Author: admin

Hiram Premiere

Young Hank Williams world premiere coming to CEPA

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

At age 29, it hardly seemed enough time to become a legend. But Hiram King Williams, known to most as Hank, possessed an innate musical genius that propelled him to superstardom by the time he was 25.

For the man who garnered number one hits, Grammy Awards and the Pulitzer Prize, it was plenty of time to set the music world on fire, melt more than a few cold, cold hearts along the way and set the standard for country music to this day.

While much has been written about his life as a young man and celebrity, little has been penned about the boy born in Mt. Olive, Alabama, who grew up in Georgianna and Montgomery. Until now.

Nationally syndicated columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson and playwright John M. Williams collaborated to bring Williams to life on stage once again, but not as the country music legend he would become. It’s simply Hiram, the boy from rural Alabama who grew up during the Depression, picked up a guitar at the age of 8 and created music and lyrics that still touch the soul 60 years after his death in 1953.

The world premiere of Hiram, Becoming Hank Williams, comes to center stage at Pell City Center for Education and the Performing Arts, CEPA, Feb. 26-28. Its arrival in St. Clair County perhaps has as many twists and turns as Williams’ life.

The play was first going to be booked at a theatre in Georgianna, home of Hank Williams’ Birthplace Museum and where a festival takes place every year. Johnson, who wrote the book, Hank Hung the Moon and Warmed Our Cold, Cold, Hearts, had a book signing there. Museum Director Margaret Gaston wanted to take it further. “She envisioned a short play at the theatre in Georgianna,” Johnson said, and Johnson was encouraged to write it.

Johnson called her playwright friend, John M. Williams, and they agreed to collaborate. “I knew Hank lore, and he knew playwrights.”

But, the theatre closed, and Gaston mentioned CEPA Artistic Director Kathy McCoy, who had been a director in nearby Monroeville. “I give her (Gaston) a lot of credit for the idea – “What was the genius? Where did it come from? I am disappointed that Georgianna fell through for her.”

Georgianna’s loss became Pell City’s gain. McCoy agreed to direct, and CEPA’s board of directors welcomed the world premiere to its theatre.

Along the way, there has been a lot of work to craft the final version. “It went back and forth,” writing and rewriting, said Williams. “We spent lots of time listening to good music,” he noted, adding how that music had influenced Hank – Hillbilly, Blues, country.

“We wanted to recreate the South he was in,” Williams said.

“Adapting the original play to stage was a challenge,” McCoy added. “Music was involved, so we had to bring it all together.”

Jett Williams no longer in the wings

Jett Williams, Hank’s daughter, co-wrote a song especially for the play. Appropriately called, Hiram, the song will make its debut opening night – and Williams will be there. In a telephone interview from her Green Grove, Tennessee, home, Williams talked about the song, Johnson, her father’s life and his influence that is still felt decades after his death.

She co-wrote the song with friend Kelly Zumwalt, and Corey Kirby, who plays Hiram, will be premiering the song.

Jet Williams has a longtime friendship with Johnson, who first began writing in her syndicated newspaper columns about Williams’ years-long battle to be recognized as Hank Williams’ daughter. She devotes a chapter in her book about Hank to Jett Williams.

Jett was born to Bobbie Jett, with whom Williams had a relationship. Hank died months before her birth, but he had made arrangements for his own mother to adopt her. She did, but she died two years after the adoption. Jett went into a foster home and then was adopted again by a couple from Mobile and grew up as Cathy Deupree.

Jett said she met Johnson many years ago when her legal battles began. “She’s a fabulous writer. She included me in one of her columns. From the first time I talked to her, she made no secret that she was a huge fan in love with Hank Williams. Other than loving Auburn (Johnson is an AU graduate), that would be it.”

Jett talked about Johnson’s book and how she was “always a champion for my dad – his music and his memory.”

“We started out as reporter and subject. Now, we’re friends,” Johnson said.

Jett likes the angle of the story for this play, she said. “This is a different approach to Hank Williams,” she said. “It’s his childhood, discovering his talents and setting forth to live his dream.”

So much has been written about his death or the Grand Ole Opry. “More has been written about that time of life,” Jett explained. “This goes back to the beginning.” Someone of his stature and genius “doesn’t just wake up at 21 and say this is something I want to do.”

After reading the script, she said, “I am proud of Rheta and Johnny. They did a great job. But reading the play and actually seeing it come to life – that’s why I’m coming to Pell City. I want to see it jump off the paper and come to life. I am excited to see it on stage.”

