For St. Clair County, 2021 has been quite a good year – a boom year, in fact. It has experienced an economic upswing across the board, from housing to manufacturing; retail sales to tourism; new business to expansion of existing business. All that comes despite recovering from the unprecedented pandemic that struck in 2020, leaving many economic projects on the drawing board and spiked the unemployment rate to over 13%.
Nobody’s looking back, though. Optimism is high as county leaders look toward the future and interpret the numbers.
Don Smith, executive director St. Clair County Economic Development Council, cites a study ranking the top 10 counties in Alabama with the most incoming investments. St. Clair county ranks No. 7 on that list.
“The study measures growth in gross domestic product, number of businesses opened and number of new building permits per every 1,000 homes in each county,” said Smith. “St. Clair County saw 3.8% business growth, $118 million in GDP growth, and 10.7 new building permits per every 1,000 homes over the last three years.”
The study was conducted by technology financial technology firm Smart Asset.
Those numbers, on paper, are backed up by real brick-and-mortar projects springing up all over the county. The latest gem in St. Clair’s financial crown, Kelly Creek Commerce Park, is a $125-million industrial park to be situated on 172 acres in Moody.
Expansion next to Processor’s Choice and Exotic Foods
Smith said about two years of preliminary engineering and planning have already gone into the project, and work was expected to begin in November. “We’ll be trying to get manufacturing and distribution-type companies in there with a focus on headquarters,” said Smith, adding that with this new facility, the county will be adding several hundred new jobs within the next five years.
According to Moody Mayor Joe Lee, the business park is following a master plan for construction. “They’ve got a set of covenants outlining what they can build, how it’s to be constructed, and just exactly how they can do things out there, even to the color of the buildings,” which the mayor said will be “earth-tone colored.”
There’s going to be 1.4 million square feet of space in those two earth-toned buildings,” he said. “Currently, site preparation is under way. “They’re clearing the land, putting in curbs and gutters. This is going to be a long project, probably about two years.”
The mayor says there’s no commitment yet from potential tenants, “but a lot of folks are interested in it. A possible fit could be a distribution business like Amazon. What is being created out there has many users.”
The property is located next to Red Diamond’s corporate headquarters off Kelly Creek Road. Lee says road improvements are planned to better access the nearby Interstate 20 and that turn lanes will be added to Kelly Creek Road.
Several new retail businesses are also set to open in Moody, including Dunlap and Kyle Tire Company, Walmart Warehousing and Landing Warehousing. And according to Lee, “the old Burger King building has been sold, and Dunkin’ Donuts has turned in a set of plans. “Plus,” he said, the old Krystal building “is close to having a contract signed on it.”
In somewhat of an understatement, Lee acknowledged, “Yeah, this past year has been pretty busy.”
As rosy as Moody’s business climate appears right now, the mayor says the housing market in Moody, now the county’s largest municipality, is “unbelievable. I’d say in the next year or two, we’ll see 300 new homes built here.”
The story in Moody is indicative of what’s happening all over St. Clair, according to Smith.
“Retail sales are up everywhere. New retail projects were put on hold because of the pandemic but not anymore. We did expect to announce about $35 million of retail projects by the end of 2021, and that’s throughout the county, not just one city or the other.
“So, everyone’s doing well,” Smith continued. “The things that are going to be announced are going to be names that are missing in our county, and everyone leaves our county to shop at. It’s great to see small businesses really coming back strong. That’s one of the things we really focused on, making sure that folks we live next door to and spend time with are successful in their business.”
Tourism, a new industry in St. Clair County kicked off in 2020 at the very height of the COVID-19 pandemic. And, while most industrial efforts struggled during this time, tourism did not. According to Smith, it was actually “great timing” to kick off the tourism campaign.
“We don’t have a lot of indoor tourism things,” he said. “Everything is outdoors, and that was the only place you could go. So, everybody was wanting to get out, either hiking, camping, boating, rafting. People wanted to get outdoors where it was safe and fun. So, 2020 was an incredible year for people to discover St. Clair County’s outdoor activities.”
And the trend fit perfectly with St. Clair Tourism’s theme – “It’s in Our Nature.”
In 2021, tourists continue to flock to the county’s lakes, streams and rivers as well as outdoor festivals. Proof that the tourism initiative, headed by St. Clair Tourism Coordinator Blair Goodgame, continues to be viable can be seen in some examples of documented growth provided by event organizers.
At the Logan Martin LakeFest and Boat Show, 15,000 people attended in 2018 and 20,000 in 2019. The number jumped to 35,000 in 2021.
Bulls on the Lake Rodeo was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic, but in 2019, 1,700 attended the event. That number jumped to 3,000 in 2021.
The Rustik Bucket Vintage Market at the St. Clair Arena saw 1,300 attendees in 2020 and 1,800 in 2021.
Looking ahead, Smith is optimistic about the upward trend continuing. Because of St. Clair County’s central location between two major interstates, its abundance of natural resources and general livability “we don’t see any slowing down. I think we can expect growth all over the county for years to come.”
Dog trainer left computer coding to start dream business
Story and Photos by Graham Hadley
Last year, as the COVID virus presented businesses with difficult challenges, some entrepreneurs took the opportunity to move their lives in new directions.
