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Welcome Home

Veterans Home in St. Clair opens doors

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Jerry Martin

It was like a family’s long anticipated arrival of troops deployed to faraway lands. Flags waved. Welcome signs appeared. Cheers erupted. After years of planning for this day, the first two residents of the Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home arrived to a hero’s welcome.

William D. Gercken of Birmingham and Peter E. McConico of Vincent, both Vietnam veterans, made history at the new home with their arrival in late November. With their arrival, they ushered in a new era for veterans’ health care at the opening of this state-of-the-art facility, which has been hailed as a model for the nation to follow.

Both were residents of Bill Nichols State Veterans Home in Alexander City and are in the first wave of residents of homes there, Bay Minette and Huntsville who were given the option of transferring to the new facility.

Their families opted for the move so they could be closer to them. “My husband looks forward to my visits,” said Gercken’s wife, Dawn. “Now that I’m only 20 minutes away, I’ll be able to visit him more often.”

Shirley McConico echoed the sentiment, noting that the proximity of Vincent to Pell City will make her travel for visits easier.

“Welcoming our first two residents to the Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home is very special,” said Kim Justice, state Veterans Homes executive director. “We look forward to giving future residents the same level of respect they so rightly deserve when we welcome them ‘home.’ ”

Just weeks before, officials from across Alabama cut the ribbon to dedicate the veterans home, named in honor of the nation’s most decorated soldier and an Alabama native. He was wounded 14 times and did five tours in Vietnam.

He earned the medal of honor, presented by President Richard Nixon, for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”

A display case of his military memorabilia begins a series of displays of all branches of service lining both sides of the corridor of the new home’s entrance way.

The corridor leads to a town center, where buildings connect to form neighborhoods that will be the homes of veterans living there. From skilled nursing to the first domiciliary in the state, this veterans home model has anything but an institutional look or feel. “It was built with the ‘wow factor’ in mind,” said state Veterans Administration Commissioner Clyde Marsh at the dedication ceremony.

Williams Blackstock was the architectural firm for the project, and Marsh noted that its design says style “from beam to beam and stern to stern.” He also thanked Doster Construction for delivering “a magnificent building. They stepped up to meet each challenge” for the state’s largest veterans home.

The size is impressive, with 240,000 square feet on 27 acres providing 254 private rooms. Eighty of those are dedicated to assisted living and Alzheimer’s and dementia care — also firsts for the state.

St. Clair Economic Development Council Executive Director Don Smith said he could talk about the economic impact, “but this isn’t about the economy. This is about the veterans.”

In 2008, he said, Pell City wasn’t even on the radar screen of plans for the new home. But a passionate group of St. Clair County officials put their plan and their plea together, making a compelling case for the campus shared by St. Vincent’s St. Clair and Jefferson State Community College. When they were through, “there wasn’t much question where it was going to be,” Smith said. And by the fall of 2012, only two words could adequately put a much-anticipated exclamation point on it: Welcome Home.

Features

Frankie’s Fried Pies

A St. Clair County culinary sensation

Story by Loyd McIntosh
Photos by Jerry Martin

Fried foods may be bad for the heart, but they’re oh so great for the soul.

Done right, a deep-fried anything can be heaven in a flaky golden container. Case in point, in an episode of the old WB television series Gilmore Girls titled “Deep Fried Thanksgiving” the character Jackson Belleville, Sookie’s main squeeze, insists on frying a turkey for Thanksgiving in the front yard. By the end of the evening Jackson and his buddies spend the remainder of Turkey Day deep frying anything they can get their hands on, including an old sneaker as the group eggs him on with the cheer of “deep fried shoe!”

Needless to say, we like our fried foods ‘round these parts. Golden battered catfish is practically a staple in Pell City, and it isn’t hard to find fried dill pickles throughout the county as well. But if there is one delicacy that is sure to get mouths watering and stomachs growling, it’s Frankie Underwood’s fried pies. If you’ve ever had one, then you know those fast food versions just can’t compare.

Born and raised in Ragland, Underwood and her husband have called Pell City home for more than 40 years. A ball of energy, Underwood has more oomph and vitality than most people half her age, and she shows no signs of slowing down at all. She worked for 30 years as a bank teller at Colonial Bank before attempting to retire, then working 10 more years as a teller at Metro Bank. She also has three booths at Landis Antiques, but she’s best known for her fried fruit pies she began cooking in her home kitchen around 20 years ago as a treat for her colleagues at Colonial. They were an immediate hit and, before she knew it, Underwood had herself a new career. “I didn’t decide to start a business. It just happened,” she says while talking from her kitchen table one Saturday morning in late August.

“I was working at the bank, and that’s when I started doing some, and all of a sudden, it just exploded. I’ve been doing this mess for 20 years, and I don’t know why I keep doing it,” she says with that infectious laugh sprinkled with a hefty dose of good-natured sarcasm. It’s hard not to smile and laugh a lot when talking with Underwood. She’s more than willing to tell an anecdote about NASCAR’s Bill France, Jr., buying up every cherry pie in stock at a local barbecue joint or how she for years toyed with a woman who has practically begged her to share her recipes and techniques. “It has driven her crazy. But I still won’t tell,” she says.

If you think you’re going to be the one to get any information about how she makes those pies, good luck. When asked what kind of cherries she uses in her cherry pies, Underwood’s response was, “I don’t tell.” She says the same thing when asked what type of oil – if it is indeed oil at all – she uses in her fryer. She was, however, surprisingly forthcoming with her technique for preparing apples for her best-selling apple pies. Due to costs, she recently had to switch from apples from The Apple Barn in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to a variety Underwood’s daughter Tanya Foster discovered online from New Jersey. There are several boxes of these apples waiting to be turned into fried pies. “After about 30 minutes of cooking these, I let them cool, I drain them, I put sugar on them and season them, put them back on the eye, and cook them again. Then, I drain them again and then I spread them out on paper towels to take up the excess liquid. And then, they’re ready to fry.”