Johnson and Williams share the excitement of being able to tell this story. “He was born with this great gift, but there were influences,” Johnson said. There was a blues influence, a spiritual influence and a honky tonk influence.

The blues influence on him was “enormous,” Williams said. “He had this air all around him, a lot of influences on him.”

“He put it all together,” Johnson said, citing lyrics from Your Cheatin’ Heart. “That’s not unlike what the bluesman wrote about: ‘Another mule kicking in my stall.’ Nothing requires a footnote to explain what was happening in 1952” in his life.

Jett, who is a country music entertainer on her own and a producer of Unreleased Recordings of Hank Williams, earned a Grammy nomination for it.

She accepted the Pulitzer Prize for him. Take the lines from her favorite song, I’m so Lonesome I could Cry, and the genius is evident:

The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I’m so lonesome I could cry

“Even with no melody,” Jett said, “it shows you genius. The highest journalist award shows the greatness of the man from Alabama.”

“Good music is good music,” Johnson said. “The lyrics are so poetic, it’s going to last. He’s lasted. It’s Alabama’s best story.”

Ticket information

Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.
Tickets, $22.50
$15, Students and Seniors

Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.
Tickets, $22.50
$15, Students and Seniors

Feb. 28 at 2 p.m.
Tickets, $22.50
$15, Students and Seniors (62+)

Buy online @ pellcitycenter.com.
Or call to reserve @205-338-1974

Feb. 25 at noon at CEPA
Book signing, program by Jett Williams and Rheta Grimsley Johnson
Reception to follow

Features

Mountain Delight

Bluff View retreat a feast for eyes and soul

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

Cindy Massey never really thinks of herself as lucky. She knows it.

All she has to do is take a panoramic look around the 130 acres of bluffs, a rushing creek, wide open pasture and enveloping woods that climb upward, almost as if they reach to the sky. It is paradise found, hidden away between a pair of north St. Clair County mountainsides.

Welcome to the appropriately named, Bluff View Farm, where Foxxy, Lulu, Arley and Lottie, Cindy’s four rescues, are just as content as their master. And why not? A rustic, cozy suite, a barn with a more than livable loft and dozens of acres of natural beauty are their home. And they make the best use of it, scurrying in and out, up and down voluminous trails or just settling into the perfect spot for a nap – in Cindy’s lap or in an easy chair.

Oh, and don’t forget, John, Cindy’s stepfather, and his two four-footed friends, Bear and Dora. They’re just as content. They live in the cabin just across the way.

It wasn’t always their home. They acquired the property after Cindy’s mother died a few years ago. Cindy, a retired nurse practitioner at Birmingham Heart Clinic and a former helicopter flight nurse, saw the farm as a getaway. “More and more, I found myself making excuses to leave later and later on Sunday,” she said.

Her two horses had been boarded, and she finally made the decision to move them to the farm. “After I moved my horses here, I never left,” she said.

John decided to get out of the big city, too. He moved to the cabin already on the farm. While planning her own cabin, she lived in the barn’s one-bedroom loft, complete with kitchen, sitting room and a mountain view that seemingly has no end. A screened porch overlooks the arena, a meandering creek and a bridge with thick, towering woods on either side of this picture perfect scene acting as curtain wings to a distant mountain backdrop.

It is her vision that makes this place so special. She knew what she wanted when she was looking for acreage in St. Clair County. She could see it. She was working with Brian Camp at Lovejoy Realty, and owner Lyman Lovejoy said he knew of such a place when she described it. Only problem was, it wasn’t for sale.

But Lovejoy persisted, contacting the owner, Tammi Manley, and eventually, Cindy’s vision began to take shape. Tammy agreed to sell.

First, Cindy added special touches to the cabin — a wood burning fireplace and reclaimed wood floors from River Bottom Pine in north Birmingham. Two bridges were added when Cindy’s cabin was built. The first bridge was constructed across the creek to bring building materials to the site. The second bridge was added from the deck from the existing cabin to Cindy’s new cabin.

She redid the barn loft as a quaint, rustic living area, and she enlisted the help of builder Dennis Smothers of Benchmark Construction to create her cabin suite – separate from the existing cabin but joining it in a complementary look and feel.

