Category: St. Clair Agriculture

Earnest Roots Farm

A success story worth sharing

Story by Scottie Vickery
Photos by Mackenzie Free

Not long after they had their first child in 2017, Kiley and Josh Morrison started wondering about the food they were giving him. They worried about where it came from, the chemicals it contained, and whether or not it would affect their son’s future health.

After doing some research, they weren’t happy about what they learned. So they planted a vegetable garden, got a milk cow, and vowed to make changes for the good of their family.

Nearly 10 years later, what started out as parents’ intuition has morphed into Earnest Roots Farm in Ashville, which offers pasture-raised beef, chicken, pork, and other food that was “produced the way God intended.” No GMOs, antibiotics, hormones, or synthetic chemicals are used, Josh said. Instead, they practice regenerative agriculture to produce healthy soil, which produces better grass, leading to healthier animals. The result, he said, is nutrient-rich foods with superior flavor.

“What’s at the end of your fork determines your health,” Josh said. “If you know your farmer, you know your food. It’s not just about taste, it’s about what you’re putting in your body,” Kiley added. It’s a lifestyle they’re willing to bet the farm on because they’ve seen the benefits of a healthier food system firsthand.

“We weren’t always foodies,” Josh said. “We didn’t care what we ate. I drank Mountain Dew like it was going out of style.”

Josh grew up with migraine headaches, some so severe he had to be hospitalized. While in a neurologist’s office one day, he flipped through a health magazine because it was the only reading material available. “There was an article about how your body needs water for your organs to work properly,” he said.

Josh decided to give it a try and vowed to drink only water. “I started seeing changes within several months,” he said. “Within two years I wasn’t having any more headaches, and this was something that had plagued me for 30-something years.”

Although their original goal was to provide the best food for their family, the Morrisons quickly realized that other folks wanted to do that, as well. As a result, they’ve steadily grown their business and their desire to be local farmers that people can trust.

Much of that trust comes from transparency. In addition to offering farm tours “so people can see that we do what we say we’re doing,” they have a YouTube channel with videos about everything from their farming practices to recipes and instructions for cutting up a whole chicken or making homemade butter.

Andrew Jones offers a blessing before everyone eats at Market Day

In 2024, they started hosting monthly Market Days with educational demonstrations and local vendors selling everything from honey, jams and jellies, sourdough bread, tinctures and oils, soap candles, and all-natural dog treats. They also sell their chicken, beef, pork, lamb, and quail, as well as offerings like fresh eggs, bourbon pepper bacon, garlic pepper brats, and maple brown sugar breakfast patties.

Market Days were so popular that they now host a farm market every Friday in addition to their shipping and local delivery options. “We’ve just continued to steadily improve it,” Kiley said. “We’ve learned a lot along the way, and God continues to open doors for us. We couldn’t do this without the tremendous support of the community.”

Deep roots

Kiley, a third-generation farmer, grew up on the family farm where she and Josh are now raising 9-year-old Augustus and Atticus, 6. Her grandfather, Ernest Ostrowski, was a dairy farmer in Wisconsin before moving to Alabama and marrying Kiley’s grandmother, June, a cattle farmer. Phillip Byram, Kiley’s father, was 16 when his mother married Ernest, and he has lived on the family farm, where he raises beef cattle, since he was 10. Phillip’s wife, Sharon, who passed away in 2020, was a farmer, as well.

Although Kiley loved growing up on the farm, she had no plans to end up there herself. She and Josh, who grew up in Altoona, met online 20 years ago, and they both attended Gadsden State before marrying and pursuing civil engineering degrees at the University of Alabama.

Kiley and Josh found jobs in the telecommunications field – she was in management with an engineering company in Birmingham, and he started designing fiber telecommunications. She traveled a lot and loved her job, but the lure of a simpler life eventually began to take hold.

“I wanted to be home and have a family and be grounded,” she said. “It took getting away from the farm to realize what a blessing it was to be able to live on the farm. It’s not something I take for granted.”