That’s before she even begins the process of mixing the ingredients for the dough, rolling the individual pies, and filling them in her spotless home kitchen. She can fry up around 20 pies in a half hour, and currently churns out around 800 each month, which she then ships to special order customers as far away as Pennsylvania. She also sends pies to a few retail spots around town that do their best to keep in them in stock.

On average Underwood begins her day at 5 a.m. unless she has a big order to fill, then she may rise at 4 a.m. By 8 a.m., Underwood’s day of frying pies is complete, and she’s on to the next project, usually before most people have finished their first cup of coffee and answered the first e-mail. Sitting down and propping her feet up with a novel in her lap simply isn’t Underwood’s style.

“I’m crazy! I don’t know how to sit down and be still. I really don’t. To sit down and watch TV or read a book, that’s not in my category,” she explains. “I am a crazy person. I have to have every minute counting for something until I go to bed. Everybody says, ‘I wish I had your energy.’ I guess it’s just nervous energy. I’ve always been like that.”

The art of fried pies goes back at least 200 years, and is, of course, most popular in the South. According to Wikipedia, they’re also known as “crab lanterns,” but wherever that term originated from is anyone’s guess. They’re not specifically the domain of the South. New Hampshire native and 14th President Franklin Pierce was known to be a fan of the fried pie.

As with many traditions with a basis in folklore and rural roots, the fried pie is a dying culinary art. But Underwood remembers as a child growing up in Shoal Creek how her mother used to make them regularly, not as a special treat necessarily, but as a way to feed her family. “Back when my mom did them, they used to dry their own apples. They would turn them in these flour sacks and turn them in the sun every day. I never did do it, but I remember them doing it,” Underwood says. “Now, you just call and order them.”

Twenty years after frying up a batch for friends, Frankie’s Fried Pies is one of those American success stories. Underwood largely runs the part time business on her own, with the exception of her daughter, who helps print labels for the individual packages. “That’s all I can do,” Foster says. “That kitchen is her space.”

Underwood offers apple, cherry, sweet potato, lemon, and chocolate pies. She had to stop offering peach due to the rising cost of peaches. She claims she’s tried to quit the pie business on a couple of occasions, only to be lured back into it, to the delight of sweet tooths throughout the community. She said she knows there will come a day that she’ll hang up her apron for good and she’s made contingency plans to make sure her fried pies will live long into the future – assuming the younger generations will take the time to do it right.

“Tanya’s mother-in-law has been telling her ‘you need to find out how your momma does those pies so you can do them.’ They’re not going to do them,” she says. “It’s just not going to turn out as good because I know exactly what to do. I know exactly what to do with my apples, I know exactly what to do with my pie filling, and I know exactly how to do my sweet potatoes.

“When I decide I’m going to quit doing pies, I’m going to do a cookbook and put all of my secrets in it and sell cookbooks,” she adds. “I don’t have time to do it right now. That’s not my world.”

Other Stories

Hidden Treasure

Gulf Creek Canyon’s beauty
preserved for future generations

[Show as slideshow]

Story by Samantha Corona
Photos by Jerry Martin
Photos courtesy of Frank Emory
and Ed Orth

As the sun rises over Gulf Creek Canyon, Joyce Lanning makes her tea and carries it down to Picnic Point to take it all in.

The cabin, nestled in the woods of Chandler Mountain, is a retreat for Lanning, and her husband, Jerry. The Birmingham-based couple escapes to their St. Clair County hideaway to enjoy nature and all it has to offer.

“It is a beautiful place and a wonderful spot to enjoy,” she says. “I go to Picnic Point in the mornings to watch the sunrise and thank the sun for coming up.”

Picnic Point is just one of three areas the Lannings have discovered and named along their more than 200 acres of property, and it is one of many areas the couple has donated to the Alabama Nature Conservancy as part of the official Gulf Creek Canyon Preserve.

“We wanted to preserve it for future generations, so that they can enjoy it after we’re no longer in the picture,” Jerry said.

Standing from Bonsai Point, it is easy to see why. Complete with a small pine tree twisted into a Bonsai-style shape, the Point’s large rock ledge looks out over a sea of trees, nature and wildlife that is nothing short of breathtaking. The view encompasses acres of forest, steep drop-offs and naturally worn caves embedded in some of the whitewashed mountains.

The sounds of nearby waterfalls bring a steady, but serene background noise to the space, and the occasional bird and rustle of leaves seem like an orchestrated collaboration.

On this late summer day, the green shade of leaves is dominant. But Keith Tassin, The Nature Conservancy’s Director of Terrestrial Conservation, says fall color brings an even more scenic view, and in winter the trees open up.

“After the leaves have all fallen off in the winter months, you can see straight through to the creek below or across to the waterfall,” Tassin said. “It’s hard to find a time of year when there isn’t a great view.”

The Lannings bought the property in 1996, after visiting with friends who owned neighboring land.

“Our friends loved the property up there, and we enjoyed visiting,” Jerry said. “After talking about it, Joyce wanted to see if there was something that could be done to preserve it.”

As a retired real estate and property attorney, Jerry was familiar with the requirements, and the Lannings set the wheels in motion.

The couple acquired 200-plus acres of land in the deal, and in the time since, the couple donates some of those acres each year to the Nature Conservancy. To date, about 190 acres are currently under the protection and observation of the environmentally-focused group.

