Category: St. Clair People

Woodworking Masterpieces

Revealing the Beauty Within

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Mackenzie Free

Eric Knepper doesn’t take credit for the beauty in his work. A profoundly spiritual man, he says he’s simply revealing the beauty that is already within the wood when he carves his one-of-a-kind pieces.

“You just get inside the piece of wood and see what God made,” says the artisan. “That’s what you want to show, all the beauty in the grains.”

For nearly three decades, Knepper has been unveiling the natural beauty in the wood around him and crafting hundreds of pieces of original wood treasures. An old rotten maple tree found new life as a beautiful bowl. A red oak tree that had to be cut on his property was transformed into a rolltop desk, a credenza and a file cabinet.

His wife, Pat, smiles across the table as she talks about different items he has created over the years. The house is filled with them, from the dining room’s exquisitely carved grandfather clock with cabriole legs to the stunning freestanding cabinet in the living room made from pieces of an old fireplace screen. “He is so talented. I can’t think of anything I’ve asked Eric to do that he hasn’t been able to do,” she adds, her eyes filled with pride. “He will find a way to do anything.”

The son of a carpenter, and a very determined man himself, Knepper made furniture early in his marriage to meet the needs of his family. “When you get started, you have nothing. We built things then because you couldn’t afford them,” he explains. He even did all the millwork in the home that they built in 1997. But it wasn’t until after retirement at age 60 that his woodworking expanded into a new passion – wood carving.

On a camping trip the couple took to Florida, his interest in carving came alive. “People in the campsite next to us carved, and he took me to a carving club in Fort Myers.” When Knepper returned to Pell City, he met with Tom Goodwin, a carver from a local carving club, and the two became great friends.

Goodwin took Knepper under his wing, showing him how to work with different woods and specific tools. His friend has since passed, but Knepper still has the carving equipment that once belonged to Goodwin. After revealing that he was terminally ill, Goodwin asked Knepper to buy his carving tools so he could pass them on to someone with a passion for the art.

Creations on display at the Museum of Pell City

Those specialty tools, Knepper explains, are mostly different chisels and knives, with some power carving tools. “On a given project, you might use two or three tools primarily, or for furniture, (you might use) your whole shop,” Knepper says. He has a wood carving room within the house for smaller projects. Larger pieces are handled in his wood shop in the barn.

As any wood carver would tell you, keeping your tools sharp is essential. Keeping them sharp is important for precise cuts, but it can also create the need for some emergency care, as was the case for Knepper seven years ago. “I cut the end of my thumb off about 6 years ago,” he admits. “You don’t even notice it now. I don’t even remember what I was working on, but I did a dumb thing.”

“He just came in and said he needed a band aid,” tells Pat. He needed a bit more than that. “It was hard to get it to fit back together,” she adds, giving credit to “a wonderful nurse practitioner at Dr. Helms’ office.”

The Kneppers handled the crisis with the same grace and perseverance that has defined their 63 years of marriage. The two met while Eric was in the Navy in Virginia. Moves to Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Indiana preceded their final landing in Pell City where he came to work at National Cement. He later left that company and bought Pell City Fabrication, which provided maintenance and support for steel fabrication and other industries.

The couple have three grown children (Shawn, Scott, and Ericka), eight grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. Knepper says he sees talent in each of them and potentially at least one future wood carver. Several family members were among the guests at a recent art exhibit at the Pell City Museum of Art featuring his wood carvings.

Knepper’s most challenging piece was among that collection of works. He describes it as a “gold spiral thing,” for lack of a more technical term. “I just saw a picture of it and decided to give it a try,” he says. “It was very difficult because it’s hollow. I had to work from the inside out.”

The art of carving is an ongoing lesson in patience and finesse. Knepper also stresses the importance of listening to the wood. “The wood will tell you what to do, basically.” He considers himself less of a designer and more of a collaborator, with each knot, grain and imperfection guiding his hands. The character of the wood, with its texture and color, add to the direction the project takes.

Knepper has done much of his work from wood that has fallen on his property or that others have brought to him. Oak and Cherry woods are favorites, but he also has done many projects with Cottonwood and other bark woods. “I really like the color and grain of cherry,” he adds. “Sometimes people bring me roots they’ve dug up. It looks terrible, but I cut it up and look inside and it’s beautiful. You just never know.”

Though he finds it difficult to choose a favorite, some pieces – like a beer bottle complete with a bear in a Paul “Bear” Bryant houndstooth hat – clearly delight Knepper. Throughout his home, bowls, spiral works, vases and boxes crafted by this modest woodcarver are on display.

His faith is evidenced in another of his masterpieces which sits on the table – an intricate chapel featuring a lectern with an open Bible. Knepper’s craftsmanship extends beyond his home and into the heart of the local faith community. Over the years, he has used his talent to create kneeling rails for the altars of three area churches.

Template for a design of a kneeler at New Life Church in Pell City

The first kneeler was crafted for the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Rainbow City, designed specifically to complement an altar the church had received.

This careful attention to detail highlights Knepper’s ability to harmonize his work with existing elements, ensuring each piece feels at home in its setting. Later, he constructed a pair of kneelers for Pell City First Methodist, further demonstrating his commitment to supporting his community through his artistry.

Most recently, Knepper designed a folding, movable kneeler for New Life Church, which gathers at the Municipal Complex in Pell City while a new church is being built. This innovative design reflects his adaptability and practical approach, ensuring the kneeler could be easily moved and stored as needed. Form, function and beauty are hallmarks of Knepper’s work.

A quiet, serious man, Knepper is uncomfortable with attention. He shrugs off accolades, dismissing his own talent. “I’m always using other people’s design, not mine,” he says. “I just put my own spin on someone else’s design.” It gives him something to do, he says, adding that it keeps him from watching TV.

