All the Dolls

Moody collector amazes with her ‘finds’

Story by Leigh Pritchett
Photos by Kelsey Bain

Kathy Haynes’ house is full of babies … about a thousand of them actually.

She is not like the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe and “had so many children, she didn’t know what to do.” Quite the contrary, Mrs. Haynes knows exactly how to treat each one of hers. And there is always room for one more.

“I am one of those crazy doll ladies,” said Mrs. Haynes, who lives in Moody. “This is what I do. It is my hobby.”

Her collection of dolls encompasses more than 160 years. Every doll has a unique story, and Mrs. Haynes can easily recount the fine details of each.

Kathy Haynes’ doll collection is about 1,000 strong.

One – an Effanbee Rosebud – spent much of its life in England, but somehow ended up in a Huffman antique shop where Mrs. Haynes bought her. She found some of her other dolls in thrift stores, garage sales, estate or doll sales and websites.

At a thrift store, she discovered a 1970s, red-haired Blythe doll that still worked and wore original clothes. “She was perfect, missing a shoe. I paid 59 cents for her and turned around that night and sold her for $1,000,” Mrs. Haynes said.

She found a Madame Alexander portrait doll in an Irondale thrift store. “I got her for $12.”

A 1950s Miss Revlon came from yet another thrift store. Miss Revlon cost Mrs. Haynes about $15. “Isn’t that unreal? But you have to know what you’re looking for,” Mrs. Haynes said.

The oldest of her brood is a flat-top, China-head doll Mrs. Haynes got for $15 at an antique store in Crestline. That treasure, dating to the 1860s, required a week of work to get all the cat hair off the dress.

The next oldest would be from the late 1800s, a Martha Chase doll and a papier mache doll with original clothes and, from around 1915, an Armand Marseille doll and two Kestner 171 dolls. The papier mache doll was a $10, thrift-store find.

Her collection fills several curios in her living room and dining room. Additionally, hundreds of dolls are on display in a designated room. A select few grace a guest room.

Her treasure trove also includes an Armand Marseille Queen Louise (circa 1915); Bye-Lo dolls with bisque or composite heads; Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls (1930s and ‘40s); Skookum Indian doll with papoose (1940s); Betsy McCall and large Mary Jane Effanbee dolls (1950s); Annalee soft-sculpture dolls; Barbies and more Barbies (1950s and across the decades); Little Miss Echo (1960s), and modern American Girl dolls, among others.

“I have a wide variety,” Mrs. Haynes said.

A love of teaching, history

For 30 years, Mrs. Haynes taught language and history to preteens in Trussville. She used an interactive method of teaching that, for example, encouraged students to “be” Egyptians for a day as they learned about the country. Mrs. Haynes would dress that day as Cleopatra.

Her whole family, in fact, is dedicated to conveying and preserving history. Husband Bob taught advance placement history to 10th and 11th graders in Trussville. Their son, Josh, has assumed that helm, along with coaching scholars’ bowl.

Mrs. Haynes cherishes things reminiscent of her childhood and items with a story, such as antique pieces handed down in the family. She collects cookie jars, Hummels, green and pink Depression Era glass, Byers Carolers, Raggedy Ann and Andy and stuffed bears. One of the bears was created by Trussville doll artist Jan Shackelford.

Even the family pets have their stories. Chance, for instance, is a rescue dog. Mrs. Haynes said her husband gave the dog that name because “we were giving him a chance, and he was giving us a chance.”

Because of her love for history, Mrs. Haynes said the intriguing background of Alabama Baby dolls would make them the dearest in her collection.

An Armand Marseille Queen Louise doll dates to about 1915. An American Character Toodles with “follow me” eyes is in the background.

According to the Library of Congress and The American Folklife Center, Alabama Baby dolls were made in Roanoke, Ala., by Ella Gauntt Smith. In 1897, a neighborhood girl brought her broken bisque doll to Smith to repair. Smith was a seamstress, whose hymn-singing parrot would sit on her shoulder while she worked.

Smith experimented two years before finding the right method to repair the doll. From that, her doll-making business was born. In 1901, Smith received her first patent (albeit in her husband’s name). At the height of her business, about a dozen women worked with her, helping to create the plaster-headed dolls with fabric bodies. She was the first southern doll maker to produce Black dolls.

“These dolls are very special,” said Mrs. Haynes, who has four Alabama Baby dolls. One is a rare, barefoot Alabama Baby.

Though Alabama Baby dolls are Mrs. Haynes’ favorite, Chatty Cathy dolls would be a close second.

She has more than 100 Chatty Cathy dolls. She pulled the cord on one doll to demonstrate that its talk box still functions like new. “Tell me a story,” the doll proclaimed; with a subsequent pull, the doll asked, “Will you play with me?”

Smiling, Mrs. Haynes said, “I think she is a doll. Well, she is a doll!”

The different family groupings of Chatty Cathy dolls that Mrs. Haynes has assembled constitute a collection within a collection. She has Charmin’ Chatty, Chatty Baby, Tiny Chatty Baby, Chatty Brother and Singin’ Chatty dolls.

