As anyone who has ever tried to grow a plant knows, there is a science to it.
Local experts offer the following advice for creating and maintaining attractive landscapes and successful vegetable gardens.
The first three tips are so crucial that, together, they determine whether a plant will live through the first year.
Do not assume the soil is good. St. Clair County soil may contain clay or be compacted. Topsoil, compost and a supplement specific to that plant are likely to be necessary. (For soil-testing supplies and direction, check with St. Clair’s Alabama Cooperative Extension Service office, St. Clair County Soil and Water Conservation or St. Clair Farmer’s Cooperative.)
Be mindful of moisture requirements. Each week, plants need at least one inch of moisture that soaks down to the roots. If a plant dries out completely one time, it dies. Overwatering is just as detrimental as underwatering.
Place the plant in a hole that is neither too large nor too small.
Bury the plant to the same soil line as it had in the container from which it came. As a general rule, it is better to have the plant a little above the soil line than too deep into the soil.
Choose plants that are right for the climate zone. St. Clair County falls within zone “7” and “7B” of the climate map for plants. Plants acclimated to one zone might not thrive long in another. For example, a West Coast plant is not likely to survive in the South.
Select a plant that, at maturity, will fit the space allotted for it.
Choose a plant that is right for the amount of sunshine or shade it will experience. A plant meant for shade will not do well in direct sunlight and vice versa.
Distance plants from the house or building. When the plant matures, the homeowner should be able to walk between it and the house.
Replace bark or straw regularly. Bark lasts two to three years. Straw breaks down quickly and has to be replaced twice a year. Other possible “mulches” include shale, pea gravel, river rock and brick pieces.
Use weed barrier cloth and pre-emerge herbicide to prevent growth of weeds and germination of unwanted seeds. Weed barrier cloth and pre-emerge herbicide are especially needed with rock-type mulches.
Research how to cultivate and harvest vegetables and herbs. Successful vegetable gardening comes with knowledge and experience. It may take years to develop the expertise and to discern what grows best in the garden area.
Purchase plants from a nursery or garden center. Employees of nurseries and garden centers are knowledgeable about plants, trees, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides and can give advice on landscape issues and plant deficiencies. The information they provide is specific to the climate zone in which the homeowner lives. Nurseries and garden centers offer a large selection of trees, plants, fertilizers, supplements, bulk materials (mulch, sand, gravel etc.), statuary and decorative stones for pathways and hardscapes.
Understand that plants new to the market come with limited information. New plants are studied only three years before they are put on the market. Therefore, their growth potential beyond that may not be known initially, and they might outgrow the space allowed for them.
Buy mulch and other bulk material by the truckload. Buying by the bag is more expensive.
Periodically inspect plants and trees in the yard to see if they remain healthy. Lichens growing on a plant, for instance, can indicate poor health.
Learn how and when to prune each kind of plant. (Pruning a crape myrtle too severely is called “crape murder!”)
Editor’s Note:Sources for this story were Crawford Nursery, Odenville; Hazelwood’s Greenhouses and Nursery, Pell City; Landscapes by Shelly, Pell City; Warren Family Garden Center and Nursery, Moody.
In 2020, thoughts and energy turned to the outdoors in a big way.
Nature provided an outlet for exercise, enjoyment and escape.
Landscaping not only was an avenue for creativity, but also an opportunity to revive underutilized sections of the yard. Some projects even turned outdoor areas into comfortable, functional living spaces.
All this activity and renewed interest made 2020 a busy year for plant nurseries, garden centers and landscape artists.
Crawford has a large layout of greenhouses full of a variety of plants for any need.
“People who never gardened before wanted to do it,” said Michelle Warren, horticulturist with Warren Family Garden Center and Nursery in Moody. “… We definitely had a huge number of new people from all over Alabama to come see us. … There was a huge uptick in sales from spring right up to fall. … I think any garden center could say that.”
Geneva Jones of Crawford Nursery in Odenville agreed. Because people were home more, they devoted time to sprucing up their yard. She expects that to continue in 2021.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens this year,” said Will Crawford, owner of Crawford Nursery.
Another trend that came as a bit of a surprise was the surge in vegetable and herb gardening.
“That was a big trend last spring and through the summer,” said Warren. “… That was a big trend we didn’t expect.”
Warren believes fruit trees and blueberries are likely to see lots of interest this year.
