Parades, light displays and a host of other events across county
Christmas is just around the corner, and you know what that means! All kinds of events to celebrate the season are in store for holiday revelers.
From holiday markets to tree lightings to Santa sightings to a holiday buffet of programs sure to get kids of all ages in the spirit.
Here’s a sampling of what’s up ahead in the days leading to Christmas:
Whobilation
Pell City Public Library, Dec. 5, 5 p.m.
Giant snow globe, hot chocolate, Christmas crafts and cookies. Photos with Grinch, Elsa from Frozen and Santa.
7th Annual Holly
Jolly Market
Dec. 13, Moody Civic Center, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Free admission, but shoppers encouraged to bring canned or boxed goods for Shepherd’s Supply Food Distribution Center in Moody. Vendors, crafts, homemade goods. Santa 11-2.
Lights in the Park
Pell City Lakeside Park, daily now through Dec. 31 after sunset.
Businesses, churches and individuals light up the park with special Christmas displays visitors can drive through to see.
Tree Lighting Festival & Holiday Open House
St. Clair Courthouse parking lot, Pell City, Dec. 6, 6 p.m.
Candyland Christmas theme featuring live dance performances, musical entertainment, Santa, candy bags for kids, hot chocolate and apple cider. Downtown businesses have open house at 11 a.m. with special sales, treats and more!
Gingerbread house building
Pell City Public Library, Dec. 6-7 (Multiple Times, registration required)
Children build gingerbread houses in one of three free sessions.
Pell City Rotary Jingle Bell 5K, 10 K & 1-Mile Fun Run
Dec. 13, registration, 7 a.m., race, 8 a.m.
Run through beautiful Lakeside Park along the banks of Logan Martin Lake. Supports St. Clair Sheriff’s Boys Ranch, The Arc of St. Clair County, Ann’s New Life Center, The WellHouse. Santa, family fun, medals and cash prizes. Register: pellcityrotary.org/jingle-bells-5k-run/
Vintage Country Christmas
Dec. 19, 7 p.m., Pell City Center for Education and Performing Arts
Classic country Christmas songs from Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and more featuring Rose Colored Glasses. Tickets: pellcitycepa.com/vintage-christmas
Don’t let the parades pass you by!
Throughout the region, parades of all shapes and sizes take to the streets with all the fanfare, music and wide-eyed excitement that go with them. Here’s a glance at when and where:
St. Clair Agriculture & Multi-Event Center is so much more than original rodeo venue
Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Mackenzie Free Submitted Photos
The St. Clair County Arena in Odenville has been home to rodeos and agricultural shows for many years, but today, it is so much more. Over the past 12 months, it has hosted a dog show, a vintage market, a circus and a county fair.
The Event Center next door is a pickleball mecca to rival any courts in the county.
In other words, the Arena ain’t just a place for agricultural shows anymore. The official title may give a hint to the depth of its overall scope: St. Clair Agriculture and Multi-Event Center.
“We wanted more than just an agricultural center,” says County Commissioner Jeff Brown. “And that’s what we have. We can do a dog show one day, a circus the next. I give (Arena Director) Ashley (Hay) a ton of credit. She’s easy to work with. The original board that ran it needs credit, too. It started from nothing.”
Dog agility show
The county bought the Arena, 25.6 acres of land and an office building in 2010 from Randy and Michelle Spence for $551,197. For 11 years, it was used for rodeos and other horse-related events. During COVID, the county received a $1 million federal grant to build an emergency facility, called a Pandemic Center, that they could operate from in the event of a natural disaster. That grant changed everything.
“I came aboard in 2021, and the grant had already been awarded,” says Hay.
“The county commission looked for a way to use the grant to best help the entire county. Only the Arena was here then.”
Hay says that grant required a large, unobstructed space, restrooms, as well as storage to be utilized by EMA. The county commission looked for ways that the facility could be used for more than just emergencies, though. This led to the addition of a sport-court surface, bleachers, retractable basketball goals and equipment for volleyball and pickleball in the Event Center.
“This building was attached to an existing older building that had administrative offices and the cowboy church,” says Hay. “The concession stand with restrooms and showers was built a while ago.”
