is growing. In the past 12 months, 50 new homes have either been completed or are in progress, a sign that the housing market is coming out of the recession of 2007-08, Isley said.

St. Clair County Realtor Josh Kell agreed. New rooftops are becoming common in Springville after years of an almost flat-lined housing market. Kell and his late father built one of the new developments in Springville, Village Trace.

“Especially in the past year, you’ve seen a lot of new construction in Springville, more than the last several years,” he said.

Proximity to I-59 is a key selling point, Kell said, attracting newcomers from Jefferson County.

As far as future trends, unless something unforeseen happens, Kell sees continued residential growth.

“I see a lot of continued growth,” he said. “There’s still plenty of opportunity for new rooftops, barring something similar to what we just came out of.”

At the heart of the community’s overall economy? Pride.

“The businesses are very focused on that community,” said Don Smith, executive director of the St. Clair County Economic Development Authority. “Pride is at an absolute high in Springville.”

The town, with rare exception, has operated on a cash basis and has more than $2 million in its rainy-day fund, Isley said. The town has invested some $500,000 annually in recreational facilities and is also working toward sidewalks, curbed and lighted downtown streets as part of a state-sponsored Streetscapes program.

The city has seen growth of new restaurants and businesses along its part of the I-59 corridor and hopes to attract a hotel chain. But Isley would also like to see St. Clair cities along the interstate team up to develop economically.

“We’re happy with our retail, but we want to try to partner and market with our sister cities, Argo, Odenville, … Ashville and Steele,” Isley said. “I think that we should be promoting our I-59 corridor as sister cities. We’re a team player in that regard.”

While the town wants to market itself to the wider world, its citizens are the priority, as evidenced by the dedication to parks and other amenities. One of the cornerstones of Springville’s economic development is a longstanding commitment to a community blueprint aimed at maintaining the traditional character of Springville.

“That commitment was already in place back when I became the mayor. That commitment has been in place with all of or mayors to help maintain the downtown district – home to the historic district. We have had a concerted effort with the local preservation society and the historical society to maintain the character of the town and to improve it.”

Springville has held fast to its blueprint, with positive results.

“They wanted quality-built neighborhoods. They wanted quality developments and didn’t change because of the whims of the times. They’ve been very selective about what they’ve been involved with,” Smith said. “They’ve been very particular about how they grew, and they wanted to grow in a certain manner.”

Smith can see Springville becoming a community more deeply committed to the arts, like a smaller version of Fairhope, Ala., in the future. But it could also be a draw for IT businesses.

A big hurdle economically is finding suitable property currently for sale.

“The challenge for Springville is to continue to redevelop their activities. They need to look to expand without losing their identity.”

Cherished Education

There’s been a school in Springville since the middle of the 19^th century. The city’s deep educational heritage and love for it is evidenced by the preservation society’s efforts to restore the old Rock School and expansion at the Springville Public Library.

The belief in education and love for creativity flows through local schools, said Springville High School Principal Virgil Winslett.

“You don’t have a lot of arts funding for the school. But we have visual arts. We have a very strong band program. We have a choir and choir classes. One thing about Springville High School is we try to be the best we can in every facet. We try to give 110 percent in every aspect.”

As it has throughout its history, Springville loves its schools.

“Without a doubt this is one of the strongest bases of support for all of our schools,” Winslett said. “We have great support from the mayor and City Council, the Fire Department, the Police Department. When we need help, we get it.”

As an example, the city stepped to the plate to help Springville High repair and upgrade its baseball and softball fields after dugouts were destroyed in a storm.

“They’re that way all the time. They are very supportive of what we do,” Winslett said.

The schools are also willing to help with local city youth sports program. It’s a two-way street, Winslett said.

Parental involvement is also a big positive for Springville schools.

“Our teachers feel like they’re supported. There’s a good relationship between parents and teachers. That shows in the academic success of the school,” Winslett said.

Part of its academic success is the school’s course offerings.

“We’re now an A-Plus College-Rated School,” Winslett said. “We were given a three-year grant. We offer six AP classes and dual enrollment through Jefferson State Community College, which allow students to earn college credit while in high school.”

Winslett has been an educator in Springville for more than two decades. He’s home. New teachers who come from outside to teach in Springville rave about the schools.

“It’s not a struggle to get up and come to work every day,” he said. “You get up. You’re excited about coming to work. We’ve got good kids here. I don’t know of a kid here who would say he or she is not proud to be a Springville Tiger.

“Springville has grown a lot since I’ve been here, but it still has that small-town feel. People talk to one another and take care of one another. You go to school and go to church with the same people. There’s something about that sense of community you won’t find in a bigger place. To me, that’s very important to me and my family.”

Two other avenues for education are the recently-expanded Springville Public Library and the Springville Museum and Archives. Both celebrate literature and the arts. The library recently expanded, adding a young people’s literature annex and also celebrates a local artist and author of the month.

On a recent morning, even though it was early, Library Director Jamie Twente was busy, as the library bustled with readers. A book group meets here monthly.

But the library, while it celebrates literature, also cherishes the arts. It offers quilting classes, Cherokee leaf printing, folklore, even martial arts.

The library also offers a variety of services: copying, printing and job-search resources. The library recently received a $20,000 grant for additional computers.