Making a plan
Gardens have a specific purpose, whether it is to beautify, to attract birds or butterflies, or to reclaim some dead space.
Every successful landscaping project begins with a plan, say the experts.
They suggest photographing the area to be landscaped to give nursery or garden center employees an idea of the layout. Some nurseries and garden centers may even draw a landscaping plan for customers. These plans incorporate the customers’ wishes, while giving attention to essential details, such as the amount of sun or shade, available space, and growth potential of each plant.
John Hazelwood, owner of Hazelwood’s Greenhouses and Nursery in Pell City, said a landscaping plan also should take into account other plants and trees in the yard and the impact they will have on the new plants. He gave as an example water oaks and willow oaks, both of which are “heavy feeders.” Their presence can deplete the soil of water, fertilizer and nutrients that other plants need.
Emerald Green Arborvitae and Sky Pencil Holly at Hazelwood’s
Once the landscaping plan is drawn, the designer or employees at the nursery or garden center should be consulted if plant substitutions are necessary, said Hazelwood and daughter Shelly Martin of Pell City, owner and manager of Landscapes by Shelly. If the wrong plant is substituted, it may outgrow its allotted space and disrupt the whole design.
Hazelwood said homeowners can install landscapes themselves. They just need to be able to read landscape plans to know which plant goes where. Labeling is extremely important. The plants should be labeled before and after placement so that the homeowner knows what each one is.
Going for less
In the early 2000s, landscaping concepts centered on layering and mass planting, Martin said. In the past five or six years, the theme has been on the minimal and the contemporary, concentrating on the use of specific plants for a certain effect or focal point.
Two words – “low maintenance” – describe the kind of landscapes individuals have been wanting lately.
“Low maintenance is a big thing,” Jones said.
Hazelwood added, “They would really like no maintenance, but there’s no such thing.”
Even if the landscape is considered low maintenance, Martin said periodic attention is still necessary. “The landscape will look only as good as the maintenance.”
Modern landscapes, Jones explained, are “open designs, where everything is not so crowded. They use a lot of boxwoods and (ornamental) grasses and things like that.”
As for boxwoods, Jones noted that those landscape staples from the past – in addition to needlepoint hollies and dwarf yaupon – are receiving renewed interest.
Hazelwood said japonica and sasanqua camellia also “are hot right now.”
Homeowners are particularly interested in dwarf variations of plants because they think these will always remain small and need little to no pruning. Nonetheless, Martin said dwarf plants can grow to be sizable; they just may take longer to do it.
Martin noted that landscaping does not last forever. It will need to be redone periodically.
“Your landscape is basically like painting your house,” she said. The landscape should be revamped every eight to 10 years, and plants that require heavy pruning should be replaced after 12 to 15 years.
Seeking variety
In addition to low maintenance, other highly requested landscape features are colors and textures.
Martin said color and fragrance lend an air of welcome to a home.
Warren and Martin said golds, purples, greens, blues and chartreuse (such as Limelight hydrangea and Little Lime hydrangea) have been the colors of choice.
Ornamental grasses – pink muhly grass, adagio grass, dwarf fountain grass, carex, Sassy Grass, etc. – give texture to a landscape, said Jones.
A good landscaping design offers beauty for all seasons, Martin said.
By using a variety of plants, “you can design a landscape that has color, something happening year-round,” said Jones.
For example, a landscape including common azaleas (bloom once in spring), gardenias, Encore azaleas (bloom spring, summer and fall), hydrangeas (bloom in summer), camellia japonica (bloom in February) and camellia sasanqua (bloom around November) would provide bursts of color all year, Jones said.
Encore azaleas, Hazelwood said, “bloom more than once a year. … There are 33 varieties of them now.” In winter, flowering kale, flowering cabbage, pansies, snapdragons and sweet Williams show their colors.
Knock Out roses (a rose bush that blooms for months) have been and continue to be in much demand, Hazelwood said. “I don’t know how many thousands of those we have sold. They bloom their heads off, and they bloom all summer long.”
This year, the new Petite Knock Out roses are expected to be popular, said Jones and Crawford.
Hazelwood said new plant selections are being produced continuously to keep up with changes in trends. “The breeders are constantly striving to come up with something new.” Hydrangeas are a case in point. “There are so many of those, it’s unbelievable.”
Creating living space
One of the new trends in landscaping is hardscapes. Hardscapes are gardens, pathways, even outdoor living spaces.
