Tag: Features

Big Canoe Creek

Celebrating a first year of great success

Story by Carol Pappas
Submitted and staff photos

It’s hard to imagine that Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve is celebrating its first birthday already. It was more than a decade in the making, and it sometimes seemed that opening day would never arrive.

But it did. On Feb. 3, 2024, 731 people streamed in, and the crowds haven’t stopped. Over 400 attended the grand opening, ribbon cutting ceremony the day before. And the numbers since that time have not only climbed, they show no signs of slowing.

Ribbon cutting, opening ceremony a year ago draws huge crowd

In the first year of operation, 13,000 people, an average of 1,100 a month, have visited the preserve – 422 acres of nature nestled in the city of Springville, whose population is just a little over 5,000, according to the latest census.

Its hiking, biking, birding and horseback riding trails wind their way beneath towering canopies of hardwoods, pine and maple trees with colorful palettes of flowers and diverse native plants marking the paths as if guiding the way.

A meandering creek, pristine as it flows through the heart of it all, is the ideal centerpiece – home to aquatic species – some not found anywhere else.

As Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve Manager Doug Morrison says, it’s the perfect place to “get your nature on.”

Early days

On an unseasonably warm day in late February, Morrison sits on the porch of the preserve office – a tiny wooden building, almost cabin-like in its appearance. He reminisces as he motions to the trails, bioswale and parking, surrounded by dense woods forming a picturesque backdrop.

Much of what you see was absent the year before. Trails were being built. A bioswale was being created to remove pollutants from stormwater runoff and let it settle in the soil to decompose rather than polluting the preserve below.

Entrance roads and parking lots were constructed. Signs erected. Benches were strategically placed throughout as a welcome respites along a hike or a placid place just to enjoy the scenery.

Activity was at a fevered pitch as work was tireless in its efforts to open. It had been long awaited to fulfill a longtime dream by Morrison and others.

For a decade or so, they waged a passionate campaign to have the land preserved and protected so that generations from now, the preserve can still be experienced and enjoyed. Forever Wild Land Trust bought the acreage and set wheels in motion to do just that – preserve it forever.

These days

These days you’ll find Morrison and company planning, visioning, working toward improvements to the experience and enhancing its awareness and education programs to take it to the next level.

Lucy Cleaver has joined the team as education coordinator. Jake Tucker is maintenance technician. With Morrison, the trio keeps the preserve running on a daily basis.

Entertainment at first birthday celebration cookout

Education has long been a central focus of the preserve. It is key to its future to facilitate not only an understanding of the importance of nature, but a passion for preserving it.

Cleaver enters the picture with an impressive resume with a bachelor’s degree in Agriscience Education and a master’s in Natural Resource Management from Auburn University. She taught high school Agriscience classes before joining the Park and Rec Department of the City of Springville.

Already, she has the education calendar full of activities.

On March 8, it held its second Youth Turkey Calling Expo, getting youngsters up and out on a Saturday morning at the preserve to learn all about wild turkeys. They learned how to make turkey calls and all about turkey hunting and the outdoors. The free event had a multitude of sponsors and the value of items given away to the kids totaled over $5,000.

On March 10, Jones Valley teaching farm interns and students went for a hike at the preserve and learned all about its features.

April 5 will see the preserve partnering with Alabama Cooperative Extension for a native tree workshop. June 7 is set for an invasive species seminar, and Sept. 26-27, it will be the site of Forest Her, a workshop for women on how to read deeds, bank documents and wills and how to manage land. It is a joint effort with the U.S. Soil Conservation Service for Women in Agriculture, necessitated by a growing number of women inheriting the family farm and needing such guidance.

She is networking with educators in the Alabama Environmental Association to help develop more programs.

Rounding out the year, Creek Jam, the popular outdoor music festival at Homestead Hollow to benefit the preserve, is set to return Oct. 25.

Future plans

While the early chapters of this success story have already been written for the preserve, officials have no intention of stopping there. Innovation, accessibility and more education are its guides.

Immediate plans call for making a section of the lower trail more accessible by paving a 1-mile section to allow wheelchairs. This will be made possible as the result of funding from grants secured by the Big Canoe Creek Preserve Partners, announcements forthcoming.

Tucker is working on a ram pump, which employs a set of valves working together to provide pressure enough to move 14,000 gallons of water from a spring through 350 feet of line up an 80-foot elevation without electricity.

Morrison discovered the ram pump idea from Randy Moody, a friend who had previously lived on the property in a rental house. “I asked him, how did you get water because I knew no water lines were run up here,” Morrison said.

Moody explained that the remnants of an old spring house had a gathering reservoir that fed into a pipe and there used to be a ram pump there. Morrison had never heard of a ram pump before, but he and Tucker researched. Tucker found a ram pump kit online and installed it.

“Jake can do anything I throw at him,” Morrison said. As long as the water collected into the pipe flows downhill, a ram pump inserted inline on the pipe could gather and push water uphill. For every 1 foot of fall on the pipe, it could push 7 feet uphill.

The end result? “We collect water through the pipe, the ram pump pushes it uphill, and we can collect it in a reservoir. Right now, we have a small 250-gallon tote, but plans are for a much bigger reservoir to collect the water and send the overflow back to the stream, thus providing water for irrigation and possibly flushing future toilets.”

Eventually, this off the grid creation will become an education model.

Meanwhile, pollinator gardens planted in the fall will be in full swing in spring and summer.

They are hopeful that an open-air pavilion with restrooms is on the horizon, made possible by a $400,000 grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs as part of its Recreational Trails Program. It was written by Mike McCown with assistance from Morrison and Candice Hill, director of St. Clair County’s new grant resource center.

There, they will be able to hold education and other events, and restroom facilities will now be available.

Why they do what they do

“This watershed is very, very special,” Morrison said as he talks of the protected species there, especially the Canoe Creek Clubshell Mussel, which had nearly become extinct. In 2022, they were placed on the endangered species list.

He points to the ecological potential for the future and a 2013 project on the creek.

Students from Jones Valley Teaching Farm schooled in features of preserve

In November 2013, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, river conservationists, The Friends of Big Canoe Creek, Coosa Riverkeeper and the Geological Survey of Alabama, DCNR and Alabama Power united to remove Goodwin’s Mill Dam. The former grist mill dam was built in the 1880s, and it was abandoned in the 1940s. At the time above the dam site, 15 different fish species, but no mussels, were found. Below it, twice that as more than 30 species of fish, were found, signaling that the dam had been obstructing the free flow of the fish.