They feature varying styles and colors of hair, but almost all are wearing original outfits. Mrs. Haynes noted that Barbie and Chatty Cathy dolls shared the same fashion designer.

Holding a Black Tiny Chatty Baby doll, Mrs. Haynes remarked that very few of them were made. “Isn’t she cute?” Mrs. Haynes asked.

Mrs. Haynes also has rare Canadian Chatty Cathy dolls, which, unlike their American cousins, have glass eyes and pinker skin tones.

“I think I have about 10 Canadian ones in all,” she said.

When Mrs. Haynes was a child, her beloved Chatty Cathy doll was accidentally left in a park one day. She and her mother returned quickly to look for it, but the doll was gone.

Decades later, when Mrs. Haynes was in her 30s, her husband bought a blonde Chatty Cathy to replace the one she had lost.

“I just have a very sweet husband, … a blessing from the Lord, … a good Christian man,” Mrs. Haynes said.

Bob’s gift sparked 30 years of doll collecting, which has become an activity the couple enjoys together.

“He has always supported me,” Mrs. Haynes said. “… Bob just got into (doll collecting) with me. He went to doll shows with me. Now, he can tell you as much about Chatty Cathy as I can.”

Sharon Kirby of Vestavia Hills, who is president of The Birmingham Doll Club of Alabama, noted Mrs. Haynes’ extensive knowledge about Chatty Cathy dolls. She said Mrs. Haynes, who is first vice president, gave a presentation on Chatty Cathy to the club, which is the oldest United Federation of Doll Clubs (UDFC) group in the state. Kirby was so impressed with the presentation that she has encouraged Mrs. Haynes to give it at other UDFC groups.

“She just did a really wonderful job. … You could tell she was a teacher. … Everyone learned a lot,” Kirby said.

Kirby mentioned the interesting bit of trivia that Chatty Cathy and “Rocky” of the cartoon “Rocky and Bullwinkle” were voiced by the same person, June Foray.

Both Kirby and Mrs. Haynes said dolls not only offer a look into the past, but also preserve snippets of yesteryear.

“Dolls are a form of art,” Mrs. Haynes said. “They are also a part of our history.”

Kirby added, “Dolls kind of represent a snapshot of history at the moment – the fashion, the trends, I guess even the materials available.” They exemplify technology from their particular era, such as the mechanism that allowed Chatty Cathy to speak.

Through the generations, dolls have helped to teach children to use zippers and buttons, to nurture and “even to cut hair,” Kirby said, with a chuckle. “… If you like dolls, you see the beauty and value in them.”

Barbara Eiland of Trussville said she likes to see Mrs. Haynes’ “amazing” assortment of dolls. “They’re very interesting.”

Eiland, a long-time friend, described Mrs. Haynes as a caring person who diligently and lovingly attends to the needs of family, relatives, friends and neighbors. Mrs. Haynes is thoughtful, too, she said. After learning that Eiland, as a girl, loved Penny Brite dolls, Mrs. Haynes got her one.

“I thought that was so sweet of her to do that,” Eiland said. “… That meant a lot to me.” l

Santa Has Come to Town

Story by Eryn Ellard
Photos by Kelsey Bain

Every year, millions of bright-eyed, mystified children are tucked into their beds on Christmas Eve, too excited to sleep, for it is the night that unites children across the globe.

It’s the night Santa Claus takes flight, his sleigh guided by nine reindeer who will be visiting their homes, bringing toys and treats, and on Christmas morning, children across the world rush to see what St. Nick has brought them.

Santa Claus is pure magic, and his visits create memories that last well into adulthood.

Santa and his helpers reenact Beatles’ Abbey Road cover in downtown Pell City.

For St. Clair County native Michael Gaither, his heart for St. Nick never left him after childhood, and he finds passion, purpose and joy each year embodying Santa for St. Clair County and the region.

Gaither will put on his red suit, black boots, belt complete with intricate embellishments for the third year this Christmas season and will be quite busy visiting children and adults alike – making his list and checking it twice.

Gaither is not only jolly St. Nick during the holidays, but a registered nurse for over 26 years, a paramedic and firefighter starting with the Lincoln Fire Department, and his desire to serve others as a paramedic and firefighter has spanned many stops over 34 years, including the Talladega Paramedic Department. He was a pioneer in opening the first ambulance service in St. Clair County. He is still a volunteer firefighter the New London Fire Department today.

When asked how the idea to become Santa first crossed his mind, he said it was from an old friend from his fire department days who also had experienced playing Santa. “Why do you look like Santa?” Gaither asked. The friend simply replied, “Because I am.” On that day, a spark ignited in Gaither’s heart. “The more and more I thought about it and after listening to how much (the friend) loved it, and all the joy it created, I was sold,” Gaither explained. “There was no turning back.”

The preparations that go into becoming Santa each year are no easy feat. “Growing a Santa beard happens during the hottest months of the year, and I have to add Santa pounds which is a perk I enjoy, putting on my Santa body,” Gather jokingly explained.