“I love hardscapes,” said Martin, who was working on two such projects at the time of this interview. “I love to use natural stone to create fire pits and patios and retaining walls, … to create for the homeowner a secret garden.”
Shelly Martin tells her workers where some stones will go around a new fire pit on Logan Martin Lake.
Hardscapes might incorporate a swimming pool, pond, stand-alone fountain, wall fountain. A hardscape could be an outdoor room, so to speak, for grilling, dining, entertaining or warming by a fire.
“I love to design swimming pools and outdoor kitchens,” Martin said. “… They are fun spaces to create.”
During 2020, the number of hardscape projects she designed and installed grew exponentially. “I really saw a huge increase in the hardscape activity. We did more hardscapes last year than we have ever done,” Martin said.
She and her crew locally installed approximately 30 landscapes featuring hardscapes and designed more than that for builders and landscapers in the Birmingham area.
Thinking commercially
The concept for commercial landscaping is somewhat different from residential landscaping, Martin said.
Commercial landscapes need to have appeal, plus longevity. Junipers, dwarf yaupon and Chinese hollies are some of the possibilities, coupled with maples that give beautiful fall color.
Choosing the right trees is important in the commercial setting to avoid an invasive root system that eventually bucks the sidewalk, Martin said.
The landscaping plan also has to consider the clientele of the business. If, for instance, children will be going into the building, thorny plants would not be suggested.
On the other hand, thorny plants would be good for blocking access to a ledge, Martin said.
With commercial landscapes, the aim is toward beauty, functionality and durability without creating a “maintenance nightmare.”
Local fishing star has a ‘big string’ of blessings
Story by Paul South Submitted photos
For most, in fishing terms, 2020 was an empty net, a snapped rod or a snarled line. But the past 12 months witnessed a string of blessings for Zeke Gossett.
As a member of the Jacksonville State University Fishing Team, Gossett was one of the nation’s top collegiate anglers. Teamed with fellow Gamecock Lucas Smith, he was part of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Team of the Year. In December, he received his degree in Recreational Leadership with a minor in Coaching. He joined the B.A.S.S. Pro Tour. And best tidings of all, his parents, Curtis and Laura, are recovering from the coronavirus.
“It was terrible,” Zeke told bassmaster.com about his parents’ illness. Curtis Gossett, who suffers from asthma, wound up on a ventilator. “One day, they tried to take the tube out, and it didn’t work. The next day, by the grace of God, his numbers went up to where he was strong enough to get the tube out. I just want to thank everyone for the prayers. Him and Mom are on the uptrend and doing a lot better.”
‘Gone fishing’ a way of life
On a windless day in early December, Zeke was in a boat on Logan Martin, working his craft. Fishing was slow, perfect for a phone interview. He recounted his unusual, but magical year.
Zeke and Lucas, Bassmaster College Team of the Year
Like many youngsters, his fishing journey began with his father, who also competed on the tournament trail. He was his coach at Pell City High School and now coaches at Briarwood.
“He was always real patient with me,” Zeke said. “I loved spending time with him, of course. But fishing has always been a part of my life and our family’s life for sure.”
He added, “Just having a dad that spent the time with me – junior fishing and high school fishing were just starting to become popular. I grew up in it. Doing it from a young age, I love the competition. No drug can get you as high as winning a tournament, big or small.”
His parents have been with him on this journey to the professional ranks, particularly Curtis, who has spent “countless hours” and at every tournament, every weigh-in on the journey.
“They’ve always supported me in my dream to become a professional angler,” Zeke said. “They’ve always wanted me to do this ever since I said I wanted to. They are definitely my biggest supporters, bar none, to this day.”
He didn’t disappoint. Zeke captured 12 state titles between ages 11 and 18 on the way to becoming a high school All-American. In fact, he won the first two tournaments he ever fished as a junior angler (B.A.S.S. And FLW). As you can guess, he was hooked.
At the collegiate level, Jacksonville State competed against SEC schools. There are no divisions, so schools compete against each other, regardless of size.
“We fished against everybody. Auburn, Alabama, people like that,” he said.
Competing first at Jefferson State, then for Jacksonville, his teams were nationally ranked four times in five years. Jacksonville’s best finish was 16th nationally.
