Looking for a high-energy evening that brings the community together while supporting a meaningful cause? Dancing With Our Stars, Pell City’s version of the popular television show Dancing With the Stars, returns for its 12th year this spring, continuing a beloved local tradition with a few thoughtful updates.
The event will take place on March 14 at 6 p.m. at the Center for Education and Performing Arts (CEPA).
For more than a decade, Dancing With Our Stars has showcased performers from Pell City and surrounding areas in a fun competition that celebrates creativity, connection and community pride. While the Pell City Line Dancers organized and headlined the event for its first 11 years, this marks the first year CEPA has taken on full responsibility for planning and hosting the event.
CEPA Executive Director Ash Arrington says the transition feels like a natural next step. “We’re excited to expand off the stage and get into the community planning this event,” Arrington said. “It’s always been our goal to reach more people, and having this under the CEPA brand adds a level of legitimacy to our desire to serve the community in new ways.”
CEPA Assistant Director Maci Johnsey acknowledged that taking on the event has been a big challenge for the organization’s small staff, but also a rewarding one. “It’s been a lot to take on, but that also makes it more personal,” Johnsey said. “We have a small committee, which makes communication easy, and everyone involved really cares about keeping the heart of the event intact.”
What is New This Year
This year’s program introduces expanded performance categories, with group sizes classified as Duo/Trio, Small Group (3–15 participants) and Large Group (16–30 participants). The number of participating groups will also be capped to keep the total runtime at approximately 2.5 hours.
The event is open to community members who want to participate. Groups perform a short routine of their choice. Registration is free and open until capacity is reached. Participants can register at www.pellcitycepa.com, where full performance guidelines are available, or in person at the CEPA Box Office. Questions may be directed to Johnsey at maci@pellcitycepa.com.
“We want to keep the event fun while also keeping the audience engaged,” Arrington said.
Judging will include first-, second-, and third-place awards, along with several special recognitions. Winners will be selected by celebrity community judges, and awards will be given in each category.
Audiences can expect a diverse lineup of performers, including children, professional dancers, neighborhood groups, local schools and dance studios. Returning favorites include Red Apple Dance, an Asian dance group based in Birmingham, along with the Pell City Line Dancers. Both groups remain a cornerstone of the event.
Giving Back to the Community
In keeping with CEPA’s mission, proceeds from the event will benefit organizations whose work aligns with community enrichment. This year’s primary beneficiary is the Pell City Education Foundation, with a junior recipient, The Hartzog Foundation.
“We love spotlighting these organizations and bringing awareness to the incredible work they’re doing right here in our community,” Arrington said.
In addition to the dance performances, the evening will feature a silent auction, concessions and beer and wine available for purchase.
A Night That Brings People Together
For Johnsey and Arrington, the impact of Dancing With Our Stars goes beyond dance. “People show up year after year to support their family and friends,” Johnsey said. “It’s a tradition.”
Arrington agrees and says one of her favorite moments is greeting attendees as they arrive. “So much work happens behind the scenes,” she said. “Seeing people walk through the doors and watching the program come together makes it all worth it.”
In a time when connection feels especially important, Dancing With Our Stars continues to offer something simple and powerful: a reason for the community to come together, celebrate one another, and support causes that matter. lfluence generations to come. Hold fast to your dreams and keep on collecting history. Your dream has strong wings.
Spend time talking with Tonya Forman, and you’ll soon realize you have found a person who loves Pell City, Alabama, and is focused on advancing the city and preserving the history of its citizens.
Born to Lesley Sr. and Fannie Forman were Tonya and her siblings, Sharod, Lesley Jr., and Diane. Tonya grew up in Pell City and was an active member of Rocky Zion Missionary Baptist Church. She graduated from Pell City High School in 1987. After graduation, she attended Central Alabama Community College in Childersburg.
Accepting a job with AT&T, she began commuting to Birmingham every workday. Before long, co-workers in the city began encouraging her to move to Birmingham rather than commute. Her response, she recently confided, was always, “There’s no place like Pell City! I can safely sit on my porch without a concern, and I’m not gonna leave that for a 30-minute drive down the interstate.”
Those conversations and her responses seem to be what urged her on to know her hometown better and to work for its upbuilding. “I realized what a blessing I had here in Pell city.”