Gaither also expounded on the intricacies of creating and caring for his iconic Santa suit. He recalled that the benchmark Santa suit is the Coca-Cola Suit. The suit comes with an upwards of $4,000 price tag.

He explained that becoming Santa is an expensive endeavor if it is to be done correctly. A good, professional-grade suit costs in the neighborhood of $1,000. “That’s just the suit,” he explained. “When you add real boots, glasses, gloves and belt trim and accessories, the total cost is well over $2,000,” Gaither noted. He also said most people do not realize that it takes more than one suit to make it through a holiday season. In addition, the suits have to be specially dry-cleaned.

Santa goes ‘toonin’

Reminiscing over fond memories of his own childhood and experiences with St. Nick, joy quickly took over his face as he recalled those emotions and fond memories of Christmases past. “The excited feeling of rushing to bed on Christmas Eve is one that a child cherishes for a lifetime, and I vividly remember we always read Twas The Night Before Christmas, and the fun of setting up the cookies and milk,” Gaither recalled. “I also remember standing in line to see Santa and thinking hard about what I was going to say and what I wanted. Visiting Santa is serious business when you’re a kid,” Gaither said.

Gaither recalled some of the funniest and quirkiest requests he has received from children over the years. These range from stop signs, ice cream trucks, cheese fries and a bag of concrete and chicken wire. “Once I had a young boy ask me to get his Dad out of jail because all he was doing was growing plants in the backyard,” Gaither recalled, laughing. “That was a good one – definitely caught me off guard.” 

Children are full of imagination and should be completely innocent to the bad things that go on in the world. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Gaither said he has also had some heart wrenching requests. “Once a little girl asked me if I could make her sister be able to see the presents I brought her because her eyes don’t work. I also have many, many requests to make a parent come home from a deployment.”

Santa also admitted that out of all nine reindeer, all of whom he loves dearly loves – he does, in fact, have a favorite. “Rudolph takes the crown, hands down,” he said. “He is quite clearly the captain of the ship and the rest of the crew would be dysfunctional without his leadership. He loves traveling, he is a little shy, he loves to help others, and he is most definitely a natural born leader,” Gaither said.

Last year, Santa’s visits and getting to see children in hospital, nursing home and other settings looked quite different. “I did get to be Santa, of course, but it was hard last year,” Gaither said. “Santa had a mask just like you do, and I did visit a lot of healthcare facilities to say ‘Thank You.’”

Over the course of his career, Gaither said it has been one of the greatest blessings of his life. He has delivered babies, held the hands of people as they took their last breath. “Sometimes it’s as simple as offering a smile to someone in their darkest hours,” Gaither said. “To do healthcare you must have a servant’s heart, and it is not for the faint of heart.”

When asked about working on the front lines during the age of COVID, Gaither took a moment before humbly stating, “COVID really took some of the personal touch out of healthcare. In some cases, families could not be together in their darkest and last moments. This is something I would have never would have dreamed of happening,” Gaither said.

He has served as the director of Emergency Services for Grandview Medical Center. “Not many people get to say they have opened and moved a hospital,” Gaither joked. The year Grandview opened, Gaither was awarded Clinical Manager of the Year for his role in opening the Emergency Department and along with moving all the patients from the hospital at Montclair to Grandview.

Today, Gaither works for Brookwood Baptist Medical Center,  the Tenet Corporation, as a patient safety officer and risk manager. He also holds a juris doctor from the Birmingham School of Law.

From health care to Santa care

Stepping out of his scrubs and into his Santa suit is one of Gaither’s greatest joys. “You can empower kids to spread love, joy and peace – and the true meaning of Santa by simply telling them ‘Santa is love and magic and hope and happiness.’” Santa Claus, he explained, is a symbol of the true meaning of Christmas – the reason for the season. His names come from the source of Christmas – Christ himself. Jesus Christ was a man who gave freely and represents the best that there is in mankind. “Santa is a symbol of the greatest gifts of Heaven and Earth,” Gaither said.

Although his schedule is quickly filling up, Santa is offering “new traditions” this year. These include in-home Christmas “tuck in” service – complete with story time, photos and cookie making.

He is also available for live video chats in addition to traditional holiday parties, photo sessions and retail events.

Editor’s Note: To find out more about these services, Gaither may be reached at (205) 329-3570 or via email, SantaMG@mail.com.

The Act of Creation

Artist turns old Ragland bank building, own creations into works of art

Story by Scottie Vickery
Photos by Meghan Frondorf

Ragland artist Mary Ann Sampson is perhaps best known as a book artist whose handmade creations “are a personal stage and a memory stick for a life lived.” Dig a little deeper, and you soon discover that her portfolio, much like her life, is diverse, rich and ever-changing.

In addition to creating hundreds of one-of-a-kind books that are featured in national and international collections, she counts sculptures, drawings, paintings, etchings and photographs among her work. A former nurse, Sampson changed course and followed her passion for art after she married and had a child.

Samples of compelling work and photos of stories that inspire her to create more

Today, at 80 years old, Sampson is still finding new ways to express herself, whether through new art mediums, singing or most recently, tap dancing. “I’ll try almost anything,” she said. “I’ve been real fortunate to have lots of ways to self-express.”