“The fish passage was hindered by the dam. Fish have a symbiotic relationship with mussels. You see the female mussel releases glochidia (mussel larvae if you will) that latch onto the fishes’ gills. They feed off the blood of the fish for a few weeks, then drop off. And that’s where their life journey begins,” Morrison explained. Ten years later, they found mussels there, Canoe Creek Clubshells at that. Once the fish passage was unobstructed, the mussels were returning, and their role as a natural water filter will be vital to keeping the creek pristine.

After USFWS folks discovered the Clubshell there in 2023, they worked with Paul Johnson and Michael Buntin at Alabama Aquatic Center in Marion where they raise mussels. They released over 120 Clubshells and about the same number of Coosa Mocassinshell mussels in early 2024 into Big Canoe Creek, Morrison said, and they have high hopes for what it means for the future.

Through the preserve and the environmental and conservation work being done, “We want to teach people more about our watershed, how important the critters are that live here and how to take better care of our waterways so these special critters can exist. We must do what we can to prevent further extinctions,” Morrison said.

“All of God’s creatures have a right to exist to live a full life. We can tune in more to nature, explore more and discover more. Who knows what is still undiscovered? Bottom line, we all need to ‘get our nature on’, and maybe your existence will be rewarded tenfold.”

Features

Dirk Walker Fine Art

Life through the eyes of an artist

Story by Scottie Vickery
Photos by Mackenzie Free

Dirk Walker’s artwork has found homes all over the world. His paintings hang in houses, churches, businesses, corporate headquarters and sports stadiums. They grace walls all over the country and faraway places like Germany, Denmark, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

It all started with his own bare walls.

“I wanted to buy art for our home,” said Walker, who lived in Birmingham at the time. His search took him to the Loretta Goodwin Gallery, and by the time he left, Walker, who worked in banking at the time, couldn’t shake the feeling that he was meant to be an artist.

“I don’t know why I thought I could do it, but something appealed to me about trying to learn how to paint,” said Walker, who has had a studio in downtown Pell City for 11 years.

Fans of his work are awfully glad he did. Walker’s paintings, both oils and watercolors, are known for their bold colors, rich texture and loose brushstrokes. His subject matters are varied: he has collections ranging from landscapes and city scenes to his spiritual series. He also paints sporting and hunting scenes, art focusing on the growing bourbon culture, and whimsical subjects like Santa Claus.

“The variety of things I like to do just keeps me fresh in all of them,” he said. “I’m not doing the same thing all the time – that would drive me bonkers. A lot of people can’t say they love what they do, but I get a lot of gratification from it. Once I get in to doing a painting, everything else just sort of goes away.”

Finding purpose

There were signs early on that Walker had the makings to be a great artist. Growing up in Birmingham, he watched his father dabble in watercolor, and his own high school work caught the attention of his art teacher. She encouraged him to pursue it, but his interest and talent lay dormant for years.

After graduating from Vestavia Hills High School, Walker earned a degree in industrial design at Auburn University and that helped provide a foundation in drawing and perspective. “I did a little design work right out of college, but I had the opportunity to go with the bank, and it was a better option for raising a family at the time,” he said.

Debbie and Dirk Walker in the Pell City studio

After the visit to the gallery, however, Walker decided to give in to the pull. His first painting was a still life. “It was horrible, looking back on it now,” he said with a laugh.

Still, he took it to back to the gallery to be framed, and Loretta Goodwin, who would become a dear friend and mentor, saw something he didn’t. She asked him who had painted the piece. “I said, ‘I did,’ and she said, ‘Can you do it again?’”

It took him about two years to create something he wanted to show her. “It was the most nerve-wracking experience,” said Walker, who started painting with oils. “I circled the block two or three times because I wanted to throw up I was so nervous.”

The first few times he showed Goodwin his work, she told him, “You’re not quite there, keep trying,” Walker remembered. “I’d tuck tail and go back home and stay at it. Eventually, I got to the point where she thought she could do something with it.”

Goodwin was a tremendous influence on Walker. “She loved the arts, she loved local artists, and she did so much to promote the arts in Birmingham. We formed a deep friendship where we talked as much about the business of art as we did the painting process. It instilled in me a love of both.”

She wasn’t his only influence. Hungry to learn, Walker sought guidance and inspiration from Alabama artists John Lonergan, who taught art at Pell City High School for 25 years, and Tom Black, who grew up in Gadsden and lived in Pell City before moving to Arizona. “I would go up to Tom’s studio and just watch him mix color and see what he’d do. I was too nervous to paint around anyone,” he said.

Walker later met and took workshops from David Leffel and Sherrie McGraw, both artists who taught at the Art Students League of New York. His early style was similar to those who had influenced him – “very much the Old Masters, very much the old Renaissance look,” Walker said. “It was the play of shadows and light, light flowing over objects.”

Still working at the bank while pursuing his art, Walker didn’t have the luxury of painting outside during the day and taking advantage of the natural light. “At night, I’d go down to my studio and set up a still life so I could control the light,” he said.

Walker’s work soon grew a following, and in addition to the Loretta Goodwin Gallery, his art has been featured in eight galleries across the country. When his job went away after a bank merger, Walker bought Goodwin’s gallery, which he owned for 20 years before becoming a full-time artist.

Changing times

Walker, who now lives in Cropwell with Debbie, his wife of eight years, has said that painting “is a lifelong struggle, but one that is well worth the journey.” He said he loves the fact that he continues to grow and change as an artist.

“It’s something you never completely learn,” he said. “I think that’s one of the big appeals for me. Forty years later, I’m still learning and experimenting and making mistakes.”

The artist’s spiritual series stems from his personal faith

In fact, Walker said his willingness to continue to explore techniques and subjects and experiment with color has been a big part of his success. “So many artists just kind of get stuck and they wonder why their art isn’t being accepted the way it was maybe years earlier,” he said. “I learned how to watch what people responded to, and through the years, it impacted how my style changed.”

Walker’s portfolio soon expanded to iconic landmarks. His work includes Alabama landmarks like Sloss Furnaces, the Alabama Theatre, Vulcan, the Pell City Depot and the Mobile Bay Lighthouse. He eventually added scenes from Atlanta, as well as places like the Lincoln Memorial, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Eiffel Tower.