Knepper’s keen eye and ability to see what rough wood can become is what has defined him as an artist and wood carver. Hearing how a discarded root was crafted into a beautiful bowl certainly makes one pause for thought. Each gnarled root or discarded branch may still have a story to tell.

With patience, perseverance and careful listening, the wood carver reveals the beauty within.

Features

New life for historic home

Home of Broadway actress, Springville teacher being restored with ‘love’

Story by Scottie Vickery
Photos by Mackenzie Free

After leaving a career on Broadway during the Great Depression, Margaret Byers took center stage in the hearts of Springville residents. She was a little person – not much bigger than the first-graders she taught for decades – but she made a tremendous impact on everyone she met.

That’s a big part of the reason why Nancy Tucker and her daughter, Tami Spires, have taken such care while renovating the home where “Miss Margaret,” as she was affectionately known, lived most of her life. “We just felt like we needed to honor her,” Tami said.

Tami and Nancy take a break on Miss Margaret’s porch swing

The home, which Miss Margaret’s parents built in 1891, has some unique features, including doorknobs that are much lower than typical to accommodate their daughter’s small stature. “She just quit growing as a child,” Tami said. “No one really knows why.”

One of Nancy’s favorite features of the home, which boasts 14-foot ceilings, is an old phone nook that’s built into a wall and is only about 2 feet off the ground. “She had a little chair that sat next to it,” Nancy said. “It’s such a unique house, and we’re so happy to have it.”

Neither of the women was in the market for a new home when Nancy first saw the “For Sale” sign while walking with a friend one morning last summer. In fact, they both live right down the street from the Byers home, with Nancy’s house directly behind Tami’s.

Still, Nancy had a feeling she just couldn’t shake. “When I saw it that morning, I thought, ‘That’s going to be ours,’” she said. “I wanted it the minute I found out it was for sale, before I even went in it.”

Nancy immediately called Tami, who contacted the real estate agent and scheduled a tour. A few hours after the walk-through, Nancy had a contract on the yellow house that stands directly across the street from Springville Middle School.

“We walked across the threshold, and she said, ‘I’m buying it,’” Tami said. Nancy wanted it so badly, in fact, that she didn’t even get an inspection on the house before signing the papers.

“I bought it like it was a loaf of bread,” Nancy said with a laugh. “I didn’t even think about the structure of the house or anything like that. I just loved it.”

Fortunately, they’ve since learned that, despite being more than 130 years old, the house is in pretty good condition. “There was no mold, no leaks, nothing wrong with the foundation,” Tami said. “We got lucky.”

They replaced the knob and tube wiring that is common in historic homes and can pose safety concerns, as well as some rotten porch boards. They covered up the fireplace in the dining room, one of four that were in the original house, and had the chimney removed because it was in bad shape. They also had new kitchen cabinets, which were not original to the home, and new countertops installed.

Everything else has been done by the mother/daughter duo. “Mom and I have singlehandedly done 95 percent of everything inside the house that’s been done,” Tami said. “Every weekend, we’re either here working on the house or shopping for things to furnish it. The shopping is more fun.”

While they love the history of old houses – Tami’s home was built in 1885, and Nancy’s was built in 1926 – they are especially intrigued with this one just because it belonged to Miss Margaret.

She was a beloved first-grade teacher for decades, and Nancy, Tami and Tami’s daughter, Rebekah Wester, are all teachers, as well.

Nancy taught Business at Springville High School for 26 years before retiring in 2000. A former English teacher at Moody Middle School, Tami is currently the counselor at Springville Elementary School. And Rebekah, who will live in the home once renovations are complete, teaches English at Ragland High School.

“We kind of feel a kinship with Miss Margaret because she was a teacher, and we are three generations of teachers,” Tami said. A member of the Springville Preservation Society, she leads walking tours of Springville for the fourth-grade students each year and for the public each spring. “This has always been my favorite house to talk about,” she said. “I love telling everyone about Miss Margaret.”

Small stature, tremendous impact

As a young woman, Miss Margaret dreamed of a career on the stage. Born into one of Springville’s pioneer families, she went to Huntingdon College in Montgomery after graduating from high school. A singer and dancer, she also attended an arts school in Chicago, according to an article on the “Tiny Teacher” that appeared in The Birmingham News in 1953.

She moved to New York as a young woman and appeared in several Broadway productions in the late 1920s and early 1930s. “We’ve always been told she was a munchkin in the Broadway production of The Wizard of Oz, but we have not confirmed that to be true,” Tami said.

She did, however, play children’s roles in several productions. According to Broadway databases and other sources, she was cast in Merry-Go-Round, which played in 1927 at the Klaw Theatre, and in Her Unborn Child, which played in 1928 at the 48^th Street Theatre. In 1929, 1930 and 1931, she played Bo-Peep in Babes in Toyland at the Imperial Theatre. She also was in a traveling theater troupe at some point, according to The Birmingham News article.

“She got to play a lot of the children’s roles on Broadway,” Tami said. Child labor laws were strictly enforced at the time, and at one theater, child welfare officials came after the director because they thought she was working too late at night. “She had to show them her ID to prove she was a grown woman,” Tami said.

A few years into the Depression, Miss Margaret returned home to Springville. “She was told to find another career because people just weren’t going to the theater anymore,” Tami explained.

Miss Margaret enrolled at Jacksonville State University and earned an education degree. She started teaching first grade at the Old Rock School, now an historic landmark. “If you got Miss Margaret, you were somebody,” said Nancy, whose son, Jamey, was in her last first-grade class. “I was so excited when I heard she would be his teacher. I thought I would absolutely die if he didn’t get Miss Margaret.”