But as with every library, books are at the heart of the facility. Twente said readers at the Springville Library accounted for half of the circulation of the St. Clair County Library System. The Springville Library is now independent.

“Per capita we were checking out seven items per person,” Twente said. “People here like to read. They love the printed word. We have artists with no formal training who can do amazing things I could never do. I feel fortunate to live here.”

The pace of life in Springville lends itself to a love of the written word and the arts.

“It’s a very friendly place. It’s a very charming place. People here love their community, but they also love their private time to pursue their interests.”

The new children’s annex was at different times the Springville City Hall and the local fire station. A huge bay window allows light to stream into the new annex.

“Keeping the downtown area alive is good for the downtown and good for the community,” she said.

As for the Springville Museum and Archives, one of its featured exhibits is a piece from one of the World Trade Center Twin Towers, on loan from the Port Authority of New York. The towers were destroyed by terrorists Sept. 11, 2001.

While this month, the museum is celebrating classic Christmas decorations and toys, it’s also building its collection of historical archives. Every Springville High yearbook has been preserved digitally. The museum is also working to preserve old newspapers and records, a treasure trove for historians and genealogists.

The museum, along with the historic preservation society, is working to preserve the old Rock School.

It was built in 1921, and “we’re trying to renovate it and get it back to its former glory,” Davis said.

The Springville Historic Preservation Society is also working to restore a building known as “The White House” for use as a welcome center.

These efforts, aimed at preserving Springville’s past for the future, are another facet of the character of the town. The museum staff is a cadre of volunteers working without pay.

“The people, when needed, will join forces together to help each other, and most of the people who’ve lived here all their lives and even the people who have moved in have a strong love for Springville. They are really dedicated to their town.

Last Call at Local Color

Springville’s ‘colorful’ music spot closing its doors, unless …

Story by Paul South
Photos by Susan Wall
and Jerry Martin
and courtesy of Local Color

Imagine a magical music box that when opened played music from virtually every era. And from the box wafted the sweet aroma of cornbread cooked in a black, cast-iron skillet and chicken and dumplings like your Grandmama used to make.

And imagine a place so intimate and acoustically perfect, you could, as Merle Dollar puts it, “hear the smiles” of the audience.

So it is with Local Color, Springville’s musical treasure box. But unless Dollar and her husband, Garry Burttram, find a buyer, this precious box will be locked after the iconic Alabama bluegrass trio, “Three on a String,” plays the venue’s final show on New Year’s Eve.

Dollar and Burttram taught in area schools until both retired. But instead of kicking back, the couple went to work. Burttram and a partner went into the barbecue business, which later expanded into a burger and barbecue restaurant. But Garry “got tired of all the grease.”

So in 2001, Burttram and Don Dollar, Merle’s former husband, decided to open a different kind of place. At the same time, Merle and her sisters were renovating the site of what’s now Local Color.

“The whole premise was to do really good food and have music. It would be a great place to do art stuff and have t

With a budget of practically zero, Garry and Merle scavenged for chairs and tables and poured do-it-yourself sweat into the place. And by the first weekend in October 2002, the doors opened, offering classic Southern cuisine.

It was not a sparkling opening night.

“It was a stupid thing to do,” Dollar said. “To open smack in the middle of the college football season was not a good idea.”

It became clear Local Color needed a hook. Sylvia Wade (Garry’s sister) and our cousin, Peggy Jones, had been singing together for 20 years, crooning tight Andrews Sisters’-style harmonies and became the “house band.” Soon, they brought in local musicians and storytellers.

“Everybody who plays an instrument in Springville or the surrounding area has played our place at least once,” Merle said.

Soon word got around. The first big-name to grace the Local Color stage was a Birmingham-based jazz singer Elnora Spencer.

“Elnora could blow the walls out,” she said.

Before long, Local Color, with only about 70 seats, became a hot venue for local, regional and national storytellers, singers and musicians performing all types of music from jazz to Celtic, even 19^th-century Alabama tunes set to jazz arrangements. Trumpeter Robert Moore, for example, traveled from his home in Portland, Ore., at least once a year to play Local Color. And Steve Young, writer of the Eagles’ hit, “Seven Bridges Road,” has also played the room.

And then there is Bobby Horton. Part of the iconic string band “Three on a String.” Horton earned national acclaim for his work in the dazzling documentaries of filmmaker Ken Burns, the scores he wrote and played for 21 films of the National Park Service.

The band performed at Local Color at least eight times a year, including a “Month of Sundays,” where each Sunday for a month, Three on a String brings a friend along to perform to sold-out Sunday shows.

Horton has played as part of the trio and has performed his solo act a number of times, including an annual performance of Civil War-era music and a musical history of Christmas.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve played there, but every time I do it’s very special. It’s just wonderful,” Horton said.

Horton can’t put a finger on what has made Local Color so wonderful and so popular over the years. Merle is the bubbly one who greets the public. Garry cooks great food and is sometimes “crotchety.” Horton loves them both.

“Garry’s the tension, and Merle’s the release,” Horton said with a laugh.

“They’re definitely a part of the Local Color family,” Dollar said

As far as its restaurant menu, diners make a reservation for the night, giving Local Color a classic “supper club” feel.

“We’re not fussy, not prissy, but we do try to keep it classy. Dinner is served from 6 to 7:30, then the lights go down and the performance begins. Quiet from the audience is expected.