“I started off painting very tight, very traditional, and then I wanted to go a little more abstract, a little more impressionistic,” he said, adding that one of the first steps was adding nondescript figures to some of his landmark paintings. “Through the years, I kept pushing in that vein.”

Walker started experimenting with sporting and hunting scenes after his son, Geoffrey, who works in the sporting goods industry, showed his artwork to Kevin and Kathleen Kelly, owners of Kevin’s Fine Outdoor Gear & Apparel. Based in Thomasville, Geogia, it is one of several retailers who represent his work.

“They asked if I ever did hunting scenes, and Geoffrey said, ‘I don’t know; I’ll check,’” Walker said. “He called me that night and said, ‘Dad, I think you need to try doing some hunting scenes.’”

Walker took his son’s advice, and the collection has been wildly popular, thanks in part to his abstract realism style. “I think my style was a really fresh approach,” he said. “Most of the wildlife art you see is very tight, very realistic, very static. Mine was loose and colorful, and I think it caught people at the right time. There’s been a tremendous response to it. It’s just kind of blown my world up.”

Walker, who lived on Logan Martin Lake for years before he and Debbie moved to their gentleman’s farm in Cropwell, has fond memories of fishing and hunting growing up and eventually fishing with his own kids. “We’ve got so many great memories of being on the water,” he said. “That’s one of the really neat things about that genre of work. People connect to it on an emotional level. They want a painting of a dog like they had, or they hunted with their kids. It evokes a lot of memories.”

About four years ago, Kelly approached Walker about doing limited edition prints of some of his paintings. He was reluctant at first, but he realized that people who couldn’t or wouldn’t invest in original art might spend $300 or $400 on a print.

They began offering a line of collector’s closed edition prints, and “we get orders almost every day,” he said. Debbie handles that side of the business, and “it has really broadened our exposure,” Walker said. “Now I get calls to do commissions from all over the country and from other countries, as well.”

Higher calling

Another series that has been personal for Walker is his spiritual collection, which includes depictions of Jesus’ baptism, the Last Supper, the feeding of the 5,000, and the crucifixion. The series was born of his own personal faith and struggles.

Raised in the church, Walker said “if the doors were open, we were there.” As an adult, he went through a period where he floundered a bit, but “something was calling me back to the church.” Not long after he returned, he felt ta strong desire to paint scenes from the Bible.

“Being a person of faith, I think everyone is given gifts on some level, whether it’s music, art, writing, whatever,” he said. “This is something that’s He’s given me, and it’s a way for me to kind of give back and witness a little about my faith. I try to portray something in a way that might cause someone to want to sit and think, and if it also helps someone else find the Lord or deal with issues, that’s a blessing for both parties.”

Walker spent a lot of time on his spiritual art the past two years after being commissioned by Vestavia Hills Methodist Church to paint a series of scenes portraying the life of Christ according to the Gospel of John. Baptist Health also commissioned artwork for all of its hospitals in Alabama.

He also was commissioned to do several large pieces, including a portrayal of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, for collectors in Australia and Germany. The connection was largely the result of his online presence.

“Without the internet, that never would have happened,” he said. “It’s kind of a God thing. He’s using this voice of mine to reach people literally around the globe. It really makes me very humble and proud.”

A new medium

While he has painted with oils for most of his career, Walker was moved to study a new medium about six years ago when he introduced his bourbon series. “Bourbon is such a collectible thing right now, and they’re a lot of fun to do,” he said of the paintings. “Watercolor is sort of the perfect medium for that subject.”

Walker said he strives to create the same kind of look as his oil paintings – the boldness of color, for example – so his approach is a little different than that of traditional watercolorists. While most watercolors tend to have a lot of transparency, he often uses gouache, which is similar to watercolor, but more opaque. The result is paintings with more dimension and vibrancy. “My technique is a little different in that regard,” he said.

The challenge is part of the allure. “Watercolor is a hard medium,” he said. “I enjoy it equally as much as oil, but I’m still kind of learning as I go.”

Walker, his own toughest critic, has a stack of watercolors in his studio that he has discarded. “You’re never completely satisfied no matter how good a painting might turn out,” he said. “I can go back and look at a painting I did yesterday or 10 years ago and see things I wish I’d done differently. Even to this day I’m frustrated by why one painting works and one doesn’t.”

Finding balance

At 70, Walker has no plans to stop painting. “Debbie and I work really hard at this, and I’m up in the studio almost every day,” he said. “I enjoy it, though, and it’s something I hope I can do for years to come.”

Vintage Pell City train depot, an original painting Walker donated to Museum of Pell City as a fundraiser

They do make time for other pursuits, however. Debbie, who traveled the world in her younger years is trying her best to help Walker catch the travel bug, and being with family will always be a priority for both of them.

Their combined family is a big one. Walker has four children, Debbie has two, and there are nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren with another on the way. One of his greatest joys has been creating scenes that mean something to them and will be around for generations.

“I’m so proud that my kids have been able to see me develop, although they give me grief about it,” he said. “If they ever think my ego is out of check, they bring me back down to earth. But it’s so cool because they’ve all told me, ‘Dad, you want to give us something for Christmas, give us a piece of your art.’ That, as a parent, is awesome.”

Chances are, there are a lot more Christmas gifts in their future. Walker, who said he can’t see ever retiring, will never get too far from his red Craftsman tool cabinet that holds brushes and paint and other tools of his trade.

“I once read, ‘Art is a delicate balance between the visual concept and each artist’s technique,’” Walker has said. “After years of chasing that artistic balance, it is the anticipation of the struggle that keeps me coming back to the canvas.” l

Features

The house of glass

Ashville architectural wonder made entirely from antique windows

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Mandy Baughn

Deep in the countryside, hidden in a hillside forest, there is a glass house. Entirely made of antique windows, the space is bright and airy, looking a bit like a tiny conservatory. Ashville’s The Valley Glasshouse is a simple space, just 32 feet by 12 feet, but has an interesting ability to change its look throughout the day as the sun creates shadows and plays with the colors inside the building.

For artists and photographers, this place is a dream come true. More specifically, for chiaroscurists, those who appreciate the interplay of light and shadow, the building is must-see.