Sandra Jones, a Springville native who now lives in Pell City, was another one of the lucky students. In 1994, she wrote a column about her former teacher for the St. Clair News Aegis and included a memory of the first time she met the woman who “was practically a living legend in Springville.”

“Margaret Byers wasn’t much taller than I – even in her tiny high-heeled shoes,” she wrote. “I studied the pert, pixieish woman as she darted about, smiling and chatting. Her face reflected warmth and there was a pleasant lilt in her voice. As I watched her, my fears suddenly melted away. In an instant, I came under the spell of ‘Miss Margaret’ – a spell that still lingers even after all these years.”

Even though she left the stage, Miss Margaret still loved to perform. She had an upright piano in her classroom and would often sing songs for her students. “She knew all the latest tunes: ‘Sugartime,’ ‘Catch a Falling Star,’ and ‘Mr. Sandman’ – and we sang them all,” Sandra wrote.

One of her fondest memories is of the day Miss Margaret let Sandra wear her shoes. “I had a pair of those play high heeled shoes that I had carried to school for Show and Tell. She traded shoes with me and let me wear her tiny high heels all day,” Sandra said. “They fit perfectly.”

Although she was well-prepared for second-grade, Sandra said the life lessons she learned from Miss Margaret were as important as the curriculum.

“Though she was small in stature, she was big on life; a buoyant bundle of boundless energy,” she wrote in her column. “And though she taught me ‘reading, writing, and arithmetic,’ I think the most valuable lesson I learned from her was the importance of blending work and play. She taught me that life is held in balance with the right portion of each.”

It needs to be loved

Those are the kinds of stories Nancy and Tami love hearing now that they’ve bought the house, which has had several owners since Miss Margaret passed away in 1987. Since taking possession of the house on Aug. 1, they’ve spent all their free time renovating it together.

“We have probably spent more time together in the past few months than we have in the last year, and she lives right next door,” Tami said with a laugh. “We’re not afraid to tackle anything. We’ll try anything once, and we’ve learned a lot.”

Margaret Byers with her class in front of old rock school in Springville

They’ve painted every room in the house, which was no small feat with the tall ceilings. “I was here by myself one day on top of a ladder, and I thought, ‘That’s kind of stupid, being 88 and being up on top of a 14-foot ladder,” Nancy said. “We decided after that neither of us would get on a ladder unless someone else was here,” Tami added.

They hung new wallpaper in the bathroom, which still has the original cast iron tub. When they pulled off the previous owner’s, some of the sheetrock came with it, so they decided to paint over the wallpaper hanging in the living room. “It’s not professionally done at all, but everything we’ve done has been done with love,” Tami said.

She replaced the kitchen backsplash, and she and Nancy have spent countless days painstakingly scraping linoleum off the kitchen floor and trying to save the hardwood floors in that room. When they needed a break, Tami set up her sewing machine in the sitting room and made all the curtains, which are 108 inches in length.

Through the years, previous owners made some changes to the house. The kitchen was originally located in the back of the house, with an attached butler’s pantry. A maid’s room was just across the back porch. Now, the kitchen is in the center of the home, and the back room has been turned into a bedroom. Tami and Nancy hope to eventually turn the pantry into a second full bath.

“The layout is not ideal for modern living, but it is what it is,” Tami said. “That’s kind of the charm.”

Now that the inside is nearing completion, the focus will soon turn to the outside. They want to clear the brush off the side lot and restore the yard to its former glory. They also plan to paint the outside of the house, and Nancy has decided that’s a job for someone else.

“We talked about doing it ourselves and just taking a section at a time,” Tami said. Nancy wasn’t convinced. “She talked about it, not me,” she said with a grin. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do, and you have to wait on one thing to finish another. We don’t want to get new gutters until we paint the house, and we don’t want to paint the house until we get some of these limbs cut.”

Once the renovations are finally complete, Nancy and Tami want to host an Open House for all of Miss Margaret’s former students. “Ever since we bought the house, people have been sharing so many wonderful stories about her, and we want to get everyone together and get those stories written down,” Tami said.

“Miss Margaret was loved by the whole community,” Nancy added. “She was loved by the other teachers, she was loved by the students, she was just loved by everyone.”

And that’s why they feel honored to be the next caretakers of the house that shaped the little woman with the big heart. “We were so afraid someone would come in and not love it the way we do and tear it down,” Tami said. “It doesn’t need to be torn down; it needs to be loved.”

Features

Willie Mae ‘Snookie’ Turner Beavers

98 years and counting

Story by Joe Whitten
Submitted Photos

If you should travel a St. Clair County backroad some afternoon and arrive at Willie Mae “Snookie” Beavers’ home for a visit, she might respond to a question by saying, “Now, back in them days …”

If she does, sit up and listen, for she has lived almost a century of Pell City history. She will converse with you in her Southern dialect that is as soft and melodious as Mahalia Jackson singing, “Precious Lord Take My Hand.”

Both Pell City and St. Clair County need to know what she can tell us about how it used to be with farming, gardening, killing hogs, preserving vegetables and fruits, playing the church piano and sewing old-timey quilts. She is one-of-a-kind, as all treasures are.

Born Jan. 9, 1927, to James and Bessie Moore Turner, Willie Mae was the first of the 10 Turner children. The family farmed Turner land in the Coosa Valley, south of Seddon, and she began working in the fields as soon as she was big enough to work.