“We frown heavily on talking and yakking during the performance,” Dollar said. “People are paying money to see a particular group and they are entitled to the best possible time they can have. Once the music starts, that’s when the magic happens.”

There is something magical going on. Even with a concrete floor, a metal ceiling and narrow walls, Local Color seems to defy the laws of physics and acoustics.

“There’s something magical about that room. It’s got a resonance that is so good,” Dollar said. “The audience is so close, and the musicians are so close performers can literally hear the people breathing. It’s just like they’re in your living room.”

Horton agreed. You can see every single person in the room and that is very fun,” he said. “You play in a big venue and you love the people, but you sure can’t see ’em.”

As for the acoustics, Horton said, “The minute you walk in and start to play, you just get the warm fuzzzies. It’s great.”

And, it’s a place to test the waters for new material, Horton said.

“We looked at it as one of the strong suits for playing there,” he said.

That intimacy no doubt plays a role in the packed houses over the years. But so do the dinners. Remember the chicken and dumplings and cornbread? That’s just part of a limited menu.

“It’s just great, old-time Southern cooking, which I love. You can’t find that very many places anymore,” Horton said. “It’s biscuits and stuff your wife won’t let you have at home because of your diet, but you can have ’em at Local Color.”

Springville is a very artsy part of St. Clair County,” Dollar said. “They love music. They love theater. We have several authors who live in the area. It’s just a hotbed for entertainment kinds of things. I don’t know why it is. Maybe it’s the water we grew up with. Springville seemed like an area where this would go over. We thought if we liked it, people would like it, too.”

Indeed, they have. But Merle and Garry have decided to close up shop, to enjoy retirement and do other things. It’s something they’ve kicked around for years.
“We kind of wanted to go out on top, and we have really good memories,” Dollar said.

Horton is grieved by news of the closure.

“If you wanted to copy that place, you couldn’t replicate it. It just sort of happened. I’m just so sad that they’re quitting. I can’t stand it,” Horton said. They’re going to miss it more than they know. And so will I.”

As Local Color’s last waltz nears, Dollar knows the tears will come. It’s bittersweet.

“I’m going to miss it like crazy,” she said. “At the same time, there’s so much life to be lived out there. We’re ready to take the next step.”heater and all the things that we loved to do,” Dollar said.

Features

Heart of Pell City

A Group Effort

Story by Paul South
Photos by Susan Wall

When it began three years ago, Heart of Pell City’s mission was to bolster and grow downtown businesses.

In its short history, the nonprofit organization has grown into much, much more. Heart of Pell City wants to put the town on the map as a destination location for visitors from Birmingham and beyond and not just as a lake town or a spot near the Talladega Superspeedway just down Interstate 20.

One of the key initiatives for the organization is to bring together similar local organizations and governmental leaders – like the Heart of Pell City, the Chamber of Commerce, Pell City’s Gateway Community Garden, Council of the Arts Inc. (Artscapes Gallery), CEPA (The Center for Education and Performing Arts), St. Clair County Economic Development Council and others — to move the city forward.

“We all need to be meeting and working together to build this downtown,” said Renee Lilly, one of Heart of Pell City’s founding members. “We’re going to bring these organizations together and start meeting and brainstorming to see what we need to do to put this town on the map to make it a destination location for Birmingham residents and others from outside communities as far as a 100-mile radius who want to come enjoy a small-town fun experience.”

The Heart of Pell City wants to showcase the historic downtown, said Urainah Glidewell, the organization’s acting president.

“If we can highlight those areas as far as tourism is concerned, that would be of benefit to the entire city. Yes, we are a lake town. But people like to do other things besides that,” Glidewell said.

One of the organization’s key goals is to be designated as a Main Street Alabama community. Main Street Alabama’s focus is on “bringing jobs, dollars and people back to Alabama’s historic communities,” and to revitalize city centers and neighborhoods, according to the Main Street Alabama website.

In that light, the organization also wants to explore more effective zoning and long-range strategic planning with positive input from all corners.

“Involvement is key. If we can bring different groups of people together and show that this is important for the city to help bring more commerce and tourism in to help revitalize and restore our historical district for the future generations of children growing up in this town, the benefits will be far-reaching,” Glidewell said. “It’s just a matter of getting it in front of them and showing them it is a really good investment in the town.”

Frank Lee, Heart of Pell City treasurer and director of multimedia, sees the potential of an entertainment and an historic district.

Creation of an entertainment district would help fuel growth, Lee said.

“In all the cities I’ve traveled, I’ve seen firsthand the benefits of historic preservation. Historic preservation is one of the key elements of sustained growth in a city,” he said. “When you have an historic downtown, that draws people in, it becomes your prime real estate in a lot of cases, especially when it’s fixed up and revitalized.”

He added, “What we’re trying to do is restore our past, revitalize it and show people the example of how other cities have used (preservation) as their springboard to economic prosperity and sustained growth.”

But along with showcasing history, the organization has helped spruce up downtown with small touches, like hanging baskets to adorn the historic areas.

In April, The Heart of Pell City, along with the Alabama Department of Tourism, sponsored walking tours of downtown. People flocked to the downtown area on Saturday mornings in April to learn more about its history, and it was a significant step in sparking interest into the city’s historic past.