She realized she wanted her kids to have the same experiences she had, so they returned to Ashville and bought her grandparents’ farm, which was 10 minutes from her father’s farm. Although the plan was to focus on homesteading and self-sufficiency, they soon began selling beef, chicken and pork at a farmer’s market in Gadsden, which they did for two or three years. Business was good, so they launched a website just about the time the Covid pandemic started.

Culinary students Braden Godwin and Max Smith; Joey Duke of Aquality Farms; Meigan Tucker of ECTC; Josh and Kiley Morrison; and Anna Warren of The BFIT Bakery

“All of a sudden, people didn’t want to go to grocery stores; they wanted to go to their local farmer,” Kiley said. They set up local pickup points so customers could place orders online and pick it up later at a convenient location. “We did that for the community, and a lot of people took advantage of that,” she said.

The shipping side of the business grew quickly, and in 2021 they sold Ernest’s farm and bought a farmhouse and 10 acres (they recently added another 40 acres) adjacent to Phillip’s 180-acre cattle farm. Kiley’s sister and brother-in-law, Molly and Andrew Jones, live on the farm, as well, and the five of them work together to make Earnest Roots a reality. “Kiley and I are just really the faces” of the operation, Josh said. “It’s very much a family endeavor.”

The farm’s name is a nod to Ernest and the family’s deep farming history. Ernest and June taught Phillip to farm, and they taught Kiley and Molly, Josh explained. When he and Andrew joined the family and “didn’t know jack diddly about farming, they taught us, as well,” he said.

They changed the spelling from Ernest to Earnest as a nod to the future. “If you look in Webster’s dictionary, one of the definitions for ‘earnest’ is a promise of things to come,” Josh said. “As we grow, as we learn and diversify, we’re adding more and more products for our family and yours,” he said.

Future fruits

They’re also raising what likely will be another generation of farmers. “They’re the reason we started this,” Josh said as he watched their boys run across the pasture.

The days are long. Josh is still designing fiber telecommunications in addition to his work on the farm. Kiley homeschools the boys while juggling her many roles. The boys get up early every morning to feed the chickens while Josh milks cows.

And they wouldn’t have it any other way. “I love that we’re raising them here where I was raised and that they’re getting their hands dirty and learning that it doesn’t hurt to work hard,” she said. “Never in a million years would I have thought that we would be here. There were a lot of steps between our original goals and where we are now, but God was laying the groundwork. He put us where we need to be without a shadow of a doubt.”

Features

Beyond the Arena

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.”

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.

“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.”

Features

Chandler Mountain

St. Clair’s place of sacred beauty

By Roxann Edsall
Photos by Mackenzine Free

For many, the mention of Chandler Mountain brings to mind images of big, beautiful, savory tomatoes. But the roots of the mountain’s history run far deeper than those lovely fruits or even of those families that have farmed them for generations. Archaeologists are now calling the mountain a place of profound Native American cultural significance, having documented several sites on and around the mountain.

These sites, formally verified by archaeologists over the last two years, include pictographs, which are paintings on stone using the pigment, called red ochre, found in the dirt. There are at least eight documented sites containing pictographs, cairns, snake walls and other various rock formations attributed to the area’s Native American heritage. Next month, archaeologists are planning to visit an additional five areas that may also contain significant indigenous findings.

Those culturally significant Native American findings were instrumental in saving Chandler Mountain residents from the fallout from a proposed Alabama Power dam project. Alabama Power had planned to build a pumped storage hydroelectric facility that would have pumped water from Neely Henry Lake up the mountain to a reservoir and dam at the top, the intent of which was to created electricity by releasing water at peak use times to flow down the mountain to four dams below.