The Nature Conservancy is a global organization formed to help preserve and protect ecologically vital lands, waters, plants and animals for future generations.

Conservancy chapters span across 30 countries, all 50 states in the U.S., and a number of counties throughout Alabama, specializing in providing care and protection for individual areas and the world’s most endangered resources.

Jerry served as a former board member for the Conservancy and has a long-standing relationship with the group. Dry Creek Preserve off Highway 231 in St. Clair County is also a Nature Conservancy property.

“Like Dry Creek, Gulf Creek Canyon is another great area in St. Clair County that many people might not know about,” Tassin said. “It is a very rich area, full of plants and resources.”

While some preserves are open to the public for hiking, biking and general touring, Tassin said the rocks and cliffs at Gulf Creek are too much of a safety risk right now for outside visitors.

The Nature Conservancy is open to schedule escorted visits with environmental enthusiasts and donors, but ask that interested hikers or adventurers leave this one to the professionals.

However, the creek below is a public draw for one extreme sport – white water rafting.

Tassin said the rapids flowing from Loop Road down to Beason Cove Road is a major attraction for those who enjoy rafting, kayaking and canoeing along the Alabama waters.

According to riverfacts.com and oars.com, the stretch of Gulf Creek river runs 2.2 miles and is rated a Class V for intense and violent rapids with steep drops, waterfalls, massive waves and constricted channels.

“This is definitely no place for amateurs,” he smiled.

Encouraging conservation
For the Lannings, the Gulf Creek Canyon property isn’t about just one hobby or interest, it’s about protecting a place where people can get outside, enjoy themselves and learn more about the natural beauty in Alabama.

“Nature can be one of our teachers, too,” Joyce said. “I have profound gratitude for the world we live in, and I want others to share that with me.”

The couple has offered up day trips and weekend-long stays at the cabin for environmental fundraisers like the Cahaba River Society, the Freshwater Land Trust, and of course, the Nature Conservancy.

Both Jerry and Joyce are involved in a number of organizations and activities dedicated to preserving the environment and ensuring the resources we have today will still be around tomorrow. Their hope is to raise money for these worthy causes and to increase awareness on the importance of preserving lands.

“A land donation can be many acres, or as small as one acre. And it doesn’t have to have a rare plant or animal to be considered a preserve,” Jerry said. “All the landowner has to have is the desire to protect a part of their property.”

If a property owner is interested in preserving a site, or even a portion of a site, Jerry said owners can reach out to any certified 501c3 non-profit environmental agency about obtaining a conservation easement. They are restrictions a landowner puts on their own land, specifying its uses and protecting its resources.

“Donating land can be a benefit for the non-profit organization, a benefit for the land owner and a benefit for those who are able to enjoy the property for many years to come,” he said. “It’s an important gift.”

For Joyce, the minute she saw Gulf Creek Canyon, she knew it needed to be preserved and showcased as beautiful space and scenery here in Alabama.

“When our friends were looking for their property, they said they were looking for North Carolina,” she laughed. “And they found it in St. Clair County.”

Other Stories

St. Clair Weddings

Five Perfect Locations

Story by Carolyn Stern
Photos by Jerry Martin

Weddings create lifelong memories. The dress, the colors, the decorations and the food all must be chosen, hopefully pleasing both the bride and the groom. But what about the setting for the vows? That may be one of the most difficult decisions.

Here in St. Clair County, almost any wish can be granted. Whatever venue is desired: formal or natural, on top of a mountain, beside water, in a rustic barn or a meadow. At least five choices are available without even crossing the county line.

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Mathews Manor
Since 2001, Debbie and Harold Mathews have been helping create memorable days for couples at Mathews Manor.

Debbie began her hospitality career as a caterer in 1980, and she eventually expanded her business to providing food for weddings. A cake-decorating class gave her a whole new skill that led her to a new adventure. It was only natural that she dreamed of having her own wedding venue. She put her plan into action when Harold’s parents had their Springville property for sale for a year without a buyer.

Harold and Reba Mathews built their Spanish-style stucco home in 1980 on a corner lot fronting Highway 11. Close to Springville’s business district, Debbie saw it as a perfect spot for her planned enterprise.

Harold was away from home (flying a Lear jet for corporate clients) when Debbie called him in Colorado. She started the conversation by saying, “Listen to my idea before you say, ‘No’”. He didn’t say “No.”

Debbie and Harold bought the property, which included a swimming pool, in December of 1999. Rather than demolishing the existing sturdy structure, they built around it. The sizes of some of the areas were expanded, and a second floor was added to a portion of the original house. After installing a commercial kitchen, Debbie hosted business meetings and public lunches in the tea room area.

The Mathews began booking weddings in 2001, and the tea room and the additional first floor space are now used for Rebecca’s Garden weddings or receptions. Couples may choose to have the ceremony inside or outside. A covered outdoor reception area also is available. The existing swimming pool has become a favorite wedding choice for starry nights. The Mathews added to the already well-landscaped surroundings, retaining the grapevines that had been planted and tended by Harold’s grandmother.

Two sons, Trey (wife, Tammy) and Tyler (Lindsay), help manage the maintenance of the extensive property. Daughter Traci Creel and her husband, Jason, live in Montgomery. The various sites on the property are named for grandchildren Rebecca, Grace, Amelia and Micah. Carson has yet to have his own feature.