Many of those forms of self-expression were on display this past spring at the Gadsden Museum of Art, which hosted a retrospective exhibit of Sampson’s work. “I put together a lot of things I’d never shown before – drawings, etchings, as well as books,” she said. “My studio is filled with stuff now that I don’t know what to do with.”

Ray Wetzel, director of the art museum and curator of the collection, praised her unique works. “Her artwork is full of complicated simplicity in the way of the labor and craftsmanship of these delicate paper constructions that oftentimes look machine made,” he said. “It is the same passion that goes into her work that gives me a sense of calm that within the chaos hidden in her work she is also telling the viewer everything will be all right.”

Childhood influences

Born in a small town in North Carolina, young Mary Ann spent a lot of time on her grandparents’ farm, which laid the foundation for her love for rural life. “I loved the freedom of barefoot days and playing until sunset with my cousins,” she said.

She also remembers creating masterpieces at the kitchen table with her two sisters. The young artists were inspired by their mother’s cousin, Ruth Faison Shaw, the originator of finger painting. A teacher in Rome during World War II, Shaw was inspired when she saw a child with a cut finger smearing iodine on the walls. She later developed finger paints and had them patented in 1931.

“We would just get in the kitchen and paint that way, and I loved playing in the paint,” Sampson said, adding that she enjoyed smearing the different colors together on the paper to see what took shape. She also loved drawing and making scrapbooks, and she remembers being encouraged by her first-grade teacher, Mrs. Woodard. “I always loved my teachers who had artwork plastered all around the walls,” she said. “She was very instrumental in instilling a love of art in me.”

Sampson’s father worked at a hardware store, and her mother later became a seamstress to bring in some extra money. “She had a treadle sewing machine,” which was powered by a foot pedal, Sampson said. “Mom taught us to sew long before we took it in high school.”

Today, Sampson has two sewing machines, including her mother’s, and she uses the skills she learned as a child to bind many of the books she creates. “She was very methodical, and I think I get a lot of that pickiness and attention to detail from her,” Sampson said. “Of course, I can be very messy in my painting, too.”

Despite a lifelong love of art and the desire to pursue it in college, Sampson took the more practical route and went to nursing school at Wake Forest University. A nurse for 10 years, she fell in love with a medical student she met at the hospital. She and Larry Sampson were married in 1964, just before he joined the Army and was stationed in Texas and Vietnam. 

Upon his return in 1966, they moved to Birmingham where he did his residency at UAB, and she was a cardiac nurse at St. Vincent’s Hospital. He later opened his dermatology practice in Birmingham’s eastern area and practiced medicine for more than 30 years.

Through it all, Sampson’s passion for art never wavered, and when daughter Anna was 2, she returned to school to study art. She attended both Birmingham-Southern College and Samford University, eventually earning a double major in art and Spanish. “It took a long time because I was married and had a family, but I finally graduated in 1982,” she said.

After graduation, she rented studio space in Birmingham from an artist friend who owned a printing press, which intrigued Sampson. “I loved printmaking,” she said. “I love the surprises you get when you run something through the ink. You’re never quite sure how the etching and scratching will turn out.”

A simpler life

After a few years of renting a space, Sampson knew it was time to find a permanent home for her studio. “I had looked in Birmingham, but I couldn’t find anything I could afford,” she said. “Mostly lawyers could afford what I was looking at, and I knew my income wasn’t going to be anything like that.”

Ragland Bank, built in 1910

She and her husband owned a tract of land in St. Clair County, and she realized a return to the rural lifestyle she loved as a child was beckoning. She eventually bought the old two-story Ragland Bank, built in 1910, and renovated it for her studio.

“We were driving through Ragland one day, and I saw this turn-of-the-century building,” she said. “The roof had fallen in, it was boarded up in places, and there was a big faded ‘For Sale’ sign on it. It was just the kind of structure I was in the market for. I said, ‘Larry, stop! That’s it, that’s it!’”

Just as she does with her art, Sampson poured her heart into renovating the building. “It didn’t cost a lot of money to buy it, but it took a pile of it to get it up to snuff,” she said. After calling in a friend who had helped restore Sloss Furnaces, she replaced the roof – twice – during the renovation process. Since the mortar between the bricks had literally turned to sand, workers had to remove each brick by hand and rebuild and mortar the entire structure. “I was working in there throughout all of this,” Sampson said.

By the book

After participating in a book arts workshop at the University of Alabama, Sampson’s interest was piqued. When she attended a show of artists’ books in Richmond, Va., her future path was set. “I fell in love with them,” she said, of the handmade books. “I just loved the way you could express yourself in an artistic way through books.”

She began to experiment with using books as an art form and was intrigued by the possibilities. “If you’re a painter, you use a brush and paint. In book arts, you don’t have the canvas. You take the quality or essence of what a book is and make it into a place where you put your art,” she said.

She took workshops with some of the greats in the book arts world, including Keith Smith and Tim Ely, and she began creating and showing some of her own works of art. She bought a letterpress for her studio, and she also began experimenting with binding techniques. Inspired to learn all she could, she eventually earned a master’s in book arts at the University of Alabama.