Both the Arena and the indoor, 12,000-square-foot Event Center are membership facilities available to anyone. “We have a lock box for daily use, or you can sign up online. We have about 100 members right now. The cost is $100 for an annual membership, but daily memberships are obtainable, too.”
Pickleball players have five days a week to play their favorite game. “They are pretty dedicated folks,” Hay says. “And they say ours is one of the nicest facilities within 100 miles. We have pickleball classes, but we don’t have programs, so we’re able to offer more open gym time.”
The Event Center offers summer membership for kids, too. The Center’s Facebook page is the best place to check out the schedules.
“We’re the only arena in our area that I know of that allows open rides as much as we do,” Hay says. “Horseback riders can come any time between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. When they register, they get access to opening the gates. We have 80 horse-riding members. One woman comes with her baby at 6 a.m. because it’s the only time she can.”
Early history
Originally, the county created a parks and recreation board to run the facility, appointing Lude Mashburn of Odenville, the late Hershel Walker of Argo, Don Smith of Springville, Brad Sanders of Odenville and Kenny Womack of Riverside as members. A couple of years later, Womack was replaced by Jimmy Hollander, also of Riverside. The board elected Mashburn as chairman.
Zebras and camels visit with circus
“The county had a vision, and they appointed the board to run it,” says Mashburn, who was an agricultural science teacher at St. Clair County High School at that time. “They turned everything over to us, and we ran it. We put in the dirt for the Arena floor, bought a tractor to keep it compacted during rodeos, all that. But the county never funded it for the 10 years we had it, except for building the restrooms and the bleachers. Then things kinda changed when the county got COVID money.”
The board was officially dissolved on February 10, 2022, and the property and facility are now funded and managed by the St. Clair County Commission, according to County Administrator Tina Morgan. Board members at the time of dissolution were Chairman Lude Mashburn, Jimmy Hollander, Brad Sanders, Candi Jones and Donnie Smith.
The county covered the bleachers and Arena, added lights and industrial overhead fans. The bleachers seat 800, with extra seating brought in for rodeos, pushing that total to 1,200 seats as needed. The Arena itself is 22,000 square feet. “In March, April and May, then again in September, October and November, there’s an event every weekend,” Ashley Hay says. “We have had car shows, a community yard sale, barrel racing, ranch sorting, a pig squeal and a county fair.”
Youth timed events such as barrel and pole races and goat tying are still held there. “We have more equine events than anything else at the Arena,” Hay says. “We also have lots of banquets in the Event Center. We’re working on grants for developing the 12-15 acres at the back of the property, including a multi-use trail for walking, horseback riding and bicycles. We also want to do RV hookups so folks can park for the time they are in a show.”
Local youths take part in Pickleball Events Group clinic
Hay’s background is in parks and recreation, having worked for the city of Springville before St. Clair County. Originally from Kansas, she moved here in 2018 because her husband is from Alabama. “I was a high school volleyball and basketball coach, then got into parks and recreation after that,” she says. “I really enjoy it. I started and grew the parks and recreation program in Springville. Then they asked me to do the same here.”
Under Hay’s management, the facility has added a wash bay, industrial fans, lighting, an uncovered, warm-up pen behind the Arena, and everything inside of the Event Center. It has improved parking and upgraded the PA system, too. Hay added a Facebook page and advertisements on Radio Station 94.1. “I feel like things are running well,” she says. “We’re trying to expand the types of programs we have.”
Besides all the public functions, the Arena and Event Center are available to rent by individuals for volleyball and basketball games, for wedding receptions, banquets and other private events. “We have had a wedding, and they brought horses,” Hay says. “The wedding was in the back pasture, and the Arena was where they held the reception. It’s a $750 fee for two days’ rental, and that’s dang cheap in comparison to other facilities of similar size.”
The Arena hosted a circus in February 2025, and the Gala of World Horses in the Fall of 2024. “The Gala had never been to Alabama before,” Hay says.
At least two dozen trailers were parked outside the Arena for a recent Buckle Series, a barrel racing event. Several horses stood tied to trailers, munching hay from their hanging bags. Riders walked their horses in circles, getting them ready for the event. One of those riders was Emmaline Puckett, 9, of Ashville. She has been racing since she was five or six, and like most of the other competitors, usually comes early to put her horse through its paces.