The path through Rebecca’s Garden passes the Grandmother’s house, which now is used as a consulting office, and a large fountain is the centerpiece of the garden area. Next is Grace Hall, probably the most impressive of the venues, an 8,400-square-foot structure that can accommodate almost any sized wedding party, even if a full meal is planned. Accessed from the lobby, the bride’s spacious chamber has furniture for relaxing and a floor-to-ceiling mirror that will assure all the ladies will be appropriately groomed. So will the men, of course, who have their space just across the way. At the rear of the hall is a commercial kitchen (designed and installed by Harold) that, when necessary, has held more than 20 workers.

When land across Hwy. 11 became available, the family decided to expand their services. The first installation was Amelia’s Pumpkin Patch, which is open in October so visitors can pick pumpkins and enjoy games and treats. Harold’s next project has been Micah’s Meadow, planned for the couple who want a natural setting. A stone-based raised platform is the stage, and a lighted chandelier hangs between two of the large oak trees. Other lights make this a wonderland for evening events.

Harold describes an additional feature of the meadow celebration. “A horse-drawn carriage brings the bride over a stone bridge to the wedding stage,” he says, “and when the couple leaves the ceremony, the carriage takes them through Lover’s Lane.”

Debbie and Harold, who have been married for 39 years, agree that their favorite part of the wedding business is meeting the people involved. “It’s very touching to be part of someone’s special day,” says Debbie. “She always cries,” Harold adds.

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Waterview Weddings & Events
Before she found her true calling, Audrey Odom studied art at the University of Montevallo and at UAB. But when she decorated a cake for her daughter’s third birthday, she realized that was how she wanted to express her creativity.

During the 30 years since, Audrey’s reputation for exceptional cakes has spread all over the state. Her creations have appeared in the Birmingham and Montgomery Museums of Art, and a recent event at Birmingham’s The Club featured a six-tiered cake for 300 people.

After some thought, Audrey and her husband, Phillip, decided a wedding venue was the next step. The first order of business was finding a suitable location, and it wasn’t easy to find, says Audrey. They finally discovered one that satisfied both of them: a one-story, brick building that had formerly housed a restaurant.

“The large parking lot was what caught Phillip’s interest because we knew parking would be an issue for a wedding site,” explains Audrey. “I saw the space inside and was already planning how each area could be used.”

In January of this year, Waterview Weddings came to Riverside. Audrey still provides cakes for weddings at other locations, but Waterview is her dream. Many days, Audrey and Phillip take cake layers in coolers, in their van and SUV, to assemble and decorate at various wedding sites and then return to Waterview to prepare for their own events.

Audrey treats every cake as special. A popular cake flavor is French vanilla almond, she says, but she will create the flavor and look that the bride chooses. Brides sometimes send her photos of their wedding gowns and ask that she echo something in the design on the cake. “It’s fun to see what they envision,” she says.

One bride whose dress had satin-covered buttons down the back requested frosting replicas of them down the tiers of the cake. That detail was added. Audrey also has sculpted lace and other trim to match wedding dresses.

This cake artist says she welcomes “whimsical” ideas. “One bride wanted to surprise her groom with a cake shaped like an 18-wheeler because he drives a truck,” Audrey says. “It got a lot of attention.”

One reason Audrey can balance her “double-duty” is that she allows the couple to work out the details of their special celebration. The bride and her helpers plan and place the decorations in the ballroom and the outside spaces. The couple chooses the food to be served, from appetizers to dessert, and Audrey and her staff prepare it. The wedding can be conducted in the dining room-ballroom or outside on the 12-foot-by-24-foot deck that’s on a quiet inlet of Lake Logan Martin. Not surprisingly, most choose the deck.

Some things Audrey just can’t leave to others. “I’m all about romance,” she says, “and I want to make the couple’s wedding day as perfect as possible.” She adjusts the cafe lighting inside the ballroom to fit the mood, which, of course, can be counted on to increase the romance factor. She chose the globe lights that seem to float above the dance floor. The adjacent covered patio has chandeliers that Audrey lovingly collected and painted white. “They cast a golden glow,” she explains.

That’s romance.

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Sweet Apple Farm
Just a year ago, Miss Tina began opening her 80-acre private estate to brides and grooms who are looking for a unique wedding venue. Even before opening, she says, she had requests from prospective guests who wanted to know more.

“I hadn’t even gotten my site up, and I was already hearing from people who had seen postings on Facebook,” says Miss Tina, the name she goes by.

“I’m in my late 50s,” she explains, “and decided I was ready to move from Miami and find a place I loved.” After crisscrossing the country for a while and not finding that place, she posted her requirements on the Internet. “I wanted rolling green hills, water on the property, trees and a project.”

Alabama was not really in her plans. But a reply came from our state. She says her reaction was “WHAT?”

However, the property met all of her criteria. She came, she saw, she bought.

Then her project began. She had been a general contractor in Miami, but she had to convince local workers that she knew what she was talking about when it came to building and restoring.

The main wedding spot is the barn, which had been home to cows and pigs for years. After numerous hours spent cleaning, repairing and adding features, it now has new hardwood floors, as well as crystal chandeliers, making it the most popular place for weddings. Tina says the wedding couple’s family may furnish their own food and use the kitchen in the barn, thus saving a catering fee.

The Country Cottage (once a garage) can serve as a relaxation and dressing area or as a space for overnight wedding guests. An 1841 log cabin can be used for the bride and bridesmaids before the ceremony, for overnight wedding guests or as a honeymoon suite.

A small chapel in the woods is available for couples who want to keep their wedding simple. It is suitable for up to 32 guests, and the family and guests may provide their own meal or refreshments.

After putting the “frosting on the cake” of her dream property, Miss Tina is now settled in her new state and providing an elegant rustic setting for many happy occasions.