As a professional photography venue, though, the room’s appeal is more than just about the light and shadows. Reflection and nature itself play into the appeal. The ability to capture clients in nature, while being protected from the unpredictability of weather, makes it a unique place to work, according to professional photographer Brittany Hackleman.

A swing adds to the whimsical nature of the surroundings

“I really like to do outdoor shoots, in grass, fields and creeks,” explains Hackleman. “But if it rains, you can’t do it. With The Valley Glasshouse, it’s still doable because you’re protected by a roof and walls, but you still get the outdoors in the shots.”

Shortly after the venue opened, she brought another photographer friend out, used her as the model and shot some photos, posted them, and within 20 minutes had filled two session days and has a waitlist.

Owners Dana and Sammy Pike began building the glass house in May of 2024, finishing it in December. It took them nine months to transform the property that once housed an old woodshed. They demolished the shed, taking it down to just the six steel beams that once supported it. From there, they began the rebuilding process.

A treasure hunting trip to neighboring Georgia yielded 72 antique windows, 71 of which were used in the final building. They are from several different older homes, so they’re not all the same size. “It was my husband’s job to put the puzzle together,” says Dana. “He made it all work.”

“Yes, it was a challenge,” admits Sammy. “We separated the windows into their sizes. Then I measured the gaps between each of the pillars. I took each window size and each gap size and sketched it out on paper.”

With those measurements sketched on paper, Sammy knew how much wood trim he would have to add to make the wall sections fit in the gaps between the pillars. The roof was a challenge as well, since it required erecting a 16-foot beam, which he put up by himself. “Yes, that required a lot of propping and pulling,” he admits. Then he covered that with opaque polycarbonate panels, the material used for greenhouses.

The couple grew up in St. Clair County just three miles from each other. Sammy’s family lived on the property next door to Dana and Sammy’s current home when he was growing up. The two met at church and have now been married 34 years. “Dana has wanted to do this glass house pretty much our whole marriage,” said Sammy.

It took a visit to another glass house on her parents’ 50^th wedding anniversary to get things rolling. “I wanted to gift them a photo shoot for their anniversary. There is a glass house in Boaz that is also a photography studio, so we thought that might be fun to use,” said Dana. “After that, we decided we could build one on our own property.” A few months later, the plan was in place and, when the weather warmed up, they got started.

The play of light and shadow make it a photographer’s dream

“My grandmother was the keeper of all the family photos from way back,” recalls Dana. “Those photos were (and are) treasures. She was so excited about the project but never got to see it finished.” Her grandmother passed away in October at the age of 92, and to honor her, they are planning to add a memorial garden on the property. “I just want people to come here to capture their own memories,” adds Dana.

The Pikes love antiques and have some unique décor that can be used by photographers. They have a storage shed nearby to house props and furniture that will be changed out seasonally. Photographers are also encouraged to bring additional props as needed. The venue also has lighting options inside and out for evening sessions.

But you know what they say about people who build glass houses? You might think that they should not throw stones. While that is true, the answer according to the late humorist Art Buchwald, is simply “they have to wash their windows all the time.”

For the Pikes, with 71 windows to wash, it’s a family affair. “Our grandkids have participated in the window washing fun,” admits Dana, laughing. “And we are very careful mowing grass these days.”

While The Valley Glasshouse is only offered as a photography venue currently, the Pikes have had several inquiries about hosting parties and events on the property. They are considering offering special event space in the future. It is, indeed, a special place and only a stone’s throw away in north St. Clair County.or their contributions to racing. If these museums close up, the cars end up in private collections and no one will see them anymore.”

Features

Floyd Waites

Born to play the piano … and sing

Story by Joe Whitten
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr. and Submitted Photos

In the words of American Bandstand’s Dick Clark, “Music is the soundtrack of your life,” and that fits Pell City musician Floyd Waites like a well-tailored 5^th Avenue tuxedo.

Born to Edmond and Beatrice Waites in the Glenn City area of Pell City, Floyd was the youngest of their five children – three boys and two girls. This was a loving family overseen by Mrs. Waites after Mr. Waites became an invalid from a stroke.

By his teenage years, Floyd’s siblings had left home, so his mother depended upon him with chores and cleaning. “I was always singing when I was helping around the house,” he recalled. He heard the music coming from the radio, and he knew in his heart that if he had a piano, he could play those songs.

“I went to my mother and said, ‘I want to get a piano.’” He smiled as he told her reply. “She said, ‘Floyd, I can’t get no piano!’ She wasn’t able to buy a piano. But a few months after that, I began to get a small check from Avondale Mills because my daddy had worked there before his stroke.”

Floyd and Marie Knight take a bow at a concert in Paris

With that income, another plan took shape. “I told my mom that I was gonna try to get a piano (with that money),” he reminisced. “There was a piano company in Anniston, Alabama, called Forbes Piano Company. So, someone carried me there, and I looked around and spoke to the man in charge, and he said, ‘I can let you have it for so much,’ – whatever it was priced at that time. And I said, ‘Well, how much will that be a month?’ He told me what it would be and said, ‘Could you pay ten dollars a month?’ And I said, ‘Oh, I can pay ten dollars a month!’ And, so, they brought the piano out to our house.”

Oh, happy day! Now, with the radio on, Floyd could sit at the treasured piano, with his fingertips eagerly searching out the notes and chords and runs of what he heard. He was a natural – born for the piano and music.

He must have played too much Fats Domino or Chubby Checker, because one day his mother said, “Floyd, I don’t want you playing just anything and everything. You’ve got to play for the Lord.” He chuckled at the memory. “I said, ‘Oh, yes, Mama, that’s what I plan to do.”

And he did just that, beginning at Rocky Zion Missionary Baptist Church under the guidance of Rev. Silas Woods, who encouraged him in his playing for the Lord.

Floyd enjoys recalling those early years with Rev. Woods. “We had a Sunday for the young group to sing, and I began playing for them – songs that I knew and could catch onto. Rev. Woods liked for the Junior Choir to go with him when he preached at other churches. And I would go with them and play piano. I was encouraged a lot by Rev. Woods.”