“When I started doing books, I just stuck with it and kept going until I had enough to do a show. When the first piece sold, it just happened,” Sampson said, seemingly still amazed by the good fortune. “I just kept exploring, and it just happened.”

Sampson said she has always been interested in the human form, and much of her work reflects that. “My subject matter is usually puppets, string people and articulated figures,” she said. “I have a real interest in how the human figure wiggles about.”

Many of Sampson’s books are letterpress, one of the oldest forms of printing, and she painstakingly creates them letter-by-letter in her studio using a variety of beautiful papers. Letterpress “has this beautiful history that dates back hundreds of years. I can get excited about different kinds of type, but I’m sure the world couldn’t care less,” she said with a laugh.

In addition to painting covers, printing the words – many of the books feature poetry – and illustrating with pencils or paints, Sampson uses a variety of materials, including cloth and leather. She binds her own books, sewing some and using paste, linen thread or wire for others. “I just love to explore new mediums.”

Inspired by the Mona Lisa, she has a wall filled with references to her – even a modern day obituary with Mona Lisa listed as a survivor.

As one show led to another and then another, Sampson began making a name for herself. She met Bill and Vicky Stewart, owners of Vamp & Tramp, Booksellers, who traveled the country selling artwork and books. “They carried some of my first books with them and sold every book I had,” she said. “It’s wonderful to have someone take the time and their good, hard-earned money to invest in what you’ve done.”

Sampson named her studio the One-Eye Opera Company, a nod to some of her early book creations that focused on music themes. She founded the OEOCO Press (using the initials of her studio’s name) with the mission of creating limited-edition, letterpress and one-of-a-kind books. In addition to creating her own, she has collaborated with other artists and poets on unique art pieces. 

Although she has some individual book collectors who own her work, “the public doesn’t know what to do with artists’ books, by and large,” she said. Many of her pieces, which range from hundreds of dollars to thousands, are in library collections, and Vanderbilt University boasts one of the largest collections of her works. Her books have found homes and been exhibited all over the world – from Tennessee, North Carolina and New York City to Canada, Mexico City and Germany.

A quieter life

Although she is still creating, Sampson, who has macular degeneration in one eye, is no longer setting the type for her books. Her artwork temporarily took a backseat for about six years after their Shoal Creek Valley home was destroyed by a tornado in 2011 and while her husband, who passed away in 2017, battled Parkinson’s disease. She now lives just next door to their original home in an old house made from lumber from the Moundville train depot. “Everyone calls it Railroad House,” she said. “It’s an interesting home. It’s small, but it’s all I need.”

She spends her days enjoying the quiet and visiting with friends and family, including her daughter, son-in-law and grandsons, who live nearby. She also enjoys gardening and discovering new talents. For the past year, she’s been taking voice lessons and learning to tap dance. “I sing in the choir, and I’d been wanting to take voice lessons to learn more about singing and projecting,” she said.

After enrolling in a voice class at Shalita Clark’s studio in Springville, Sampson was persuaded to take a tap class, as well. “I’m learning a lot, and I got to dance onstage at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center,” Sampson said. “I’m having a lot of fun.”

She’s also enjoying being back in the studio and playing around with new techniques. Most recently, she experimented with a painting technique that uses oils and cold wax, relying on YouTube videos for instruction. “I don’t have much hope for this, but I still enjoy experimenting with new mediums,” she said.

That’s because, as an artist, she can’t stop creating. “It’s a passion,” she said. “You just love it and are so grateful that you can do it.”

Veterans Home

Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home
still a standout almost a decade later

Story by Carol Pappas
Staff photos

When the Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home opened in 2012, officials knew it would usher in a new era for the region. The state and nation, really.

After all, this cutting-edge concept in state veterans homes was the pioneer, leading others to fall in line and follow suit.

It wasn’t just the breathtaking design – more like an exclusive mountain lodge and resort town than a nursing, assisted living and memory care facility. It was the realization that finally, veterans had a home worthy of their service to the country.

In the years that have followed, others saw it as a model, an idea that has grown and thrived around the country. Here at home in Alabama, the state is getting ready to open its fifth state veterans home in Enterprise. And it’s no surprise that the model in Pell City became the inspiration.

“If you ask veterans where they would rather be, their answer would be, ‘I’d rather be at home,’” said Rear Adm. Clyde Marsh, commissioner of the Alabama Veterans Administration just before it opened. “We tried to create a home they would like to go to and enjoy. We think the veterans will be happy here.”

He was right. Inside its massive corridors is like strolling through a downtown main street. Glass storefronts reveal what’s housed inside – a beauty shop, barber shop, pharmacy, library, chapel and a café.

The town center is an immense room anchored by a floor-to-cathedral-ceiling fireplace, sitting areas and nooks, a gathering place for residents and visitors alike. Courtyards and covered patios with rocking chairs add to the welcoming atmosphere.

Residences aren’t hospital-style rooms, they are neighborhoods with private rooms, a central kitchen, dining room and living room – just like the admiral said nine years ago, a home.