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Creel Chapel
Camp Sumatanga, where untold numbers of campers have spent glorious summer days, is fairly well known in the state. But the idea of holding a wedding at the Sumatanga Camp and Conference Center most likely would be a surprise to those couples who might be searching for just what it offers.

This 1,700-acre property runs alongside and up the side of Chandler Mountain. The name, “Sumatanga,” is said to be a Himalayan word meaning “a place of renewal and reflection.” This was the purpose the founders envisioned for the original site. In 1965, that spirit was carried to the mountaintop with the establishment of Creel Chapel.

Named for Judge E.M. Creel and built in 1964, the chapel was originally used only for individual meditation or prayer. Drawn by descriptions of its fabulous view, couples now are choosing it as their wedding site.

The small, open structure has a lofty timbered metal roof supported by native stone pillars. Stone steps (that can provide standing room for 50 wedding guests) lead to an altar with a cross silhouetted against the sky. Beyond is an exceptional view of distant mountains. The view, coupled with the silence of the forest around the site, create an incomparable mood.

Matthew Johnson, executive director, says small weddings also can be held at the Lakeside Amphitheater on the main campus, and three pavilions are available for receptions. Lodging for overnight or out-of-town guests is no problem.

Sumatanga has found yet another way to reach out to people who are making important life decisions.

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Mountainview Gardens and Ballroom
Debbie and Charlie Lewis have hosted about 700 weddings since they opened their wedding site on Simmons Mountain in 2003. The most interesting occurrence, says daughter Misty Watkins (the wedding director), was when “a helicopter delivered the bride to the front lawn.” And that’s not all.

“After the wedding,” she adds, “a professional pyrotechnic team produced an awesome fireworks show.”

Debbie says her first weddings were in churches and school gyms. “We used a rented trailer to carry all the things that were needed, loading at home, unloading at the site, then loading and unloading again.”

When the Lewis’ children, Charlie and Misty, left home, it didn’t take long for Debbie to see she had a wonderful opportunity that didn’t require any loading and unloading. Charlie is a contractor and had built their two-story home to fit a family. Debbie had spent a lot of time collecting antiques and decorating the house to perfection. Why not use it to help couples begin their life together?

The 11 acres on which the house sits offered numerous opportunities for creating garden areas for a ceremony or for photos. The existing swimming pool could become a wedding feature. And there also was the outstanding view.

Charlie added a window-lined ballroom to the back of the house to provide more open space for receptions, dinners or dancing. In inclement weather, it also can be used for the ceremony. On one side of the home, the garden is the wedding spot. A picturesque gazebo offers a terrific photo opportunity. On the other side, the pool takes center stage. The ceremony platform has stately Greek columns, and a waterfall flows into the swimming pool.

“I direct the ceremony and the receptions of the weddings, and my mother does the catering,” says Misty. “She did it all until I started helping.”

On the first floor of the main house, the bride and bridesmaids have a room decorated with some of Debbie’s finds from antique shops, including a round velvet settee. The groom and his entourage have a space on the second floor that includes a pool table and a large-screen TV.

Debbie isn’t worried about the future of her business if she decides she’s had enough. “Misty could take it over,” she says, and, eventually, so could Misty’s daughter. “One time I was taking her into the kitchen,” Debbie adds, “and she told me to tell the ‘people in the kitchen that I’m the boss’”.

This is a busy family. Misty and her husband, Bryan, have five children, who are home-schooled. Misty has an additional one-day job out of the home. Bryan, as well as Misty’s father and her brother, are all firefighters. A couple of cousins make five in the family.

Bryan also is qualified to perform a wedding ceremony, says Misty, and is a deputy sheriff. Charlie, the father, and Charlie, the son, do almost all of the maintenance necessary on the property.

Debbie says her favorite part of the wedding process is “seeing the look on the bride’s face when she comes into the reception area and sees all of the decorations and the cake. That’s worth all our effort.”

Misty adds, “I love being involved with their day and making it as special as the couple could want.”

Other Stories

Coal City History

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When mining helped turn a
crossroads into a thriving community

Story by Jerry Smith
Photos by Jerry Martin
Submitted photos

In 1910, Coal City was home to some 1,200 souls, far outstripping Ragland’s 600 and Pell City’s 400 combined. In fact, Coal City was once considered for a second county seat, but Pell City was somehow chosen instead. It was a coal mining boom town of impressive proportions, although you’d never recognize it as such today.

The first white settler to put down roots there was John Bolton, who arrived with his family in 1820. According to a Southern Observer story by Mattie Lou Teague Crow, Bolton had followed an Indian trail which ran from the Creek village of Cataula (now Ashville) to Cropwell.

They found their “four forties” of homestead land at the intersection of another Indian trail running from the Coosa River to today’s Friendship community. Bolton built a log cabin approximately where Old Coal City Road crosses Alabama Highway 144, and the area became known as Bolton’s Crossroad.

According to legend, a mixed band of settlers and friendly Indians were hunting on Bolton’s land. One of the Indians shot a deer, which fell into a creek. His arrow had broken when it entered the deer. As they ran to retrieve the kill, the Indian shouted “Thle Teka”, which is Muscogee for broken arrow.

Thus was the creek named, and the new settlement. Broken Arrow Post Office was established in 1839 in the home of its first postmaster, Francis Barnes Walker, who held that post until the Civil War. More settlers began moving into the area, building homes, schools, churches and other frontier accoutrements.

An abundant seam of coal was discovered by William Gould of Newcastle, England, who had heard of major coal deposits in the area. Gould and other pioneers dug wagonloads of coal from surface outcroppings and transported it on flatboats via the Coosa River to Selma and Wetumpka.