CITIZENS IN ACTION
Forman at 2021 event with District 2 Councilwoman Ivi Wilson and Siri Truss
Tonya is a founding member of District 2 Citizens in Action, serving District 2 of Pell City. Established in 2021, the citizenship partnership is designed to achieve improved communication, understanding, and cooperation between citizens and city officials through increased personal contact between City Hall, neighborhoods and communities throughout the city. President of Citizens in Action is Bishop Donald Gover.
PELL CITY BLOCK PARTIES
One Pell City event Tonya devotes time to is the yearly Block Party. This event started in 1999 as an initiative to celebrate and bring the community together. For the past 26 years, it has brought citizens of Pell City and surrounding communities to the historic downtown for live music, kids’ rides, vendors, and food.
Tonya’s involvement in the Block Party began because at one event attendees began asking her questions to which they thought she should know the answers. Specifically, they asked about Greg White’s R&B Set which had occurred at 3:00 pm.
“A lot of people didn’t come to the Block Party until after the sun went down,” Tonya explained. “So, about 4:30 or 5:00 people were asking about Greg and Keith White.”
When they asked Tonya, she had to tell them his set was over. “It was amazing,” she laughed, “at how many were asking me, and I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
That would soon change, however, for a visit to Urainah Glidewell at the Pell City Chamber of Commerce office got results thatTonya hadn’t planned for or expected.
In the meeting with Urainah, Tonya explained how a lot of people avoided the heat of the day and came to the event when the day cooled down a bit. She asked that Greg White’s Set be moved to 5:00 instead of 3:00.
As they talked, Urainah said, “Why don’t you become an ambassador?” Which brought Tonya’s response, “What’s that and what does it involve?”
To that, Urainah responded, “Just do what you’re already doing. You’ve got a love for the city, promoting it and getting people involved.”
Ambassadors of the Pell City Chamber of Commerce are volunteers who help with events, welcome new chamber members, and support local Pell City businesses.
Never one to be uninvolved, Tonya filled out the Ambassador Application and was soon accepted.
Urainah Glidewell, Executive Director of the Chamber recently said of Tonya, who is now on the Chamber Board, “Rotunda ‘Tonya’ Forman has been a wonderful addition to the Pell City Chamber Board of Directors. From her tireless involvement with the community and her willingness to help with chamber events, to her generosity of time and spirit, we are so blessed to have Tonya as part of the team.” Tonya currently serves as Vice President of the Pell City Board of Directors.”
In her work with the Block Party, Tonya recognized that involving church musical groups would increase attendance as well as be a way churches could promote their ministries. So, church choirs, praise teams, and musicians became sets at the Block Parties.
When emergencies arise, as they will, Tonya can help assess the situation and bring resolution. One of these emergencies occurred at the 2025 Block Party. For the sponsors of the event, there is a VIP section where refreshments are served. As the day progressed, a storm rolled in, not only disrupting the event, but also blowing a tree across the driveway to Blue Eye Eatery, the caterer for the VIP section. “She had everything ready to bring out,” Tonya recalled, “but they were waiting to see if the power company was going to come out and cut the tree up.”
The power company didn’t come, and the caterer realized the only solution was a boat. “So, they communicated back and forth with Urainah Glidewell and Chamber members,” Tonya continued, “and they got on the boat with all the food and got it to the Civic Center where chamber members were there to unload, put it in a truck and get it here to the VIP area.”
Although delayed an hour or so by the storm, the VIP refreshments were ready by 5:30 or so. The early performers missed out, but the groups that came in at 5:00 and 6:00 were able to come in and enjoy the food.
ARCHIVING BLACK HISTORY
Tonya has accomplished a major success in the work of collecting and preserving the history of Pell City’s Black communities, schools, churches, and citizens.
Forman and Johnnie Mae Green at the museum
Erica Grieve, Museum of Pell City Coordinator, recently said this about Tonya’s work. “Rotunda’s passion for preserving Pell City’s Black history has been nothing short of inspiring. She has spent countless hours collecting stories, photographs, and artifacts that ensure the experiences and achievements of our Black community are never forgotten. Her dedication and heart have shaped the Museum’s Breaking Barriers Exhibits and continue to bring our shared history to life for future generations.”