“We farmed, raising cotton and corn and sugar cane. My parents worked in the fields, and I worked right there beside them,” Willie Mae says matter-of-factly. “I think I worked harder than any of the others cause I was the first one. And I didn’t just work in our fields, I worked in other folk fields, too. If they needed somebody, I went. Whatever was in the field, I was in there, and I did it. What the plow couldn’t do, we did with a hoe,” she laughed. “And after I got married, I still went to other folk fields and worked. Back in them days, that’s the way I had to make my money.”

Willie Mae married William Beavers on June 18, 1948, and they were parents to six children: Shirley, Connie, Wilma, William (BeBop) Jr., Bennie and Rodrick. All seven are still living. As the babies arrived and grew up, Willie Mae continued “working in fields” until she took a job with Pell City Cleaners.

She started working at the cleaners before she was 62 years old, but doesn’t remember the exact date. She started drawing her Social Security at age 62 but didn’t retire until she was 96. When asked why she retired, she laughed and said that one of her daughters told her she was too old to keep working, that she needed to retire. Willie Mae told her, “Well, the bossman said I was doing the work …. But she told me that if I didn’t come out, she’s gonna tell ‘em to fire me, and I believed she would’ve, so I come out.”

Her hardy laugh showed she was enjoying telling this. “I don’t know if he’d a-fired me or not, if she would-a told him to.”

Other than a brief time as a teenager washing dishes at the St. Clair County Training School, the Pell City Cleaners job was the only work she did other than farm work.

Gathered produce had to be preserved for the winter months. Willie Mae helped her mother can vegetables as they came in. As to fruit, they canned peaches for they were too juicy to dry, but they dried apples by the peck. “That’s where I learned how to can,” Willie Mae recalled. “I did what my mama done, I just couldn’t do it as good as she did.” What cucumbers they didn’t eat they pickled. She spoke of smokehouse pickles as quite delicious.

When the sorghum cane was mature, it was time to make syrup. Her dad set up the syrup mill and the boiling pan. Willie Mae and sisters stripped the cane and cut it in pieces ready to be fed to the mill as the mule walked round and round turning the mill, squeezing the juice from the cane into buckets. Poured into a boiling pan, the juice cooked down to syrup. “We poured the syrup in cans,” Willie Mae recalled, “and we ate biscuits and syrup.” She didn’t say it, but that was some good eating.

Willie Mae’s Trip Around the World quilt in a local collector’s home

When asked about wild game for food, she said, “We loved rabbit and squirrel. That was good eating.” She paused, then laughing, said, “And possum. Mama did all the cooking, and everything she made was good.” Obviously enjoying remembering, she continued, “She made good dressing, good cakes, good custard, good biscuits.”

When hog killing weather came, Willie Mae learned from her mama about sausage, souse meat, and chitlins.

They used some less desirable cuts of pork to grind up for sausage, adding pepper and sage to the mixture. Willie Mae’s dad had a smokehouse where they hung the sausage, but the other cuts of meat they salted down in a wooden saltbox.

Asked about old-timey head cheese or souse meat, Willie Mae smiled, “I always made the souse meat. Made it out-a the head, and out-a the feet, and out-a the ears. We had a big pot, and I’d put it all in a pot and boil it till it got done, I’d pick all the bones out of it, and start mashing up the meat with my hands. Then I’d grind that all up with the sausage grinder. And that’s when I’d put different spices in it.” They formed the meat into a loaf shape to let it set until it was firm. Some call souse meat the original deli meat, for it makes delicious sandwiches.

Nothing about the hog went to waste, not even the intestines. They cut them into short pieces and washed them over and over until they were clean. “We’d get as much fat off as we could,” Willie Mae said. “We cooked ’em in a boiler for several hours with salt and pepper. Some folks fry ’em, but we didn’t, we just boiled ours till they got done. To me, that was some good eating.”

Today chitlins are regarded as solely a Black culture soul food, but Rev. Larry Adams of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Springville can attest that chitlins are served in restaurants in France. Rev. Adams was on a teaching mission trip in Paris with Pastor Chipley Thornton and Pastor David DuPre from Springville First Baptist Church. For lunch one day, the three went to a Paris restaurant. Unable to read French, Pastor DuPre pointed to a picture and ordered it. When their meals were served, Rev. Adams looked at his friend and said, “You’re eating chitlins.” His friend said, “No.” Rev. Adams said, “I know chitlins, and you’re eating chitlins.” Sure enough, when they translated the menu offering it was chitterlings, or in Alabama, chitlins.

What Willie Mae learned growing up, she continues today, which includes growing vegetables. “Folks need to raise stuff,” she vows decisively. “If they don’t, they not gonna have anything to eat. The stores ain’t gonna have it. If you don’t raise it, you ain’t gonna have nothing to eat.”

She now gardens with baby brother, Larry Turner, and their garden is weed and grass free. When asked what they grew, she laughed, “We grow everything that can be raised – turnip greens, mustard, onions, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and all such stuff as that. Anything that can be raised. We always had a good garden. Larry had a jam-up garden. Me and him been raising a garden.” She paused, then said, “They say I’m lazy, but I just done got old.”

She may have slowed down, but “lazy” is not a word that fits Willie Mae Beavers. No lazy person on God’s green earth sews quilt tops and quilts them by hand. Willie Mae does, and her quilts are treasured by family, friends and folks she’s never met. A commendation from the Alabama House of Representatives read by Representative Hall on May 16, 2017, records that “…her magnificent quilts are displayed in homes across the United States,” and that “…many have received one of her famous quilts in celebration of a significant life milestone.”