In the spring of 1965, Floyd graduated from St. Clair County Training School, began looking for work and found scant possibilities locally. The Waites’ across-the-road neighbors had moved to New York City, and they encouraged him to come live with them. “You could get a job up here in New York,” they told him. “We could take you to the state unemployment agency, and they will find you a job.” Therefore, with hope in his heart, Floyd boarded a Greyhound bus and headed to the Big Apple – without a clue as to the places God and his piano would take him in the years ahead.

His friends met him at the bus station, took him to their home, and gave him a room until he could find work and rent an apartment of his own.

At the New York Unemployment Office, the interviewer asked him what kind of work he was interested in. and he told them he was a church musician. “They went into the back,” Floyd laughed, “and came back with a uniform, a khaki uniform, and they said, ‘This will fit you very good.’ And I said, ‘What’s that for?’ And they said, ‘This is for you to become a New York City police officer.’ And I said, ‘Oh, no! My Lord, no! That won’t work! I don’t think I could handle anything like that! Don’t you think you could find me something else?’”

So, they sent him to another section where he had a more favorable offer. The lady interviewing him said, “Mr. Waites, we have an opening for a job in the Bronx at a school, and it’s dealing with food service.” This interested him, and the lady’s next question raised his spirits higher, “Can you cook?” Floyd, feeling almost back home in Pell City, replied, “Honey, that’s right down my alley!”

Then she told of a position at the Walton High School, and Floyd said, “I would love to do that because that’s what I studied in school.” He was referring to the St. Clair County Training School where he was more interested in cooking than in farming and had taken Home Economics rather than Vocational Agriculture.

Following the lady’s instructions, he went to Walton High School Monday morning, and after being interviewed there, he was hired. The school system sent him to various training sessions that prepared him for a career in New York City school food services – the job he worked until he retired.

Music opportunities in New York City’s Harlem seemed to find Floyd without his looking for them. The leader of the Jimmy Smith Singers came up to him and asked him if he could sing.

“Oh, yeah, I sing,” Floyd replied, adding, “I’ve got a friend who sings, too.”

“Bring him along,” the leader told him. The friend was one he grew up with in Pell City, and he and Floyd had connected again in New York. The two young men rehearsed and sang with the Jimmy Smith Singers for a while.

“But it was still like something was missing,” he said. His mama’s words, “You’re not gonna play just anything and everything” no doubt hummed in his mind along with sacred memories of Rocky Zion and Rev. Woods.

“The pianist for the Jimmy Smith Singers was playing for a church in my Harlem neighborhood, and he said to me, ‘Floyd, why don’t you come to my church? I play up here at The Gates of Prayer Church. There’s a lady that’s pastor of the church, and her name is Prophetess Dolly Lewis.’ I said, ‘I don’t live too far from there. Maybe I’ll come one Sunday.’”

Not too long after that invitation, Floyd attended The Gates of Prayer Church, and there, by God’s providence, he found his spiritual calling.

Living close to the church, he walked to the service, and as he got closer to the sanctuary, the organ’s chords and crescendos urged him onward. He opened the church door and looking up to the pulpit, he saw a woman dressed in gleaming white looking out over the assembling congregation – Prophetess Dolly Lewis.

Floyd remembers the day. “She looked directly at me and says, ‘Come on in. Go over there and sit down at the piano.’ I must have looked funny, because she said, ‘Yeah, you can play, and you can sing.’ Now, nobody in New York had heard me play, and I wondered, ‘How did this lady know this?’ But I never did ask her.”

From that Sunday, Floyd played piano and sang at The Gates of Prayer Church under the guidance of Prophetess Lewis.

When she went to other cities, he traveled with her to play piano at her preaching services. For one who had never flown, an added excitement was flying to and from these destinations. On these trips, she also held private sessions in her hotel room, and people would be lined up to get messages from her. “A word from the Lord” in today’s Pentecostal parlance.

Prophetess Lewis introduced Floyd to two famous gospel singers – Marie Knight and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. He enjoys recalling those singers. “One Sunday, this lady walked into the church, and everybody looked around. Prophetess Lewis looked at the newcomer and said, ‘Come on up, Marie Knight.’ She was a professional singer, and she would travel all around with this other lady, Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Rosetta was an electric guitar player.” He paused, smiling, “Oh, she could lean back on that guitar and play.”

Godmother of Rock ‘N Roll

Rosetta Tharpe was born in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, in 1915 to Katie Bell and Willis Atkins. Katie Bell played the mandolin, sang, and preached as a Pentecostal evangelist, according to the online Encyclopedia Britanica. She began playing guitar at age four and at age six she traveled and sang with her mother.

After moving to Chicago, she developed her own guitar style under the influence of Chicago’s blues and jazz musicians. When she moved to New York City in the 1930s, “…She sang traditional gospel songs with contemporary jazz tempos that she played on her electric guitar. With these performances, she introduced gospel into nightclubs and concert venues. Her work influenced early rock and rollers such as Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Elvis Presley.” She came to be called the “Godmother of Rock and Roll” and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

The ‘Voice’

Marie Knight, born in Florida in 1920 or 1925, depending on the source, grew up in Newark, New Jersey. According to the online African American Registry (AAREG), Marie started touring in 1939. Sometime in the 1940s, she performed at the Golden Gate Auditorium in Harlem along with Mahalia Jackson.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe attended that concert and “…recognized something special in Marie’s contralto voice.” Rosetta invited Marie to tour with her, and they performed as a team for several years. Sister Rosetta and Marie’s 1947 recording of Up above My Head There’s Music in the Air reached number 6 on the Billboard chart in 1948. Marie sang both Gospel and Rock and Roll, but in her later years sang only Gospel.

When Marie Knight moved back to New York City, she began attending Dolly Lewis’ Gates of Prayer Church, where she organized the choir. Floyd was the pianist and his friend from Pell city the organist. “So, we started playing for Marie,” Floyd smiled. “I’ve got albums that I’m playing for Marie.” He lowered his voice to a baritone before saying, “She had a voice!”

When Marie began planning another tour, she came to Floyd and said, “How would you like to travel to Europe with me?” Floyd laughs as he tells it. “I said, ‘Oh, I don’t know about that!’ ‘Well, you’re gonna get paid,’ she told me. So, I said, ‘We’ll have to ask Mama.’ That’s what we called Pastor Dolly Lewis.”

Floyd asked Lewis’ advice, and after consideration, she agreed for him to travel with Marie, and assured him, “I’m gonna make sure she pays you, cause she’s kind of close with money.”