When the museum director and board approached Tonya about collecting Black history, she told them, “Black people don’t have a lot of [recorded] history because they were either burned out, ran off, or left because of work.” She also pointed out fires and floods had damaged or destroyed photographs and treasured history recorded in family Bibles, etc. It would not be an easy task.
However, never one to be daunted by difficulty, she acknowledged it and set about collecting history of churches, communities, and citizens. A significantly rewarding part of the collection occurred with the taping of community members: those who had lived long lives; those who had helped integrate Pell City schools; and those who had excelled in professions once unavailable to our Black citizens. These people broke the barriers of segregation and blazed the way for those coming afterwards.
The first Breaking Barriers event was announced in the Anniston Star, February 6, 2024, in an article by Laura Nation. “The Museum of Pell City opens its locally produced Black History Month exhibit Feb. 8, featuring the people of this community as they experienced events of the times in which they lived. Their stories reflect decades of a changing community through the years as well.
‘This particular focus of the city’s history was actually born early in the development of the Museum of Pell City, said director Carol Pappas.’ Carol Papas is President of the Museum of Pell City.”
Nation’s article continued: “There are 15 profiles among the videos, some of these are Thelma O’Neal Jones, the first Black female elementary school principal; Don Allen, a member of the first integrated football team; Bob McGowan, first Black Avondale Mills supervisor; and Keith White, the first Black art teacher in Pell City Schools.” Terry Young and Tom Ham were also on the first integrated football team.
Carol Pappa recently spoke of Tonya, saying, “In the time that I have worked with Tonya on our museum board, I discovered that she’s not just a member in name only. She goes to work, ensuring that any project she’s associated with becomes a success story.”
Ninety-five-year-old Johnnie Mae Green gives high praise to Tonya and her work of collecting Black history. “For a person in her generation to reach back and to think about the times that we had in our young days and to get interested in our history]is just amazing. I’m telling you: she is one to be complemented.” Johnnie Mae further stated, “Now, God had to have given Tonya the inspiration to do this. Because, without our history recorded, we will never know our background. And I thank God for her. She’s just a dynamic person.” She paused, then added, “She’s a God-fearing young lady. That’s the ticket to life. She’s one in a thousand.”
Tonya’s journey of faith began at Rocky Zion Missionary Baptist Church where she grew up learning of God. She was baptized by Pastor James Adams who served the church for eleven years. As she matured, she sang in the choir and on occasion led the singing. She was youth director at a time when the youth program flourished. “At that time the church published a small youth newspaper,” she recalled, “and the “the youth would write about a topic we had studied in Sunday School or about events and trips that were upcoming. They highlighted achievements of a youth member.”
WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA
Wreaths across America became another focus of Tonya’s as soon as she learned of this yearly event.
Wreaths across America, a non-profit organization, coordinates the placing of Christmas wreaths on the graves of veterans. The motto of the organization is “Remember, Honor, and Teach. Remember our veterans that served and are serving America, Honor the fallen veterans, and Teach our youth about the service and sacrifice of our veterans and families.”
Forman helping with Wreaths Across America
Tonya learned of the project in a conversation with Mindy Manners at the Museum of Pell City. “I knew about Wreaths across America, nationally, but I didn’t think of it as locally involved,” she confided recently.
So, when Mindy started talking about it, I thought, I do remember flags, but I didn’t recall seeing wreaths, and I didn’t realize that it was a program doing it versus individual families or churches doing it.” In their conversation, Mindy told Tonya about the cemeteries she helped with, and Tonya realized they were traditional white church cemeteries. When Tonya commented, “We have Black veterans in our cemeteries,” Mindy’s response was, “Would you be interested in doing it for them?”. Tonya’s immediate response was “What do I have to do? How do we get this started?
The answer to that question was that Mindy Manners was getting ready to have a meeting at Pell City First Baptist Church. Tonya immediately called her Aunt Verhonda Embery, and good friend Jennifer Gover. These women travel together and always find cemeteries to explore, and they attended Manners’ meeting.
“We got the information we needed ,” Tonya recalled, “and Mindy told us how to get started—the website that we could communicate with.”