Gould formed Ragland Mines Company in 1854, and owned other coal lands in Shelby County. Somewhere around the 1850s, Broken Arrow became known as Coal City — a dependable source of quality coal of many types. During the Civil War, shipments of coal escalated in support of the war effort.

Harkey’s Chapel Methodist Church was organized in 1829. Its ministry survives today as one of the oldest in St Clair County. Mrs. Crow relates a legend about Harkey’s cemetery: the first burial was not a local resident, but rather a child from a tribe of gypsies who were camped nearby.

Other churches followed: Refuge Baptist in 1860, Broken Arrow Baptist in 1890, Pope’s Chapel Congregational Methodist in 1904, Shiloh Baptist (African American) in 1913, Mount Moriah Baptist in 1925, Wattsville Church of God in 1945, and Wattsville Freewill Baptist in 1947. In earlier days, some of these churches shared circuit rider preachers on alternate Sundays. Their churchyards host some of the oldest marked burials in the county, pioneer families such as Alverson, Barber, Carr, Rowe, Bibby, Milam, Savage, Crump, Weathers, Walker, Manning, Layton, Pope, Edge and Byers.

An old Birmingham Ledger article cites the Alverson & Moore firm as the oldest commercial business in Broken Arrow. They dealt not only in mercantile goods, but also operated a few mines, eventually constructing a two-story building to handle their operations.

The settlement had a succession of names, including Bolton’s Crossroads, Slope, Broken Arrow, Coal City, Wattsville, Old Town and New Town. Pell City native Sharon Gant says you can always tell a stranger because they pronounce Broken Arrow exactly as written, with four distinct syllables, whereas tenured locals always call it Broke-nar (two syllables).

According to Mrs. Crow, not long after the Civil War, George Washington Daughdrille brought his family from Demopolis to settle there. Daughdrille was educated at Howard College (now Samford University) while it was still in Marion, Ala. He had served in the Confederate Congress and, near the end of the war, joined the CSA army and fought under J.E.B. Stuart.

Once a wealthy man, he had lost most of his fortune in that war, like many other Southerners. The small wherewithal he had left was invested in coal interests at Broken Arrow. Though cash-poor, the Daughdrilles still owned a few trappings of wealth, among them some fancy French furniture, a rosewood piano, a harp and a small library.

Mrs. Crow relates that Mrs. Daughdrille was quite a musician, often entertaining their rustic neighbors in their log cabin with the music of Bach and Beethoven, and loaned books to those who could read.

The Daughdrilles also donated land for the Broken Arrow cemetery. The first burial was their infant grandson, “Little Jim” Daughdrille, whose repose was eventually joined by other family members and local pioneers. This cemetery, across from Broken Arrow Baptist Church, is a story unto itself.

It’s sited on rolling knolls with scant level space. Sisters Sharon Gant and Adonis Milam Fisher tell us that the ground there is so hard and rocky it was often necessary to use explosives borrowed from the mines at Ragland when digging graves. And then there’s the matter of the Broken Arrow ghost. (See sidebar story)

Daughdrille sold his mining interests in 1883 to John Postell, a business promoter. Postell changed the official town name from Broken Arrow to Coal City. He also built a narrow-gauge track called the East & West Railroad from Coal City to Cedartown, Ga., for shipping coal to various other rail connections.

Seaboard Air Line Railroad eventually bought this line as part of a new system that ran from Birmingham to Atlanta and all points beyond.

Seaboard converted the East & West Railroad to standard gauge and added a 7-mile section to connect with Central of Georgia in Pell City. Its roadbed comprised present-day Pell City’s oddly-angled Comer Avenue and Old Coal City Road, connecting with Seaboard’s main line near Wattsville Freewill Baptist Church. Coal City residents Clarence Alverson and Gilbert Pope recall hopping free rides to Pell City on the “Hoodlum”, as the train that ran this route was called.

This new rail link shifted the town’s geographical center northward a mile or two as the whole area began to build and prosper. Coal City officially incorporated in 1910.

There were four major coal seams: Dirty Dozen, Coal City, Broken Arrow and Marion. In fact, there was so much coal that residents picked it up off the ground or pried it from outcrops to heat their homes. In total, the coal basin runs about 32 miles long and two miles wide, ample reserves upon which to build a thriving local industry.

Mrs. Crow reports that some 600 to 700 miners worked at Coal City, often on overtime. Two new iron ore mines near Kiker’s Camp on the Coosa River employed more than 100 additional miners and brought even more settlers.

The quality and variety of Wattsville coal became widely known. Coal from the Bibby mines was especially good for use in blacksmith forges. Soon there were several mining interests in the area, including at least one Japanese company. Imagine the conflict of interests this caused as World War II became imminent. But all this mineral prosperity brought a few problems. A huge array of coke ovens was built near Shiloh Baptist Church, in an area Paul Manning calls Dog Fennel Ridge, where his father was born. These ovens roasted native coal to produce high quality coke, destined to stoke blast furnaces in Birmingham and elsewhere. Mrs. Crow describes the ovens thusly, “… they were in constant operation, belching forth evil-smelling, lung-choking black smoke.”

Another cottage industry flourished as well, evidenced by the name of a local waterway, No Business Creek. Locals all agree that its name has always meant “if you ain’t got no business there, don’t go.” Apparently, it supplied water for some questionable private enterprises. We can probably assume that a nearby place name, Home Brew Knob, had similar origins.

A major player in Coal City’s future was an ambitious politician/investor named T. Watt Brown, who already owned extensive land holdings in St Clair County. He re-organized the Ragland Coal Company in 1896, and eventually spread his mineral empire to Coal City and beyond. It’s been said you could walk from Ragland to Odenville on Brown’s land.