Alex Allen, who had been in the tech industry, did just that, moving out from behind a desk all day to training dogs in everything from basic household obedience to drug and bomb detection and other professional police and security work.
Allen took the leap of faith, founding Alliance K9, working with some of the top trainers to hone his skills and is now open for business in St. Clair.
Practice with the padded suit
“With the lockdown, things were slowing down. I was working at a desk all day, and just wanted to do something new,” he said.
Allen did his training with Tarheel Canine school in Sanford, N.C., under trainer Jerry Bradshaw.
“It was kind of baptism by fire. They put you in there with the padded suit on. You came around a corner, and there was a dog. You could either handle it or not.”
Allen handled it, no problem, but admits the training can be intense.
“It’s on-the-job training and it’s fast-paced. They put you out there and see what you are made of.”
At one point, he was playing the “bad guy” during building search training, usually used by police and military.
“You are hiding in this dark room wearing the padded suit. And you can hear them going through the building, the dog’s feet on the floor. Then he scratches at your door, and you know this is it. The next second, uniformed officers storm the room, there are bright strobes, the whole thing.”
Since those first days, Allen has come a long way, continuing to fine tune his skills so he can be the very best trainer he can be – and that is no small task given the range of services he offers dog owners: pet obedience, personal protection, behavior modification, police and security, search and rescue, and much more.
Each skill takes a specific kind of training and tools – simple things like bright balls for teaching dogs to fetch and retrieve to special padded, bite-proof suits he wears to train dogs to take down suspects.
If that is not enough, Allen trains all breeds of dogs, and each of those has specific behavior characteristics that vary widely.
“Some of your smaller breeds (like terriers), I spend a lot of time just getting the dog to get involved in the training, getting them interested in the process. That can take a lot of time and patience,” he said. Other breeds, like his Dutch shepherd, Ranger, are very focused on their training and are well suited to police and security work.
Displaying his dog’s training at the soccer fields behind the Pell City Civic Center, Allen would throw an oversized tennis ball for Ranger, who would dash across the field, grab the ball and come barreling back to his trainer, who was now outfitted in the padded suit to practice take-down techniques.
Some positive reinforcement and rest time after training
For Ranger, Allen was his entire focus, even when a group of kids came out to an adjoining field to play football – an activity the year-old shepherd clearly thought would be great fun to take part in. But his training held. The kids were running all over the other end of the field, but the dog was all business, fetching, retrieving and practicing his takedowns and restraint moves on a suited-up Allen.
While most of the training is straight forward, some of the more complicated tasks, like drug and bomb searches, require more work and special equipment.
Some of the larger schools have special permitting that gives them access to real drugs and explosives to train the dogs with. Allen says he is not there yet, but there are legal alternatives to both drugs and explosives he is using now.
Particularly with the drugs, though, the alternatives are not the best option, and he hopes to have those permits in hand in the future.
“The problem with the fake drug scents is, take meth, for instance. The synthetic scents are just of the methamphetamine chemical. But in real life, those drugs are mixed and cut with all sorts of things like cleaning supplies. So, if the dog is looking for just the meth smell, they may miss the real thing because those other chemicals are not in the training scents,” he said.
For explosives, right now he and Ranger are just getting started, so he is using simple gunpowder.
“We have just started with that. I have him where he can find the explosive, but the trick is getting him to locate the gunpowder without digging for it. With explosives, you just want them to locate them, not actively start digging through stuff for them,” he said.
Allen prides himself in being able to work with all breeds and for all kinds of different training, whether he is helping a family obedience train a Chihuahua, someone who wants their dog trained for personal protection or working with law-enforcement agencies to make sure their K9 units are the best around.
That takes a lot of training for the dogs, but even more training for Allen, who continually works with schools and other trainers to sharpen his skills.
And he is quick to point out, a big part of the training, especially when it comes to professional K9 security dogs, picking out the right animal for the task and assessing their abilities and temperament are key. For those dogs, you want a steady, smart animal, preferably from a working breed that has the instincts.
“When we start working with a dog, that is one of the first things I look for,” he said. Since he has started, he has made a lot of progress in that regard, especially in spotting the “steady” dogs that have the ideal personalities for things like police work.
As is necessary for his new line of work, Allen is an avowed dog lover, and sees teaching and promoting responsible pet ownership as a responsibility he is more than willing to take on.
People need to research and learn about what kind of dog fits their lifestyle and schedule – working breeds need to be kept active and given “jobs” to do, or they don’t do well. Terrier breeds need to be given things to occupy their time, as well. Those breeds are not well suited to being left in apartments for long hours while their owners work.
Other breeds, like English bulldogs, are more suited to owners who might have longer working days. Beagles and spaniels tend to need regular social interaction.
“People need to know what they are getting themselves into with different breeds,” he said, and be willing to meet the needs of whatever pet they bring home. “I consider that a core part of what I do when I am working with people and their dogs,” he said.
Allen said he has, on more than one occasion, had to help owners – some of whom hired him to help train their dogs – find their pets new homes better fitted to their needs.
“I have never turned away a dog for training” or to help with a rescue animal finding a new home, he said.
That is all part of the job, and one that Allen loves.
On walking away from a career in computer coding and tech, Allen said he has absolutely no regrets.