Willie Mae’s love of quilts perhaps started with her grandmother, Henrietta Turner, whose house was a short walk through the woods from Willie Mae’s. “We walked over there to her house every day. She never acted like she got tired of us. She was a good grandmama.” And her love of quilts may have started with her grandmama, for she recently reminisced, “I used to enjoy looking at her quilts. She used to have these frames that you hang up in the house from the ceiling, and you had to hang ’em by their four corners. She hung it up and let it down to quilt on it. She used what she had to make ‘em: old clothes, pants and things.” Then, laughing, she said, “You know what, I went to the library the other day and saw these cotton carders, and I said, “Oh, my mama had some of these.” Carders were used to separate cotton from the seeds so the cotton could be used as the inner batting (padding) for the quilt.

Willie Mae enjoys talking about quilts. “I treasure quilts, but young folks …” she paused and shook her head, leaving the “don’t” unsaid, then continued on a happier note. “Mama always quilted. She made pretty quilts. My quilting’s not as pretty as hers.” She used cloth flour sacks, feed sacks and fertilizer sacks, when she began learning to quilt.

Bought fabric in quilts was unheard of among rural folk in the 1930s and ‘40s.

“I’d get the empty ones,” she said recently, “and wash ’em and I started making quilts from them.” Then came the phrase, “Back in them days, you didn’t buy anything. You had to use what you had. So, I would quilt, and I didn’t really have patterns then, it would just be blocks that they called the Nine Diamond.”

She still makes the Nine Diamond, but other quilt patterns she likes include Trip Around the World, Monkey Wrench, Stars and Bow Tie. “Nothing fancy. These real fancy quilts with a whole lot-a pretty little bitty pieces – I don’t do that,” she laughed. “I don’t know how old I was when I started quilting. But I been doing that all my life. I’m 98 years old, but I’ve been quilting – piecing and quilting all my life. My mama did it, and what I did, I tried to do it like her.”

An ear for piano

One thing Willie Mae does that she didn’t learn from her mother is playing the piano. Knowing her daughter wanted a piano, Mrs. Turner went to a piano store in Anniston and bought one. “I know she got tired of me playing, but she never told me to stop.” Willie Mae pauses to reflect, “If somebody ask me to play in the key of C or F sharp, I wouldn’t know what they was talking about. The Preacher one time asked me to play ‘Precious Lord’ in C. I played if for him, but I didn’t know if I played it in C,” she laughed.

She never took piano lessons, but she could play on the piano whatever she heard sung or played on the radio. At age 14, she began playing piano for Blooming Light Church, and she recalled how that happened. “I’m sure they had other players, but Mr. McHugh came to Papa and said, ‘I heard your daughter played the piano.’ And I started from there.” She couldn’t remember what month and year she started, but she continued as pianist and music director until in her 90s when COVID kept her and the congregation away from church services. “The first song I played at church,” she recalled fondly, “was ‘The Old Account Was Settled Long Ago.’” The last song she plays in church is yet to come.

Willie Mae and good friend Johnnie Mae Green

Willie Mae’s baby brother, Larry Turner, says folks need to know that she was not only the pianist at Blooming Light but that she was also the Minister of Music there and was Minister of Music for Riverside and for Rocky Zion for a while as well.

“I played for Rocky Zion,’ Willie Mae reflected, “and I played for Riverside, and for Peace and Goodwill.” Her dad, Rev. James R. Turner, was pastor at Peace and Goodwill at Riverside.

Asked if she played piano for her dad, she answered, “I played for him. Mama told me, ‘You got to.’ I went to all the revivals. That was fun.” She pauses a few seconds and adds sadly, “But church ain’t like what it used to be back in them days. We never sung anything but the old songs. ‘The Old Account Was Settled.’ ‘Oh How I Love Jesus.’ ‘Precious Lord.’ Old songs.” She laughed and said, “Now, I can play for old folks, but I can’t play for teenagers.” Lots of people agree with Willie Mae that the old songs are the best songs.

Larry Turner is proud of his sister and fondly affirms, “She’s legendary. Everybody knows her. Everybody loves her.”

Recently someone asked her, “What would you tell young people about your secret to living almost a hundred years?

“Now, you’re not the first one to ask me that,” she laughed. “And I tell ’em, well, ‘I can’t tell you, cause I do not know.’ She pauses, then says, “I tell ‘em, ‘I come up poor; I worked in the fields … I’ve worked in the fields all my life. I worked in my daddy’s field, and after I got grown, I worked in other folks’ fields. And I’m still here for some reason.”

You’re still here, Willie Mae “Snookie” Beavers, because you’re a St. Clair County and Pell City, Alabama, treasure and we need you. We need the harmony of your music, the beauty of your quilts, and your example of “work hard and live long.”

Most of all we need to hear you telling us how it was “back in them days” so we don’t forget the stamina and character of our ancestors and how they lived and worked and reared families.

You are one-of-a-kind, as all treasures are, and we thank God you’re still here.

Rising Star

Modeling’s newest name is from Ashville

Story by Paul South
Submitted Photos

As a little kid, Alex Wise was shy, almost painfully so. Even the at the thought of him growing up to act or model professionally seemed a long shot.

Now 17 and after making a splash last summer at a New York acting and modeling competition, Alex has signed with an agent and is taking acting lessons from some of the most respected names in show business.

For Alex – to borrow from the old standard – this could be the start of something big.

Alex with Joan Hawkins
Photo by Beth Boldt

Wise competed in 13 categories – seven in acting and six in modeling at the International Modeling and Talent Association – and medaled and placed in all categories. Overall, he finished second in the Actor of the Year competition and third for Model of the Year in the 15-17-year-old category and was second as The Most Sought-After competitor.

“It was a big achievement,” said his mom, Christi Wise.

IMTA bills itself as a: “gateway for aspiring models and actors.”

Founded in 1987, it offers a platform for aspiring actors, models, singers, dancers and songwriters to present their talents to agents, casting directors and other leading entertainment professionals.