Along that same line, the Heart of Pell City also celebrated the city’s historic ties to the textile industry with Avondale Mills Day. The city actually grew up around the mill beginning at the turn of the 20th century, with generations of Pell City residents working at the factory.

“It was an effort to tie the city with its past,” said A.J. Wright, the organization’s secretary. “This city was built around Avondale Mills,” she said.

The festivities centered on downtown with a puppy parade, doughnut-eating contest, even a Moon-Pie-eating contest and other entertainment. It culminated just a few blocks away at CEPA with the presentation of Our Town, a locally written play based on the city’s history and performed by the high school’s Drama Department.

Heart of Pell City has ventured into the political arena as a non-partisan civic venture. Partnering with the Pell City Rotary Club, the organization sponsored a candidates’ forum in advance of municipal elections at the Center for Education and Performing Arts.

But its main emphasis remains returning downtown to what its name implies – the heart of Pell City. “We have to preserve it and save it,” Lee said. “By investing in our history, it’s also an economic investment. We have a very rich history, and it needs to be promoted.”

Pell City already has certain areas designated for their historical significance, like the Mill Village. Downtown is in a nationally-designated historic district, as is the residential area behind the St. Clair County Courthouse and Cogswell Avenue. Historical markers aimed at drawing people from nearby Interstate 20 to the downtown area would help boost those districts.

“This is a great historic area, and we need to get a historical marker on the interstate to help bring people downtown,” Lilly said.

Glidewell agreed. “We are in beautiful buildings that have so much character,” she said. “Any new business that comes in brings more life to it. Being able to celebrate that and pass it on and share that with everyone is just a wonderful thing.”

Lilly, who has watched the organization grow from its earliest days, believes the Heart of Pell City has made progress in its short history. She also gives Glidewell high marks for her hard work and leadership as the interim president. The committee overall is working very hard. Lilly has been involved in a number of local organizations and currently serves as vice president of Gateway Community Garden, which will brings people together to grow gardens and reap their benefits.

“I think that it is on track and we’re growing momentum every day,” Lilly said. “There’s always going to be change, but it seems like we’re moving forward, and it’s exciting. I feel like we are moving in the right direction.”

It’s all about community. A newly created set of chalkboards on Cogswell Avenue between Gilreath Printing and Lilly’s shop, Lilly Designs, A Design Resource, is yet another example of that. In the days leading to Thanksgiving, the boards offered an opportunity for passersby to express what they were thankful for and share it with others in the community. l

Editor’s Note: The Heart of Pell City meets at 8:30 a.m., on the first Wednesday of every month at Toast Sandwich Eatery in the Old Gray Barn at 1910 Cogswell Avenue. For more information on The Heart of Pell City, call 205-533-5594. You can also learn more from its Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and Instagram accounts, where it promotes downtown businesses and community events.

Features

Star Gazing Chandler Mountain

Chandler Mountain lures star gazers

Story and photos by Jim Smothers
Submitted photos

Every month members of the Birmingham Astronomical Society make their way up Chandler Mountain past Horse Pens 40 for a cliffside “Star Party” to enjoy their hobby and the company of other like-minded individuals.

Well, almost every month — if it’s cloudy, there’s always next month.

“Partly cloudy sounds like a nice forecast, but it can be an awful thing for our hobby,” said Preston Pendergraft, a club member and a security specialist with a regional banking group.

Members keep a close watch on weather forecasts and some of them use special-purpose apps that predict when the skies will be clear. They are helpful but not perfect.

Saturday nights closest to new moons give the stargazers the opportunity they need to stay up late with the darkest skies of the month.

“There is lower humidity at the site, so that helps,” said Sterling Deramus, a Birmingham-based attorney and president of the club.

It also helps to get away from the light pollution in the metro-area that creates a haze they can’t see through very well.

“Dark sky is a big deal for us,” he said.

Even from Chandler Mountain, the number of security lights throughout the area is becoming more noticeable. Lights that shine into the sky collectively create a haze that makes it difficult to see objects in space, and clouds can spoil everything.

Deramus said that at some star parties there will be 20 or 30 people on the mountain with their telescopes. It’s hard to predict.

For the October outing there were only two members there. A partly cloudy sky and competition from college football may have kept others from making the trip, and Deramus’s “clear sky” app missed the mark this time — patchy clouds made for limited viewing.

Pendergraft said a public television program about the Voyager spacecraft piqued his interest in astronomy when he was a child, and he has been interested ever since. He collected golf balls from a water hazard on a golf course near his childhood home in Las Vegas and sold them to save money for his first telescope.

Deramus said he was interested as a kid, but it was a college class in astronomy that got him hooked.

It’s easy to see why. The stars, planets and other objects in space hold deep connections to mankind’s past, present and future. Throughout man’s time on the planet, objects in space have stirred his imagination, with impacts not only on the understanding of the sciences and mathematics, but also on the arts, history, mythology and more.

People can enjoy astronomy as a hobby today in a number of different ways, and not all of them even involve telescopes. A simple star chart and a clear sky can be enough to start learning where and when the different constellations and planets can be seen. A pair of binoculars and a steady hand can work very well for viewing.

Some hobbyists barely look at the skies at all — an organization with a website called Zooniverse offers computer-based opportunities for amateurs to assist professionals with real-world scientific research. In astronomy, the projects include time-intensive viewing and comparison of photographs of objects in space. One project in particular is Planet Four, which involves thousands of images of Mars, and there are other astronomical studies on that site as well.