Tonya gives much credit to Jennifer Gover for getting Wreaths across America successful in the Black cemeteries of Pell City. “Jennifer took the lead. I like to work in the background, and I’m good with that.”
They began researching cemeteries and the veterans buried in each, and ended up with six cemeteries: Mt. Zion, Rocky Zion (Pell City Community), Coleman, First Baptist Cropwell, Greenfield, and Bloominglight (which used to be called Robinson).
Tonya and Jennifer had difficulty locating graves that didn’t have markers, and family members had to show where they were. Dirt had obscured some markers and they removed the dirt from those. “We involved the community,” Tonya reminisced, “and told them you’re gonna have to help us find where they’re buried.
Tonya and Jennifer got gas line marker flags to mark graves they located. The churches got involved, and the person in charge of individual cemeteries made sure they were spruced up for the wreath placing ceremony.
Wreaths cost $17.00 each Family members paid for some, and others who had no veteran to honor gave donations—some for more than one wreath, and the money came in to pay for the wreaths.
That first year, 2023, the wreaths arrived and were stored at Rocky Zion Baptist Church and some at Jennifer Gover’s home, and the two ladies organized up the program. “We got ROTC involved.” Tonya recently recalled. “We couldn’t get Pell City ROTC involved that first year, so Jennifer found veterans in Bessemer who had a program, and they came out and did the salute for us at the church, and we had singing. So, we had a small program. “
Volunteers distributed wreaths to each church, and the ladies had someone at each cemetery to meet the families and place the wreaths on the family graves. As each wreath was placed, a family member would say the names out into the atmosphere. A proclamation that here we honor one who served the United States of America, and we are proud of their service.
Writing of the premiere event, Laura Nation wrote in the December 14 issues of The St. Clair Times, “Excitement for the Wreaths Across America program has been building as two Pell City women, Jennifer Gover and Rotunda Forman, noted the need to honor the veterans and set out to develop a way to do so earlier this year.”
After mentioning the excitement of the project, Nation speaks of Gover and Forman’s labor of love in the wreaths. “Preparation for the 2023 event involved much research, contacting family members and friends, and spreading out into the community to locate as many veterans as possible. The women said they were met with much interest and help in the effort, and now, in the first year of their plan, the program is in place.”
Tonya recounts an interesting 2023 event at one of the cemeteries. “Coleman is a split cemetery—there’s a Black side and a white side. The person in charge of the white side saw what we were doing and wanted to participate; so Jennifer was able to get enough wreaths to cover the graves of the white veterans also.” What a beautiful cooperation that calls to mind the lyrics from the 60s which are as true today as then: Black and white together someday/ Deep in my heart I do believe / We shall overcome someday.
Having known Tonya for a long time and having worked with her on this project, Jennifer Gover observes, “Tonya and I have served together for the past three years as Location Coordinator and Coordinator Assistant for Wreaths Across America. During that time, she has been an invaluable asset in sharing with others the mission of WAA while convincing individuals to sponsor wreaths for our veterans resting in six local cemeteries.
“She has a strong sense of purpose and is always able to provide additional options while giving that beautiful smile. She has a heart for service and sometimes overextends herself . I think she does that because of the willingness to serve rather than be served. She’s always ready for the next adventure.”
The wreaths are removed before they turn brown and ugly. “We get our volunteers to go back and remove them,” Tonya explains. “If available, we get Greg Gossett of the Pell City Maintenance and Street Department to get someone to come out and pick them up. We bagged them up and they came and removed them.”
The success of the first year of participation in Wreaths across America has continued. In 2025, more than 200 wreaths were placed on graves.
HOLD FAST TO DREAMS
Parents Lesley Sr. and Fannie Forman
Of Tonya’s devotion to collecting and preserving Pell City’s Black history and the Breaking Barriers project, Johnnie Mae Green says, “She should be as famous as Harriet Tubman,” for Tubman collected and preserved the stories of those she helped escape slavery. Carol Pappas, President of the Museum of Pell City, praises her work as well. “Breaking Barriers, our celebration of Black history in our community, resulted from Tonya’s work, her creativity and her vision to make it happen. We are now in our third year in the series, which has focused on the first to break barriers in their respective fields, reflections of faith and family, and this year, foundations of education – a salute to educators who made a difference.