The building and operation of the project would have forever changed the landscape of the mountainside and residents banded together to fight. They created Save Chandler Mountain, a 501c3 non-profit, and began working to build a case to oppose the dam project. “The project was a net-negative program, meaning it would have used more energy than it created,” said Fran Summerlin, the organization’s president. “It was going to get rid of so much farmland and so many houses.”

Summerlin explained that the organization reached out to archaeologists and cultural heritage people and found common ground with the people who originally lived on the land, members of the Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama. Both current residents and the Indigenous people of the area were desperate to save the land and protect its features.

Seth Penn is a member of the Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama and was, at the time of the proposed dam project, the southeastern coordinator for the Indian Nations Conservation Alliance (INCA). Fighting to promote Native American culture and to protect sacred sites was his mission and that dovetailed well with Save Chandler Mountain’s mission. Penn, who has degrees in both cultural anthropology and natural resource conservation management, with minors in Cherokee studies and language, lives in north Alabama, but has ancestral ties to both Etowah and St. Clair counties.

“Chandler Mountain and that area was a place where multiple tribal territories came together,” Penn explains. “You had the Cherokee people, various branches of Muskogee, as well as Choctaws and Chickasaw too. This was a special place where various tribes would come together to trade and to talk through things and to try to work things out peacefully.”

A popular destination – Horse Pens 40 – for bouldering, entertainment, festivals and views

So, their work together began by inviting noted archaeologist David Johnson to visit the mountain. Johnson, who is from Poughkeepsie, New York, had successfully documented Native American sacred and ceremonial landscapes along the lower Hudson Valley, which was instrumental in saving Split Rock Mountain, a land sacred to the Ramapo Munsee Lenape Nation. “We were having a ceremony celebrating the saving of Split Rock Mountain and Seth Penn and his mother came from northeast Alabama,” said Johnson. “I walked him around that site and showed him the stone features. He said I needed to come to Alabama.”

“I made the drive down to Huntsville and met with Seth’s tribe,” Johnson continued. “Within the first two days, we found two ceremonial landscape sites that the Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama knew nothing about.” It was at the presentation he gave to the tribe about his findings that he met some visitors who came up from Chandler Mountain. “They asked me to come look and I went down for two days for a quick look. What I saw was enough that I went back and have documented eight major sites there.”

The shape of the mountain itself is unique in that, unlike typical mountains that rise to a peak, the top of Chandler Mountain is a plateau, flat at the top with a dip, or bowl in the middle. The shape is a natural occurrence, formed during the creation of the Appalachian Mountains hundreds of millions of years ago. The flat top made the mountain ideal for the ceremonial and tribal activities, according to Johnson, with plenty of room for tribes to meet, to trade, to work through disputes, and to pray.

The mountain is known as the tomato capital

“You don’t usually find a lot of artifacts at this type of site,” says Johnson. “You don’t find a lot of broken arrows and firepits because that’s not what they did here. This was a special place, a sacred place.” Those types of artifacts, he explains, are found in habitation sites, archaeological sites where cultures lived and slept.

“There are ceremonially significant places on the mountain, as well as in the whole region,” Penn explains. “There are places where you see the presence of that confirmed through various rock formations, art, and things along those lines that are centuries old. It affirms the long-lasting presence of Indigenous people there.” It’s a place that local Native Americans still go to pray. “We go to these sacred places where we are able to stand in present time, but lock arms with our ancestors, the ancients, to pray.”

The land is sacred, too, to those who live and farm the land today. “There are places there with history, with stories, with blood, sweat and tears that have been poured into that land,” Penn continues. “If that dam project had happened, it would have erased the history of Indigenous people from thousands of years ago, but would also have erased a lot of history from the present inhabitants of that land and their families.”

Charles Abercrombie’s family is deeply ingrained in the history of the area. For more than 75 years, he has lived on land on the side of Chandler Mountain that was once part of the homestead of Joel Chandler, for whom the mountain is named. Chandler received the land as payment for his work as a soldier in the Creek Indian War. Abercrombie still has the land grant signed by Andrew Jackson. The land has been owned by the Abercrombie family since 1894, and Abercrombie says he would fight to protect his land from any threat. “When all this started, I went to an eminent domain attorney,” Abercrombie said. “I was willing to go to the Supreme Court, if I had to.”

