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.”
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 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.
Ice Cream parlor making comeback on St. Clair’s main streets
Story by Elaine Hobson Miller and Carol Pappas Photos by Carol Pappas and Wallace Bromberg Jr.
Ice cream dripping down your chin, blackberry cobbler stuck between your teeth. How sweet it is to enjoy these fruits of summer, especially at St. Clair County’s two new ice cream shops. Sweet Sue’s Ice Cream Shop in Pell City and Laster’s Sundries by The Farmhouse in Springville are providing summer treats year ‘round on each side of the mountain. How sweet is that?
Laster’s Sundries has been a fixture on Springville’s Main Street since 1927, when Lee and Otis (Ma) Laster opened it as a drug store, soda fountain, ice cream parlor and gift shop. It has gone through several owners in its 94-year history, and even sat empty for a few years, but it’s back in business now as Laster’s Sundries by the Farmhouse. Owners Bryan and Brandi Zargo also own The Farmhouse on nearby Purple Heart Boulevard. That’s where they do a lot of the prepping of the sandwiches they sell.
My husband saw that the building was for rent, recognized an opportunity, and said, ‘Let’s do it!’” Brandi Zargo says. “The nostalgia was part of the appeal of the place.”
Laster’s is full of nostalgia, all right. The soda fountain was bought from Robert M. Green & Sons of Philadelphia, Penn., for $2,125. There are two hand-carved, walnut backbars and companion cabinets out of a Mississippi saloon. The old fountain is made of black and white marble with an elaborate mahogany shelf and mirror behind it. Two ionic columns flank the mirror, and egg and dart molding surround it.
Old-fashioned wire ice cream tables and chairs provide much of the seating, in front of antique mahogany floor-to-ceiling showcases that formerly housed a “wide range of gifts for every occasion,” including birthdays, weddings, baby showers, etc., according to a copy of an early menu that is now displayed in one of the cases. Collectibles, such as Fitz & Floyd, Boyd’s Bears, Harmony Kingdom, Dezine Fairies, Christmas collectibles and decorations, chess sets, Galileo thermometers and more were available at one time, and the original Laster’s even had a bridal registry.
Today, those gift items are gone, but there are many souvenirs left on display, including some old medicine bottles, newspaper clippings about the place and several photographs of smiling faces about to be smeared with ice cream. One shows a group of Little Leaguers lined up on the red-and-white Coca-Cola bar stools, while another shows a mixed group of girls and boys peering over the counter.
Charlotte and Juliette Steele enjoy an after school treat at Laster’s.
The Zargos hand-dip Blue Bell ice cream and serve it by the cone or by the cup. Sensitive to the needs of their customers, they started washing their ice cream scoops between servings when one customer with a peanut allergy pointed out that some of their frozen stuff contained nuts. “We hope to get some sugar-free and even dairy-free ice cream choices soon,” Brandi says. “Bryan likes to adapt to the season, too, the way we do at the Farmhouse, so we’ll be adding some soups for the fall. We’ll also be serving coffee soon.”
Laster’s has always served ice cream, and Zargo wanted to keep that aspect of the business. But he knew that ice cream wasn’t enough to keep him afloat, so to speak. He wanted to maintain consistent hours, too, so he decided to add sandwiches to the mix. “He put a question out on What’s Happening in Springville (Facebook page) that asked what people wanted for Springville,” Brandi says. “Many folks mentioned a sandwich shop.”
Laster’s serves almost a dozen different sandwiches, and Bryan seems to come up with a new one each week. The menu includes Laster’s Club (smoked turkey, ham, provolone and cheddar), Blackened Chicken Salad (a mixture of smokehouse chicken with chopped pecans, creole mayonnaise and red grapes on ciabatta bread), Zargo’s own take on the traditional tuna melt and BLT, as well as a Smokehouse Ruben and Grilled Pimento Cheese sandwich. Each can be accompanied by potato chips, broccoli slaw, pasta salad or a cup of fruit. Canned soft drinks, tea and lemonade make up the drink list. Bryan’s brownies and cookies are available, too. In the deli area, Laster’s sells their sides and Boar’s Head meats and cheeses by the pint, quart and pound.