The club is active with a lecture meeting each month and two scheduled star parties — one on Chandler Mountain and another on Oak Mountain — plus outreach opportunities. Sometimes they will set up telescopes in public areas in town and invite non-members to take a look, and some of the members recently participated in a school program to introduce students to the hobby.

Lectures each month at Samford University feature a variety of speakers. One recent program featured a University of Alabama professor who spoke about galactic research, and another program was given by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Sometimes the lecture will be a “how-to” program to help people get more out of the time using tips and tools more effectively.

It’s all about the camaraderie, about spending time with others who share a common interest.

Party time

At a typical star party, individuals set up telescopes and seek the objects they are particularly interested in seeing. One may be looking for a particular planet.

“Saturn is a good one to see,” Deramus said.

Someone else might be trying to find separation between two stars that appear in the sky to be a single star. Others may be using photography to record deep-space galaxies. There are different goals and methods to explore the skies.

“There are different things to see in each season,” Deramus said. “There are always good things to see, good star clusters…Andromeda is a good one to find.”

Some hobbyists get started by looking for the Messier Objects, a list of about 100 bodies compiled by French astronomer Charles Messier in the 18th Century. Messier was looking for comets, and made a list of objects that look like comets — but are not — so that he could avoid spending time on them in the future. Finding and keeping a log of their locations helps hobbyists get started with learning their way around the sky.

“None of them are really that challenging to find,” Pendergraft said. “You can see a lot of them with binoculars. A lot of people go from there to the Herschel 400, which is kind of like the intermediate list. It’s a list of 400 objects that were discovered by William Herschel in the 1700s in England, and some of them were actually discovered by his sister, Caroline, as well. She was an accomplished astronomer in her own right, and she discovered some comets, too.”

Deramus uses a camera-equipped telescope to help find objects that can’t otherwise be seen. Using a series of long exposures and specific computer programs, he is able to find galaxies that can’t be seen through a telescope with the eye.

“Galaxies are a challenge,” he said. “I’ve seen some really good ones from up here, but they are very, very faint. That’s why I’m doing photography now. That was my first challenge, finding all the galaxies I wanted to see. May is the time to see galaxies because you have what’s called the Virgo and Leo clusters, which we are actually a part of — our galaxy is part of the Virgo cluster, on the outer edges of it. There are hundreds and hundreds of galaxies, it’s just amazing how many.”

Pendergraft said there is a scale for the brightness of stars and space objects. Vega is rated at 0, with higher numbers assigned on a logarithmic scale for decreasing brightness. The unaided human eye can see down to about 6, depending on the individual. With binoculars, stars down to about 9, more or less, may be seen, depending on the binoculars and how steadily they are being held. Some telescopes can extend that to 14 or 15 on a good night, and telescopes with cameras can get to 15 or 16. The Hubble telescope, by comparison, gets to 22 or 23.

“That’s probably the limit,” Deramus said.

At a typical star party, members enjoy spending time with others who share the hobby and share the excitement of seeing parts of the universe for themselves.

Some even make the trek to larger star parties in other parts of the country.

“I’ve been to one in Texas a couple of times near the McDonald Observatory,” Pendergraft said. “It’s kind of like the ‘Woodstock of Astronomy.’ Everybody who is anybody in astronomy is there.”

More places in the West have the dark sky stargazers need, and that event draws hundreds each year. It’s partly a trade show and partly a social gathering, and is a key event for hobbyists.

But there’s plenty to see from atop Chandler Mountain.

“Some people try to see the ‘Pup’,” Pendergraft said. “Everyone knows Sirius is the brightest star in the sky, but right next to it is a dimmer star everyone calls the ‘Pup.’ It was discovered in the late 1800s, not far from here, through a telescope at the University of Mississippi…there are always challenges for people to see faint objects. There are galaxies and nebulae. There are bright objects, which people want to see features inside them.

“It’s a hobby that you can take as far as you want to go, from the naked eye to custom built scopes that cost as much as your car.” l

Learn more about the Birmingham Astronomical Society at www.bas-astro.com or on Facebook at The Birmingham Astronomical Society of Alabama.

Features

Running

Cross Country in St. Clair

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

A methodical thud of a rubber sole hitting a dirt trail below – a dozen or more pair of them – emanate from the woods just beyond St. Clair County High School’s campus in Odenville.

It is almost like a cadence, interrupted and punctuated by the distinct inhales and exhales of determined runners. It’s a sound heard all summer long as the high school’s cross country team prepared for battle across the state.

At home, their arena is a 3.1-mile path cut through woods, up hills, around bends and under the canopy of towering hardwoods and pines.

“We’re proud of the hills,” said former Coach Mason Dye, who helped former Principal Brian Terry realize his dream of having a cross country track. “It’s a challenging course.”

“It’s unique in the county,” added Terry. “It’s almost unique in the state.”

The course twists and winds all around the campus. There’s even a pond runners make their way around, and its diverse landscape is perfect for non-competitors, too, who just want to take a walk in the woods. The trail is open to the public.

Terry has since retired from St. Clair County High School but is working in Georgia. “I run it when I’m home on weekends…for nostalgia,” said Terry, a track athlete himself in his younger days at Samford University.