“Tonya is that rare soul who can see a need and doesn’t stop working until that need is filled. We could never have come this far in bridging our community together without her efforts.”
Langston Hughes, Black poet of the mid-twentieth century, wrote,
Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly.
Supported by her faith, Tonya pursued her dreams of preserving the history of a city and its people, and in fulfilling that dream she put love into action.
Tonya, your work will continue to benefit and influence generations to come. Hold fast to your dreams and keep on collecting history. Your dream has strong wings.
Central Alabama reading program working to level the playing field
Story by Paul South Submitted Photos
Imagine the inability to read a sign, fill out a job application or even a check. Far too often, that scene plays out in Alabama, where one in four adults find those everyday tasks impossible.
They are functionally illiterate, shackled by an inability to read, but a growing number are reversing the challenges they face thanks to literacy programs like that of the Central Alabama Literacy Council.
Words like those of Helen Keller, who overcame profound disability to inspire the world, motivate retired pastor Ron DeThomas to meet the challenges head on. Keller once said, “More than at any other time, when I hold a beloved book in my hand, my limitations fall from me, my spirit is free.”
Tutors encouraged to volunteer in effort
DeThomas and the volunteers at the Central Alabama Literacy Council are working to help dozens of students overcome what has become their own disability.
The council serves St. Clair, Calhoun, Talladega, Etowah and Cleburne County in east Alabama, and DeThomas serves as county coordinator for the organization in those counties, which is funded through the United Way of Central Alabama.
Right now, the organization is working to help 25 individuals. To DeThomas, the former assistant pastor of Victory Christian Center, this is another type of ministry.
He was approached by Pell City leaders about taking the position. “I didn’t have any reason to say no. I have a lot of flexibility in the job.”
Surprisingly, some 90 percent of clients served by the council are high school graduates or higher. They have become victims of social promotion, the educational practice in which a student is moved to the next grade at the end of the academic year, regardless of whether they have mastered the material, with the objective of keeping students with their peers.
“Our average student might be somewhere in the area of 30 to 35 years old,” DeThomas said. “I think that’s pretty much it. Some years back we got off the old and strict standards of the school system, and they got lax in it.”
In 2019, at Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s urging, the legislature passed the Literacy Act, mandating that Alabama third graders must demonstrate reading proficiency on the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program to advance to the fourth grade.
“We needed this for a long time,” DeThomas said.
The first hurdle the council has to overcome in attracting new students is that stigma. “There aren’t many who we approach about literacy who just turn us down and don’t want to do it,” DeThomas sad. “Most of the reason they turn it down is because they are afraid someone is going to find out they can’t read at 42 years old or something. But I can assure them there are really not going to have that issue to face because the student, the tutor and myself are the only people who know they are being tutored. We keep all the information confidential.”
Many of the tutors are retired teachers or reading specialists. But classroom experience isn’t required.
“You don’t have to be in the field of education,” DeThomas said. “When we find a person who wants to be a tutor, we put them through a one-day training course. But it’s pretty extensive stuff. When they get through (the training), they start teaching. We have had an abundance of retired teachers that are doing this. That’s hard to beat.”
DeThomas has also tutored, working with a student at the St. Clair County Correctional Facility. For the retired pastor, tutoring is a different type of evangelism. But there is the joy that comes when the light of learning flips on.
“There are times like that in a lot of people’s situations, you just think, ‘’That’s what I’ve been waiting for,’ for the bell to come on, or something like that. But I think it does make a difference. I think it really does encourage the tutor as much as it does the student,” DeThomas said.
“These teachers really get into this tutoring thing, because they see the importance of it. They can tell when a student is really on board.”
In his eight years of work with the organization, only one or two students dropped out early in the program. “That’s really more of an encouragement for both the student and the tutor,” DeThomas said.
Students invest an hour each week for anywhere from nine months to a year. There is an emphasis on phonics and comprehension. The one-on-one classes are offered at no cost.
“They’re learning the things we learned in first, second third and fourth grade that they didn’t learn for whatever reason,” DeThomas said. “A lot of the students think it’s their fault that they didn’t learn to read. But that’s not always the case,”
For example, DeThomas told the story of one student who changed schools seven times in eight years. “He was a floating battleship out there,” DeThomas recalled. “He didn’t know what was going on. He got a different view of everything at every different school he attended.”