It boasts of some A-Listers who were discovered through IMTA, including Ashton Kutcher, Katie Holmes and Eva Longoria.

For Alex, the opportunity “fell into his lap,” Christi said.

“He plays baseball, so I entered him into a contest where if he were chosen, he’d get a big metal picture,” Christi said. “He won, and afterwards he asked if it were possible to make money for modeling. I told him yes.”

His response? “I think I could do that.”

Before long, Alex connected with Joan Hawkins of Cameo Model Management in Birmingham and with Clair Sinnett, an acting coach and former casting director who has worked with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Keanu Reeves, Brad Pitt and the late James Earl Jones.

“Once (Alex) decided to go to IMTA, he had six weeks to prepare,” Christi said, “All of this happened within a year.”

Before the competition, he had an acting class with Sinnett. The veteran acting coach gave him rave reviews.

“She said he had the ‘It’ factor,” Christi said. The factor is charisma that can capture a magazine cover or the silver screen. James Dean had it. So did Paul Newman. And after the IMTA, a Los Angeles management agency saw that in Alex Wise.

A centerfielder for Ashville High’s baseball team, Wise’s commitment to acting matches his commitment to baseball.

“The key quality that Alex possesses is dedication,” the agency said in an e-mail. “The best actors are those who continuously strive to improve. Alex is committed to bringing the same discipline he has for athletics to learning and growing in his craft as an actor, whether through classes, mentorship or experience on set. His work ethic is truly impressive for his age, and we know that he will show up prepared and eager for every role. His commitment to improvement will make him stand out in an industry that constantly demands innovation and depth and will lead to his success.”

Wise brings charisma and a “thoughtful presence,” the agency said. “He grabs attention, not by being the loudest or most outspoken person in the room, but by having the ‘good human’ qualities that make people want to be around him, and as an actor, want to watch him. That charisma often translates to how generously he engages with his peers, even in competitive situations.”

At IMTA, “we saw Alex demonstrate camaraderie and support for his fellow competitors, a truly admirable quality to observe. When combined with his dedication, Alex’s charisma and genuine caring for others will make him an unforgettable young actor, creating positive impressions that will help him build a long career.”

The entertainment business is tough, but for the Wise family, there is peace. There’s also a strong belief that for Alex, this is not a career, but a calling.

“We have a lot of faith,” Christi said. “We have definitely prayed for every door opened to be opened and for every door that’s shut to be shut. I really feel like Alex’s life has prepared him for this, that his steps have been ordained.”

She added, “He’s very grounded. He’s very rooted. A lot of kids his age don’t know who they are. But he knows who he is, and he doesn’t let the world influence his thought process That’s why I don’t worry about him because he knows who he is and what he wants to achieve.”

Even with all the attention, Alex is still just a kid from Ashville who plays baseball, attends small group Bible studies with friends and who has done the hot, hard work of cutting and baling hay. Family members describe him as a “natural born leader.”

For his part, Alex enjoys the process of modeling and acting for a variety of reasons.

“I like getting myself out there and opening myself up. Growing up, I was super, super quiet, scared of everybody. I didn’t really talk to anybody. Now, in the last year or two, this has helped me tremendously.”

Alabama has had more than its share of people who made it in the entertainment business, from Jasper’s Tallulah Bankhead to Birmingham’s Walton Goggins. Alex Wise has a message for aspiring performers, especially small-town kids like him.

“He wants people to know you can be from a small town and do this,” Christi said. “These dreams are reachable.”

Making dreams come true isn’t easy. Alex Wise knows that.

“It’s not as easy as it seems,” he said. “It’s going to take hard work and dedication. But it’s also going to take a strong person, period … It takes a strong person to stay in this business.”

Caden’s Light Shines

Pell City teen embraces life despite challenges

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Mackenzie Free
Submitted Photos

To know him is to love him, say family and friends. They’re describing 15-year-old Caden Nelson, a young man with profound physical challenges but equally profound gifts. At first meeting, it will likely take a bit of effort to understand his speech, but his words pack such enthusiasm and joy, the effort is well spent.

Describing an encounter with Caden is like trying to describe light. He is both complex and simple. His thoughts are deep, but his activities are childlike. He is a beautiful combination of youthful exuberance and parental encouragement. He is both challenged and accomplished. He entered the world with a mountain of challenges before him, yet he describes the mountains with wonder and determination.

Caden patiently plays with little sister, Alyssa

Those who meet him are blessed by his ability to fill the room with joy. That joy comes from his appreciation for life and an intense gratitude for those who have encouraged him and who continue to support his journey. This is Caden’s story.

Caden was born prematurely at 30 weeks, weighing just over three pounds. His mother, Anna, was under the care of a maternal fetal specialist in Miami, Florida. Her prenatal testing had revealed that the baby was suffering from a bladder outlet obstruction, which required doctors to insert a shunt through the amniotic fluid to help his body flush fluids. A host of additional medical issues were discovered at birth.

“Caden was not expected to survive,” says Anna. “We were told when he was five days old and had gone for his first surgery that he would bankrupt us physically, emotionally, financially and spiritually. We knew about the bladder obstruction, but after he was born, we learned he had paper-thin abdominal muscles, neuronal intestinal dysplasia, prune-belly syndrome, scoliosis and kyphosis. The doctors said we should just let him pass away.” When Anna and Chad rejected that option, and Caden outlived the doctor’s expectations, doctors stopped issuing life expectancies.