“Not one. I love this,” he said.
Editor’s Note: You can learn more at AllianceK9.com
It’s hard to miss the excitement building all around Leeds these days. From a flurry of business activity around the Interstate 20 interchanges to the commercial district on Ashville Road to the resurrection of downtown as a thriving center, the enthusiasm surrounding the growth is evident.
One of the best examples is found in historic downtown, where specialty shops, popular eateries, old favorites and professional services have found a home.
Leeds is a quaint, little city nestled just minutes from Birmingham and Anniston. Its historic downtown lends much charm with local shops, boutiques and architecture reminiscent of days gone by.
Visit the iconic Pants Store for clothing and shoe brands you know and love, a store that has been in business since 1950. For the past seven decades, shoppers from miles around have made it their destination point because of the selection, customer service and pricing.
Neva Reardon shows off handbag collection at Mum & Me
This family-owned endeavor – still in the same family today – has expanded to Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville and Trussville, crediting its longevity to founder Taylor Gee’s philosophy – “always put the customer first and make sure of their satisfaction.”
Then stroll over to Merch Boutique for boutique women’s clothing in sizes XS-3X along with baby up to tween sizes for the kiddos as well as accessories, home décor and more.
Head next door to Mum & Me Boutique for a shopping experience you won’t soon forget. Celebrating four years in business as a boutique specializing in local, Southern and American gifts and crafts, Mum & Me has a little something for anyone special in your life.
Gifts range from baby and infant wear, baby shower gifts and registry, to bath products made in Texas and Virginia, Sorrelli dazzling jewels and a wide selection of jewelry made by American hands. An expanded boutique features beautiful, “wearable” ladies clothing. “We have jeans that fit a lady’s body like she was still 18,” said owner Neva Reardon.
Mum’s Unique Consignment Boutique is the latest sister store to mum & me mercantile. A quaint shop specializing in finer consignments of jewelry, purses, shoes, children’s clothing birth to tween, adult women and menswear – all sporting finer boutique brands. Are you going to a formal or getting married? Mum’s Unique is a first-stop must. And their collectibles are quite a draw.
Hungry or need to satisfy a sweet tooth craving? Stop in at the Three Earred Rabbit for a delicious meal with choices of homemade soups and sandwiches made from scratch, salads and fresh baked goodies that will make your taste buds go wild.
One-of-a-kind cakes and other tasty desserts are made fresh every day.
Mills Pharmacies is your next stop with that hometown pharmacy feel, where everyone knows your name. But the features don’t end there. Mills carries a diverse collection of gift items and greeting cards in addition to filling all your pharmacy needs. Altogether, it’s just what the doctor ordered.
Overstock Mattress is growing in popularity, boasting the best prices around on quality bedding.
Your visit is not complete without a trip to Livery Square and the shop at LA Salon, Flowers & Boutique. This little shop has beautiful women’s clothing, accessories, home décor and gift items as well as offering tanning to keep you looking like you just returned from a well-earned vacation. You can also order floral arrangements for any occasion.
As you stroll these sidewalks throughout the downtown area, you will also find service organizations, a theater and art center, a dental center and all types of services needed in day-to-day life.
Nightlife is growing, too. Rails and Ales is fairly new to the roster, offering food and spirits at this craft beer and wine bar, featuring live music and games as part of its allure. Its entertainment line-up includes a number of local entertainers, and it hosts food trucks in its backyard on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Besides being voted one of the top suburbs for young professionals, Leeds has countless amenities to attract from near and far.
“We have things happening on all sides of Leeds, and we want to keep people coming downtown,” said Dona Bonnett, past president of the Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce and a business owner herself. That’s why all sorts of activities are centered downtown, making Leeds more than a destination point at the interstate where Outlet Shops of Grand River, Buc-ee’s, Bass Pro Shops and Barber Motorsports naturally draw crowds.
“We want to introduce them to all Leeds has to offer,” said Sandra McGuire, executive director of the chamber. “We do that by offering all kinds of activities to generate the foot traffic needed to support our downtown businesses.”
She noted that every Monday is Food Truck Monday, attracting food trucks at the gazebo park that offer menus fit for any taste and rivaling traditional restaurant fare.
Every Thursday during harvest season, you’ll find 6th Street block just outside the chamber making way for fresh fruits, vegetables and homemade treats at the Leeds Farmers Market, a venue for local farmers and makers from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
In October, thousands come out for the trick or treat event for Halloween with games and candy for the kids, a movie and food trucks cooking up something special. And there’s a popular carnival in the fall, too.
On Nov. 13, thousands more are expected to turn out for a major car cruise-in by C&C Motor Co., “Cruising for Toys.” Admission is a toy for the cruise-in, which will provide Christmas gifts for kids in Leeds. Two hundred to 400 cars are expected. Food trucks, street vendors as well as a Christmas Open House with downtown retailers and other businesses open to greet visitors and shoppers to kick off the holiday season. A parade of cars is planned with Santa and the city’s tree lighting to round out the festivities.
It’s all aimed at bringing people and businesses together, Bonnett said. The chamber’s Retail Development Committee meets regularly to generate ideas and create projects that can cross promote and help one another.