A former minor-league baseball player and ex-Marine, Bryan went to culinary school at Virginia College and worked at the Fish Market in Birmingham and The Club, then became executive chef at Bellini’s in Shelby County before opening The Farmhouse and then Laster’s Sundries. The Farmhouse opened a year ago in the midst of the COVID pandemic, but has done well, according to Brandi.
Sweet Sue’s
Jenny Alverson and husband Richard knew they wanted to open a business, but they weren’t quite sure what it would be.
But when they saw the historic building for rent on Pell City’s downtown main street, Cogswell Avenue, it sparked a nostalgic whim, and Sweet Sue’s Ice Cream Shop was born.
“We fell in love with the idea of ice cream – old-timey sundaes and banana splits – things you couldn’t find anymore,” Jenny says. The concept fit perfectly inside the historic 1890 structure thought to be Pell City’s first brick building.
The building was perfect, too, with its exposed brick walls, outdoor seating and plenty of room for colorfully painted booths and tables inside – just like an old-fashioned ice cream parlor.
And it certainly fit as an age-old tradition. When you think of celebrations and gatherings, she says, ice cream usually plays a starring role. “Ice cream just seems happy.”
She and Richard grew up in the smaller towns of Odenville and Ashville, so they knew Pell City well. “We went to Pell City for all the important stuff,” Jenny recalls. “St. Clair County feels like home.”
Since opening May 6, the Alversons, along with their children who help out – Shannon, Kaylan, Mayli and Thomas – have added to the menu.
Pimento cheese and chicken salad sandwiches, nachos, hotdogs, sausage dogs, barbecue salads and pork sliders offer fare for another eatery in downtown Pell City. “We haven’t made an actual menu yet,” she says. “We’re seeing what works.”
Coffee is coming later and probably old-fashioned lemonade. “We’re doing it slowly to see how it all goes,” she says.
So far, so good. The staple, of course, is ice cream with dozens of flavors – waffle cones, cups and even a “bubble waffle,” which is warm on the inside, crispy on the outside and tastes like a waffle with ice cream nestled inside. For a smaller sweet tooth, baby bubbles are available, too!
For Jenny, the ice cream shop brings back precious memories from childhood, when her grandmother used to take her for a treat. It also reminds her of being able to feed a family without breaking the pocketbook. With four children of her own, she knows the value of taking them somewhere special and still being able to treat them all for under $10 just like her father did with her and her four siblings.
Judging by the response as customers stream in and out, Sweet Sue’s is as popular as the Blue Bell ice cream it serves. “We couldn’t ask for a better community. The support the community has given us and the excitement they have shown that we’re open have been huge.
“We wanted to make people happy with something fun. No matter what kind of day they’re having, ice cream can just change everything.” l
It’s not hard to understand why Realtor Lyman Lovejoy has earned the nickname, “Mayor of St. Clair County.” Just like the leader of a bustling community, you will usually find him at the center of a flurry of activity, whether it’s a civic endeavor, developing a residential community or playing a pivotal role in economic development.
His love for St. Clair County is unmistakable. His work over the past 50 years to promote it, showcase it and yes, sell it, is undeniable.
The nickname does have original ownership. “I coined the term mayor of St. Clair County because his impact on this county has been tremendous,” said prominent attorney John Rea. “His reach has impacted every community in this county. Not only has he had a phenomenal run of business for 50 years, he has been heavily involved in economic development with the Economic Development Council.”
‘Impact’ is an ideal word to describe his efforts over the years. As Rea noted, Lovejoy’s impact transcends lines and has been on both the public and private side.
His longevity in the real estate industry has not gone unnoticed either. The St. Clair Association of Realtors honored him in its annual recognition luncheon for achieving the 50-year mark.
Along the way to 50 years, Lovejoy has seen the ups and downs of business but always weathered the storm, no matter how dark it seemed.
None seem as dark as the Great Recession of 2008. “In ’08, we owed a lot of money, but we paid our bills, and we learned from it,” Lovejoy said.