DeThomas believes parents who don’t place a priority on learning are a major issue in the struggles kids have in the classroom. “That’s sad, but it’s the truth,” he said.
He is hopeful about the future because of programs like this. Every encounter he has with students affirms he made the right decision when he chose to work in adult literacy.
“We’ve had students in the past who will tell you in a heartbeat their lives changed when they learned to read. They’ve become proficient in what they’ve been missing all these years. Their situation changed when they learned to read.”
That could mean the ability to read a beloved book, or the words of a hymn, or on a menu, or a driver’s license manual or job application. Some go on to get their GED. Think of it, as Helen Keller said, a mind and spirit freed.
“They feel comfortable reading now,” DeThomas said. “The light really comes on then. That happens with about every student that comes our way. Our commitment is, we’re going to make you a better family member, a better employee and help you be the person that you really want to be.” l
Editor’s Note:For more information about the Central Alabama Literacy Council, to become a student or tutor or to donate, or who knows someone who wants to learn to read, call 205-378-9072.
People from across the region take part in the Great Grown-up Spelling Bee at CEPA
THE GREAT GROWN-UP SPELLING BEE
The community has a chance to boost literacy by competing in or supporting the Great Grown-Up Spelling Bee at 7 p.m. on March 12 at the CEPA Center on the campus of Pell City High School. Doctors, lawyers, business and political leaders compete in three-member teams matching their spelling skills.
Proceeds from the Spelling Bee go to benefit the Literacy Council. For more information and for corporate sponsorship, call 205-378-9072.
The Bee helps build awareness of the Literacy Council and its work in bringing folks up to speed in their reading skills.
The year was 2000. Y2K. It was a time for thinking about new beginnings. After all, a new century was dawning.
Meanwhile, a new, young mayor had come on the scene in St. Clair County – full of ideas, yes, but a yearning to learn from his older counterparts, too. So, Guin Robinson, mayor of Pell City at the time, took an old idea, resurrected it and helped put it on the road to revitalization.
This past December, the St. Clair Mayors Association celebrated its 25th year as what has become a catalyst for engaging leaders from around the county with programs, conversations and informational resources to play a role in moving the county forward as a team.
Springville Mayor Austin Phillips, St. Clair School Board Member Bill Morris and Moody Councilman Ellis Key
Robinson, no longer mayor but dean of economic development for Jefferson State Community College, welcomed the group to the college’s Pell City campus to celebrate. In the midst of the reminiscences, it was easy to detect the camaraderie developed over the years.
“When we organized the St. Clair County Mayors Association 25 years ago, the county was in a very different place than it is today,” Robinson recalled. “The St. Clair County Economic Development Council was still new, and the idea of cities and towns working together was, for the most part, untested.
In 2000, a largely new group of mayors from across the county was elected. “Early in that first year, we met as a group and quickly recognized that we had much in common, enjoyed working together and could accomplish far more collectively than we ever could alone,” Robinson said. “That moment was significant and, in my view, marked the beginning of a new spirit of cooperation that continues to this day.”
The original mayor’s association had been established years before but had gone dormant for some time before Robinson suggested it be revitalized.
Guin Robinson addresses the crowd
Robinson served as its first president and soon, the group was up and running and making an impact. They exchanged ideas. They heard updates from state and county officials. They shared what worked and what didn’t in their own towns and cities.
The end result was a more unified county of leaders, sharing in each other’s triumphs and learning from each other’s tries that may have fallen short of success. They found common ground, and they worked together to make a positive impact.
“Over the years, the Association has grown to include non-mayors, a change that has only strengthened both the organization and its impact,” Robinson said. “Today, it serves not only as a forum for leaders to gather, but also as a catalyst for collaboration aimed at improving the quality of life for citizens throughout our municipalities and the county as a whole.
It became a resource center for not only mayors, but county officials – even state officeholders. They were able to hear the latest news from all parts of the county from those who knew it best, and they impressed state and federal officials with a unified front when requesting funding.
In an editorial the same year the association reorganized, The Daily Home newspaper endorsed the concept, calling it “a major breakthrough in effective communication with the ability to bring about improvements all around the county.”