On a hot, summer day, surrounded by young, aspiring cross country runners when Terry was still principal, he and Dye talked of the genesis of the course. The cross country program is now in its fourth year. “I started working on it six or seven years ago,” Terry said. He had a “vision” of what it should be, and he set out to make it happen.

Two miles were laid out courtesy of a Soil and Water Conservation grant to build a nature trail. Scooter Dorsett helped in the project.

“Cross country to me is a sport that attracts a group of kids who don’t have another niche. They’re loners. They’re bright. They’re not football players,” he said, noting that it gives them an outlet in which they excel.

“It brings in a group of kids who need to do their thing,” Terry added. “The kids tend to unify.” It becomes a team sport.

“They become like family running together,” Dye said, adding that it is co-ed.

When Dye, who also ran track in college, arrived on campus, the course was finished. “He put the vision into play,” Terry said of his young coach.

It has had a tremendous impact on athletics. Five students from St. Clair County High have already earned track scholarships. More than a dozen schools held a meet in the fall with more than 300 athletes participating.

And the Odenville course has been a catalyst for growth in other programs around the county. “Every school in the county now has a cross country team except Ragland,” Terry said. “Cross country is growing and evolving as a sport. It builds excitement.”

Parents and volunteers maintain the course, and the community is beginning to learn about its existence and about the sport itself. “The community as whole is unfamiliar with what cross country is,” Terry said.

But now, awareness is increasing and with it, there is heightened interest from middle school and high school students. “We don’t cut,” Dye said. “It is not limited to a set roster.”

By its very nature, it encourages more and more to become involved. And, like Dye and Terry, these runners see they can grow personally and physically, and they can compete for scholarships.

“Track and field paid my way through Samford,” Terry said, and he wanted to see other young people provided with the same opportunities he had. “It’s a great sport to be a part of.”

Joe Whitten

Historian, storyteller, teacher: A life well lived

Story and photos by Jerry C. Smith
Submitted photos

The usual love triangles pale in comparison with Odenville educator and historian Joe Whitten’s quadrangle of passions. In no particular order, they are St. Clair County history, Gail Elaine McGeoch, hundreds of grateful students and the Lord, whom he credits for bringing it all together.

Joe was born in 1938 in Bryant, Alabama, a Jackson County town that dangles near the edge of Sand Mountain, almost in Georgia. His father, Nathan Whitten, died that same year. Joe’s mother, Lorene Hawkins Whitten, remarried four years later to John Armstrong, a teacher and Cumberland Presbyterian minister.

Under his stepfather’s surname, Joe went to Glencoe High School in Etowah County until the 12th-grade, then was sent to Bob Jones Academy in Greenville, South Carolina, to complete high school prior to beginning college at Bob Jones University.

Graduating in 1960, his first degree at Bob Jones was a speech minor in English. While at the Academy, Joe reverted to his birth name of Whitten, as he had never been officially adopted by his stepfather.

Joe’s involuntary exile to Bob Jones became a godsend, for many reasons. Not only did he have his old name back, but he had also escaped a strict household where he’d never been able to make any decisions of his own. “I had a new name, new friends, a new place and never looked back,” he says.

After graduation in 1960, he sought employment suited to his education and ambition, but only succeeded in finding work at a sauerkraut factory in Seattle, Washington, that he wryly defined as “the most miserable job ever.” Vowing to do better, he returned to Bob Jones in 1961 to continue his studies.

This time, he specialized in education courses. After graduation, his mother, who worked at Jacksonville State University, urged him to explore Calhoun and Etowah counties for an entry-level teaching position.

After months of fruitless search, Joe had almost made up his mind to join the Air Force when he got word of an opening in a school that was being built in a tiny burg called Odenville in St. Clair County. He’d heard of the place, but had never been there.

Young teacher hired

At his interview with Principal Dodd Cox, Joe was told that the job was in a new grades 7-12 school currently under construction. “I’ll take it,” he quickly replied. The principal reminded him that he didn’t know a thing about the position and should probably hear the rest of the offer before making up his mind.

Joe says their conversation went something like this:

Principal: “You will be teaching eighth-grade English, ninth-grade English and seventh-grade Math.”
Joe: “I’ll take it.”
Principal: “But wait, the school isn’t even finished yet. …”
Joe: “I’ll take it.”
Principal: “It only pays $350 a month for 10 months a year. …”
Joe: “I’ll take it.”

And thus, on the day after Labor Day in 1961, at age 23, Joseph Whitten began a career that made him a living legend in Odenville education. In all, he taught more than three generations of St. Clair youngsters before retiring at the turn of the century and is a revered guest at every class year reunion.

“Mr. Whitten” was only 5 years older than some of his students, but Mr. Cox insisted his teachers control everything in their classrooms.

Joe relates, “The last thing you wanted to do was take a student out of class and march him to the principal’s office. You took care of it yourself. All us teachers knew it and, more importantly, so did the kids.”

Among his students were those who would one day make a difference in St. Clair County: Sheriff Terry Surles; Coroner Dennis Russell; practically everyone on the Odenville Water Board; Pell City businessman Connie Myers, who would later become principal of St. Clair County High School; and retired teacher Mary Kelley, who taught physical education and health at Odenville before being assigned to the Board of Education, where she served until her retirement in 1999.