He did not have to go to the Supreme Court. As a result of feedback from residents and pushback from Twinkle Cavanaugh, then Alabama Public Service Commission president, the application for the Alabama Power dam project on Chandler Mountain was withdrawn and the mountain, with its beautiful landscape and rich history was saved.

“Bringing these potential cultural losses to the forefront may have contributed to the demise of the project, but important political opposition is probably what made the difference,” says Terry Henderson. Henderson, whose family has been around the mountain and Canoe Creek since around 1850, has lived on the south brow of the mountain for two years. He is married to Linda Derry, a professional historical archaeologist, and worries as much about “unrestrained and uncontrolled visitation” in the area. “These properties, structures, and vistas should be protected through legal, enforceable, verifiable development and access restraints,” says Henderson.

Ben Lyon agrees. He was drawn to the mountain as a rock climber 20 years ago and has lived there for the past 12 years. His property contains red ochre drawings and other findings important to Native American culture. “I believe it’s as important as anything to preserve these,” says Lyons. “It’s one of the few examples of pre-Woodlands depictions in the Coosa River Valley.”

Lyon says saving the mountain and its cultural history is important for the future of the children and for the families who make their living on the land. “There’s a way of life on Chandler Mountain that would have been lost, and about a third of the mountain would have been lost,” said Lyon.

Chandler Mountain is a place of tranquil beauty, a place where families live off the land and spend time in the outdoors. It’s a land of history, of promise, and carries with it the burden of conserving it for future generations. Conservationist Aldo Leopold stressed the importance of that responsibility when he wrote, “The oldest task in human history is to live on a piece of land without spoiling it.” Together, the mountain’s current residents and those representing their Indigenous predecessors have made sure this sacred mountain will not be spoiled.

Features

St. Clair County Fair

Arena, event center earn rave reviews

Story by Cherith Fluker
Photos by Mackenzie Free

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.

Features

Gatway Community Garden

The place where hope grows

Story by Paul South
Photos by Mandy Baughn

From an acre of God’s good earth, a small army of volunteers at Pell City Community Garden helps feed the hungry

Ten years ago, Renee Lilly and like-minded people had a vision for a place where hope and fresh food grew for the food insecure.

On the old Avondale Mills property in Pell City, Lilly wanted to create a space where needy folks could learn to tend a small piece of God’s good earth and grow their own herbs, fruits and vegetables.

Two years later, Pell City’s Gateway Community Garden and its small army of volunteers moved to an acre or more of land donated by St. Simon Peter Episcopal Church across the road from the church.

The result? A bumper harvest, not just of fresh food, but of hope. The garden, Lilly said, has exceeded expectations.

When the garden began at Avondale, the hope was to inexpensively rent out plots to individuals to allow them to grow their own food. But there were few takers.

Renee Lilly and Rhonda Dial talk to a crowd at the garden

Two years later the effort moved to the church and the mission changed direction.

“We just decided, we’ll grow the food, and we’ll just distribute that food to the people who need it,” Lilly said. “Once we made that decision, everything just took off.”

Since 2018, the garden has produced more than 14,000 pounds of fresh food for county residents in need, Lilly said.

Volunteers – the number varies, but usually there is a core group of a dozen – tend, nurture, harvest and distribute seasonal fresh foods.

More have joined the effort. In fact, some 3,500 volunteer hours have been sown into the garden since 2018.

The work is vital, especially in a county where 13 percent of residents are food insecure, according to U.S. News and World Report.

“Boy Scouts have helped us. We’ve got the Boys and Girls Clubs, and other groups have helped us,” Lilly said.

Because the garden has been so successful, and because of its partnership with the Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama, it has been designated as one of 16 “Open Spaces, Sacred Places” sites located in nine Alabama counties.