Unlike most teenagers, Caden has never eaten a hamburger or grabbed a handful of cookies, never hung out with friends to share a pizza. In fact, he’s never taken a bite of anything. Neuronal intestinal dysplasia type B essentially means his intestinal system does not work. Because of that condition, he cannot digest food, so it is fed through a central line which goes through one of the veins near his heart.

All this, he takes in stride and doesn’t let it dampen his appetite for life. “Making people happy is a good day for me,” Caden says. He talks openly about his faith and his gratitude for life’s journey. “Jesus is like my first Dad before I met my Dad,” he adds. “He’s helped me all my life through all my surgeries on my back and with the halo surgery.”

It is difficult to imagine all the surgeries in Caden’s young life. They began with exploratory surgery at five days old, spinal fusion surgery at seven months old, more surgery at 10 years old to put rods in his back, which required a halo for six weeks to keep his back aligned so he could heal properly. After those rods broke, he required additional surgery to replace them.

“He can walk but has a walker and a wheelchair to help sometimes,” says dad Chad. “If we are going somewhere like the zoo or the mall, we take the wheelchair. If he just needs to walk from the house to the car, he can use the walker.” Anna adds that it is crucial that he not fall, so they must be very careful.

“He has some breathing issues because the scoliosis and kyphosis caused restrictive lung disease,” explains Anna. “If he gets sick with a cold or something, it’s harder for him to get over it.” You wouldn’t know it on a typical day, though, she says, other than he gets winded walking any distance.

Most days, he doesn’t walk far. School comes to him in the form of Anna’s cousin, Kyla Dunn. Everyday Lala, as he calls her, comes to the house to take care of him and his younger sister, three-year-old Alyssa, while Chad goes to work as a firefighter. Anna does contract work as a speech therapist.

When Alyssa goes down for her nap, Lala and Caden, who is in 9^th grade, get to work. “Initially, I was just going to help a couple of days a week,” says Kyla. “But I was needed, and I believe with all my heart that this is the ministry God put me in. I’m grateful for every day we have.” Sitting on the arm of her chair and beaming at her, Caden says, “I love school, and I love Lala. We’ve been together almost 13 years.” He says he wants to be a caregiver like Lala when he grows up.

“We’re just happy to be celebrating another birthday with him,” Anna adds, talking about his summer birthday. “He still picks out what kind of cake or cupcakes he wants. He just can’t eat them.”

Usually given the choice to have a birthday party or to go on a trip to celebrate, most often he chooses to travel. He’s been on many trips that coincided with out-of-town specialist visits to New York City but has also taken the Christmas train out of Blue Ridge, Georgia, gone to both Disney World and Disneyland, and last year went to Branson, Missouri and rode the train to the Ozarks.

“We try really hard to give him all the experiences we can,” Chad explains. “His pediatrician asked him recently if there was anything else he wants to do that he hasn’t done already, and he couldn’t think of anything.”

One thing Caden checked off his list recently was being baptized. He’d never done it because, even though he had professed his faith, there was a problem, and its name was water. Because he receives his nutrition through the central line in his chest, known as a TPN (total parenteral nutrition), that line must stay dry to keep from getting an infection from bacteria. For that reason, he’s never been in a pool, a lake or a bathtub.

Paulina and Dan Gilliland and Caden’s dad, Chad, assist with baptism

Never shy of a challenge, Caden insisted on baptism by immersion. “I wanted to do it right, the way God wants it to be,” says Caden, adding, “Mama was terrified because me and water don’t mix well. But I took it like a pro.”

“It was definitely a challenge,” says Chad. “I used Tegaderm (a waterproof wound dressing) under his line, put gauze over it, then covered it again with the Tegaderm so it was double layered.” This milestone made for a perfect gift for Dad, as it occurred on Father’s Day. A photo of the special event shows a very proud Caden in a victory pose after coming out of the water.

Anna and Chad are intentional in doing their best to give him experiences like those available to their younger children, 11-year-old Luke, 7-year-old Jacob and 3-year-old Alyssa. They also hold him to the same rules. “He just got ungrounded yesterday and got his PlayStation back,” says Anna. “In the beginning, I was worried about getting on to him, but now he’s held to the same standards as the other children.”

Anna says he knows he is different and that there are things he cannot do. “Regardless of his situation,” she says, “he stays so positive.” Chad echoes the admiration for Caden’s positivity. “Caden has changed my life. With him sharing his positive attitude and love for Jesus, he’s definitely made me a better person.”

Another trip to New York for doctors’ visits

“He is just very sweet and rarely has anything negative to say,” says Anna. “He normally doesn’t complain of pain or anything like that.” Chad agrees. “When he comes in the room, everyone is excited to see him. He loves to laugh and has a great sense of humor.”

His favorite things are trains, video games, his dog, Cooper, and his family and friends. Caden also loves singing and dancing and has recently sung a solo in church. The chance for the family to be in church together is a recent joy for Chad and Anna. First Baptist Church Pell City added a special needs class to their offerings this past year, allowing the family time to worship together while making sure Caden had opportunities that fit his needs.

Going to his class makes Caden smile. Dan Gilliland is one of his teachers at church, and he can’t say enough about being with Caden.

“He always gives the other students the best markers and serves others first,” says Gilliland. “From the minute he joined the class, he changed the lives of everyone in this class and all who meet him. Aside from my mother, no one has impacted my life by showing the way Jesus wants us to live more than Caden Nelson.”

Gilliland has a message for others. “If you get a chance to meet him, do it. He’s a joy, and he will pass some joy to you!”

And you’ll likely get a hug.