Zeke fished his first tournament as a pro in December 2020, finishing in the middle of the pack among some 170 anglers in the B.A.S.S. Open Series on Lay Lake. But he won’t officially join the tour until the 2021 season. He’s come up through the B.A.S.S. ranks, from juniors, to college and now to the pros, fishing lakes from Upstate New York to Florida.
He will compete on the B.A.S.S. Pro Tour, and he laid out his reasons for joining B.A.S.S. “The people that work there, I love them to death. B.A.S.S. offers steppingstones from juniors to high school – then the college experience. Taking part in all they offer really taught me a lot – especially the college experience – I believe this is best way for an angler to learn. If you want to do this as a profession one day, that is the way to go.”
He added, “I really feel like B.A.S.S. prepares you the best of any of the organizations, and I feel like sticking with them is the right choice. Their grassroots are here in Alabama.”
After only one tournament, Zeke sees a difference between college and the pros. There’s a similarity between pro fishing and pro football.
A quiet fishing spot along
the shore
“It’s pretty much the same deal,” he explained. “Everybody’s bigger and faster. You can be pretty dominant in high school. In college, you’re fishing against your buddies. You get to kick around and stuff, and it’s a great time, and you don’t feel much pressure. When I sat down in the boat at the Open and I looked over, and Jason Christie is to my left, and he’s won about everything in the sport, and I look to my right, and there’s Scott Martin, who’s won about everything in the sport. The intensity level in a pro tournament is a lot higher than I expected it to be … The competitiveness of those tournaments is through the roof compared to where I’ve ever fished.”
Even as a rookie on tour, Zeke has landed endorsement deals from Xpress Boats®, Woods Surfside Marina, Daiwa rods and reels, Vicious Fishing®, Elite Tungsten and LakeLife 24/7®, the creators of Discover magazine.
Through it all, the Gossetts have been there. Professional fishing is a precision sport that in part requires competitors to consistently cast a lure in a spot the size of a paper cup and do it quietly without much splash. Zeke learned those techniques from his dad.
Experience on the water and not losing heart when that big bass gets away are critical. As a high school senior, he fished 43 of 52 weekends.
And as for the mental side, “When you lose a big fish in a tournament, don’t get down on yourself, that’s one of the biggest things you have to do when it comes to tournament fishing,” Zeke said. “That’s all between the ears.”
That’s a lesson Zeke learned well. He knows vision and goals are critical to long-term success on the tour.
What’s his vision for life on tour after five years on the water? “I’d love to see myself fishing the Bassmaster Elite Series. You can’t go any higher. I’d like to have won a tournament by then.”
Even at 24, he knows how tough the waters of pro fishing can be. “They did a study and determined the odds of winning a B.A.S.S. tournament is .05 percent, once you hit the water,” Gossett said. “So, it’s really hard. But maybe I’ll have a couple of wins and maybe an Angler of the Year title. You got to shoot high for sure.”
Today’s destination is the corner of 19th Street South and 7th Avenue, the location of First Baptist Church South, hereafter FBC South. Organized by ex-slaves and their families, this church has served Pell City for 119 years.
During antebellum days, slaves worshiped together with whites, but in separate areas. When freedom came, Blacks continued worshiping interracially for a while. In Uplifting the People: Three Centuries of Black Baptists in Alabama, Wilson Fallin Jr. writes, “After emancipation, many Blacks began to leave white churches and form their own congregations. … By 1874, the year in which reconstruction ended in Alabama, the process of separation was complete….
“A desire for independence and …the opportunity to worship as they desired motivated Blacks to establish their own churches. …Blacks wanted a setting in which they could listen to and react to their own preachers, singing, dancing, and shouting in their own church.” This gave the freedmen “some measure of freedom over their lives and the opportunity to develop pride and self-respect. … These churches provided former slaves with a caring community.”
This freedom resulted in Blooming Light Baptist Church in Seddon. The former slaves who organized this church probably first met in homes, but by 1881, they officially organized as Blooming Light.
They soon joined Rushing Springs Association which served churches in Coosa, St. Clair and Calhoun counties. According to The Cyclopedia of the Colored Baptists in Alabama, Their Leaders and Their Work by Charles Octavius Boothe, by 1895, there were 6,500 Black Baptist in this Association.
Now, picture Pell City in 1901. The booklet, Hon. Sumter Cogswell and His Service as Founder of Pell City, Alabama, records that the town had one grocery store, the Cornett House Hotel and a train station for three railways traveling through. No highways – instead, “the principal artery of travel being the road from Eden to Cropwell to Talladega and Anniston.” The town progressed, and by 1902, a second St. Clair County Courthouse stood in Pell City.