His son, Shawn Lovejoy, credits his resilience and success to his “ability to care for people, his integrity and his positive attitude. He is incredibly resilient. ‘Quit’ is not in his vocabulary.”
Couple that with his community first, not business first attitude that drives him, and the picture of him as an ambassador for his adopted home of St. Clair County comes into focus.
From left, Richard Knight of Metro Bank, Lovejoy and Bill Ellison, 2021 EDC Chairman’s Award winner, at annual EDC event
You’ll probably find the name of every commissioner, chamber official, mayor and councilman in his phone. He never hesitates to call them with news of interest or just to say hello. “I get along with all of them,” he said. If it’s a civic gathering, a council session or a commission meeting, you’ll more than likely find him there, too. He likes to know what is going on, but more important, how he can help.
It’s not unusual to see him in the middle of a flurry of activity. He has been known to entertain in a musical group at nursing homes and senior centers and is active in his church, First Baptist of Ashville. He served on the St. Clair EDC and later was awarded its Chairman’s Award.
He has played leadership roles with the St. Clair Association of Realtors, served as chairman and is a member of the Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Clair Hospital Board, and he is a past member of the Alabama Real Estate Commission, a gubernatorial appointment.
Early years
The time was 1971. With only a high school education and zero experience, he decided to go into real estate. Some may have thought he would never make it, but he was determined to prove them wrong.
He and his young wife, Catherine, were a team – “a one-two punch,” Shawn Lovejoy recalled. They worked many tireless hours – her doing the books and squeezing every dime and him out meeting, greeting and handshaking. They call it ‘people skills,’ and those who know him would agree Lovejoy certainly has the corner on that market. And it set Lovejoy Realty on a journey of success as a leader in St. Clair County.
Over the years, relationships only strengthened. “We’ve sold some of the same people houses five times,” he said. He’s given many a young person a start on land ownership. With $500 down, he has financed young people “who never owned a piece of land in their life – hundreds of them – still do.”
Building relationships
Ed Gardner Sr., who served as the first executive director of the St. Clair Economic Development Council, said, “It is not possible to think St. Clair County without thinking Lyman Lovejoy, they are synonymous.” Lovejoy served as chairman of the EDC for many years.
“There are many reasons why St. Clair County has experienced significant quality growth over the past 20 years but when you break those reasons down, you will find Mr. Lovejoy as a component in most,” he said. “First of all, there has never been a more prominent ambassador or proponent for a worthy cause. His enthusiasm and warm, friendly demeanor permeates every meeting, public or private, and immediately exudes trust and confidence by those in decision-making positions.”
His community before business philosophy puts him in an elite class. “Lyman has ALWAYS placed the best interest of St. Clair County above all other considerations, including personal gain,” Gardner said. “He will always make himself available for meeting with anyone anywhere if there is a chance that his presence will add to the possibility of bringing investment into our county.”
His people skills set him apart, Gardner added. “Lyman’s love of his fellow man brings him into personal contact with more people than most public officials. There are no barriers recognized by him when it comes to reaching out to people. He is just as accommodating to those of low income and minorities as the highest corporate and political officials, always demonstrating the same concern.”
Doing the right thing is his trademark. “His integrity, honesty and impeccable character is evident in every transaction, therefore you never need to wonder where he stands on an issue,” Gardner said. “If you do the right thing, you know that your decision will meet with his approval.”
Some call it the Rock House because of the building materials used for its walls. Others call it the Weaning House because several young newlyweds have lived in it. Historically, it is known as the R.E. Jones House, after its builder and original occupants.
Regardless of what you call it, this Craftsman-style house on U.S. 231 near downtown Ashville has been home to four generations of a local family with the fifth due in June. That’s a lot of love and laughter for a house that’s only 76 years old.
“My daddy started building the house right before WWII,” says Ross T. Jones, the current owner and a former transportation supervisor for the St. Clair County Board of Education. “He went to war before he could finish it and returned in 1945, then completed it in 1946.”