Those sites are “intended for the encouragement of community well-being and resilience of mind/body/spirit of both individuals and communities,” according to the Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama website.

“Our garden is one of those sacred spots. It’s an incredible thing that we have that here,” Lilly said.

For Lilly, certain things make the garden sacred.

“It’s a healing and restorative garden,” she said. “Not only is it a working garden where we are harvesting chemical-free food out of that garden. We also have an area in nature where people can come and sit. We have a bench with a little book library, and there’s a picnic table in the nature area where people can come and reflect on the beauty of the garden.”

The garden wouldn’t happen without the collaboration with the Community Foundation and St. Simon Peter, as well as corporate and individual support, Lilly said.

Attendees tour the garden and grab food and drinks

Though a secular organization, Gateway’s work dovetails with the mission of the church by feeding the mind, body and spirit of those in need. “We’re serving people,” Lilly said.

The garden’s harvest changes with the season. This fall, cabbage, kale, Brussel sprouts, broccoli and Swiss chard made up the crop. In past years, collards were a fall staple.

Herbs – parsley, thyme, basil and mint among them – call the garden home.

What does the success of the Gateway Community Garden say about the people of St. Clair County?

“What it says was that there was a core group of people who decided that it would be nice for Pell City to have a community garden that could take care of people in need,” Lilly said. “I think that core group of people spread the wealth, if you will, with their hard work, and more people have joined that mission.”

There is a commonality they share.

“There is a love for serving and a love for gardening.”

Recent evidence of that growth, a woman who is a master gardener enlisted her green thumb in the garden’s efforts. Some volunteers are masters, others are newcomers to putting their hand to the soil.

“We have new people coming in and joining us all the time,” Lilly said.

One of the beneficiaries of the garden is a local senior center, where food is distributed. More than once, encounters with local seniors have assured Lilly that her vision was spot on.

“A lot of times, we get to see their faces when the food is brought in,” Lilly said. “They love it. They get all excited, and they run over to us to see what we’ve brought. It’s an awesome thing.”

Lilly recalled one senior who needed food during the Covid-19 pandemic. She was driving a vanload of cabbage.

“Would you like a head of cabbage?,” she asked the man.

“I wouldn’t know what to do with it,” he replied.

“You just put it in a pan with water, salt and pepper and cook it, and it’s awesome. You’ll love it,” Lilly answered. Cabbage may have won a new fan that day.

The problems of the underprivileged are often misunderstood or dismissed outright. Lilly sometimes hears that the reason her cadre of volunteers is not as large as it could be is “because they don’t want to distribute food to lazy people.”

As the product of a broken home that faced food insecurity, she bristled at the notion.

“I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, there are a lot of people who aren’t lazy who are just in situations out of their control. I understand people who are going through a divorce or they lose a spouse, or somebody gets sick, there are all kinds of situations where people need help,’” Lilly said. “That’s why we have been distributing healthy food to people in need since 2014.”

Along with its cultivation efforts, Gateway Community Garden celebrated its third annual fundraiser earlier this month. In exchange for a $20 donation, donors were given the opportunity to win a chest freezer full of beef and pork. Chili, white and red gave extra flavor to the event, along with live music. Polly Warren prepared the beef chili and Wade Reich of the popular barbecue eatery, “Butts To Go,” prepared white chicken chili.

Back in 2014, if someone had told Lilly that the garden would flower into a success, there may have been a few weeds of skepticism.

“I would have probably said, ‘I know it’s going to take a lot of hard work. But I would have never thought that it would be the place that it is today.’”

She added, “It’s an awesome space, and we do good work there.” l

Features

Saving Chandler Mountain

Once historic enemies join forces to keep a proposed dam project off the mountain

Story by Paul South
Photos by Mackenzie Free and Leo Galleo

When Seth C. Penn ponders Chandler Mountain, he thinks of the Indigenous peoples who walked the mountaintop 6,000 years before Christ trod the earth.