By 1900, Blacks had formed a community south of today’s Cogswell Avenue and the railroad, establishing homes from today’s 19th Street South to U.S. 231. Many of these families belonged to Blooming Light Baptist, the nearest Black church.
Many ministers had a circuit of four churches, preaching once a month to each congregation. Pell City members of Blooming Light walked to church, and bad weather on Sundays hindered attendance.
By 1902, Pell City’s Black community had enough Baptists to form a church. Therefore, several Blooming Light members requested dismissal from that church so they could organize their own.
A typescript history of FBC South names some who met to organize: “Bro. C.J. Collins and wife, Coline; Rev. A.Z. Beavers and wife, Mary; Bro. Sam Collins and wife, Mary; Bro. Joe Collins; Bro. Joe Lawson and others.” The group chose the name Union Baptist Church with Rev. J.T. Chatman as pastor. This meeting took place “… at the old House of Knowledge School. …on U.S. Highway 231 North of the Alacare Center location where the home of Bro. Dibb (and Millie) Curry…was located.”
The Currys
The Currys’ granddaughter, Josephine Curry Watson, grew up in their home and called them “Mama and Papa.” “They were plain people who stayed home and took care of the household,” she recalled. “They didn’t have problems with anyone.”
She remembered their home as a welcoming one where visitors sought advice from Dibb. “I got my values from them,” she reflected. “I learned the Bible from them, and today, I’m a teacher and a missionary. They were good people.” This describes a stable, “salt-of-the-earth” family and probably describes other families who formed Union Baptist/FBC South.
Union Baptist soon joined the Colored Baptist Association, which served churches in Shelby and St. Clair counties. Today, the Association’s name is Mt. Zion Coosa Valley Association.
Sometime after 1902, Union Baptist purchased a lot on 19th Street South and constructed the building where New Beginnings Baptist Church holds services now. The church history records that, in 1934, “…the church was rebuilt on the site and was named the First Baptist Church of Pell City.” Rev. M.H. Sims was pastor.
Community news in TheSt. Clair News-Aegis regularly reported church activities, as shown in this of Jan. 31, 1952, “Rev. M.H. Sims, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Pell City, preached his farewell sermon last Sunday. He has pastored here for 23 years and is the oldest minister in the district.”
After Rev. Sims, Rev. R.E. Avery pastored for a few years. The St. Clair News-Aegis of Oct. 13, 1955, reported, “Sunday October 9th was a grand day at the First Baptist Church in Pell City. Rev. R.E. Avery, pastor, preached a wonderful sermon. His text was ‘Stay on the ship or you will be lost.’ Sunday afternoon the church held Appreciation Day for R.E. Avery.” Remembered as a dynamic speaker, Rev. Avery pastored until 1955.
About two years later, Rev. W.F. Poole began his 19-year ministry and worked for racial unity in Pell City during that time. On Oct. 19, 1962, The St. Clair News-Aegis published this letter from Rev. Poole:
“To the Citizens of Pell City: Please allow me this space to express my gratitude to all our white and colored friends for the fine support we have received during my five years of pastoring in the city of Pell City.
“I have worked in other places, but at no other place I’ve worked have I received any better cooperation. …
“Let us continue with peace between the races and the cooperation we have enjoyed in the past. Rev. W.F. Poole (Colored), Pastor First Baptist Church Pell City.”
Rev. Ronnie C. Beavers accepted the pastorate of the church Feb. 2, 1976. Under his leadership, the church expanded its ministries, updated the sanctuary and purchased property for future expansion.
Marion Frazier remembers well many of these pastors. Rev. Avery baptized her in the outside baptistry the deacons had recently dug and lined. “I was baptized in August of 1952, and he stayed, I believe, until 1955. He was a dynamic preacher. … He would end his sermons by singing a hymn, and the congregation would sing with him.”
Of Rev. W.F. Poole, Mrs. Frazier said, “I remember him and his wife and children very well. He was instrumental in our church because he loved singing hymns. He often closed his sermons with a hymn. His favorite hymn was In a Time Like This, I Need the Lord to Help Me.
“Rev. Poole came in ’56 or ’57 and stayed for 19 years. He worked for unity among the races, and we had a good relationship. We had associations with First Baptist here in Pell City on the north side. That’s where the distinction of FBC South came in; they were First Baptist North.”