“It was a bit of a challenge,” Cindy admitted. “But Dennis is a visionary, and he could see it. There is no question. I never could have had this without Dennis,” she said, motioning around the 718 square feet of a dream suite with views all around and special touches that are more like an artist’s creation on canvas than a construction project.

“We had a collaborative, creative relationship,” she said, and they drew the plans to “marry this house with that house (the original cabin). When you drive up, you can see he achieved that.”

A spacious screen porch greets you – along with the dogs – as you enter the suite. Cozy and comfortable, its music is made by the sound of the creek that runs nearby. Its view? Striking bluffs and woods all around.

Step inside, and a wood burning stove with a couple of easy chairs occupy a corner nook whose walls are floor to ceiling windows.

Directly across is a spectacular kitchen with a “truly custom bar” — a sheet of copper that has been allowed to patina, forming its counter top. John Ward, The Concrete Farmer, did the concrete work that finishes the bi-level island bar. He built the farm sink at his place, brought it to its new kitchen and then poured the concrete around it.

Don Leopard of Leopard Construction was the framer, and the structural beams are of repurposed lumber.

In a small space like this, every inch counts, she noted. Bedroom, great room, kitchen and sitting area are all in one open floor plan, but she gave each its own unique feel.

She wanted black skins for the lumber beneath the bar and in the living area. They found them at Evolutia, a lumber yard in north Birmingham. A custom cabinet from River Bottom Pine in the ‘living room’ beneath an oversized flat screen television holds everything from AV components to shoes.

The bedroom is a few steps away, but almost feels as if it is a separate place. The door leading to a separate bathroom and walk-in closet looks to be an old ice house cooler door. The sink is an antique biscuit table. Cabinet handles are old chair casters. Enter the closet through an old weathered, storm shelter door, which is fitting because the closet doubles as a storm shelter with its poured concrete insulation.

Only a few pieces of art – all by noted painter Arthur Price – accent the house. But as Cindy puts it, there’s no need for much. “The art in this house is out the windows” – bluff views all around, trees, sky and sunlight – they are the natural masterpiece.

French doors lead to a garden beneath the bluffs, accented from river rocks found in the creek. Native ferns and hydrangeas surround. It is a peaceful refuge, created by Rodney Griffin of Gardens by Griffin. “He’s so talented,” Cindy said. “He told me, ‘I let the land tell me what to do.’ ”

The land does speak in this place. It is a haven for all seasons. In fall, the leaves’ colorful palette show brightly through angled windows near the top of the A-frame roof line. In winter, the creek overflows its banks like rapids. Spring brings the picturesque colors of seasonal rebirth. And Summer showcases its vibrant greens and myriad hues.

Cindy understands the allure and appreciates just how lucky she is. “I pinch myself every morning that I get to wake up to this.”

Features

Triple Crown Bouldering

Horse Pens 40 part
of epic competition

Story and photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

Horse Pens 40, high atop Chandler Mountain, is a destination point, or you might say a series of destination points, for boulder climbers from around the country, Canada and beyond.

As home to one of the finest sandstone bouldering fields in North America, climbers from as far away as Colorado, Quebec, California, Virginia and South Florida come to compete in the HP40 segment of the Triple Crown Bouldering competition.

The Triple Crown is the brain child of Jim Horton of North Wilkesboro, NC, Chad Wykle of Chattanooga TN, and Adam Henry of Birmingham. The idea was to create a series of bouldering events in the Southeast with a mission to raise funds for two organizations dedicated to maintaining access to bouldering sites. The Southeastern Climbers’ Coalition and the Carolina Climbers’ coalition are instrumental in procuring land for the climbing community. The motto is “Owned by Climbers and Managed by Climbers.” According to Wykle, the Triple Crown has been visiting Horse Pens 40 for 13 years.

Bouldering is a form of rock climbing without ropes, harnesses or other tools and hardware. It is a bare-handed sport performed relatively close to the ground. Chalk is used to keep hands dry and improve friction while bouldering shoes help feet grip the rock, and a small, stiff brush is used to clean the rocks. Bouldering mats, usually referred to as crash pads, minimize the risk of injury in the inevitable fall.

The lack of sophisticated equipment is more than offset by the physical strength, stamina and agility required for bouldering. Routes up the rocks are referred to as “problems.” But like all problems, the solution lies in breaking it down to the elements, figuring out what moves can be made to conquer the individual elements. Mentally solving the problem is the first step. Physically implementing the solution is where success and failure occur.