Floyd flew with Marie Knight and her entourage to Paris. Landing at the Charles De Gaulle Airport, they were met with the concert tour officials who took them to their lodgings for the night. From Paris they traveled to a city in southern France, whose name Floyd could not recall. From that city, Marie, accompanied by Floyd at the piano, gave concerts in various locations.

Then, it was on to San Sebastian, Spain, for the concluding few weeks of Marie’s tour. Then back to New York City.

“From that day,” Floyd recalls with pleasure, “Marie was happy to have me with her. But she paid,” he laughed. “Those hundred-dollar bills smelled good! And I kept on playing for her.”

Floyd met his future wife, Evelyn Keith, at Gates of Prayer Church. Evelyn grew up in Childersburg, so they had mutual connections back home. She was a singer, so she and Floyd sang together at whichever church he played for. They had one son, Kenny.

Floyd continued playing piano for Prophetess Dolly Lewis at Gates of Prayer Church until she died. When Lewis died, Marie Knight – now singing only Gospel – became pastor of Gates of Prayer. Floyd played piano at the church until Marie died in 2009 from pneumonia complications.

The Waites were on vacation in Alabama when Marie passed, Floyd relates. “They got in contact with me while my wife and I were down here on vacation, and we rushed back to New York.” When asked if he played piano for her service, Floyd responded, “I didn’t do too much playing, but I did sing some of the songs that she had sung, and I had played for her down through the years.”

Floyd also directed the choir in singing one of Marie’s best known Gospel recordings, Didn’t It Rain.

Dual roles

Most of the years that Floyd played piano at Gates of Prayer, he also played for another nearby church, Greater Hood Memorial AME Zion Church. “I was playing at Hood Memorial all along, because it was on a different time schedule for that church … And it was just around the corner from Gates of Prayer. I played the piano for them for years. And I played organ for them, too, because I had gotten into playing the organ. I played for the choirs – they had a nice senior choir that sang anthems,” Floyd paused, then added, “It was a fairly big church.”

Greater Hood Memorial is historic in Black churches in America. Established in 1824 as Harlem AME Zion, this oldest Black church in Harlem has survived economic downturns (the Great Depression put them in dire financial circumstances), several relocations and a few name changes. But it has survived with Sunday services continuing for 200 years.

Having reached retirement age, Floyd supervised his last school lunch, played his last Sunday service in Harlem, packed his belongings and returned to the place called home, Pell City, Alabama.

Floyd relates how he and Evelyn came to Pell City every year for the month of August to visit relatives and churches in the area. They always visited Coosa Valley Baptist Church in Vincent where Rev. Willie Joe Posey was pastor.

Floyd in France at the Bosendorfer piano

“He would always tell me, when me and my wife would come down from New York, ‘Floyd, come on up here and sing, you and your wife,’ and we’d go up and sing for him. And he’d say, ‘Y’all see that man there? If he ever decides to come outta New York City, I want him right there,’ and he’d point to the piano.”

Today, Floyd is the full-time pianist at Coosa Valley Baptist where Rev. Posey still pastors. However, he ministers alone, for Evelyn died while they were living in New York. “I’ve been with Rev. Posey ever since I came back home to live,” Floyd muses quietly.

“I don’t charge them at the church, but Rev. Posey told me, ‘Oh no, you have to accept something, because people know how good you play and sing, they gonna take you away from us. The church will have to give you something. We don’t want you to leave us.’ So, I said, ‘Well, just sometime give me a love offering, but I don’t expect to be on salary. I don’t charge anything.’ So, every third Sunday, they give me a love offering, and I accept it.”

Rev. Posey has pastored the church for 48 years, and speaks highly of Floyd. “He has proven himself a believer in God and Christ. He’s a faithful man. He’s true to his word. … When he was in New York, I told him when he moved back here, he had a place (at our church), and he’s been with me.” Rev. Posey also noted the beautiful vocal harmony when Floyd and Evelyn sang together at the church.

In the community, Floyd is frequently asked to play for revivals, funerals and special events. At the 2024 Black History event at the Pell City Museum, he was one of the featured musicians of the day.

Many in the community call him “Uncle Floyd,” as did Amelia Beavers when she was asked for a comment. “There are so many things that I could say about Uncle Floyd, but the best thing is that he loves the Lord, and he loves people. He helps throughout his community any way that he can.

“If a loved one dies, he is willing to come to play and sing for the family. He has been a jewel of a friend coming back home to live. He is a beautiful asset to our community. I pray for him many years of serving the Lord and his community. All you have to do is ask and if he does not have another engagement, he is more than willing to accommodate.”

Floyd and Evelyn’s son, Kenny, lives in Childersburg, so Floyd is active in his life and the lives of his four grandchildren – two girls and two boys.

How would he like to be remembered? “I’d just like to be remembered as using the gifts that the Lord has given to me. If I was called to do something, it wasn’t for reimbursement. I thank God for the gift, and I thank Him that He allowed me to use it … It’s a gift that He has given, and I just want to give back.”

As a child and as an adolescent in Pell City, music captivated Floyd Waites and has held him fast all his years. One of the songs he played for Marie Knight was the traditional song Up Above My Head, and the lyrics are true for Floyd –

Up above my head, there’s music in the air
Up above my head there’s music in the air,
Up above my head there’s music in the air,
And I really do know,
Yes I really do know,
There’s a heaven somewhere.

So, Floyd Waites, keep on playing and singing “for the Lord” and sharing your God-given gifts, for without a doubt, you enrich the music life of Pell City and St. Clair County. l

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Away from it all

Sharing a passion for healing, hunting

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Mackenzie Free

In an open field of tall grass, mud puddles and woods all around, three dedicated physical therapists meet on a Sunday afternoon miles away from the clinics where they work all week long.

Intertwined with the disciplined calls of hunting dogs, they discover solace in a shared passion. Well beyond their clinic walls, where muscles are mended and limbs rehabilitated, they embark on a journey into the wilderness.

It is here in the shadow of towering pines with five dogs among them, they train for the thrill of the hunt, forging an unspoken bond – not just with nature, but with each other. The scene is a powerful testament to their dual passions.

The sun peeks through a scattering of clouds, illuminating a scene in which they all have played a central role dozens of times before. They’re training for their next big bird hunt.