Ross’ daddy, Ross Earl (Buddy) Jones, was born in 1909. He was the son of Ashville businessman Green T. Jones, who co-owned the Jones and McBrayer General Store with A.L. McBrayer of Ashville.The store sold everything from milk to coffins.After graduating from high school, Buddy Jones worked for the county and for his father, delivering coal in the winter and ice in the summer to area customers.
Buddy married Lorene Montgomery, whose father, Walter Montgomery, had purchased the land where the Rock House stands in the late 1800s for $500, a horse and a saddle. The 3.5 acres of land came with an existing house. Lorene’s parents lived in that house, which is next door to where the Rock House was built, until they died. Ross Jones’s nephew lives there today.
By the time Buddy was drafted, he had finished the two back bedrooms, central hallway and kitchen of the Rock House. “My mom and brother, Jerry, lived there while dad was on active duty,” Ross says. When he returned from the war, Buddy finished a third bedroom, the breakfast nook, living room and dining room. The rooms were kept warm by a wood heater in the hallway. Its flue has since been removed and covered over.
Four generations: Ross T. Jones, Laura Norris, Gracie Merritt and daughter Hattie Grace
“There was an outhouse on the property back then, and we’re not sure when the indoor bathroom was added,” says Ross, who was raised in the Rock House. “It was probably about the time Ashville got a sewer system, because we’ve never had a septic tank here.”
He has the original blueprints for the house, which was patterned after a rock home in Albertville. His father gathered the rocks for the foundation and outside walls in the afternoons after he got off work. He and a co-worker took the company truck after making coal or ice deliveries and picked up rocks in various fields around Ashville. He dumped them into a big pile in what is now the backyard.
“Folks were glad to get them out of their fields so they could grow crops,” says Ross. When Forney Coker started laying the stones, he soon announced to Buddy Jones, “You don’t have half enough.” So, Buddy continued his rock gathering until he had the amount needed.
Some of those rocks support the house from underneath. Two 20-foot-long rock columns, each about 2.5-3 feet in height and two feet wide, start at the back and end where the hallway stops and the dining room begins. The front porch wraps around half of the right side of the house and uses six rock columns that measure 2.5 feet on each side. Each column is topped with a concrete banister. The columns and walls were formed by building wood frames, stacking rocks in them and pouring concrete into the frames. After the concrete set, builders moved the frame higher, added more rocks and concrete, then repeated the process until the columns and walls reached the desired heights.
There are two ways to enter from the front porch. An arched entryway rises above French doors at the main entrance, which takes you in through the dining room. To the left of the dining room is the living room, which can be entered through a single outside door. “Grandmother used that door, but hardly anybody else has since her,” says Laura Norris, Ross Jones’s daughter. “Most use the French doors into the dining room.”
Behind the dining room is a breakfast nook that leads into the kitchen. The hallway runs from the dining room to the house’s only bathroom at the back. The breakfast nook, kitchen and back bedroom are off the right side of the hall, while two bedrooms and a small closet between them are off the left side. The back bedroom on the right is being used by the current residents, Laura’s daughter, Gracie, and her husband, Stoney Merritt, as a laundry room, storage room and extra closet. A side door enters a tiny area that used to house Ross’ mother’s washing machine, and that area leads into the breakfast nook.
“There are only three closets in the house, including the utility closet in the hallway,” Laura says. “There’s a brick fireplace in the back bedroom and another one in the living room that are original. They are so shallow, we think more coal than wood was burned in them.”
Front door still uses the original key to lock
Several newlyweds rented the house after Buddy and Lorene’s death. Laura didn’t live there until she married Michael Norris in late 1999. They lived there until 2001. Jonathan Jones, Laura’s brother, moved in when he returned from college, staying until he moved to Huntsville in 2005. In 2006, Laura and Michael returned to the Rock House, this time turning it into the offices of their startup company, Laboratory Resources and Solutions (LRS). When LRS moved into their current office in downtown Ashville in 2017, Laura turned the cottage into an Airbnb for a couple of years.