Watching a climber is akin to watching a gymnast perform a ballet from the ground to the top of the rock, clinging with fingertips, heels and toes. The burn is intense as a climber swings, suspended by only the fingertips of one hand, in search of another handhold or foothold. The elements of the problem are addressed one by one in an attempt to reach the top of the route.

Many problems require the climbers begin with their back on the ground with only a small crease in the rock. Using fingertips and incredible strength, climbers will lift their bodies from the ground, and find purchase with a heel, toe or another hand on some crack, or even a smooth surface.

The language of bouldering reveals some of the skills that are necessary for success. For example, a “hand jam” is a crack technique in which you slot your hand and cup the palm, wrapping the thumb underneath or beside your fingers, to jam against the crack’s walls. A “fingerlock” is a hold formed by inserting your digits in a finger crack and then twisting, with your weight coming to the lowest crammed knuckle. A “sloper” is a down sloping handhold that relies on skin friction and an open-hand grip. Horse Pens 40 is known for sloper problems.

In the beginning, practice becomes own sport

The sport originated as a method for rope climbers to practice advanced climbing techniques close to the ground, thus minimizing the risk of injury. The sport increased strength and stamina. Over time, bouldering evolved into a separate discipline, with rating systems to score the routes.

Typically, a bouldering problem involves no more than a 20-foot ascent. This makes it fairly simple to identify and rate routes by their difficulty. Worldwide, there are two primary rating systems. In Europe, the Fontainebleau, or “Font” scale is preferred, while in North America, the V scale is used.

The Font scale got its name from the Fontainebleau climbing region in France. The V scale was named for John Sherman, a notorious climber whose nickname was Vermin. Sherman referred to his V-Scale as “an ego yardstick” he and his friends would use to compare their feats. In both scales, the higher the rating, the more difficult the problem.

Both the Font Scale and the V Scale are open ended, allowing for advances in technique and skill sets in the future. Currently, the most difficult route rated on the V Scale is a V-16, but somewhere, someone may find and climb something more difficult.

Rating the competition

In competitions like the Triple Crown, problems are rated and assigned a point value. The higher the rating on the V Scale, the higher the point value. At Horse Pens 40, the most difficult routes were rated V11, with a few rated V$$$, indicating a cash prize for solving the problem. The highest point value, placed on a problem named “The Seam” was 10,000. The next highest, named “Sun Wall,” was 3,000.

At the Triple Crown, teams from colleges as well as various gyms were represented, but the competition was on an individual level within categories, as opposed to a team competition. Competition categories included both Male and Female Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Open. The Unisex Categories included Junior: 12 and under; Ancient Hard Person: 35 years and up; Stone Master: 45 years and up and Star Chaser. The Star Chaser category was open to all ages.

Climbers are placed in the various classes based on their experience and performance history. If a climber is registered as a novice, but their performance at the tournament indicates that they should be rated an intermediate climber, they are moved to the intermediate pool, and scored with the intermediate climbers.

On the Triple Crown website (triplecrownbouldering.org), the spirit of the event is summed up in one line. “Space is limited, and we want only excited climbers who encourage each other.” At Horse Pens 40, everyone had that objective in common. One mother commented that her daughter had been climbing for six years, and she had never seen a more encouraging, enthusiastic group of people anywhere. Everyone seemed to want the other climbers to succeed. Eager to spot, coach, cheer and console characterized the climbers at every problem.

In many formal climbing competitions, coaching is strictly forbidden. This is not the case in the Triple Crown. Climbers are given encouragement and direction from spectators and spotters as they climb. Each new move is cheered, and when one “tops out,” the applause is generous.

Editor’s Note: The Triple Crown will return to Horse Pens 40 the weekend of November 19, 2016. Spectators are welcome. It is a family friendly event, so bring your children. Camping is available, or simply make it a day trip. You may leave with an insatiable urge to climb a rock.

Triple Crown Horse Pens 40

82 photos

Features

Christmas People

Tragedy leads couple on magical journey

Story by Leigh Pritchett
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

Carl and Rexanne Brownfield do not mind being known as “the crazy, Christmas people.”

“Christmas is probably my favorite holiday,” said Mrs. Brownfield, who naturally was wearing red.

Year around, the décor in their home includes two Christmas trees. One is always adorned in Christmas finery.

The buffet in their hallway displays a collection of their favorite Christmas books, among them, Operation Christmas Child by Franklin Graham and Donna Lee Toney.