Tina Stallings and Winford Hill work with Caden in class

Special Needs Class
First Baptist Church Pell City

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Mackenzie Free

When Dan and Paulina Gilliland started attending First Baptist Church Pell City over four years ago, they knew they wanted to be a part of a ministry that benefitted families with special needs. Dan had 40 years of experience working with special needs youth and adults in Shelby County and in Mountain Brook schools and as program director at Easterseals Camp ASCCA. Paulina, a registered nurse, worked with him at Camp ASCCA for several years.

The church leadership had been working on putting together a team to offer a special needs class, and the fit was right for the Gillilands to help support that vision. For nearly a year now, special needs students have had a place where they fit in, a place focused on meeting the needs of individuals with varied abilities. The class is regularly attended by three to four students.

“My wife, Paulina, is the core, the lifeblood of the class,” says Gilliland. “She holds everything together, gives us all assignments for the week.” Four other dedicated teachers – Jennifer Jensen, Joe McGaha, Winford Hill and Tina Stallings – round out the volunteer staff.

Chad Nelson is parent to one of those students and he describes the challenge of attending church prior to this class offering. “When they started the class, it allowed Caden to have a place, a group of teachers and friends that he loves and is excited to see,” explains Chad. “It allows Anna and me to attend worship, just the two of us without kids.”

Anna Nelson adds that other churches never seemed to “fit” their family. “It just never felt like there was a place that fit all of us,” she adds. “But I don’t think that population is being overlooked intentionally. Unless people are in a situation where they have kids with physical or mental limitations, that group gets overlooked inadvertently. This program at First Baptist could be a great outreach program for the community.”

For more information or to enroll your student in the class, email Rev. Chris Dewaal, minister to children and families at cdewaal@fbcpellcity.org or call the church at 205-338-9444. The class is held each Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

Features

More at the Museum of Pell City

Art of Nettie Bean and students kicks off new program at Museum of Pell City

From the work of budding student artists to seasoned professionals, a burgeoning art community is finding a home at Museum of Pell City.

The museum has already hosted the Helen Keller Foundation of Alabama Art Show twice with plans to bring it back in September. Featuring the creations of students across the state with visual impairments, blindness, and/or deaf-blindness, this show is growing in popularity in Pell City because of these inspirational works.

The museum has presented the annual Duran Junior High School Art Show as well, giving students a home to display their works for the public to see.

Now comes the next level – providing a home for the entire art community.

“Our community is so blessed with talented artists of all mediums, but artists have long lacked a place they could call their own in terms of shows,” said Museum President Carol Pappas. “Before we even opened our doors in 2022, we talked of an eventual evolution to cultural arts center. Yes, we are a history museum, but we recognized the need to expand our reach and become a center for the art community, too.”

The museum’s board invested in infrastructure to create gallery space leading into the museum with a hanging wall system, ideal for shows and art displays. Because of the mezzanine-type venue, it is prominently visible to museum goers, but it is also piquing interest from the heavily traveled lobby of the municipal complex.

“It gives us an opportunity to reach more people – more opportunities to expose these creative works to the public,” Pappas said. “We’re excited about the potential.”

To kick of what the board hopes will be a regular event, noted artist Nettie Bean of Gallery of Eden and her students were the inaugural show, which opened in July and continued through early August.

Bean is an Alabama-based artist who creates stunning oil paintings of landscapes, wildlife and birds. After college, she became known for her “house portraits,” painting door-to-door for clients.

Her life-size eagle paintings are displayed at The Lodge at Guntersville State Park.

She is passionate about teaching and conducts weekly painting classes at the gallery she owns with husband Wally Bromberg.

Bean said she believes that art is a gift meant to be shared, and she strives to make original art accessible to all. “That’s precisely what we’re trying to do through this new program to showcase our art community at the museum, one we hope will grow and thrive for years to come.”

The Helen Keller Foundation of Alabama Art Show is slated for Sept. 11-27.

More exhibits on the way

In addition to its latest venture into art, the museum is planning even more events in the months to come.

It will unveil an outreach program this month that puts mini-exhibits in public places like schools, city hall and county courthouse. “The idea is to give the public a glimpse at what they might find at our 4,000 square foot museum,” Pappas said. “People just don’t realize the depth and scope of our museum, so we want to take it to them – at least a little part of it.”

The outreach exhibits’ theme is Find it at Museum of Pell City, and it shares nuggets of the historic stories, photos and artifacts we have to offer through compelling, custom-designed displays.

Starry Night at Waffle House in the style of Van Gogh by Penny Arnold a crowd favorite

They encourage people to find out more at the museum, which is open Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is always free.

Coming soon is a model train exhibit that has been built by a team of volunteers over the past several months. The 17-foot display with a running train depicts the 1920s version of Pell City.

“It all began with a train,” Pappas noted, referring to the ‘first’ founding of the town in 1890 when Sumter Cogswell missed his train to Talladega, spent the night in Pell City and envisioned a town.

Nationally known artist Dirk Walker has donated his original painting of one of the train depots, and the board will be using it as a fundraiser for the museum along with selling numbered, matted prints of the original.

“We owe Dirk a debt of thanks for his generosity,” Pappas said. “He and his wife, Debbie, have been so supportive of our efforts. You can see all about him and his work in our museum, which features Pell Citians who have made a national name through their talents in art, music, sports and film.”

In November, the museum presents its annual Salute to Service, which will see its military section redesigned and expanded to better cover modern days wars in the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan.

It also will feature oral history videos from local veterans and St. Clair County District Attorney Lyle Harmon as keynote speaker at the Nov. 7 special program. He is a veteran of the second invasion of Iraq in the101^st Airborne Division, 217^th Calvary. He was a helicopter pilot flying reconnaissance missions.

“As you can see, we have lots in store for museum goers,” Pappas said. “Like history, it evolves. We aim to keep our programming fresh, giving people a reason to come and come back again to discover our rich history.”