Darrell Hyatt thinks of generations of his family, who yanked a living from the mountain’s rich soil. The Hyatts came to the area when the only way to navigate the mountain was by wagon, horseback or on foot.

And Joe Whitten, an amateur historian and retired educator who came to St. Clair County in 1961, hiked from the base to the top of the mountain at age 80 and plans to do so again, even at 85.

Their backgrounds are different, but the three men share a love for the mountain and an understanding of the importance of the successful battle to fend off an Alabama Power proposal to build dams there. It was a plan that would have flooded the valley, displaced families and damaged sacred sites and archaeological treasures.

Community comes together for common cause

While bluegrass music at Horse Pens 40 and tomatoes – the area’s iconic signature crop – sprout in the minds of most Alabamians when the name, Chandler Mountain, is mentioned, make no mistake, it is holy ground.

According to Penn, Southeastern Region coordinator for the Indian Nations Conservation Alliance and a citizen of the Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama, all land is sacred for Indigenous peoples, regardless of location. But the mountain is unique.

“Chandler Mountain is an area where tribal territories met,” Penn said. “This was a place inhabited by several different tribes, Cherokee people and Muskogean people as well. This is an area where you could see different looking people, different looking tribes, different languages. That makes the mountain unique unto itself.”

There are archaeological and ecological features on the mountain sacred to the tribes.

“How the water flows, the hydrologic buildup, makeup and processes are important ecologically and also sacred, considering the values of water, plant life and animals,” he said.

Prayers and other ceremonies were conducted on the mountain. And while the story may be apocryphal, it is said that Chandler Mountain is the only place where a peace treaty was signed between the Cherokee and Creek tribes.

“I have never seen that document,” Penn said. “So as far as the credibility of that, it’s very debatable and very questionable. So, my response to that would be, I’d like to see that happen in present time, so that an actual treaty exists.”

One piece of ancient history that does exist are the rock formations, stone structures and Cherokee pictographs, rock art that native peoples may have painted with their fingertips, according to a report by Dr. Harry Holstein, a professor of Chemistry and Geosciences at Jacksonville State University.

These drawings and structures, as well as the stars, all play into the ceremonial and governmental history of the mountain and its ancient inhabitants, Penn said.

“This is a place where we might go to higher ground in search of a spiritual connection. It’s a place where territories met. So, at times we might meet in council-like setting, where topics might be discussed among our tribe or with other tribes even. Trades could also take place,” Penn said.

From a spiritual perspective, he added, “The whole sacred, ceremonial prayer aspect of events that took place – with certain rock features facing certain directions, certain astrological features in line with certain features, that all plays into the ceremonial aspect of it.”

A Family’s Story

With all their earthly belongings, John Hyatt and his wife arrived on horseback from Hurt County, Ga., and settled near the Horse Pens area in 1875, where they homesteaded 120 acres.

“There have been Hyatts on that end of Chandler Mountain ever since,” said John Hyatt’s great-grandson, Darrell.

He lives near the base of the mountain. He can recite his family’s history like a precocious schoolboy. John Hyatt’s brother, Otis, was the first person to farm the tasty Chandler Mountain tomatoes.

But the mountain is about more than tomatoes. Darrell has lived in the Chandler Mountain Valley since 1969, and at his current homestead since 1981. There, he reared his children.

At one time, he pondered moving his family out west. But the tug of home was too strong, the ties too deep. In his family, Darrell has always been known as “the man who came back to the mountain.”

Artifacts found tell story of Native-Americans living on land

“I always knew this mountain was different,” he said. “We could never pull ourselves away. It’s not just the family history. It goes back thousands of years.”

He found paleo-points on the mountain, and he and his wife found the pictographs. In turn, they brought Holstein as well as a rock expert from the University of Tennessee.