Overlooking the buffet are many family photos of their four children, 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

“So we have a huge Christmas,” Mrs. Brownfield said.

Four years ago, however, Christmas took on an even greater meaning for the couple and has grown to be part of who they are throughout the year.

Like so many defining moments, this one resulted from heartache.

On April 27, 2011, an EF-4 tornado churned through Shoal Creek Valley, leaving death, devastation and despair in its path.

Thirteen people, including a preborn baby, perished.

Brownfield found several fatalities as he cut through debris trying to reach rescuers working to get into the valley. Some of the injured were taken to what was left of the Brownfields’ home, where Mrs. Brownfield and others cared for them until help arrived.

In the weeks and months that followed, life for Shoal Creek residents seemed to be on hold as they worked to clean up and rebuild.

Later that year, Mrs. Brownfield — who adores all things Christmas — took her husband to Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Mich.

While his wife was shopping, Brownfield spotted an advertisement that actor John Wayne had once purchased a Santa suit from Bronner’s.

Brownfield thought about how the people of Shoal Creek Valley needed something to “build up beat down spirits.” They needed some joy and cheer.

He thought about how he had wanted to be Santa since he was 20 years old.

And here he was, in a massive Christmas store where he could get what he needed to be Santa.

Eight hundred dollars later, Brownfield had his first Santa suit.

Even more so, he became Santa, going to great lengths to find the right accessories for his suit and props for the stories he would tell children during his visits.

That first year as the Jolly Old Elf, Brownfield made appearances at three churches in the Shoal Creek area and one in Moody, at a Pell City day care and at a photo session at Shoal Creek Volunteer Fire Department.

The next year, the demand for the couple grew exponentially. Not only were they engaged for the same events as the first year, but also for a hospital, a children’s cancer group and others.

This year, their schedule contains all sorts of events, such as “breakfast with Santa,” private and company parties, a hunting club, parade, bank and even a hair salon in Georgia.

The Brownfields get bookings a year in advance.

All year long, the Brownfields are in Christmas mode. They are either thinking about, preparing for or actually being Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

Mrs. Brownfield, in fact, can often be found purchasing Christian coloring books, word-search books and plenty of colors at Dollar Generals. These go in gift bags for children who visit Santa.

Their appearances and the goody bags are the Brownfields’ gifts to all they see. They never charge for appearances.

When they are given donations, the Brownfields give them to Toys for Tots or to an entity that assists needy families in St. Clair County.

Being Santa and Mrs. Claus creates opportunities for them to tell children the real reason for Christmas, Brownfield said.

“(Rexanne) reads one of the Jesus stories” at events, Brownfield said. “Some people we visit, we are the only exposure to Jesus they get.”

Billy Wakefield, a friend of the couple as well as pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Shoal Creek Valley, is “just proud of the fact they have used it like a ministry. They use it to share the message of Christ and bring joy to kids’ hearts, too. They have a tremendous passion for it. They take it to another level. It’s really who they are. It’s a calling.”

Once Brownfield became Santa, it was not long before he and his wife were asked to visit children with significant life circumstances. Some had experienced abuse or abandonment.

For some of these children, talking with Santa is therapeutic. They tell him things that they might not disclose to anyone else.

Visiting with Santa gives them a reprieve that brings a little laughter. Seeing those joyous faces blesses the Brownfields.

When a child smiles, “it’s just worth it,” Brownfield said.

The couple have no idea how much they spend each year preparing for and being Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Actually, Mrs. Brownfield said she is a little bit afraid to add it up.

She prefers to calculate it in different terms. If they are able to make one child smile or turn one person to Jesus … that’s priceless.

For the story from Santa and Mrs. Claus’ point of view, read the December 2015 and January 2016 print or full digital edition of Discover The Essence of St. Clair

Ultimate Tailgating

Auburn Style and on TV

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Mike Feline, CNN HLN
and Carol Pappas

When Pell City’s Sandra Murray talks about how an Auburn game day tailgate party turns into a CNN event, she laughs and says, “When you’re not there, you get nominated.”

She and her husband, Dr. Ed Murray, have been hosting home-game weekend parties at their “Auburn House” for years. The house itself attracts plenty of attention. After all, it is appropriately painted orange and blue and sits conspicuously on a knoll overlooking campus and Jordan Hare Stadium.

In October, Ed’s aunt had passed away, and for only the second home game in 20 years, they were going to miss the party. So Sandra traveled to Auburn on Wednesday, set up everything for game day and asked friend Cindy Goodgame to host.