“We’re members here, so if the weather is bad, we come over here to practice barrels,” says Emmaline’s mom, Christina Puckett. “We’re very thankful for this place.”
Tyler and Jayclyn Cobb of Blount County came to watch the barrel race, even though Jayclyn couldn’t compete as usual because her mare has been bred. “We love coming here, Jayclyn says. “It’s covered, shaded, not as hot as other places.”
“A lot of people have really done a great job with the Arena from the get-go,” says Commissioner Brown. “The board members deserve a lot of the credit. We (the county) had the ideas, and they made it happen.
“That board served for free, put in a lot of hours, even parked cars during events. They deserve all the credit.”
For the first time in a quarter of a century, the local chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation held a Hunting Heritage Banquet in St. Clair County and marked the event as more of a success than they ever dreamed.
“Even if we had raised half of what we did, I would have considered it a success. We brought in about twice that. This was a fantastic first-time event,” said Jim Tollison, chapter president and chairperson of the fundraiser.
The local branch of the NWTF, called the Logan Martin Longbeards, recently reorganized with the help of the national organization, Tollison and some of his coworkers at Alabama Farm Credit in Talladega, where he serves as the regional vice president, and a host of others throughout the community.
“The NWTF works to protect wild turkey habitats and hunter rights,” Tollison said, pointing out that wild turkeys were all but hunted out in Alabama in the early 1900s. “For years, it was not common to see turkeys around where we live. They had to reintroduce wild turkeys to the state, or we would not have them today.”
The committee included Cameron Edge, Hanna Grogan, Logan Tucker, Karlee Tucker, Tim Smith, Brittany Smith, Jim Tollison, David Talley, Coy Holloway and Dillion Willams (Not pictured – Brooke Tollison)
Those efforts run the range from conservation to working with communities and government agencies to protect the land and the heritage of the sport.
The event organizers are still adding everything up, but the banquet, held April 3 at Celebrations in Pell City, brought in between $30,000 and $35,000 and attracted more than 150 people.
Aside from the catered dinner by Bowlings BBQ, attendees got to bid on and take part in drawings for a variety of guns and other outdoor and hunting equipment.
“People came together who like the outdoors,” Tollison said. “It was just a great group of people. The Federation had some special guns to win. Some are custom that are only available from the organization.
“It’s always fun to have a live auction – there were a couple of times I realized I was bidding against my wife, Brooke. And she was bidding on lots of stuff – it looked like she was trying to furnish our son, Jay’s, college room with NWTF stuff.
“Brian Worley helped with background checks, and GNX Guns and Bama Guns & Outfitters also were big sponsors.”
Those partners were key to the success. “Chad Camp with Lovejoy Realty really stepped up. He was eager to support the outdoors and did the premiere sponsorship,” Tollison said. Others, like Realtor Dana Ellison and Rob Knight not only sponsored the event, but they came and spent money at the auction.
Chapter president Jim Tollison and Chad Camp
Other sponsors included Cline & Co Properties; Richey, Price, Sawyer and Associates; THM Electrical and Maintenance Services; Chase Phifer; GNX Gun Exchange; Coosa Guns & Outdoors; Sen. Lance Bell; Bain & Co. CPA; Dixie Sod Farm; Alabama Farm Credit; Farm Systems Inc.; Metro Bank; Covered Bridge Timber Inc.; Rodney Bunt; Knights Plumbing; Ryan’s Hope Poultry Farm; Brooke Tollison, Alfa Insurance; Scott Tucker; and Alex Williamson
“Celebrations was great to work with. They have upgraded the venue, and everything was perfect for what we wanted to do … have a family friendly event where people could bring their kids and have a fun night.”
Tollison also wanted to thank all the help he had organizing everything, especially from the NWTF and his associates at the bank.
“I had been attending these events in other places as a way to network and build business relationships and finally said to myself, why don’t we do this here? I was sitting with NWTF regional representative Coy Holloway and Hannah Grogan (who became treasurer for the organization) at the bank, and everyone was on board.”
The previous chapter had ceased operations years ago. “When we came up with the name Logan Martin Longbeards and looked it up, turns out the old chapter had used the same name. We had no idea.”