The editorial rightly noted that issues like transportation, infrastructure and water are not unique to a single town. They are shared. “But, more important,” the newspaper said, “they realize the answers are shared, too.”
That has been the key to this success story since 2000. It’s a cooperative effort that continues to provide a strong foundation for progress that still thrives today.
“In my opinion,” Robinson said, “the Mayors Association has exceeded our earliest hopes for what could be accomplished.”
Much-anticipated restaurants set to open in Pell City
Story by Paul South Photos by David Smith
There’s a recipe for cooking up a broader restaurant menu for hungry St. Clair County residents and visitors – patience, hard work and teamwork.
And that formula will come to life in 2026, with two popular national chains coming to Pell City in early Spring – Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse. Groundbreaking for the restaurants took place in March 2025, and Longhorn Steakhouse is expected to open first with Olive Garden’s following about three weeks later, officials say.
The two newcomers will join Outback Steaks and prove an unwritten economic development adage, said Pell City developer Bill Ellison. Brands follow brands.
Classic western vibe at Longhorn Steakhouse
The restaurants come on the heels of the Pell City Square retail development that features Hobby Lobby, PetSmart, TJ Maxx, Old Navy, Ross, Ulta and others. Ellison was a co-developer of the shopping center.
The new restaurants, located at the intersection of U.S. 231 and Hazelwood Drive adjacent to the I-20 interchange, are in response to residents who have long hungered for new full-service eateries in one of Alabama’s fastest growing counties.
“This has been something the community has really wanted,” Ellison said. “We’ve had a lot of retail success, but we just didn’t have the full-service restaurants. We’ve done well with everything else.”
He added, “I think when Pell City Square shopping center came in with that store mix, that’s sort of a regional type shopping center. The tenant mix that’s there, we had hoped, would bring in at least one full-service restaurant to the community, and we got Outback.”
Outback has had blockbuster success, Ellison said. “It’s a truly outstanding restaurant. As I understand it, the restaurant had the highest opening volume of sales in the history of Outback, and it’s been extremely high volume ever since.”
Booth waiting on customers to sit at Olive Garden
Pell City Square’s arrival lured more shoppers to Pell City than had shopped there in the past, Ellison said. The restaurants are the culmination of two to three years of work, Ellison said.
“The expansion of the trade area helped us to recruit Olive Garden and Longhorn to Pell City. It’s kind of like brands follow brands. When we got that shopping center, and Outback came, other brands look at Pell City, and they say, ‘Those stores came to Pell City. We might need to look at that.’ That just kind of gets the synergy going.”
Don Smith, executive director of the St. Clair County Economic Development Council, said bringing in new full-service restaurants was part of the public’s wish list.
“Having more sit-down restaurants was something that the community had expressed a desire in having here,” Smith said. “The elected officials have listened and made it a priority for us to work on. Through collaboration and partnerships with the developer, property owner, the city, the county and the EDC, we were fortunate to get those national chains to come to the community, to go along with those shoppers who are coming from outside of Pell City to shop at the new Pell City Square.”
Longhorn and Olive Garden are under the Darden Restaurants umbrella of brands, Ellison said. Darden operates 2,100 restaurants nationally with more than 200,000 employees.
Pell City’s growth, local industries and the Honda plant, tourism with Logan Martin Lake and a growing health care landscape all fueled the company’s decision to come to the county. “Needless to say, that’s a big honor for Pell City, Alabama,” Ellison said. “To attract those restaurants to this city, that really says something.”
All of this economic activity can have a snowball effect that can bring more restaurants and retail to the area. Big picture is that it can mean a regional boost to northeast Alabama.
“Like I said earlier, brands follow brands,” Ellison said. “It’ll just be a continuing progression. We’re expecting St. Clair County to continue to grow with a very bright future moving forward. As long as St. Clair County continues to grow and Pell City continues to grow, our region will continue to grow.”
Smith credited Ellison’s efforts.
“Bill Ellison worked really hard on a number of different retailers and eateries,” Smith said. “He felt, and we felt that these two brands (Longhorn and Olive Garden) filled a void that had existed. I think the community’s demographic fits really well with (the restaurants’) target customer.”