“Rev. Beavers came in 1976 and stayed until 2000,” she recalled. During his ministry, he organized The R.C. Beavers’ Singers. Rev. Beavers loved to sing.” Under his leadership, the church choirs recorded an album.
Mrs. Frazier loves her church and enjoys recalling its history and events. Known in Pell City as an exceptional singer herself, she spoke fondly of their Choir Anniversaries. Observed every September, FBC South invited choirs from throughout the district to participate. Choir member Billy Joe Robinson, Dibb and Minnie Curry’s grandson, sang with the Star Lights of Pell City and often invited choirs from outside the district. These concerts filled the church to capacity.
District churches observe yearly homecomings, and they have arranged for each church to hold celebrations on different Sunday so congregations can celebrate together. Celebrating together results in unity and cooperation. FBC South has Homecoming the second Sunday in August.
On Oct. 18, 1981, FBC South celebrated its 79th anniversary. The memorial booklet for that event contains observations by pastor Rev. Ronnie C. Beavers, who gives praise and thanksgiving to God for the church. It also records historical events and a rich pictorial history with names under the photos. Rev. Beavers conducted the regular worship hour after which the congregation enjoyed a meal together. The afternoon service included Deacon Charles Jones singing the chosen anniversary hymn, Guide Me Oh Thou Great Jehovah, and Rev. Samuel Turner of Union Springs Baptist Church, Talladega, preaching the sermon.
In the memorial booklet, Rev. Beavers wrote, “We are truly grateful to God our Heavenly Father for those who toiled and labored so hard before us in breaking the ground to establish the foundation of this church which is dedicated to the up-building of God’s kingdom. Surely, He has smiled on us down through the years as even the old patriots continued to worship Him after having walked to the church in the rain, sunshine, sleet, and snow. Now, we, the present generation, must continue to move forward with that same spirit of determination to meet the need of a sinful world by spreading the message of Jesus Christ. This is the task of the church, and we dedicate and rededicate ourselves to accepting the challenge that the Lord has put before us ….”
Prayer at the groundbreaking in 2002
Rev. Beavers concluded his remarks by thanking the church for working untiringly during his six years of his ministry and concluded, “I ask you to join me in looking to the Hills from whence cometh our help to seek the future directions through the grace of God that has brought us safe thus far and that His same grace will lead us on.”
Rev. Beavers’ comments for that 79th anniversary spoke of the past, present and future. Under his ministry, the church purchased the property on the corner of 7th Avenue and 19th Street South for constructing a larger sanctuary. In 2000, at the end of his 24 years as pastor, the church stood ready, through God’s grace, to plan for a new sanctuary.
In a special service on Jan.12, 2002, under Rev. Elliot T. Ivey’s ministry, the church broke ground for their new building. Goodgame Co. of Pell City did the work, and construction progressed steadily month by month. Goodgame completed their work in October 2002 in time for First Baptist’s 100th anniversary.
And what a celebration that was for church members and their friends! The Goodgame family, construction workers, Pell City mayor and city officials attended and joined the congregation’s afternoon walk from the old building to the new one for a dedication worship service.
Mrs. Frazier recalls, “We got congratulation letters from the State of Alabama, the governor and local officials. We framed those, and they hang on the church walls today.”
Among the papers about First Baptist on file at the Pell City Library is a page titled, A Prayer for Our New Sanctuary, which reads in part:
“Thou gracious and giving God…,We thank Thee for having given to our predecessors the vision and will to provide the church which has served us so far. Because of their devotion and Thy blessings our church family has outgrown the work of their hands. …
“We would build wisely and so well that long years hence our sons and daughters may gratefully say, ‘See! This our forefathers builded for us.’
“In HIS NAME, who loves us and gave Himself for us, we pray. Amen.”
George Forman grew up in this church and said of Rev. Elliot T. Ivey, “He was the most electrifying preacher I ever heard.” Forman also told how FBC South deacons mentored him as a boy. “My father died when I was one year old. Mr. Tobe Williams, Mr. William Matthews and Mr. Virgil Oden took me under their wings and taught me about life – what’s right and what’s wrong, how to respect and be respected, how to love your fellow man, how to go through life treating people. If people mistreat you, don’t go back and try to do the same thing to them; just believe in the Lord, cause, ‘Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.’ They went out of their way to spend time with me. And Mr. M.C. McCoy was a businessman who taught me that education was essential.