That weekend, she got a text from Cindy simply saying, “Call me when you can.” When she did, Cindy told her that someone from CNN tapped on the window and asked if they could film from the parking area of the house with the stadium for the backdrop. Oh, and they might film in the house.

Sandra said OK. Then another “oh” moment followed with Cindy adding, “And they need a woman to barbecue and compete in a cookoff, and I told him you would.”

“I said, What!,” And the rest, they say, is history.

Turns out CNN produces the HLN Tums Tailgate cookoff, which is set at various campuses across the nation during football season. The man at the window was producer Mike Phelan.

CNN Crews, as part of the cookoff series, have been at the Clemson-Notre Dame and Ohio State-Michigan State games. On this particular weekend, they came for Auburn-Ole Miss. The semi-finals will be in Atlanta for the SEC Championship game and the finals, in Glendale, Ariz., for the National Championship game.

Being a good sport, a good cook and enjoying the fanfare of a good tailgate party, Sandra obliged, cooking her original recipe, Cajun-fried chicken drumsticks with a Bulleit Bourbon sauce, for the competition. “It was only the second time I had cooked it,” she said. And it was only later that she learned famed chef Chris Hastings and Auburn’s Acre Restaurant use the same high-rye, award-winning whiskey in their own recipes.

At 5 a.m. on Friday and 4:30 a.m. on Saturday of the game weekend, a CNN satellite truck and other vehicles pulled up to the house and started unloading – lights, cameras, monitors. “Watching them set up was a lot of fun,” she said.

CNN and HLN sports anchor and correspondent Coy Wire, a former Stanford and NFL player, went over his lines. Cheerleaders from Auburn and Ole Miss arrived. Auburn Tiger mascot, Aubie, joined the fun. So did the Auburn Band. A crowd gathered. Lights, camera, action. “The whole progression was phenomenal,” Sandra said. “It was fun to work with them.”

She competed with Jeff and Jeremy Alexander of Athens, Ala., whom the Murrays have known for years. They own a game-day condominium behind their Auburn House. Coincidentally, they are professional barbeque cookoff competitors. They won the Sloss Furnace competition in recent months.

While Sandra’s drumsticks came in second, she wasn’t disappointed at all. “It was a lot of fun,” she said. “I’m tickled for them. It was good promotion for them.” The Alexanders’ winning dish cooked to order was a brisket. They also made a “Fatty” – Italian sausage taken out of the casing, flattened and topped with a mixture of peppers and onions, rolled up and wrapped in a bacon weave. It is smoked and then sliced into pinwheels. Hence, the perfect moniker.

“They’re serious,” Sandra said. For her, it was simply part of being a gracious hostess, even if her nomination came in absentia. The Murrays love to entertain, and the house they bought in 2004 underscores that notion.

It is the perfect game-day house. They completely redid the interior in 2005 – orange and blue motif and Auburn themed throughout. Mounted televisions are found in almost every room.

“When we found out Pella did navy-blue windows, we said, ‘Here we go!,’” she said, relating the story behind an orange and blue house. “When the crew was painting the house, people would pass by, blow their horn and yell, ‘War Eagle!’”

The house is comfortable and inviting – just like the Murrays. They have used the house for fundraisers and awards. The Pell City Cheerleaders were there for the Idaho game as part of an auction-winner event. “It’s for fun. That’s what it’s all about,” Sandra said.

And in typical, welcoming Murray fashion, she adds, “You know what we say: ‘One invitation lasts a lifetime.’”

River Hero

Doug Morrison, a strong voice for conservation

Story by Leigh Pritchett
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

Doug Morrison does not consider himself to be a hero.

He is just a man who appreciates God’s green earth, blue skies and crystal-clear waters, and he wants to keep them that way.

The Alabama Rivers Alliance sees it a little differently, though. Because Morrison has worked to protect creeks, rivers and their surroundings, the Springville resident was named a “2015 River Hero” by the alliance earlier this year.

“I was just doing my thing and loving doing it,” said Morrison, who picks up litter along St. Clair County Road 9 near the Big Canoe Creek bridge during his lunch hour.

The River Hero Award, according to the non-profit alliance, is “a lifetime achievement award given to passionate individuals who exemplify river stewardship and who have a rich history of advocating for the protection of Alabama’s waterways.”