“We’re all in it together,” she said, noting that they can pool advertising dollars and resources. “If we work together, we can achieve more. It’s about how we can move forward and grow. We have a wonderful little town. There is a lot going on. We invite everyone to visit Leeds and see for yourself what people are talking about.”
It’s not hard to understand why Realtor Lyman Lovejoy has earned the nickname, “Mayor of St. Clair County.” Just like the leader of a bustling community, you will usually find him at the center of a flurry of activity, whether it’s a civic endeavor, developing a residential community or playing a pivotal role in economic development.
His love for St. Clair County is unmistakable. His work over the past 50 years to promote it, showcase it and yes, sell it, is undeniable.
The nickname does have original ownership. “I coined the term mayor of St. Clair County because his impact on this county has been tremendous,” said prominent attorney John Rea. “His reach has impacted every community in this county. Not only has he had a phenomenal run of business for 50 years, he has been heavily involved in economic development with the Economic Development Council.”
‘Impact’ is an ideal word to describe his efforts over the years. As Rea noted, Lovejoy’s impact transcends lines and has been on both the public and private side.
His longevity in the real estate industry has not gone unnoticed either. The St. Clair Association of Realtors honored him in its annual recognition luncheon for achieving the 50-year mark.
Along the way to 50 years, Lovejoy has seen the ups and downs of business but always weathered the storm, no matter how dark it seemed.
None seem as dark as the Great Recession of 2008. “In ’08, we owed a lot of money, but we paid our bills, and we learned from it,” Lovejoy said.
His son, Shawn Lovejoy, credits his resilience and success to his “ability to care for people, his integrity and his positive attitude. He is incredibly resilient. ‘Quit’ is not in his vocabulary.”
Couple that with his community first, not business first attitude that drives him, and the picture of him as an ambassador for his adopted home of St. Clair County comes into focus.
From left, Richard Knight of Metro Bank, Lovejoy and Bill Ellison, 2021 EDC Chairman’s Award winner, at annual EDC event
You’ll probably find the name of every commissioner, chamber official, mayor and councilman in his phone. He never hesitates to call them with news of interest or just to say hello. “I get along with all of them,” he said. If it’s a civic gathering, a council session or a commission meeting, you’ll more than likely find him there, too. He likes to know what is going on, but more important, how he can help.
It’s not unusual to see him in the middle of a flurry of activity. He has been known to entertain in a musical group at nursing homes and senior centers and is active in his church, First Baptist of Ashville. He served on the St. Clair EDC and later was awarded its Chairman’s Award.
He has played leadership roles with the St. Clair Association of Realtors, served as chairman and is a member of the Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Clair Hospital Board, and he is a past member of the Alabama Real Estate Commission, a gubernatorial appointment.
Early years
The time was 1971. With only a high school education and zero experience, he decided to go into real estate. Some may have thought he would never make it, but he was determined to prove them wrong.
He and his young wife, Catherine, were a team – “a one-two punch,” Shawn Lovejoy recalled. They worked many tireless hours – her doing the books and squeezing every dime and him out meeting, greeting and handshaking. They call it ‘people skills,’ and those who know him would agree Lovejoy certainly has the corner on that market. And it set Lovejoy Realty on a journey of success as a leader in St. Clair County.
Over the years, relationships only strengthened. “We’ve sold some of the same people houses five times,” he said. He’s given many a young person a start on land ownership. With $500 down, he has financed young people “who never owned a piece of land in their life – hundreds of them – still do.”
Building relationships
Ed Gardner Sr., who served as the first executive director of the St. Clair Economic Development Council, said, “It is not possible to think St. Clair County without thinking Lyman Lovejoy, they are synonymous.” Lovejoy served as chairman of the EDC for many years.
“There are many reasons why St. Clair County has experienced significant quality growth over the past 20 years but when you break those reasons down, you will find Mr. Lovejoy as a component in most,” he said. “First of all, there has never been a more prominent ambassador or proponent for a worthy cause. His enthusiasm and warm, friendly demeanor permeates every meeting, public or private, and immediately exudes trust and confidence by those in decision-making positions.”
His community before business philosophy puts him in an elite class. “Lyman has ALWAYS placed the best interest of St. Clair County above all other considerations, including personal gain,” Gardner said. “He will always make himself available for meeting with anyone anywhere if there is a chance that his presence will add to the possibility of bringing investment into our county.”
His people skills set him apart, Gardner added. “Lyman’s love of his fellow man brings him into personal contact with more people than most public officials. There are no barriers recognized by him when it comes to reaching out to people. He is just as accommodating to those of low income and minorities as the highest corporate and political officials, always demonstrating the same concern.”
Doing the right thing is his trademark. “His integrity, honesty and impeccable character is evident in every transaction, therefore you never need to wonder where he stands on an issue,” Gardner said. “If you do the right thing, you know that your decision will meet with his approval.”
Andy and Creed Stone keep legacy, craftsmanship alive
Story Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Graham Hadley Submitted Photos
Andy Stone has developed an eye for beautiful wood. He sees character where others see beetle tunnels and discolorations. He takes so-called faulty pieces and turns them into unique tabletops, floating shelves and mantels. It’s a gift that propelled him from a hobby to making a living with wood, despite starting his business during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I started woodworking as a side business in 2006, while I was with Bill Harbert Construction,” says Andy. “Later, while I was at Coca-Cola, I prayed about it for two years, then in October of 2020, I stepped out on faith, trusted God and decided to do it. It was kinda scary, starting a business at that time.”