From that group, they organized a board and then put their attention toward the banquet.
Some of the guns to be auctioned off
“It was really a small core group of people who did most of the work – people from the bank, Coy and others. Brooke was probably one of our top sellers for the event. … And Hanna did a lot of the organizing for the actual event. Representative for NWTF had high praise for her efforts.
“We were blessed this first time.”
The money raised at the event goes to the NWTF efforts, both locally and around the country, with the exception of funding set aside for a local scholarship the Logan Martin Longbeards plan to award.
After the success of this year, Tollison is already looking ahead. “We will be doing this again next year. We had people from Clay and Randolph counties who came out and supported us. I want to reach out to other neighbors, like Talladega and Calhoun counties and get their involvement.”
It was a night of “good fun,” Tollison said, “with a great crowd of quality people who came together to support the NWTF and its efforts.”
It won’t be long now. Logan Martin LakeFest & Boat Show makes its 15th return engagement to Pell City Lakeside Park May 9-11. There’s always something for the whole family, and it’s nonstop fun the entire weekend.
Lake lifestyle vendors, entertainment, food to satisfy every palate, giveaways and more mark the event from beginning to end.
If you’ve got boat fever, LakeFest certainly has the cure. Boats and watercrafts of all kinds – with discounted pricing – are on display and ready for a test drive.
It opens Friday, May 9 from 3 p.m.-9 p.m. A fireworks show saluting veterans is a highlight that evening. On Saturday, May 10, hours are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. And on Sunday – Mother’s Day – festivities get underway at noon with free Mimosas for all the Moms in the crowd.
It’s hard to imagine that Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve is celebrating its first birthday already. It was more than a decade in the making, and it sometimes seemed that opening day would never arrive.
But it did. On Feb. 3, 2024, 731 people streamed in, and the crowds haven’t stopped. Over 400 attended the grand opening, ribbon cutting ceremony the day before. And the numbers since that time have not only climbed, they show no signs of slowing.
Ribbon cutting, opening ceremony a year ago draws huge crowd
In the first year of operation, 13,000 people, an average of 1,100 a month, have visited the preserve – 422 acres of nature nestled in the city of Springville, whose population is just a little over 5,000, according to the latest census.
Its hiking, biking, birding and horseback riding trails wind their way beneath towering canopies of hardwoods, pine and maple trees with colorful palettes of flowers and diverse native plants marking the paths as if guiding the way.
A meandering creek, pristine as it flows through the heart of it all, is the ideal centerpiece – home to aquatic species – some not found anywhere else.
As Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve Manager Doug Morrison says, it’s the perfect place to “get your nature on.”
Early days
On an unseasonably warm day in late February, Morrison sits on the porch of the preserve office – a tiny wooden building, almost cabin-like in its appearance. He reminisces as he motions to the trails, bioswale and parking, surrounded by dense woods forming a picturesque backdrop.
Much of what you see was absent the year before. Trails were being built. A bioswale was being created to remove pollutants from stormwater runoff and let it settle in the soil to decompose rather than polluting the preserve below.
Entrance roads and parking lots were constructed. Signs erected. Benches were strategically placed throughout as a welcome respites along a hike or a placid place just to enjoy the scenery.
Activity was at a fevered pitch as work was tireless in its efforts to open. It had been long awaited to fulfill a longtime dream by Morrison and others.
For a decade or so, they waged a passionate campaign to have the land preserved and protected so that generations from now, the preserve can still be experienced and enjoyed. Forever Wild Land Trust bought the acreage and set wheels in motion to do just that – preserve it forever.
These days
These days you’ll find Morrison and company planning, visioning, working toward improvements to the experience and enhancing its awareness and education programs to take it to the next level.
Lucy Cleaver has joined the team as education coordinator. Jake Tucker is maintenance technician. With Morrison, the trio keeps the preserve running on a daily basis.
Entertainment at first birthday celebration cookout
Education has long been a central focus of the preserve. It is key to its future to facilitate not only an understanding of the importance of nature, but a passion for preserving it.
Cleaver enters the picture with an impressive resume with a bachelor’s degree in Agriscience Education and a master’s in Natural Resource Management from Auburn University. She taught high school Agriscience classes before joining the Park and Rec Department of the City of Springville.