Morrison, notes the alliance, received the award for helping to revive the Friends of Big Canoe Creek organization, for being president of the Coosa Riverkeeper, for working with Freshwater Land Trust to establish a Forever Wild preserve along a portion of Big Canoe Creek, and for being supportive of Alabama Rivers Alliance and other riverkeeper groups.

Morrison serves as president of the Friends of Big Canoe Creek, which has 50-60 members, and president of the Coosa Riverkeeper until his term expires this December.

“Every conservation project I’ve ever been involved in, there has been a champion,” said Wendy Jackson, executive director of the non-profit Freshwater Land Trust. “For Big Canoe Creek, that champion has been Doug Morrison, who has invested countless hours of his time and all of his heart to this project. Not only is he a river hero, he is my hero.”

Though Morrison is the one who received the award, he said he has not worked alone. He said both groups – the Friends of Big Canoe Creek and the Coosa Riverkeeper — have board members and membership “with the same passion and want to help.”

Path of understanding

Morrison’s journey to becoming a waterway champion actually started with a visit to Homestead Hollow in Springville.

During the excursion, Morrison and Joannie, his wife of 30 years, happened to drive along Oak Grove Road and into downtown Springville and decided this was the place for them.

They wanted to escape city life.

At the time, Morrison, an information technology consultant in the 401K record-keeping field, and his wife lived in Center Point.

A few years later, they saw an advertisement about a home for sale in Springville. The description mentioned a creek bordering the land.

When they visited the property, Mrs. Morrison explored the inside of the Victorian-style home, with its side turret and stained-glass transoms. Morrison, on the other hand, checked out Big Canoe Creek that flows about 140 yards from the home’s back deck. The pleasant childhood memories of looking for crawfish in Shades Creek in Jefferson County flooded his mind. Immediately, he was sold on the property.

That was in 1999.

For a while, he was content to sit next to his creek and occasionally be involved in various projects of Friends of Big Canoe Creek.

That changed noticeably after he saw neighbor Philip Dabney kayaking on the creek one day. Morrison decided he would like to do that, too.

As Morrison paddled in a kayak or canoe, he noticed details about the creek, the life in and around it, and the vegetation.

His fascination with the creek increased, and so did his activity on it. He took up wade fishing; he set a goal of paddling the creek all the way to Neely Henry Lake. (He has paddled about half of it to date.)

“As I paddled it and started networking with other river groups, (I discovered) a lot of creatures there, what depends on the clean water and what harms the water,” Morrison said.

More and more, he realized the importance of protecting this pristine creek that flows in the shadow of an Appalachian foothill.

With the help of neighbor Vickey Wheeler, a founding member of the original Friends of Big Canoe Creek, Morrison was able to reactivate the group in 2008.

Now called the Friends of Big Canoe Creek, the group has engaged during the past seven years in cleaning up the creek and its tributaries, monitoring watershed, testing water quality, promoting recreation and fishing, educating the community and planning special events.

When Morrison learned that the group, Coosa Riverkeeper, was forming, he wanted to participate because Big Canoe Creek is in the Coosa River watershed. Morrison was asked to serve on the board of directors and has been president for three years.

Representing the Friends of Big Canoe Creek, Morrison and Board members have worked with Freshwater Land Trust’s Executive Director Wendy Jackson, city and county officials to designate between 300 and 600 acres adjoining the creek as a preserve through the state’s Forever Wild program.

“We are continuing efforts to make Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve a reality and are still working hard to see this through. Many wonderful folks have been involved, and there seems to be a genuine interest in having green space for folks to recreate in nature, to get their kids outdoors, away from their electronic life and truly experience what nature has to offer.

“In a book by Richard Louv, called Last Child in the Woods, he used the phrase, ‘Nature Deficit Disorder.’ That hit home with me, and I see how important it is to get folks back to nature, to have a place to sit quietly, listen to the forest, observe the creatures in the forest and listen to the simple sounds of a running stream. It is just downright good for your soul. So we are working hard to make this happen for the community, where folks can get away to a place in their neck of the woods and enjoy a natural setting.”

Unique creek

Big Canoe Creek begins at Zamora Lake Park in Clay in Jefferson County and crosses northern St. Clair County. When the creek reaches Gadsden in Etowah County, it becomes part of the Coosa River.

As Big Canoe Creek winds along its 50-mile path, it is fed by Gulf Creek, Muckleroy Creek, a Little Canoe Creek near Springville and another Little Canoe Creek in Etowah County.