His Creedon Creek Woodworking began near his home in Trussville, but he quickly outgrew that shop. He moved to the Leeds headquarters of W.C. Wright Heating, Air, Plumbing and Generators because he needed more space. “Wright is a longtime friend who has plenty of warehouse space,” Andy says. “But we’re looking for something closer to home, in the Trussville or Springville area.”
From live-edge shelves to cutting boards, if it is made of wood, Creedon Creek can make it.
The “we” to which he is referring includes his father, Creedon, who works with Andy and for whom the company is named. It’s just the two of them right now, but they hope to hire a helper soon. They build dining room tables, custom furniture, outdoor furniture, built-in bookcases and cabinets, mantels, conference tables, office desks and more. They do a lot of charcuterie boards, which are glorified cutting boards, because they are “all the rage now,” says Andy’s mom, Brenda Stone. “Most of them are out of hickory and walnut,” she says.
Epoxy tables are quite popular now, too. “Wood will have a live edge (where the bark was) and a straight edge (cut side),” Andy explains. “You put the live edges together and use resin to fill the gap between them. It can look like a river flowing through the length of the wood.” He says “Welcome” and scripture signs are also popular for dens and front porches, and he has done a few mudroom benches.
“We built a mantel from a pine log that came from the bottom of Lay Lake,” says Creed, the name the elder Stone goes by. “We like to have never got a hole drilled in it, it was so hard.” Andy wants to get into the wedding industry by making custom wedding gifts as well as serving pieces such as cake platters and tabletop risers for caterers to use at receptions.
Some people go to Creedon Creek with photos of what they want, others with only vague ideas and dreams. Andy will draw something up or send them to the internet in search of a picture for inspiration. “If you can dream it, we can make it,” is Creedon Creek’s motto.
“I keep a folder of plans that I draw for people, in case I need something to reference,” Andy says. “I’m the only one who can read them, though,” he adds, referring to his drawing skills and penmanship.
Most of their machinery is portable, i.e., shop tools mounted on wheels. They have the usual table saw, router, planers and sanders, drills and track saw, as well as a fiber laser machine that’s used to cut out designs or cut them into a piece of wood.
They would love to own a portable sawmill and just might try to buy out their supplier when he retires. “We use a sawyer named Larry Ferguson of Cook Springs to cut wood from logs,” says Creed. “Ferguson Sawmill was started by his daddy, and my daddy bought from him.”
They use a variety of wood, including hickory, walnut, pine, cedar, maple and teak. They know the difference between ambrosia, curly and spalted wood and used all of those in a dining room table that is Andy’s favorite achievement so far. “Ambrosia wood is where you see little tunnels made by the ambrosia beetle,” Andy says. “Curly refers to the way the piece is cut: it’s quarter-sawn. Spalted is a discoloring caused by a fungus.” Then there’s “buggy blue” pine, where a fungus that grows on pine trees causes a blue stain in the grain.
Andy and Mackenzie
Teak and sapele are their choices for outdoor furniture, because both are highly weather-resistant. “Sapele looks like mahogany but it’s as durable as teak,” Andy says. “We seal our outdoor furniture with Thompson’s Water Seal, like you would a deck, although they don’t need anything.”
Stacks of boards are scattered about the workroom, along with piles of cross-cut timber or “cookies.” Andy puts the latter together to make end tables and coffee tables. One particular flame-box elder cookie displays a red coloration that was made by love bugs. “We’ll probably put together two slices, a large one and a smaller one that broke off, using epoxy and pieces of wood cut in the shape of bow ties and inlaid between the slices,” Andy says.
He’ll set the bow ties opposite to the grain in the pieces he joins, to keep the wood from expanding and contracting too much. “You never know how wood will act,” says Andy. “Certain wood goes this way or that, and you have to tame it to go the way you want it to by the way you cut it and finish it. We’re just glorified wood tamers.”
Under one of his work benches is a small tool bag that belongs to Andy’s daughter, 3-year-old Mackenzie. It contains real pliers, a hammer, ear protection and safety glasses. When Mackenzie visits her dad at the shop, she pulls out her tool bag and pretends to work right alongside him. When she tires of that, she zips around the room on her plastic car. “She’s the reason I stepped out on my own, to make her proud, to leave a legacy,” Andy says.
Prominently displayed on one vertical support beam is a 3D map of the United States, with each state recessed. Fifty pieces cut out of the map are in the shape of the 50 states, and they fit together like a puzzle. When someone orders such a map, Andy donates the pieces to a school or day care so the kids can paint them and learn about the states. “My silent business partner came up with this idea,” Andy says. It was his idea, however, to donate a tree to onetreeplanted.org, an organization that plants trees around the world, for every product sold.
“My great-grandfather was a master woodworker, and he and my grandfather were contractors,” says Andy. “One of my main goals is to start a mentorship program. I would love to teach some younger kids the trade, so it doesn’t die off.” l
Dry cleaner escaped Holocaust,
traveled storied route to Ashville
Story by Joe Whitten Submitted photos
For Bernie Echt, the journey from Gross Kuhren, Germany, to Ashville, Alabama, included stops in Africa, China, the Dominican Republic and sojourns in various cities in the United States.