The home boasts several places to eat and relax.

The $50-million project did not miss its target, providing homes for 891 veterans to date, giving them access from assisted living to Alzheimer’s/dementia and skilled nursing services.

Hiliary Hardwick, director of the veterans home, has served there since the opening. She has played a role in every one of those 891 admissions, she said.

In return, the rewards have been many over the years, she said. “I get to know them and their families and take care of them. I get to know their stories.”

She knows the personal remembrances of D-Day, women who served in World War II, the liberation of Paris, landing on Omaha Beach or the fighting in Korea and Vietnam. They are eyewitnesses to history.

As World War II veterans have aged and passed away over the past nine years, the veterans home staff are seeing rapid changes. “We are having more and more Vietnam veterans,” Hardwick said. Veterans of the Gulf War are beginning to come there to live as well.

“They’re a lot younger – in their 60s and 70s – instead of late 80s and 90s,” and the staff are adapting to their needs. “It’s a different mindset on how to take care of them,” she explained. “They’re more tech savvy. They know about Wi-Fi,” and the changing needs are being met.

They’re more active, she noted, and consequently, activities for them are changing. As an example, she said there are a lot of golfers, so they partnered with the Alabama Golf Superintendent’s Association to design and build a putting green on the grounds. The community joined the effort as well with donations from Disabled American Veterans, American Legion and Pell City Rotary Club.

Community involvement like the putting green project is not unusual at the veterans home over the years, although activity has been significantly limited in the past year due to pandemic concerns.

But in years past, the community has ‘adopted’ the veterans home and its residents, making sure needs are fulfilled – from special events to visits to decorating for Christmas to entertaining or just being a friend.

Just like Rear Adm. Marsh said, it’s their home, and it should befit their service.

Hardwick agreed, talking about the sacrifices they made and the history they’ve experienced and are willing to share. “They’ve lived history, it’s not just something you read in a book.”

Rim to Rim

Pair of Pell City engineers ‘engineer’ a Grand Canyon adventure

Story by Scottie Vickery
Submitted photos

John Jones remembers reading a quote years ago that’s been on his mind quite a bit recently. The gist is that if you pick something to tackle, and it doesn’t seem impossible at the beginning, you didn’t choose something hard enough.

Jones and Dennis Vandegrift, his friend and co-worker, don’t have to worry that they set their sights on something too easy. Their idea to hike the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim-to-rim in two days was a daunting one. Five months after achieving their goal, they’re still amazed at what they accomplished.

Dennis hiking along the North Kaibab Trail, Day 1

“A little over a year ago, (we) hatched an insane idea” Jones said in a Facebook post after returning home. “We thought we should try to hike from one rim of the Grand Canyon to the other and back over two days. 110,000-ish steps, 45 miles, 20,000 feet of elevation change, and I’m not sure how many training hikes and runs later, we did it. I’m honestly more than a little surprised we pulled it off.”

Not many people do. According to the National Park Foundation, a partner of the National Park Service, fewer than 1% of the Grand Canyon’s 5 million annual visitors even venture below the rim – and many of those just hike a few miles. The ones who hike rim to rim, typically over two days, are even fewer.

Then there’s Jones and Vandegrift, who did it twice. They hiked from the North Rim of the canyon to the South Rim in 12 hours, spent the night in a hotel, and hiked back from the South Rim to the North the next day.

“It was cool, but it was a little bit nuts,” Jones said. “The more it’s in the rearview mirror, the cooler it becomes.”

The planning stages

Both Jones and Vandegrift, structural engineers with Barnett Jones Wilson in Pell City, are avid outdoorsmen. Jones, 49, is a hiking and backpacking enthusiast while Vandegrift, 41, competes in triathlons and owns Off-Road Multisport, which hosts swim/bike/run/paddle off-road race events in Alabama and Northwest Florida.

The two are always up for a challenge, and Jones proposed this one. “I mentioned it to Dennis, and it took him five seconds to say, ‘We’re doing it,’” Jones recalled.

They had to work quickly since lodging sells out a year in advance. “We hatched this plan 54 weeks before we could do the trip, so we had to make a lot of quick decisions,” Jones said. “The first day we were eligible, we booked everything.”

Their goal was to hike rim-to-rim-to-rim, but they decided to arrange for a shuttle at the South Rim in case they got there and weren’t up to hiking back. “We thought it would be a cheap insurance plan,” Jones said. Because of COVID, though, there were fewer shuttle options than normal, and all were booked. “At that point, it was all or nothing,” he said.

They began training in earnest. “I felt like I was the weak link,” Jones said. “He could have shown up ready to do it, but I definitely had a lot of conditioning to do. I was more worried about my general fitness level, and Dennis was more concerned about his feet and knees.”

The Grand Canyon hike is different from most, Vandegrift said, and they kept that in mind while training. “It’s like a reverse mountain climb,” he said. “You’re doing the descent first and then the ascent at the end when you’re tired. Normally, you get to the top, and you have gravity to bring you home.”

Another issue is temperature changes. The North Rim doesn’t open until May 15 because it’s got a much higher elevation than the South Rim, and ice and snow can be issues. “The first morning, it was 25 degrees when we left,” Vandegrift said. “By midday at the bottom, it was 90.”