On Jan. 16, 1929, Watt managed to get the Coal City Post Office changed to Wattsville Post Office. Soon afterward, according to a story in Southern Aegis, 1929, Seaboard Railroad changed the name of their station, and a State Geologist re-designated the coalfield as Wattsville Coal Basin. In one fell swoop, T. Watt Brown had managed to get everything in sight named after him.

This did not sit well with many residents. It was felt that Brown had used undue political influence in forcing the PO name change but, if so, Brown seemed to have covered his tracks well. Petitions were signed, meetings were held, and serious threats were made, but the name persisted even unto today. Gadsden Times reported that some residents were so outraged they started receiving their mail via RFD from Pell City and Ragland rather than have it addressed to Wattsville.

Sharon Gant speaks of her mother, Elvie Milam, who would not utter the word Wattsville at all, citing a Bible verse that urges Christians to refrain from speaking of unpleasant, evil things. To Mrs. Milam, and apparently many others, Wattsville was a cuss-word.

Wattsville/Coal City became a true boom town, with a large warehouse, mine commissary, hotel which still stands today, several barber shops, livery stable, a casket factory, city hall, jail, some stores, pool halls, and several boarding houses, the most noted being Mrs. Louisa Alverson’s. Her prize roomer was none other than T. Watt Brown himself.

According to Mrs. Crow, the town’s social life consisted mainly of “… school concerts, church socials, dinners at the hotel and joy rides through the scenic hills to the river.” Men folks attended meetings at three fraternal lodges — Order of the Red Men, Odd Fellows and Woodmen of the World. A Masonic lodge opened later. All three original lodges shared Red Men Hall, which also housed a school and community meeting area. The Red Men, America’s oldest lodge, dated back to the Sons of Liberty in Boston. Their Broken Arrow chapter was active from 1889 to 1921.

The Wattsville/Coal City area built a succession of eight schools. The first was in the old Refuge Baptist Church building, followed by Old Town School near Broken Arrow Baptist Church, then Red Men’s School which met in the Red Men meeting hall. Next came Robinson School in Pope’s Chapel, then Rowe School at Mt. Moriah. The first Coal City School, built on a hilltop in 1919, taught all 12 grades. The last two students to graduate were Joe Black and Inell Savage, in 1929.

After that, Coal City School, also known as Rabbit Hop, served only elementary grades until it burned in 1951. Today’s official Coal City School is on US 231, near Paul Manning’s BBQ. Gilbert Pope relates that in the late 1920s an airplane was scheduled to fly over Coal City, and the school was let out to see it.

Pope also tells that electricity didn’t come to Coal City until the late 1930s, and the only fully-paved roads in the entire county were US 78 through Pell City and US 411 through Ashville. This was during the Great Depression, when Pope remembers working all day for a small bucket of syrup.

Whatever level of prosperity Wattsville had enjoyed in the earlier part of the century, the whole enterprise has gradually and mysteriously dwindled to nothing. Paul Manning, born in 1952, says it was essentially all over by the time he started school, except for a few strip mines owned by a Blount County firm. No one living today seems to know what actually caused the decline, whether from competition from DeBardelaben’s operations in western St. Clair, or conflicts of interest from Japanese-owned mines at the beginning of World War II, or just a mature community that had simply moved on to other interests.

There’s still a Wattsville Post Office and a water works, but one must now explore many side roads among Alabama’s lush foliage to find remnants of the now-unincorporated town’s former greatness — an abandoned city hall/jail, an old hotel that’s currently being renovated, several pioneers’ homes, cemeteries full of their families, and a few enigmatic road signs like Home Brew Knob, Memory Lane and No Business Creek.

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For Their Service

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New veterans home goes above and beyond expectations

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Jerry Martin

It may be an overused cliché when a sight is so mesmerizing, so impressive that it takes your breath away. But just inside the grand entrance to the Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home is a sight that … well … takes your breath away.

There is no institutional setting here — no hospital-like rooms lining the hallways, no dark corridors where the only light comes from an occasional window or door.

Step inside, and you think you are in a mall or strolling along a quaint downtown street. Vintage signs hang from the tops of a series of storefronts enclosed mainly in glass, not walls. Barber shop, pharmacy, beauty shop, library, chapel, Stars and Stripes Café. They line the stone-tiled corridor, beckoning one and all to come inside and have a look.

Once within, the light streaming through windowed walls overlooking an expanse of lush, green courtyards and meandering paths lets you know immediately this is indeed a special place.

“If you ask veterans where they would rather be, their answer would be, ‘I’d rather be at home.’ ” said Rear Adm. Clyde Marsh, commissioner of the Alabama Veterans Administration. “We tried to create a home they would like to go to and enjoy. We think the veterans will be happy here.”

Filling all of its 27 acres just north of Interstate 20 in Pell City, this sprawling town, as it could be known, has a main street, a town center, neighborhoods and homes all under roof.

Outside are courtyard gardens, and homes have classic back porches complete with rocking chairs.

The neighborhoods come together in what is called Town Center, a huge room with a towering stone fireplace heading upward to a skylight and pine cathedral ceilings. It has the look and feel of a Colorado ski lodge with fireplaces opening on two sides and cabinetry and large-screen televisions on the other two.

Floor-to-ceiling windows bathe the room in a warm glow — the kind of place where people will naturally gather. It can be used to hold events for the veterans as well, said Manda Mountain, who is the Alabama Department of Veteran’s Affairs director for the Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home.

From the town center are three neighborhoods with names like Victory Way, Liberty Lane and Patriot Place with three homes in each, enough room to accommodate 126 veterans.