Already, she has the education calendar full of activities.
On March 8, it held its second Youth Turkey Calling Expo, getting youngsters up and out on a Saturday morning at the preserve to learn all about wild turkeys. They learned how to make turkey calls and all about turkey hunting and the outdoors. The free event had a multitude of sponsors and the value of items given away to the kids totaled over $5,000.
On March 10, Jones Valley teaching farm interns and students went for a hike at the preserve and learned all about its features.
April 5 will see the preserve partnering with Alabama Cooperative Extension for a native tree workshop. June 7 is set for an invasive species seminar, and Sept. 26-27, it will be the site of Forest Her, a workshop for women on how to read deeds, bank documents and wills and how to manage land. It is a joint effort with the U.S. Soil Conservation Service for Women in Agriculture, necessitated by a growing number of women inheriting the family farm and needing such guidance.
She is networking with educators in the Alabama Environmental Association to help develop more programs.
Rounding out the year, Creek Jam, the popular outdoor music festival at Homestead Hollow to benefit the preserve, is set to return Oct. 25.
Future plans
While the early chapters of this success story have already been written for the preserve, officials have no intention of stopping there. Innovation, accessibility and more education are its guides.
Immediate plans call for making a section of the lower trail more accessible by paving a 1-mile section to allow wheelchairs. This will be made possible as the result of funding from grants secured by the Big Canoe Creek Preserve Partners, announcements forthcoming.
Tucker is working on a ram pump, which employs a set of valves working together to provide pressure enough to move 14,000 gallons of water from a spring through 350 feet of line up an 80-foot elevation without electricity.
Morrison discovered the ram pump idea from Randy Moody, a friend who had previously lived on the property in a rental house. “I asked him, how did you get water because I knew no water lines were run up here,” Morrison said.
Moody explained that the remnants of an old spring house had a gathering reservoir that fed into a pipe and there used to be a ram pump there. Morrison had never heard of a ram pump before, but he and Tucker researched. Tucker found a ram pump kit online and installed it.
“Jake can do anything I throw at him,” Morrison said. As long as the water collected into the pipe flows downhill, a ram pump inserted inline on the pipe could gather and push water uphill. For every 1 foot of fall on the pipe, it could push 7 feet uphill.
The end result? “We collect water through the pipe, the ram pump pushes it uphill, and we can collect it in a reservoir. Right now, we have a small 250-gallon tote, but plans are for a much bigger reservoir to collect the water and send the overflow back to the stream, thus providing water for irrigation and possibly flushing future toilets.”
Eventually, this off the grid creation will become an education model.
Meanwhile, pollinator gardens planted in the fall will be in full swing in spring and summer.
They are hopeful that an open-air pavilion with restrooms is on the horizon, made possible by a $400,000 grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs as part of its Recreational Trails Program. It was written by Mike McCown with assistance from Morrison and Candice Hill, director of St. Clair County’s new grant resource center.
There, they will be able to hold education and other events, and restroom facilities will now be available.
Why they do what they do
“This watershed is very, very special,” Morrison said as he talks of the protected species there, especially the Canoe Creek Clubshell Mussel, which had nearly become extinct. In 2022, they were placed on the endangered species list.
He points to the ecological potential for the future and a 2013 project on the creek.
Students from Jones Valley Teaching Farm schooled in features of preserve
In November 2013, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, river conservationists, The Friends of Big Canoe Creek, Coosa Riverkeeper and the Geological Survey of Alabama, DCNR and Alabama Power united to remove Goodwin’s Mill Dam. The former grist mill dam was built in the 1880s, and it was abandoned in the 1940s. At the time above the dam site, 15 different fish species, but no mussels, were found. Below it, twice that as more than 30 species of fish, were found, signaling that the dam had been obstructing the free flow of the fish.
“The fish passage was hindered by the dam. Fish have a symbiotic relationship with mussels. You see the female mussel releases glochidia (mussel larvae if you will) that latch onto the fishes’ gills. They feed off the blood of the fish for a few weeks, then drop off. And that’s where their life journey begins,” Morrison explained. Ten years later, they found mussels there, Canoe Creek Clubshells at that. Once the fish passage was unobstructed, the mussels were returning, and their role as a natural water filter will be vital to keeping the creek pristine.