Their journey together has taken them far away from the St. Clair County clinics of Therapy South, where they work. Their hunts have taken them to Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan and Oklahoma so far.

“We train out here,” said Tyler McGrady, motioning toward the field and woods that are part of the 70 acres he and his family own just north of Pell City. Wild birds are not as plentiful in the South as in other parts of the country, which necessitates the travel. But they don’t seem to mind. It simply brings them closer together.

Tyler readily shares his land with fellow PTs, Cade Mullins and Luke Brasher. Tyler is a partner in Therapy South, and he oversees the clinics in Pell City and Springville, where Mullins and Brasher work.

They joke that bird hunting isn’t a prerequisite for getting hired, it just happened that they all share the same after-hours sport.

On the job, you’ll find them bantering back and forth as they apply their healing touch to patients. The camaraderie is infectious. In an instant, patients join in the conversations about dogs, hunting and the great outdoors, perhaps helping them forget the pain and rise above their own physical limits, if only for a moment.

Tyler calls it “good-spirited ribbing.” A former baseball player at Jacksonville State University, he noted that all three of them are former college athletes and “too much time in the locker room” may be the catalyst for their approach in the clinic and on the hunt.

Luke, who played football at UAB, agreed. “We miss the time spent with teammates,” he said. Mullins played baseball at Delta State. “It gives us a deeper sense of teamwork,” added Tyler.

Once on the hunt, the teamwork becomes man and dog. The pride in each of their ‘best friends’ is evident. Tyler’s Maverick and Charlie are German Short Haired Pointers, whose grace and ability blend perfectly in pointing or hunting quail.

Cade’s Covey and Coosa are Wire Haired Pointing Griffons, whose loping gallop through a mud puddle or two, seems natural for a breed with an insular coat and webbed toes. Griffons love the water, and on this day, Covey’s penchant for puddles shows.

The pup of the bunch, an English Setter named Duke, belongs to Luke, who he is training himself. As he watches Duke circling through the tall grass – nose up to catch a whiff of a downed bird – Luke’s watchful eye has the noticeable glint of a proud Papa. After all, their dogs are family.

“My wife loves dogs,” Cade said. “They sleep in the bed with us.”

Tyler’s wife is “super understanding” about his past time, he said, and they’ve just added to their brood – a pup named Goose. His daughters, Brooke and Maggie, make it a family affair. They’ve developed a passion for assisting in training the dogs.

Luke’s wife didn’t really want a dog, he said. “Now she takes 20 pictures a day of him because she loves him that much.”

The three of them muse about the rewards reaped from their training and their hunts. “It’s your relationship with your dog. Your dog is your best friend,” said Tyler. “When you see what they were born and bred to do, when it all comes together in the field, it’s pretty cool to watch.” You’re able to turn off the outside world. “You’re in the prairie in the middle of nowhere with your dog.”

Cade loves “getting out and enjoying creation. Every time you go out, you pick something that stands out – a dog pointing – it points back to creation, this awesome place created for us.”

“It’s fun walking through the Lord’s creation,” said Luke. “It’s cool to see something that is innate in their nature – pointing and finding a bird.”

It allows you to become “disconnected from the world,” Tyler concluded.

They all have a healthy respect for Tyler’s dog, Maverick. Describing him as a stud with a championship bloodline, Luke noted, “If Maverick doesn’t point, there’s not a bird there. He’s pretty much a sure shot.”

How did they arrive at this place of solace and excitement entwined?

Tyler already had a dog when he got into bird hunting, encouraged by another physical therapist, Daniel Eck, who works in Therapy South’s Florence clinic. The two had played ball together in college. He’s been hunting ever since.

Cade grew up deer and turkey hunting on the family farm near Lake Martin. “I got tired of picking up birds and said, ‘Let’s get dogs and do this.’ ”

For Luke, the fascination began when he was 9. A neighbor had Brittany and Boykin Spaniels involved in field trials, and he would take him along. He strayed away from the sport for years, but Cade and Tyler “nagged that I needed a bird dog. It was the only way to be in the crew. So, I gave into peer pressure,” he joked, “but it was worth it.”

It’s all about the relationship with the dog and the excitement of anticipating what is to come, Tyler explained. In a world of otherwise instant information, “It’s the hope of what could be. You never know what the difference is going to be.”

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Race car restoration

Heritage Team puts the vr-r-r-oom
back into speedway legends

Story by Elaine Hobson Miller
Photos by Richard Rybka

Cars, airplanes and the museum itself are getting a facelift at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega County, thanks to some St. Clair County guys and their buddies who share a love of automotive racing. And it all started when one of them visited the late Bobby Allison at his home in North Carolina.

“I went to his house in Mooresville in 2020 during COVID,” says Eric Perrine, who actually lives in Shelby County. “I had done an event with him in the past. My intention was to take him to the Herb McCandless Museum and have a fun day. McCandless was a champion drag racer for Sox and Martin and a friend of mine through the Mopar Circuit, where owners of Chrysler vehicles have car shows.”

While Perrine expected their conversation to be about cars and racing, Allison took it in another direction. He talked about his disappointment with the deterioration of his airplane at the Hall of Fame, as well as the overall well-being of the Talladega museum, as most people call it.

“He talked about getting the museum back into its glory days, and the local support for that,” says Perrine. “Certain things hadn’t been kept up.”

With the help of friends Herbie Griffith, Johnny Capps and Barry Isbell, all of St. Clair, Perrine led the restoration project of Allison’s plane, a twin-engine Piper. Perrine met Dennis Dobbs of Springville at a local car show and invited him to the annual Heritage Preservation Show, which takes place at the museum every fourth weekend in October.

Dobbs volunteered to help Perrine restore cars for the museum, which was established in 1983 adjacent to the Talladega International Speedway, known today as the Talladega Superspeedway. Dobbs brought another Springville resident, Wade Wells, on board. Then, Robert Allison (no relation to the racing Allisons) and Ricky Humphries joined them and the Heritage Preservation Team took shape.

“The Heritage Preservation Show last October went very well ,” Perrine says.

“We had 300 vehicles from all over the USA, about $45 million worth, including the Richard Petty Superbird, Marty Robbins’ Dodge Daytona and his 1973 Dodge Charger, Bobby Allison’s Torino and Mustang. We also had the first Dodge Daytona ever built, which resides there at the museum, the No. 88 test mule (a drivable, pre-production vehicle) and many, many more.”