Training included lots of hikes at Mt. Cheaha, and Jones had a previously scheduled hike in Wyoming. He also headed to Clingmans Dome in the Smoky Mountains after planning a hike that mimicked the Grand Canyon one as closely as possible.

“It was about 25 miles with 9-10,000 feet of elevation changes,” Jones said, adding that he started high, hiked down first and then back up. “I figured if I couldn’t do it in the Smoky Mountains when it’s 50 or 60 degrees, I couldn’t do it in the Grand Canyon when it’s in the 90s.”

Hiking the canyon

The two headed to Arizona on May 22. They camped out the night before the first day of hiking, which Jones said was their only big mistake. “We should have stayed in a hotel,” he said. “We had to break camp that morning, which took a long time, and it was cold. We were shooting to leave at 5 a.m. but it was more like 6:30.”

Each carried only the bare necessities in his pack – a toothbrush, water, change of clothes and two days’ worth of trail food, Vandegrift said. They planned to eat dinner at the hotel once they made it to the South Rim that evening, and there were water stations every three to five miles, so they never had to carry more than two quarts of water. “The packs probably weighed 18 or 20 pounds starting out, which is light for a pack,” he said.

John on a bridge crossing on the North Kaaibab Trail

One of the first things they noticed before setting out was all the warning signs around the Grand Canyon. “Hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon is optional. Hiking out is mandatory,” one read. Even still, they were determined. “I think where most people get in trouble is when they don’t respect it and understand it going into it,” Vandegrift said. “We knew it was going to be hard as hell.”

By the time they reached the bottom of the canyon on the first day, they were feeling it. They stopped for lunch and a cold glass of lemonade at Phantom Ranch, which offers the only lodging below the rim of the canyon and is accessible only by foot, mule or by rafting the Colorado River. Although many hikers stay the night, Jones and Vandegrift still had the ascent to the South Rim ahead of them.

“At one point we still had to hike nine more miles and gain 4,400 vertical feet to get to the hotel room,” Jones said, adding that the distance included a three- to four-mile section they later learned is nicknamed Heart Attack Hill. “We both had heart monitors on our watches, and they were beating pretty fast,” he said with a laugh.

By the end of the first day, all they could think about was food and a hot shower. “Our hotel room had a claw-foot tub that you had to step into. When we walked in and saw it, we were like, ‘Are you kidding me?’” After a hot dinner and a load of ibuprofen, they went to sleep only to be awakened by horrible leg cramps.

Getting up to catch the 5 a.m. shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead was painful, and they started the hike in the dark with headlamps. A few miles in, they were rewarded with an incredible sunrise. “There are 360-degree views, and the sun just illuminates everything,” Vandegrift said. “It was incredible.”

Although they had seen some beautiful scenery and a full-size ram that jumped out of nearby brush the day before, they both agreed that the South Kaibab Trail, which is very steep, was their favorite. “In the really steep sections, you could look down and see as many as 10 switchbacks,” or zigzags of the trail, Jones said.

“You could see someone down below, and they seemed so close, like you could throw a rock to them, but they were probably an hour ahead on the trail,” Vandegrift added.

The views were spectacular. “If we had hiked that section and spent twice as much time there, it still wouldn’t have been enough; it was just so scenic,” Jones said. Vandegrift agreed. “You can take a million pictures and it doesn’t begin to capture it.”

Mission accomplished

By the time they made it back to the North Rim about 5 p.m., they were hungry, tired and had a 3-hour drive to their hotel ahead of them. They got a bison burger at a drive-through, turned in early, headed home the next day, and were in the office the day after that. “I don’t think we had that ‘we did it’ feeling until that first day back in the office,” Vandegrift said.

Although they were disappointed that they never saw a herd of bison, which are often spotted at the North Rim, Jones and Vandegrift said they loved the experience and the challenge. “The first three miles and the last three miles each day were the hardest,” Jones said.

Although they pushed themselves, they never considered quitting. “At the end of the first day when we still had a few miles left to go, I was feeling apprehensive about the second day,” Vandegrift said. “But you settle in, get down to business and start walking. It was two really long days of hiking, and there are times we were hurting, but it was never, ‘We’re about to die.’ We never thought that we weren’t going to finish.”

Jones said he was proud of their achievement and the determination that carried them through to the end. “My daughter runs cross country, and she would go to Cheaha with me and Dennis for some of our 13- to 14-mile training hikes,” he said. “She’d be running up the hills, and I was struggling to get up them.

“She saw me struggling in November with something that shouldn’t be that hard if you’re going to do what I signed up to do,” he said. “Then she saw what I did and saw what you can accomplish if you put your mind to it. That’s a pretty good feeling.”

Mud Factor

Run at Millcreek MX Park in Pell City

Story, photos and video
by Graham Hadley

Mud Factor bills itself as a “seriously fun, 5K obstacle run,” and it delivered exactly that.

Despite days of heavy rains leading up to the day before the race, organizers were able to put together a spectacular event at Pell City’s Millcreek MX Park just off the Eden Exit of I-20.