“Dr. Holstein said this was the most significant archaeological find on the upper Coosa River drainage area,” Hyatt said.

That archaeological find played a significant role in the defeat of the Alabama Power project.

What would have been the impact of the project if it had moved forward? Often, before Alabama Power shelved the plan, Darrell imagined his last day in his beloved valley, where his kids grew up and where he walked the mountain, climbed its rocks and contemplated the world in solitude.

One of the dams would have been built within 1,000 feet of his home. Rocky Hollow, the Mount Lebanon Cemetery, a number of archeological treasures and dozens of families would have been washed away.

The Hiker

Darrell remembers the first time he and Joe Whitten hiked the mountain, following Steele Gap Road. Whitten was 80.

“Joe, are you ready to stop?,” he would ask.

“Where’s the top?,” Whitten replied. Hyatt pointed upward.

“Let’s go,” Whitten said. And they did. “I think I can do it again,” he added.

Whitten talks of the importance of Chandler Mountain to the quality of life of St. Clair County and to its economy.

“It was in a remote section of the county that the pioneers made a beautiful place of,” Whitten said. “As time progressed, they tried various fruits. They grew peaches there for a time, but the tomatoes made the mountain famous.”

The Alliance

Two groups that history saw often at odds, the Indigenous tribes and new settlers of the 19^th century, joined with the City of Steele and Montgomery politicians to fight the utility. The fight continues because the utility still owns significant acreage there.

In the face of opposition from locals, as well as Public Service Commission President Twinkle Cavanaugh, Alabama Power Company scrapped its plans to build a hydroelectric storage project and remove homeowners from Chandler Mountain in August 2023. The utility withdrew its efforts to seek a license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

In these politically fractured times, is there a lesson to be learned from the alliance that fought it?

Flat top of mountain a distinctive characteristic

“Absolutely,” Darrell said. “This community in my eyes was starting to lose itself. (The dam project) pulled everybody together.”

In local folklore, it’s told that John Hyatt built the market road down the backside of the mountain near what’s now U.S. 231, in an area known as Hyatt’s Gap. And the mountain can be seen from Alabama’s highest peak, Mount Cheaha.

“It’s very distinct,” he said. “And I think the Native Americans saw that, too. It’s sacred. Very sacred to them.”

Whitten said that even in these difficult days, the successful effort to block the project, “shows there can be unity. Peoples can come together and work together on projects that are needful to the community and the county and the state.”

He added, “What is there is important to the state as well, because it’s part of our Indigenous history.”

Penn agreed. “Obviously, it’s an ancestral holy place for an Indigenous person,” he said. “But because of those thousands of years of prayers building a foundation for a sacred setting, it’s just as much a sacred place for that farmer who says a prayer while he’s out there planting or harvesting. It’s a sacred place to that family who comes together and prays before a meal every time they eat dinner. It’s a sacred place and a significant place to many people.

“While our significance to the mountain and the sacredness of the mountain predates the settlers, I don’t want to discredit that it’s important to many of them as well in present time.”

Of the alliance, Penn said, “We’re a whole lot better when we can put differences aside and find common ground and work together regardless of backgrounds, faiths or political affiliations.

“Chandler Mountain is a unique situation in that we can come together. We have done that, and I’d like to see this initiative grow. I’d like to see Alabama Power realize, ‘Look, we had wrong intentions here. This isn’t where we need to do this. We just need to pull out and let go and give this mountain back to the people who truly care about it. And that is the Indigenous people and that is the local Chandler Mountain Community. That is our mountain and should be our mountain. That’s how I feel about it.”

“Alabama Power does not have any plans for the Chandler Mountain property,” said Alabama Power spokesperson Joey Blackwell in an email response in April.

When Alabama Power announced it had scuttled its proposal, there were celebrations on Chandler Mountain. Hyatt and his family celebrated with dinner at an area Mexican restaurant.

There was joy. “And there were tears,” he said. “More than a few tears.”

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