Visitors came from all over world, including Australia, the Netherlands and Canada, and from all over the United States. The two-day event drew about 700 people, which Perrine says is good for a car show.

The show is always open to cars and spectators, and he wants people to understand the purpose of what the museum and the Preservation Team are doing, and the event ties into that.

“The 2024 show raised $25,000 to spend toward building the Bobby Allison tribute room at the museum,” Perrine says. To make a donation, go to imhofhp.com. “Look for the sponsorship page.”

In 2022, Donnie Allison’s 1969 Ford Torino (No. 27) became the restoration team’s first car project. Next came the 1974 Richard Petty championship Dodge Charger, then the Buddy Baker Dodge Daytona.

Since the 2024 show, Perrine has been looking for volunteers and sponsors to help build Allison’s tribute room. It will feature personal memorabilia from Allison, who died Nov. 9, 2024, less than a month shy of his 87th birthday.

Perrine gained possession of that memorabilia long before Allison’s death. “I’ve taken in 20,000 items that are in a climate-controlled storage place,” he says. “The collection will be rotated frequently so people can enjoy all the items through the years. Our whole purpose is to preserve the history of legends and legacies of Alabama racing.”

The teamrecently restoredthe Dodge Daytona that was test driven by Buddy Baker. During that test, he became the first driver to average 200 mph at Talladega. “The Baker car is worth a lot of money,” Dennis Dobbs says. “It would easily bring $200,000 to $250,000, and probably cost only $4,000 to $5,000 when it was new.”

Wade Wells talks animatedly about the “neat history” of this car, which was a prototype for Dodge Daytonas sold at dealerships. “Back in the 50s – 70s, race cars had to be street cars first,” he says. “Even street versions had wings on them. Manufacturers had to make and sell 500 of these to qualify that model to be put into a NASCAR homologation.” (According to Wikipedia, a homologation in motorsports is a testing and certification process for vehicles, circuits and related equipment for conformance to technical standards.)

Dobbs also has restored Camaros, Chevelles and Novas, and is working on a 1970 Mustang now. He has a shop next to his house that he calls Red Dog Automotive after a dog he had named, you guessed it, Red. Wade has a shop at his house in Washington Valley, and calls it Real Performance Muscle Cars, meaning real performance muscle cars.

Wade Wells, Dennis Dobbs, Brenda Allison and Robert Allison

Dobbs comes by his love of race cars naturally, but surprisingly, from his mother, not his dad. “My mother used to drag race in the ‘50s and ‘60s in New Mexico when my dad was stationed there in the Army,” he says. “She tinkered with the cars and that got me interested. Many good friends have taught me along the way.”

As an adult, he worked for Chandler’s Garage in Irondale for 15 years. He has worked for Motion Industries for 21 years and is in the maintenance department now. “The Torino led to the Petty car and that to the Baker Daytona,” he says. “Wade got involved because I asked him to come aboard. Wade is into drag racing and restoring muscle-car classics, like Corvettes and Camaros.”

One of the most challenging aspects of race-car restoration is locating parts, according to Dobbs and Wells. “A lot of them are custom made,” Dobbs says. “Motion Industries, where Wade also worked for 37 years, has allowed us to make some there.”

Numerous companies have donated parts and labor, Wells says. “Bryce Thomas Radiator in Gadsden is one, and U.S. Radiator in Gadsden. Also, V.P. Racing Fuels, through Rick Pennington, their distributor, has been very helpful in getting the special high-octane race fuel for the cars. Jamie Willis of Willis Performance Engines in Pell City has helped us out on all engine machining required. Herbie Griffith Paint and Body, Odenville, painted Bobby Allison’s airplane and other race car pieces. NAPA in Trussville has also helped tremendously. We rely on people’s goodwill.”

Goodyear recently provided them with $5,000 worth of tires and only charged them for taxes and shipping, according to Perrine.

Wells and Dobbs have made a few small pieces themselves, and several companies have put up money to help. Finding time to work on these projects can be a problem sometimes, though. Perrine will push the team when a car show, like the one held each October, is coming up.

“We especially want to thank the Springville Police Department for allowing us to operate these cars on the road (for shows and other events) without license plates,” Wells says. “You gotta road test these cars, right?”

Team members attended the Richard Petty Foundation event in Gatlinburg this past summer, and Petty was there. “We brought the car to the show for him to enjoy and autograph,” Wells says. “He signed the hood and the trunk, and it’s now at the museum.”

On the short list for restoration is the Wonder Bread car belonging to Ricky Bobby in the movie, Talladega Nights. It’s already at the museum. Bobby Allison’s Matador and a Davey Allison Thunderbird are on that list, too,but the Allison room is up first.

Back in the day

Most of the team members grew up watching the Alabama Gang race on television. “The original Alabama Gang really was only three guys: Bobby and Donnie Allison and Red Farmer,” says Perrine. “The irony is that none of them were from Alabama. They moved up here from Florida and weren’t even born there. They were labeled the Alabama Gang by other racers. You can blame the media for throwing others from Alabama into the gang. Farmer is the only one of the original gang who lives in Alabama. He’s 92. Donnie is 85, and Petty is 87. Bobby died last November at 86.”

The Hall of Fame has 122 -plus vehicles on display, according to Executive Director Adam Stocks. “We have a couple of volunteer organizations that are absolutely phenomenal,” he says. “They don’t get paid, they do it for love of the sport and restoration of these autos that have great history behind them.

“They put so much of their time, effort and some personal money into raising money and begging companies for parts, to put these vehicles back to running again. That says a lot. And it helps us a lot because we’re then able to take these vehicles to shows and other events. Take the Richard Petty car or Donnie Allison car we have, crank it up, every head turns and people walk to the car. That’s a great piece of advertising.”

The whole purpose of the Hall of Fame is to preserve the history of the legends and legacies of Alabama racing, according to Perrine. The team and other volunteers want to raise awareness of the museum and help raise money for it.

Wells puts it another way. “It’s our love of racing that keeps us going, to be able to carry on the legacy of early NASCAR and all forms of racing.” Adds Dobbs: “We’re restoring cars that belonged to some of the racing heroes we grew up with, and we want to honor their contributions to racing. If these museums close up, the cars end up in private collections and no one will see them anymore.”

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