After USFWS folks discovered the Clubshell there in 2023, they worked with Paul Johnson and Michael Buntin at Alabama Aquatic Center in Marion where they raise mussels. They released over 120 Clubshells and about the same number of Coosa Mocassinshell mussels in early 2024 into Big Canoe Creek, Morrison said, and they have high hopes for what it means for the future.
Through the preserve and the environmental and conservation work being done, “We want to teach people more about our watershed, how important the critters are that live here and how to take better care of our waterways so these special critters can exist. We must do what we can to prevent further extinctions,” Morrison said.
“All of God’s creatures have a right to exist to live a full life. We can tune in more to nature, explore more and discover more. Who knows what is still undiscovered? Bottom line, we all need to ‘get our nature on’, and maybe your existence will be rewarded tenfold.”
If the St. Clair County Arena and Event Center needed an exclamation point on its value to the community since its inception a decade ago, the St. Clair County Fair delivered just that.
Reminiscent of days gone by with attractions for the whole family, the fair offered a free, two-day event packed full of fun and community spirit.
Day 1 featured a vendor market, carnival rides and a petting zoo along with a Veterans Appreciation dinner and live bluegrass music. Day 2 offered even more entertainment with a car show, livestock competitions, carnival rides and the popular greased pig contest.
The fair’s finale was a high-energy performance by local band Big Country. It was an ideal way to celebrate a decade of service to the community, and plans call for its return next year.
Children try their best to capture the greased pig
Since 2014, the St. Clair County Arena and Event Center has grown into a hub for both the local community and visitors from across the state.
The covered arena spans 22,000 square feet and features a dirt floor. The space includes room for approximately 800 spectators, a concession stand, and restrooms with showers. It has become the ideal setting for community events of all kinds.
Over the years, the arena and event center have transformed into a destination point that hosts a wide variety of events that appeal to all ages and interests. Rodeos, barrel races, vintage markets, dog agility shows, and car exhibitions are just a few of the diverse range of activities that draw people from all corners of the community and state. It has truly become a must-visit venue.
“The community has greatly benefited from the arena,” said St. Clair County Commission Recreation Asset Manager Ashley Hay. “By providing free or affordable events throughout the year, it offers high-quality entertainment without the need for residents to travel to Birmingham or other neighboring counties.”
The local economy has seen a boost as visitors patronize nearby restaurants, gas stations and shops. “Event hosts and spectators are encouraged to engage with local vendors, further fostering community connections,” Hay noted.
And the arena continues to broaden its community reach by hosting events like livestock shows and the St. Clair County Farm-City Banquet.
She proudly cites recent improvements to the arena, such as expanded parking, upgraded lighting and a new PA system. “We are committed to creating a welcoming and efficient environment for attendees.” The wash bay, ample parking and the ability to accommodate multiple types of gatherings make the arena a flexible and highly valued resource.
Aslyn Weaver and father, Randall, entertain crowd
County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon shared his vision for the arena, emphasizing its role as a “respite from the busy world.” He also revealed his long-term goal to transform the facility into an agricultural hub for the county. “It’s nice that we have the event space, but we don’t want to compete with other event spaces in our area. We want to continue making improvements and partner with schools and farmers to host events.”
The event center was built using federal pandemic relief funds, with the county contributing an additional $1 million to complete the facility. Located next to the arena, the climate-controlled center features a multi-use court that accommodates pickleball, volleyball and basketball. Open-play memberships are available for $10 per day or $100 per year for individuals, with the option to add a family member for an extra $50.
Chairman Batemon has a vision of expanding the space to include an agricultural center that could serve as a 4-H and FFA training facility. “This place could be a central location for schools to host bigger events than what they can on their campuses,” Batemon added. “It would provide a space for students interested in agriculture to learn and grow.”
Looking ahead, planned expansions, such as RV parking and additional recreational spaces will only enhance the arena’s role as a cornerstone of community life in St. Clair County.
Editor’s Note: For updates and a calendar of upcoming events, follow St. Clair County Arena on Facebook at facebook.com/stclaircoarena.