Bernie’s parents, Solomon and Erna Czanitsky Echt, already had daughters Ruth and Eva when Bernie was born on Nov. 4, 1937. Sister Sarah would arrive Nov. 4, 1938.
His parents and grandparents owned a farm in Gross Kuhren and dealt in horses and cattle. Although Jewish, they conducted business with both locals and the German military before the war.
Relations seemed good with people in the area, for as Bernie recalled, “My parents and grandparents had lots of connections; that’s why we are still here. Otherwise we would be …,” he let those words hang, then added, “They helped us to get the hell out of there.”
Bernie wasn’t yet a year old when they fled the Nazis, so he recounts what he was told by relatives. In spite of the apparent good relationship, “At the end of 1937 or the beginning of 1938, one evening, they knocked on the door, and calling Solomon by his nickname, they said, ‘Sally, you need to go with us down to headquarters.’”
Solomon and Erna both asked for a reason, but the only answer they got was, “We can’t tell the reason; you just need to go with us. You don’t have to take nothing along.”
Erna asked where they were going, and they replied, “To town.”
“It was the Gestapo,” Bernie continued. “They took him to the concentration camp, Sachsenhausen, and put him to work in the stone quarry. He was in there until the end of ’38, or thereabout.”
Bernie is unsure of how this happened, but his mother and grandparents paid off certain Nazi officers to get Solomon out of Sachsenhausen. He believes they gave money and cattle, and that one of the officers was a close friend who used to visit on Sunday afternoons.
The officers warned that Solomon must disappear immediately, so within 24 hours of release, he was on a freighter to Shanghai, China. He lived in Shanghai a year before Erna and the children could journey there.
And what a journey Erna and the children had getting to Solomon in China. The grandparents hoped to emigrate to Palestine, but borders closed before they could leave. They never got out.
Along with other Jews, Erna and the children secured passage to China on an Italian freighter. Difficulties arose at the Suez Canal when authorities refused the freighter permission to proceed.
Low on fuel and food, the ship diverted to an African island where it languished for six months. A Jewish organization managed to get money to the captain so he could continue to China.
Finally, in 1939, Erna and children joined Solomon, where he worked on a missionary farm in Shanghai.
Because of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), the Japanese occupied Shanghai. For the moment, things seemed peaceful. “The Japanese soldiers would come to the house,” Bernie remembered, “and my mother would cook them something. They had a good time.”
Concentration camp
All that ended Dec.7, 1941 – Pearl Harbor. “The Japanese came for us,” Bernie remembers, “put us up on a truck and took us to a camp. They took our passports. Everything. We had just the clothes we wore.”
There were 2,000 in this Japanese concentration camp with 16 people to a room. They devised privacy curtains with the bed blankets during the day, then took them down for cover at night.
The rabbis in the camp made sure Jewish boys received religious instructions. Going and coming from the place of instruction had its dangers, as Bernie recalls one night: “I remember rabbi took us one evening to the main building there, and the Japanese were shooting the guns with light-balls to light up the streets inside the camp, so they could see if anybody was walking around. And the rabbi said to us, ‘Just stand against the wall and don’t move.’ That’s what we did, and that’s how we always got through.”
The rabbis made sure that the kids who went to temple had kosher food for Passover, a sacred necessity for Orthodox Jews, such as the Echts.
World War II ended, and liberation finally followed. Bernie recalled, “McArthur came, and the streets were full of military. The Japanese commander who mistreated so many – he didn’t do it personally, but he had command over it – the teenage boys in the camp went to the Japanese headquarters, got the commander out, brought him to the camp and got sticks and hit him.”
Bernie didn’t participate in that. “That wasn’t my idea. I couldn’t join in beating him. He was only a man. I look at things a little bit different. I shouldn’t, maybe, but I do. A human being is a human being.”
The American nurses took the internees into the country, gave them food, and American military doctors gave physical exams.
The Americans taught them songs, Bernie recalled. “The first song we learned was ‘God Bless America,’ and then we learned the military songs – the Navy song and ‘This is the Army, Mr. Brown.’” He laughed and added, “We changed that one a little bit.”
Wanting to leave China, Bernie’s family went to the consulate and asked about being able to come to the United States. A Jewish organization (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) took over and organized the Echts’ and others’ exodus. They left for San Francisco on the Marine Lynx, an American transport ship. “We sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge, and it was wonderful,” Bernie said. “I was 9 or 10 years old.”
In San Francisco, the family stayed quarantined in a hotel for six weeks. Bernie recalls that the Jewish organization fed them and took them to a clothing store and bought them garments and shoes. He got his first pair of long pants and pair of shoes.
Dominican Republic
When the quarantine ended, the Jewish Distribution Committee came to tell the Echts the three countries available for relocation: Australia, Canada and the Dominican Republic. The family chose the Dominican Republic.
As early as 1938, General Truijillo of the Dominican Republic offered to the Jewish organization refuge to as many as 100,000 Jews fleeing Germany. On the north coast, now Sosua, General Trujillo set aside a large section of wooded land, and the Dominican Republic Settlement Association (DORSA), a Jewish group, cleared land and erected barracks. “It was similar to a Kibbutz,” Bernie said. “They all ate together, and the women did everybody’s laundry. There wasn’t that much that each one had separate.”