David Carpenter, one of the event organizers, said their run is supposed to be more family oriented than many of the more hard-core obstacle runs and tries to draw a diverse crowd of people who otherwise might not tackle such a challenge.

“We call ourselves a fitness-based entertainment event, very family oriented. Our obstacle course is more family friendly,” he said.

The early runs are for mixed groups of children and adults – people of all ages and athletic abilities. One lap is half the run, and there are no penalties if you opt out of an obstacle.

“One of our MCs says it best: ‘If you are staring up at an obstacle. And it is staring back at you, and you say, ‘Oh heck no.’ You can walk around it,’” Carpenter said.

There are also no 1st-place awards – but everyone gets a medal for finishing.

“The reality is that we are just trying to get people off the couch and have fun with their friends and family. Participants often help each other over the obstacles. There is no 1st place or last place. We are a fun run. No times are kept,” he said.

Don’t be fooled, though, this is still a challenging obstacle and mud run. And though one lap gets you through the entire course with all the obstacles, it takes two go-arounds to hit that 5K mark. Those runs are usually reserved for the afternoon.

Team Jamaica, Russ, Ronae, Sadike, and Sachell at the beginning

The course has the usual suspects of obstacles – mud holes, inclines and ladders, ropes and crawls, walls, and of course, water slides. All the extra rain this year made for some tricky spots – areas that are normally only a couple of feet deep required swimming in some spots. Like the rest of the obstacles, there were plenty of Mud Factor staff on hand, especially around the deep water, to help anyone who needed it.

Safety was always at primary concern. In addition to the staff monitoring the obstacles, there were water stations, places to store you backpacks and gear – the Mud Factor employees had every contingency covered.

For spectators and participants, there were food trucks, music, and the runners got bandannas and free stick-on tattoos.

Despite the weeks of wet weather leading up to the run, the actual day of the event was perfect – clear skies and warm but not sweltering weather – the perfect combination for the perfect outdoors event.

With the increase in COVID-19 cases, event organizers took extra precautions to keep everyone safe – there was plenty of room for everybody to social distance, but masks were required in the starting area where everyone was crowded together at the beginning of each run. Masks were encouraged, but not required, in any areas where people were close together. Nobody was required to run with a mask.

“Mill Creek is the perfect venue right now,” Carpenter said. The park is a top MX competition bike track that is privately owned. Some of the other venues Mud Factor uses are in government-owned facilities and have to follow very strict COVID guidelines. Millcreek did not have such stringent requirements, which made the run much more fun for the participants.

That’s not the only reason, though, that Carpenter likes the park so much.

“It’s ideal. It has good entrance and exits, there is plenty of parking, the track and surrounding areas are dirt with some great terrain,” he said.

But most important is the easy access to water.

“At other parks, we are a national mud-run company, so especially out West, we have to often port in our own water for the obstacles and the mud. That is a lot of water, a lot of work. Millcreek had all of that right there,” he said.

“We are celebrating 10 years this year, and the MX parks are ideal. The tracks are permitted for crowds, they have the parking … it makes it easy.”

Climbing obstacle at Mud Factor run at Millcreek MX park in Pell City

And true to the organizers’ intent, Mud Factor drew people from all walks of life and ages and from all over the region.

One trio was there from Madison because of a bet. Russ said with a smile that he was at the race because “Jamaicans run faster than Americans.” He had bet two of his friends from Jamaica, Ronae and Sachell, that America would win a track event they were watching on TV. “And there they went over the finish line, Jamaica, one, two, three, so here I am,” he said.

One of the things that made the race attractive to that group, who also brought young Sadike with them, was that the course was designed for athletes and non-athletes alike and was just a fun way to get out and get some exercise.

At the finish line, Team Jamaica Ronae and Sachell kept celebrating by throwing themselves back into the giant pool of water that served as the final obstacle, huge grins on their faces, as Russ filmed them from the shore with his phone, a grin plastered on his face as well.

That was the overall feeling from the other runners – a fun, athletic day in the sun and a chance to get out after a long year cooped up at home.

Nicole from Locust Fork said she had heard about the event on Facebook and that she liked the family-friendly atmosphere.

“This is great for kids, a good family event. We can go around any obstacles that are too hard for them,” she said.

A lot of the competitors were there in groups and said they often do these kinds of events together on a regular basis.

Candice, Jason, Lauren and Niles were one such group from Birmingham.

“We have done runs together before. We heard about it on Facebook and decided to come out,” Niles said.

Lauren agreed, “We saw it online, and it just looked like a lot of fun.”

The organizers enjoy the events almost as much as the runners, Carpenter said, and they have every intention of returning to St. Clair County for future mud runs.

“We have been doing this for 10 years. It is a lot of work. If we did not love doing this, we would not still be doing it,” he said. “I definitely see us returning here in the future.”

For people looking for additional Mud Factor races here, Carpenter did say that the events are usually named after the largest nearby metro area – so even though the race is held at Millcreek MX Park in Pell City, it is advertised as the Birmingham Mud Factor race.