“All those men were a blessing to me. They didn’t have a high school education, but they had more than a high school education. And they shared it.” That’s high praise for any man, but especially so for the deacon body of a church.
Twenty-four-year-old Christopher Evans II joined Forman in the interview, and both spoke of taking part in Christmas and Easter programs at church. Forman said that participating in these music and drama programs “… was like living what you’d been taught. You act it out and it’s gonna stick with you.” Christopher agreed, saying that for young people, the dramas “… helped us understand what was going on.” He added that sometimes “young people don’t like to read,” and the programs helped them understand the Bible. Mrs. Frazier directed the drama, and the late Ronnie White the music for these programs.
One of Christopher’s favorite times as a youth was yearly Vacation Bible School at FBC South. “That was the best thing,” he recalled. “We always went to Boys’ and Girls’ Club, and we just went from there to Vacation Bible School where you learned different things.” Other churches took part, so there was fellowship among the congregations at these events.
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic curtailed in-person worship services, which precluded the joy and comfort in corporate fellowship. At FBC South, beginning in March, worship was streamed online, but by autumn 2020, the deacons and choir members were meeting each Sunday with Dr. Wilson to stream the service. The pandemic prevented these yearly events in 2020.
Dr. Wilson, pastor since 2007, recently reflected upon this unprecedented situation:
“In the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic, it is no secret that many people are suffering or experiencing loss in some way. The same holds true for the believer. Fear, stress and hopelessness have gripped many homes, even the households of Christians.
“As we endure this season in which social and spiritual interactions have been greatly thwarted, not by choice but rather by circumstances that are beyond our human control, we have been forced to make many adjustments in our daily lives.
“Consequently, the church, in these times of uncertainty, has also had to make adjustments. We understand that congregants have an affinity for joining hearts and hands and worshipping God together. Yet, this pandemic has placed a great strain on the church. No longer is it deemed ‘safe’ for large groups to congregate. This definite lack of socialization has caused some to suffer more than others.
“As a pastor, it has always been my job to guide and uplift the people of God through whatever season of life they are experiencing. There are more seeking this pastoral direction than ever before, and I must admit, facing so many obstacles has become a daunting challenge. It is sometimes hard ‘reaching’ to your congregants when the physical doors of the church are closed because we understand that the spiritual doors of the church are always open, along with other measures in place due to this pandemic.
“However, we understand that the spiritual doors of the church are always open, making way for the obstacles to become opportunities through continual prayer. As I strive to continue to render an effective pastoral ministry and to provide social support for those members who have become slightly anxious, to say the least, I try to remind my congregants that although we may be going through a brief period of separation as a body of believers, God is still in the business of protecting His own, and we are to stay strong until the Lord’s deliverance is fully exerted over this coronavirus outbreak.”
For long-time member Peggie Bothwell Frazier, Dr. Wilson has been a blessing to her and her family, for under his ministry her son, Charles Ryan Frazier, was ordained as a deacon, and her grandson, Griffin Ryan Frazier, was baptized. Griffin, at an early age, began talking about wanting to be a preacher. He spoke of it so often that Dr. Wilson and deacons met with Griffin and his parents to talk about his desire to serve Christ by preaching. Satisfied about his desire, Dr. Wilson baptized him. Griffin’s dad, Charles, stood in the baptismal pool with him.
Dr. Wilson was a special comfort to the Fraziers when Peggie’s husband, Charles, battled cancer. The Wilsons met with the Fraziers the night before Charles’ surgery, then visited him faithfully during his cancer journey. Peggie recalled that, Charles, knowing that Dr. Wilson especially enjoyed banana pudding, said to him, “Any time you want a banana pudding, you just tell her, and she will make you one.” She continued, “I do make him banana puddings. Dr. Wilson and his family will always have a special place in my heart.”
Chairman of the Deacons, Donald Allen, spoke of the blessing of working with Dr. Wilson. “We deacons work out of his office, and whatever he asks us to do we try to do it. If he calls us, we try to do what he asks us to do.” He also spoke of the disruption of COVID-19. “We’re used to coming in there, shaking each other’s hands, acting as a deacon body, you know, deacons and the pastor together. We miss that so much now – meeting with the pastor before he goes out to give the message. … I love working out of Dr. Wilson’s office because of his ability and gift to preach the unmitigated truth of God’s word. I pray every day that God keeps him and his family in his loving hands.”