“Mr. Whitten was different from any teacher I had ever met,” Mary says. “He was very talented, witty, educated and respected by his students as well as the community of Odenville. As an English teacher, his objective was for students to learn the information and participate in class discussions. These skills worked well – in school and in later life – by providing us with the self-confidence and ability to communicate well with others.”

As the school counselor, Joe’s door was open to students, teachers and support personnel. His professional knowledge provided students with advice and encouragement in the resolution of school and personal issues.

Of his demeanor in class, several respondents agreed that, while Joe was outwardly easy going and gentle, he had ways of getting attention when needed, and everyone knew when to shut up and listen.

Odenville’s Scott Burton tells of his shouting out during an unruly moment in his library class, “Silence, you vile wretches!,” and remembers a sign posted on Mr. Whittten’s desk that fairly warned one and all: CAUTION: DISPOSITION SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

Both Mary and Scott said everyone wanted to be in his classes. They found his delivery quite entertaining as he acted out various passages from English literature. He always found ways to make education fun and still managed to help them learn and retain what they’d learned.

According to Scott, Mr. Whitten’s adherence to classroom decorum extended even to paperwork that students turned in. He would not accept sheets torn from a spiral-bound notebook because of their ragged edges, and was known to call kids to the front of the class, hand them scissors and demand they remove those “frizzy” borders. Scott also credits him with being the only English teacher who could make sentence diagramming understandable.

There are enough Mr. Whitten stories told by former students to fill a small book. A local favorite involves one of his Speech classes in which he asked various students to stand and speak on some subject with which they were most familiar.

One boy eagerly volunteered at the beginning of class and took his place at the front of the room. This boy was Odenville’s legendary Slow-Talking John, who was a master at taking forever to tell anything.

His chosen subject was “How To Build A House.” John began by drawing a rectangular set of lines on the blackboard, then said, “This … is … the … footing …,” then proceeded to describe in agonizingly slow, ponderous detail exactly how to dig a foundation wall, pour concrete, etc.

Joe says that by the time John’s house had reached its interior walls, the bell had rung, and he was too numb to do anything but dismiss the class.

While they were sitting on Joe’s front porch some 14 years later, Joe mentioned that day to John, who laughed out loud and explained that the other kids in class had taken up a collection and paid John to speak first so they would not have to recite their own work.

Scott says the one thing that really sticks with him to this day as a result of having Mr. Whitten for a teacher is a deep appreciation for the works of Charles Dickens, Joe’s favorite author. Scott recalls the kids acting out speaking parts while reading Oliver Twist and David Copperfield aloud in class. Scott adds that he would love to do A Christmas Carol today, with Mr. Whitten playing Ebeneezer Scrooge.

The creation of the Odenville/St. Clair County School System is a historical epic in its own right. From its very beginnings in 1864 as a one-room cabin at Hardin’s shop on Springville Road to today’s sprawling campus just east of town, its establishment was an uphill battle all the way.

The school’s history is far too complex to explore here, but the entire saga is neatly summarized in Whitten’s Odenville, Alabama, A History of Our Town 1821-1992.

Many local pioneers and other notables were heavily involved, including entrepreneur Watt T. Brown, Governor Comer and Judge John Inzer. They took special pride in the fact they had beaten Pell City for the honor of having one of the first county high schools in the state.

In 1960, the main building was razed, and a third-generation structure of impressive proportions and excellent design was built. Now grades 1-12 were all on the same campus, divided only by clever architecture. Over the years, he taught English, speech, mathematics, and also served as librarian and counselor for the grammar school. One might feel that Joe and the new school grew up together. As he once remarked, “I wasn’t born in Odenville, but I got here as fast as I could.”

Gail, a love story

A beautiful young lady in Miss Mabe’s Bible class at Bob Jones raised her hand to answer a question. Joe, who was sitting behind her and had wanted to answer first, grabbed her arm to try to lower her hand. This incensed her, and she reminded him in no uncertain terms that this school had a rule against opposite sexes physically touching one another.

Like many relationships, theirs got off to an unusual start, but Joe Whitten and Gail McGeoch of Cambridge, New York, quickly became friends and remained so for the rest of their stay at Bob Jones. They went their separate ways after Gail’s graduation in 1961.

After eight years of being completely out of touch, Joe received a letter which Gail claimed God had told her to write. She was in Pensacola, Florida, at the time. Joe phoned her, and they talked for nearly three hours. He said the long-distance phone bill was horrendous, but he never regretted paying a penny of it.

They married in 1971, thus beginning a long, beneficent, storybook life together that would warm everyone they met. Gail often defined their marriage as a “strange and wonderful relationship,” always adding, “You’re strange; I’m wonderful.”

Gail and Joe resided in a vintage house built by an Odenville newspaper editor named Luther Maddox. When Joe first came to Odenville, he lived at the Cahaba Hotel, which no longer stands. Later, he boarded with the Bartletts, who lived next door to Maddox. Joe said its restoration was a real challenge, but today it is of museum quality inside and out.

Gail taught school at Ragland for a while, then transferred to Odenville, where she taught in the elementary grades. Her classroom was next to the library where Joe worked at the time.

Every person I’ve interviewed admires the same things about Gail – her wonderfully warm smile, loving, benign personality and immaculate reputation. The Whittens were very popular with all the students. Together, they were a dream team.