One of its unique aspects is that it flows northeasterly, Morrison said.

In the creek is an array of fish, such as redhorse sucker, bass, crappie, bream, rainbow shiner, longear sunfish, alligator gar and southern studfish. Some are so colorful that they look tropical.

“Big and Lit-tle Canoe Creeks are home to 54 known species of fish and 23 rare and imper-iled plants and ani-mals doc-u-mented through-out the water-shed,” reveals Freshwater Land Trust.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, two federally protected mussels — the southern pocketbook and the triangular kidneyshell — can be found in Big Canoe Creek. Federal listing is being sought, as well, for the Canoe Creek clubshell mussel and the trispot darter.

The Canoe Creek clubshell mussel “is entirely new to sci-ence and was recently dis-cov-ered,” reports Freshwater Land Trust. As for the trispot darter, it is “a rare fish once thought to be extinct in Alabama.”

In 2004, 18 miles of the creek were deemed a “critical habitat” under the Endangered Species Act, states the Friends of Big Canoe Creek web site (www.bigcanoecreek.org).

A “critical habitat,” explains the wildlife service, is an area that “contains features essential for the conservation of a threatened or endangered species.”

The fact that mussels live in Big Canoe Creek is indeed positive because they require good water quality to exist.

“Their persistence in the Big Canoe Creek watershed is a testament to its ecological integrity,” states www.bigcanoecreek.org.

Wading in the creek one afternoon with a Discover photographer, Morrison came upon a sizable freshwater crustacean.

“There’s a big ole crawfish back there,” he said, estimating the critter to be possibly 6 inches long.

Studies of crawfish in Big Canoe Creek have found quite a diverse population.

“I didn’t know there were so many varieties of them,” Morrison said.

The creek also attracts blue herons, green herons, box turtles, salamanders, minks, otters, owls, raccoons, turkey, deer and many other creatures. Morrison said he has encountered a black coyote and a bobcat that was “one of the biggest … I’ve ever seen.”

In 2013, the Friends of Big Canoe Creek was involved in a huge undertaking to remove part of a 19th century grist mill dam, the only dam on the creek. A study showed that the dam was keeping fish from migrating up and down stream. Also, the pooling of water behind the dam was promoting a buildup of sediment, which was adversely affecting aquatic life.

Seven national, state and local entities teamed to remove a portion of Goodwin’s Mill Dam to let the creek flow unobstructed.

Morrison said a recent biodiversity survey indicated that the different species living in that part of the creek are flourishing since the dam’s removal.

Life changer

Big Canoe Creek and its interests have become an integral part of Morrison’s everyday life.

He has his coffee at the creek some mornings and relaxes there after work. He likes “just sitting on the bank, listening to the water” as it hits the rocks of the shoal. He goes there at night, builds a fire and enjoys the peacefulness.

Often, he gives presentations about the creek, counsels Boy Scouts working toward their sustainability merit badge, presents rain barrel workshops, and encourages groups to practice the three R’s of reduce, reuse, recycle.

Because it is largely hidden, Big Canoe Creek remains untouched with few threats to its ecology. “We’re blessed not to have industry on it,” Morrison said.

However, he does not want the creek to remain a secret.

“I’d like to continue educating people about it,” he said. Specifically, he envisions more video documentation that would “bring to people’s living rooms” the beauty and life in and around Big Canoe Creek.

“People that paddle it get to experience that beauty,” he said. “And once you experience that beauty, you may become like me and want to protect it.”

Whenever he has the opportunity, he talks about Big Canoe Creek and the Coosa River because of water’s importance to man and creature. “In my opinion, anyone who fishes or swims or drinks water from the Coosa watershed ought to be concerned about it and support the work of the Coosa Riverkeeper,” he said.

He encourages people to support riverkeeper efforts in their area because these groups are the “eyes and ears of the water community.”

Morrison realizes that his transformation from a guy who enjoyed a creek to a guy determined to preserve it has been a significant one.

“(The creek) has changed my life,” said Morrison, the father of two and grandfather of four. “I wasn’t into … conservation … until we moved out here. The creek changed me. It has given me a better appreciation of what we have here in our state. To see what we have in our own back yard is incredible. … This may sound corny, but it’s true: Be a better steward of the earth. Enjoy what God has given us, this common ground for all living beings to thrive.”

Information from Alabama Rivers Alliance, Freshwater Land Trust and The Friends of Big Canoe Creek was used with permission.