“We had a lot more business than I thought this area would have,” Laura says of that enterprise. “Roses & Lace Bed-and-Breakfast next door had closed, and we got a lot of guests from wedding venues and Talladega race fans.” That incarnation ended in August of 2020 when Gracie and Stoney moved in as newlyweds. When their daughter, Hattie Grace,was recently born, she became the fifth generation of the same local family to live in the Rock House.
“Mom and dad helped us do a few renovations before we lived there in 1999, and Michael and I have done all of the renovations that have taken place since 2006,” Laura says.
She and Michael kept the original hardwood floors in the living room, dining room and front bedroom, had the dirty carpet ripped up from the hallway and back rooms, then replaced the pine that was under that with more hardwood, and had all hardwood floors stained to match. All doors and windows are original, but the roof is fairly new and so is the wiring and plumbing. Plaster walls were patched and painted throughout the house. They also added heating and air.
“I wanted to maintain the original character of the house,” Laura says. “I tried to save the original sink in the kitchen, but it was rusted through.” The bathtub is original to the house. Ross tiled parts of the plaster walls alongside the bathtub during the 1990s to create a shower.
While re-wiring the house, their electrician fell through the plaster ceiling in the hallway. “We had to call in a plaster guy to fix it,” Michael Norris says. It wasn’t the first time that had happened, though. “I did the same thing when Laura and I lived here,” Michael says. “We were putting insulation in the attic, and you have to walk on the wooden beams, and there’s still bark on them. The bark came off and I fell through.”
Two outbuildings are original to the property, one a barn, the other a shed. The barn was built by Ross Jones’ maternal grandfather, Walter Montgomery, and the white shed by his father, Buddy. “The third door of that white outbuilding on the right was the outhouse,” says Laura. “My grandfather moved grandmother’s washing machine out there after it caused the floor at the side entrance of the house to rot. He covered the hole where the outhouse had been with a slab of concrete and put a drain in it for her wash house.”
Laura had the kitchen remodeled for Gracie. She replaced brown appliances from the 1960s with stainless-steel editions, added a dishwasher and replaced the flooring with gray, interlocking tiles. She kept the cabinets that were built by Wilson Construction of Ashville in the 1960s. “We put new doors on them and painted them white,” she says. “The old ones were stained from years of cooking.” She put in quartz countertops, with white subway tiles for the backsplashes, a gray under-mount sink of a composite material, and added modern light fixtures. “We had to special-order the wall oven to fit the 30-inch space,” Michael says. “The standard is 36 inches.”
The Hoosier cabinet in the breakfast nook belonged to Laura’s grandmother on her mother’s side. “She made lots of biscuits on it,” says Laura’s mother, Beth Jones. “The marble countertop in the breakfast room is from the soda fountain in the original Ashville Drugs, when it was next door to Teague Mercantile.”
This is Gracie’ssecond time to live in the Rock House. “I wasn’t even two when we moved,” she says. “I learned to walk in the hallway. I had grid marks on my feet as a child from walking on the floor furnace (now a cold air return for the HVAC system). I’m using a dresser and vanity that belonged to the original owner, my great-grandmother, and she used them in the same bedroom.”
Laura used the same pieces of furniture as a teenager, then Gracie used them as a child where her parents live now on County Road 33. “They came back home,” Gracie says.
Her favorite spots in the house are the kitchen and front porch. “There’s always a breeze on the porch,” she says. Her grandfather, Ross, adds, “In the summers it doesn’t get hot in here.”
Laura still has the original key to the front door, although she thought she had lost it when the child of an Airbnb tenant took it out of the door when his family traveled back to Texas. “I couldn’t open the front doors without it, so I called the family, and they found it in their child’s belongings and sent it back to me,” she says.
Gracie has many fond memories of playing in the backyard with her younger brother, John-Michael, and exploring the woods behind the backyard. “There used to be a big crabapple tree that we climbed a lot,” she says.
The limitations of just one bathroom and few closets will eventually propel Gracie, Stoney and little Hattie to find a larger home, but in the meantime, there’s no place that she had rather be, she says. “I like the idea of living around so much family history.”