Ellison makes a critical point. “I didn’t do this by myself. I’m a hard worker and the rest of it. But the elected officials in Pell City and in St. Clair County and the EDC and Metro Bank through the years, have been with me hand in hand through all of this. It’s a team effort.”
For the past six decades, Jefferson State Community College has been guided by a single principle – opportunity. Since it’s opening in 1965, it may look different – much bigger, in fact, but it hasn’t wavered in providing opportunities.
Celebrating its 60th anniversary this past fall, Jefferson State now has its highest enrollment ever – 10,400 and eclipsing its old record set in 2010 by 800 students. The Pell City-St. Clair Campus experienced enrollment gains as well.
Whether it’s opportunities for students to learn and find gainful employment or those doing the hiring having an opportunity to hire workers with the skills they need, its workforce development program has been making a sizable impact in both sectors.
Lineman, welding and construction programs are part of the offerings at Jeff State
Keeping pace with the needs of today’s industries, Jefferson State has unveiled a new milestone in its mission. The college opened a new Workforce Education Center building on the Jefferson Campus, which serves the entire system.
Housing industrial and craft skills training courses, it includes their existing line worker program and new electrical, HVAC and multi-craft maintenance technician programs. The 7,500 square-foot building features flexible classroom spaces and laboratories that can be adapted to a variety of needs within the college’s short certificate Fast Track program.
The Fast Track program is a credentials program offering 35 options within their portfolio of skills training, specifically focused on developing skills needed for high-demand entry level career opportunities. “The new building really represents opportunity for our community,” says Leah Bigbee, dean of Workforce Education for JSCC. “We’ve been strategically focused on industrial and craft skills training because business and industry have been asking for these programs.”
Bigbee says the Workforce Development Program relies on relationships with local businesses and industry to share their needs and help develop and refine the curriculum in each specialty. “Across the board, our programs are developed with actual jobs in mind – from developing the curriculum to having seasoned veterans teaching classes to mock interviews to actual job interview days,” said Bigbee.
“Our programs are really co-created with industry, which is especially helpful in teaching the specific, current skills needed by area businesses,” said Bigbee. “We have the ability to adapt and be flexible to meet those needs. Really, our north star is those companies who give us continuous feedback.”
CDL drivers are in high demand these days
Guin Robinson, Jefferson State’s dean of Economic Development, has a unique perspective and understanding of the workforce needs of area businesses, having served as mayor of Pell City for five years and at Avondale Mills in Pell City as manager of Human Resources.
“When I was mayor, it was all about community and connecting industry and business and recruiting through the Economic Development Council. It’s what I’ve always done and love doing, connecting community to, in this case, the college.”
Jefferson State offers 116 transfer programs, 40 career and technical programs, and 35 non-credit, credentialed workforce education programs. They also offer online courses and 100 dual-enrollment course options.
“The credit classes that transfer to four-year institutions is still a lot of what we do,” Robinson says. “But not everyone has to have a four-year degree. As we came out of the COVID experience, that helped to highlight and better articulate what training and workforce needs we had. Our Fast Track program is playing a vital role in developing and training that workforce. Our new building, being the first completely new building on campus in years, speaks to the significance of the program.”
The short-term Fast Track programs include electrical, HVAC, lineworker, forklift operator, commercial driver (CDL), welding and a host of business and healthcare options. These credential programs help meet the needs of fresh high-school graduates beginning their careers, as well as those reentering the workforce or wanting to change career paths.
“We serve almost three thousand students in the Workforce Department,” says Bigbee. “Our data shows us that 80 percent complete the program and go on to find employment. Companies depend on us to create these customized training programs that really do give someone a leg up and give them a better chance to make it in an entry-level role and be retained, as opposed to someone who is just hired off the street.”
“At the end of the day,” adds Robinson, “it’s about providing economic opportunity for our students and marrying that with the needs of business and industry. It’s very rewarding.”
Some of the Jefferson State workforce development partner companies in St. Clair County include Goodgame Company, Ford Meter Box, Hubble Power and Gorbel. Jefferson State welcomes inquiries from other companies who might want to partner with their workforce development programs.
Several Fast-Track programs are offered at the Jefferson State St. Clair-Pell City Campus each year, including a clinical medical assistant class funded by the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.
In the spring, additional fast-track offerings such as welding, field engineering, and clinical medical assistant will be available.