DORSA built houses on plots of land, families with kids got the first houses built, then couples without children. To get them started, for the father of the family, DORSA gave 10 cows; for the mother, six; and for each child, one. A family paid so much a month to DORSA until they had paid for the farm, house and livestock.
The Echts lived on one of the DORSA farms until Bernie’s mother died in 1949. After her death, Solomon left the farm and moved the family to the city. When Bernie turned 13, his father and sisters arranged his bar mitzvah. “I learned all the rituals,” he said. “I already knew a big part of it. I was very orthodox when I started out. Very orthodox until my mother died, then I slowly let it go.”
Home-life deteriorated for Bernie after his mother died, and a few months after his 13th birthday, he set out on his own. He had only the clothing he wore and no money.
He went to the Jewish organization in Sosua, met with the administrator, and told him about leaving home and needing a job. The administrator told Bernie he had no job for him because he lacked education and job skills.
Unsuccessful there but undaunted, he made his way to the farmers’ cooperative and told them his predicament. “I need a job. I need something to do to make a living.”
They listened to him, then, offered him the only available job, cleaning the animal intestines in the slaughterhouse, which paid $25 a month.
Bernie took the job. He lived in a barrack room for $3 a month, which included electricity and water. He commented, “I earned $25, paid $3 for lodging, and had $22 left. I didn’t need nothing.”
Work ethic rescues him
Although he started with a nasty job in the slaughterhouse, Bernie worked hard, and that served him well. The manager of the meatpacking plant soon took him out of the slaughterhouse and taught him about choppers and carvers. Mr. Meyerstein, who had worked for Armour and Swift in Chicago, taught him how to make sausage.
A careful observer and fast learner, Bernie said, “When I saw anybody doing something I wanted to learn. I caught it with my eyes and remembered it. I had no other choice. There was no Social Security, no unemployment, no insurance. Nothing. I had to learn.”
Management liked Bernie’s work ethic and raised his salary to $45 a month. He saved $10 a month until he had about $30 put aside. Then he went to a farmer to buy a calf. When the farmer found he had the money, he asked where he would keep the calf, and Bernie bargained with the farmer to pasture the calf for $1 a month.
They both agreed that when the calf became a milk producer, the milk belonged to the farmer, but calves born to those cows belonged to Bernie.
Next stop: USA
In 1957, when Bernie came to the United States, he was earning $85 a month and had 12 head of cattle, which he sold to finance his trip to the States and for Washington’s required $300 security deposit in case his job fell through.
Some Marines were the first who tried to help Bernie get to the United States. They said if he were willing to join the military, they would help him join the Marines. Bernie was willing, but the Marines weren’t – he was 2 inches too short at 5 feet, 5 inches tall.
Regulation height was 5 feet, 7 inches tall.
However, when a Mr. Weinberg came over from New York City, Bernie had success. He asked Weinberg if there was a newspaper in New York where he could run an ad for work in the United States. Yes, there was, the Aufbau, published in New York City for the German Jewish Club. Weinberg placed the ad: “Young butcher looking for a job in the U.S.”
Bernie waited. Then a letter from a Mr. Krucker arrived at the consulate in the Dominican Republic. Mr. Krucker owned a Swiss restaurant in Pagona, N.Y., and needed a butcher there by May 27, no later.
Bernie leapt into action. A visit to the consulate produced a list of “must do” things in order to leave. He took the list and returned in two days with everything else on the list.
Then he needed a “quota number,” but the consulate said that would take two weeks, and that would be too late to make it to New York by May 27.
Bernie tells it best. “It was hard to get out of the Dominican Republic at that time. Because of Nazi persecution, I was stateless – no passport. All I had was an ID from the Dominican government, like a driver’s license, but not a driver’s license.”
Bernie had to be in New York by May 27, so he begged the consulate to call Washington and get a quota number. “I will pay for the call,” Bernie said.
The consulate said, ‘Are you serious? We don’t do that normally.’ But with a little more pleading from Bernie, he said, ‘All right. Go outside and sit and wait. I’ll let you know. I can’t promise you.’
Bernie waited an hour and a half before the consulate came out and said, ‘I can’t believe it. I got you a quota number. Everything’s ready. Go to the airport and get yourself a ticket and you’re ready to go.’
Then, another problem loomed. Bernie had no passport, but he knew who could help. A German Jew named Kicheimer could work miracles almost. Bernie told Kicheimer why he was in a rush and gave him his paperwork.
Kicheimer returned the next day with the necessary documents, and Bernie was ready to leave. At the airport, Ruth and Eva were crying, afraid of what the police would do if they found out how he’d gotten his documentation. Bernie told them, “I did nothing; the man did everything. I’ve got a legal piece of paper.” He laughs and adds, “I was so glad when that plane went up and I looked down.” He was on his way to a new life that one day would land him in Ashville.
Bernie woking at Krucker’s Restaurant
When Bernie arrived at the restaurant, Mr. Krucker gave him a place to stay in his hunting shack, telling him to unpack, come to the restaurant and eat, then rest for the next day when they both would go to New York City to buy fish, meat and vegetables for the restaurant.