Architects get marching orders

“Putting it in perspective, it’s a new design concept for state nursing homes for veterans,” Marsh said. Williams Blackstock Architects of Birmingham designed it “from the ground up.” There was no blueprint or model, just an admiral’s order to create a home worthy of veterans’ service and sacrifice, not an institution.

“We wanted it built with dignity, the comforts of home, serenity — all that in mind,” Marsh said. “We wanted a warm environment so people could enjoy it.”

That was no easy feat for 240,000 square feet on one level alone, said architect Joel Blackstock, principal-in-charge on the project. “Admiral Marsh really pushed us to make it state-of-the-art, not like any other.”

The concept was “ to provide a sense of community throughout for the residents because it really is like a small town or village,” he said. Lead architect Sean Whitt worked full-time on the site to oversee the construction process.

Existing facilities of this type are typically institutional in character, with nurses’ stations and rooms. Not here. It is divided into neighborhoods with three homes — each housing 14 veterans in their own private rooms. Once inside the home, instead of narrow hallways with rooms on each side, the centers are wide open and contain a full kitchen, a dining room and living room, with bedrooms on both sides — just like a home.

Meals are prepared in the main kitchen, but prepped in each home’s own spacious kitchen with all the amenities, so veterans can actually see and smell what is cooking before it is served in an adjoining dining room — all right there in their own home.

Each house has a living room, dining room and kitchen shared by a small group of residents. Three houses form a neighborhood with its own lobby, and there are private “family rooms” for out-of-the-way visits and overflow visitors. “The neighborhoods surround a town center, complete with a main street, similar to the small towns many of us grew up in,” Blackstock said.

Williams Blackstock interior designer Jennifer Tillman’s attention to detail is apparent — from the blend of aesthetic and patriotic paintings to a mix of leather and cloth sofas and chairs. They are the perfect complement to their homey surroundings. Private rooms feature tall wooden shelves with room for a large-screen television — all residents will have one — books, framed photos and other personal items. A stylish armoire holds a wardrobe.

While beds are equipped to move up and down like the hospital variety, headboards and footboards are made of wood, not metal, giving it more of a home-like look and feel.

Bathrooms are spacious — built for easy access — and huge walk-in showers are examples of the latest trends in home design. Every room has its own window with an exterior view.

A stroll down main street

Acting as tour guide on a walk down the building’s ‘main street,’ Marsh talks of how the Veterans Home got its name. Col. Robert L. Howard was an Alabama Army veteran, Medal of Honor winner and the most decorated soldier in history.

A glass display case built into the wall is dedicated to Howard’s life as a soldier. Five more cases line both sides of the main tiled avenue leading to the town center. They represent each branch of the service — Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, and all the cases will have memorabilia commemorating their service to country.

Kim Justice, executive director of state Veterans Homes, points out features along the way. And there are plenty of them.

The first feature that dominates a stop inside any of the ‘shops’ is oversized windows that frame a courtyard scene. “Each courtyard is unique with a wandering path that gives it a different look and feel,” she said.

Just down the way a bit is the Stars and Stripes Café, a sports bar where veterans can gather for pool, cards, checkers and other games. They can watch events on a big-screen TV and be served their favorite soft drink or “mocktail,” Justice said. “It’s a place to gather and enjoy each other.”

Just across the way is Eagle’s Landing, the main dining room. Both the café and the dining room open out into the town center, the focal point of the complex with walls of stone custom cut onsite to fit.

From the wood-beam ceilings to skylights to an imposing stacked-stone fireplace, the concept is “a resort town center. We were trying to capture it all,” Marsh said. It was a challenge to have a building this big meet the needs but still achieve the atmosphere it obviously conveys. “We are one of the first in the nation to have a home of this size, style and of this concept.”

From the town center, you can head in any of three directions to the neighborhoods. Along the way are multi-purpose rooms, conference rooms and whirlpool bathing suites.

On both sides of a grand lobby in the entrance to the building are a two-story domiciliary wing for more independent living in small apartments called Freedom Court and an Alzheimer’s/Dementia unit called American Harbor. This independent living area is the only one of its kind in Alabama veterans homes.

It is a veterans home of comprehensive care, the first of its kind in the state and a sharp departure from traditional veterans homes across the nation.

Partnerships fuel progress

The $50 million project’s location in Pell City did not happen by accident. Some pretty enticing variables came together at just the right time that made the decision an easier one for Alabama’s fourth veterans home.

St. Vincent’s St. Clair, the county’s new hospital, located just across the street. Jefferson State Community College, known for its nursing program, is just down the block on the same campus.

The three have become partners in a win-win-win for all involved. Specialists from the hospital can be utilized by the Veterans Home. If a veteran needs hospitalization or emergency care, the proximity is ideal and the resources immeasurable.

Jefferson State not only gives the entire area a college-campus atmosphere, plans call for students from its nursing school to be involved in rotations at the veterans home, giving them real-life work experience. There will be opportunities for internships, volunteering and permanent employment.

It was a “perfect fit,” said Justice.

Along the way, the partnerships with the hospital and college along with the support of City of Pell City, the mayor, County Commission and Chairman Stan Batemon, and St. Clair Economic Development Council “tipped the scales” in Pell City’s favor, Marsh said. “They would do anything they could to help us build this home.”

And later this fall, veterans will be welcomed to a special place created just for them.

“Admiral Marsh wanted something of the highest quality — extra special,” Blackstock said. “It has been very rewarding. It is nice to see the Veterans Administration putting so much care and effort to see that it is a state-of-the-art facility, not only for the health of veterans, but just as importantly their quality of life. I don’t think there is anything exactly like it.”

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