Scott added that Mrs. Whitten loved the snow and always got all excited over the first flake that fell. He also tells a rather amusing story about her coffee habits.

Every day she would make fresh coffee, but first she would carry the pot to an open window on the second floor, holler YOO-HOO, then throw out the old coffee and grounds, never looking to see if anyone was standing below. Everyone quickly learned to avoid that area during morning hours.

Gail played piano and sang in the choir of several churches, as part of a musical family that included Joe on the church organ. Joe praises Gail for proofreading his historical works, and helping to make them the useful volumes they became.

She led an exemplary life, but her greatest moments were yet to come.

Joe, the historian

As if taking scores of St. Clair’s kids under his wing wasn’t enough, Joe also became an educational outlet for the rest of us. If you’re seeking obscure information about almost any historical aspect of St. Clair County, you will sooner or later work with Joe.

Between Joe and recently-retired County Archivist Charlene Simpson, there’s practically nothing one can’t learn about our history. I’ve used both resources for many stories you read in this magazine, as well as my own published works.

Both Charlene and Joe will hasten to say they learned at the hands of veteran chroniclers such as Rubye Hall Edge Sisson (From Trout Creek To Ragland), Mattie Lou Teague Crow (History Of St. Clair County and Diary Of A Confederate Soldier) and Vivian Buffington Qualls (History Of Steele, Alabama).

Joe has published several books of his own, as well as scores of historical society periodicals, papers, meeting minutes and surveys. He worked extensively with the late Garland Minor, who located and annotated hundreds of Civil War burial sites in our area, obtaining markers and other memorials for them.

Joe joined the St. Clair Historical Society shortly after it was formed in the early 1990s by the legendary historian and writer, Mattie Lou Teague Crow, in order to save the historic Looney House from demolition. Joe’s contributions include a nicely-done periodical called Cherish, which is still archived in many local libraries and is an excellent source of research material.

Charlene recalls his frequent visits to her St. Clair County Archives when it was in the Ashville Library building as well as two later locations on the town square. She says Joe was always pleasant, never declined to pause in his own work to help others and added much to the usefulness of that department.

Charlene says his favorite thing was going through archival copies of old St. Clair newspapers, looking for interesting, poignant or just plain funny wedding announcements, epitaphs and other bits of Victorian-era news for his two books, By Murder, Accident & Natural Causes and Wedding Bells &Funeral Knells, both of which are still available.

His first published books were a genealogical study of his Hawkins family, a history of St. Clair High School called Where The Saints Have Trod, a compendium of 18 local church histories called In The Shadow of the Almighty, and the aforementioned Odenville, Alabama – A History of Our Town. All these works still find heavy usage as research materials, especially from St. Clair youngsters working on yearly history projects for a statewide contest with finals in Montgomery.

All his reference works have proper indices, often a large proportion of the book itself. He considers a wasted effort any reference book that is not properly indexed, and totally useless if there’s no index at all.

Joe also serves as a board member for County Archive as well as Odenville’s Fortson Museum. Over the years, he’s donated countless display items and reference works to both places, including a wonderful old foot-pump organ that now graces the Fortson collections.

Joe, the poet

One of Joe’s favorite pursuits is writing poetry, particularly oddly-punctuated verse that doesn’t rhyme. He’s an active member of the Alabama State Poetry Society, and his works have fared well in regional contests. He’s printed several chapbooks of his poems, and at one time was the official Poet of the Year of Alabama.

Joe’s love of poetry goes all the way back to his high school days, when he often penned satirical works about his teachers, much to their chagrin and the delight of his fellow students.

One of his proudest possessions is a framed piece of sheet music with one of his poems, Evensong, as its lyrics. Written especially for Joe’s poem, the music got a lot of exposure as part of a Year 2000 millennium project sponsored by the White House Millennium Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Evensong can be found in Joe’s latest book of poetry, Learning To Tell Time.

Joe takes special pride in helping to connect an American family with a group in France working to erect a memorial to American flyers who had crashed there during World War II. One of those flyers was Richard Smith, whose family had contacted Joe for further information from an obituary he had collected. Smith’s family was invited to France for the dedication ceremony.

Dark clouds gather

A few years ago, Gail was stricken with cancer, marking the beginning of an epic struggle that gave courage to many others who were fighting their own battles. Her unflappable persona remained unchanged for the entire ordeal, always beaming that special smile that could not help but warm those around her.

Her passing in 2010 marked the end of 39 years of an idyllic marriage for Joe and Gail Whitten and brought hundreds into mourning.

Joe says she was cheerful until the very end. He recalls one of their last conversations on the day before her passing, when she was heavily infused with pain medicine and somewhat groggy.

He asked, “Do you know who I am?” She replied sweetly, “Of course I know who you are, Joe.” Some hours later, he leaned over close and whispered a final “I love you.”

Her answer: “I love you, too, whoever you are,” her eyes dancing as she spoke.

Finding peace

Joe says that God moved into their home after Gail passed and has kept him company through his years of loss and resolution. He’s since become involved in mission work to Ecuador as well as extensive world travel and plans to write a few more books.

Perhaps the first stanza of his signature poem, Evensong, tells it best:

The world is quieter now.
Mist rises to mist
and a quietness comes to me
like the quietness of an old house
that whispers long-loved contentment
to past and present.