Bernie spoke of Mr. Krucker’s kindness to him, saying, “He treated me like I was his son. He was very good to me. When I bought my first business, he co-signed the loan for me.” Bernie’s respect for Mr. Krucker was evident when Krucker asked him not to wear his David Star because it made some German patrons uncomfortable. Bernie removed it, saying, “Mr. Krucker, I am Jewish in my heart, I don’t have to show it.”
Saying, ‘I do’
The restaurant’s head waitress, Pia, was a German gentile in an unhappy war-bride marriage that would end in a divorce. She was 10 years older than Bernie, but age presented no problem to him, and a few years later she became his wife. She converted to Judaism, going through the counseling sessions with the rabbis.
This was important to Orthodox Jews for descent is traced through the mother and gives both male and female children irrevocable Jewish status. It was a happy marriage that held strong until Pia died of brain cancer in 1979. The couple had three children: Bernhard “Bernie” Jr., Daniel and Katharina.
Bernie and Pia in the 1950s
Mr. Krucker had urged Bernie to ask Pia out. He was reluctant to do that because of lack of money. Pia knew this and said, “This time, I will buy you a root beer float and a hamburger. If you did have money, I don’t want you to spend it. You are new here, and you need to save your money.”
They didn’t go out again until Bernie had saved up some money. Mr. Krucker knew this and came to Bernie and gave him an envelope and said, “That’s for you.” It contained his $50 weekly pay, inside. “I was rich,” Bernie said.
Never afraid of hard work, Bernie worked in the restaurant through the summer and into the fall, and when the number of diners dropped, Bernie got a job in the meatpacking plant in Mazzolas, N.Y., earning $65 a week. When he got off work there, if an auction was being held, he would sell hamburgers at the auction house. “You know, a couple of bucks here and there, and I made money,” he said. On Saturday and Sunday, he worked at the restaurant.
Bernie and Pia were engaged now, and he wanted more income. One day he asked the man who picked up and delivered the restaurant’s laundry if there were money to be made in laundry work. He told him, “If you work hard you can make money. It’s on a percentage of what you collect.”
So, Bernie went to see the owner, Frank Senatores, who told him, “I don’t pay until you bring in work. You deliver it and collect, and I pay you a commission on that. You have to use your own car. I don’t supply no vans or anything.” Bernie accepted the job.
Making of an entrepreneur
He worked hard – and so did Pia. After working his dayshift at the meatpacking plant, he and Pia would run the laundry and dry cleaning routes until about 8 p.m. Pia would drive, and he ran to the houses delivering and picking up. “I’ve been doing that for 60 years,” Bernie said recently. “The same system. And it works. Believe me, it works.” They built up a good route and eventually bought the drop business.
In another village, he saw a laundry and dry cleaner that wasn’t doing well because of the lazy owner. Obtaining a bank loan, Bernie bought that company and gave up the restaurant job to concentrate on the laundry business.
Always the quick and thorough learner, Bernie learned the dry cleaning and laundry business hands-on. He bought a 1952 Chevrolet truck van, put hanging racks inside, and had a high school art student paint the truck white with a crown for Imperial Laundry and Drycleaners, with the address and phone number.
From the beginning, Bernie has never turned down a challenge, for he’s always assumed he could do it. Early on, a man came in with a wide lapel, double-breasted suit wanting Bernie to cut the lapels down to a narrower size. Although he had never done alterations before, Bernie said, “We can do that, but it will cost you.”
Pia thought he was crazy, but Bernie said, “Don’t get excited. We have a suit hanging here. I’ll lay it on top of the one to alter, mark all around the lapel but leave a half inch. Then we’ll cut the material off and turn the rest under and sew it.” They did, and the customer was so happy he gave them a generous tip. After that, Pia learned to do whatever alterations that were needed.
By the time Pia died of cancer, they were living in Florida, and Bernie had expanded into selling laundry and dry cleaning equipment.
Five years after Pia’s death, Bernie exhibited his machines at a convention in Atlanta. One evening after the exhibits closed for the night, Bernie went to eat a restaurant where there was dancing. There he met Doan, who was buying merchandise for her dress shop in Springville, Alabama.
The magic of dance
She and Bernie danced that evening, and that dance blossomed into a courtship that resulted in a wedding the next year, 1985. The love affair has lasted 35 years. Although Doan didn’t convert to Judaism, she attends temple with Bernie.
Doan and Bernie Echt in Ashville today
It was Doan’s St. Clair County roots that brought them to Ashville and the establishing of Imperial Laundry and Professional Drycleaners there in 1994. Their pickup and delivery routes extend into Jackson and Cherokee counties. Bernie’s original method of building a business by meeting and knowing his customers still holds him in good stead today.
Katharina Echt says of her father, “My brothers and I were raised with a strong foundation of what it means to work hard. We each have a keen understanding, by our father’s example, of what is possible with sheer will and determination. Ever present is his steadfast belief in our ability to achieve anything we set our minds to. And so we have.”
Bernie never lost hope or purpose in the face of hardship, adversity or tragedy. He has focused on the good of life rather than the bad and remains a cheerful man who is a delight to know.