Wilson Fallin, Jr. notes in his Black Baptists in Alabama that some owners allowed slaves to worship with singing and preaching, whereas irreligious owners didn’t, and their slaves worshiped secretly. One of the old hymns from that era speaks as much of the church today as it did then.
“We will travel on together, Hallelujah, Gwine to pull down Satan’s kingdom, Hallelujah, Gwine build up the walls of Zion, Hallelujah! I don’t feel noways tired, Glory Hallelujah!”
One hopes that those former slave families who founded today’s FBC South are aware that this church continues “to build up the walls of Zion” as they “travel on together, Hallelujah!”
Former Pell City Schools Superintendent Michael Barber pens uplifting book
Story by Scottie Vickery Submitted photos
Michael Barber was 10 years old the day he took his daddy’s prized Pontiac Catalina for a joyride. After returning it safely to its covered parking spot, he thought he’d gotten away with his grave sin. But a twist of fate and a dog named Whiskers caused things to take a terrible turn. Let’s just say a dog mistakenly left overnight in a car is capable of causing a whole lot of damage.
That’s not the only lesson young Michael learned that day. He realized his father loved him far more than his most prized possession. “My father never stood behind a pulpit and preached a sermon, but he taught me the most important spiritual lesson I carry in my heart to this day,” Barber recalled. “Total forgiveness is just that, it is total.”
A former teacher and retired superintendent of Pell City Schools, Barber has spent his adult life educating children, but the “eternal lessons” of his childhood were learned outside of a classroom. They often took place on front porches and came in the form of joyrides, dogs, shotguns and a cheap necklace.
Barber shares seven stories from his childhood – including the story of his father’s Catalina – in his new book, Vegetables for Sale: A Child’s Discovery of Redemption in the American South, published in November. “It’s a simple book for a complicated time,” Barber said. “These are stories of redemption, unconditional love, forgiveness and mercy.”
The title comes from a sign 5-year-old Michael helped his grandmother make, a testament of his grandmother’s wisdom. She was tired of him asking for candy money, so she set up a vegetable stand on the side of the highway and put young Michael in charge. “My grandfather had a third-grade education, and my grandmother only finished sixth grade, but they knew we needed to know the value of certain things, and one was the value of money,” he said.
“I didn’t make much money, but the lesson I learned was worth millions,” he wrote in the book’s introduction. “It is better to earn than to be given, with the exception of God’s love.” As a reminder, Barber framed the sign he made with his grandmother (“She wrote the letters and I painted it”) and hung it alongside his diplomas in every office he has ever had.
A preacher, public speaker, and bluegrass musician, Barber didn’t set out to write a great work of literature or theology. He intended the book to be a ministry tool, one he could leave behind when he spoke at prisons, jails, nursing homes or revivals. “These are stories I’ve used from the pulpit,” said Barber, the pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. “I knew some had the ability to move people because I’d seen how God had used them during sermons.”
The book is a small one, measuring 5 inches by 7 inches with fewer than 100 pages, and that was Barber’s intention. “It’s designed to be a book you could put in a purse, in a glove box, in a tacklebox,” he said, adding that his hope was to make the book more inviting by writing something that could be read in one sitting. “It’s written by a preacher, but it’s not preaching. Whatever God wants to do with it, it’s out there. He’ll put it in the right hands.”
A special place
Barber, 55, grew up in Pell City with his brother and sister in a time when life was simpler. “The American South has changed in the past half century of my life, much for the good, but I admit sometimes I find myself missing a place I never left,” he wrote.
His days were filled with bike rides, fishing, baseball, watermelon, peach cobbler and lessons he didn’t realize he was learning. “I’ve always had people invest in the right things in my life – my parents, my grandparents, church folks,” Barber said. “They made sure we learned the right things. We were held accountable if we did something wrong, and they didn’t always come to our aid bailing us out.”
They also served as wonderful role models. His father, who was the first in his family to go to college, was a certified registered nurse anesthetist and owned an anesthesia corporation. “I think he put everyone in the county to sleep at some time,” Barber said. His mother was a registered nurse, and Barber thought he would follow in his parents’ footsteps and enter the medical field. His plans changed, though, when he got a feeling he just couldn’t shake. “The Lord kept leading me to education,” Barber said.
Mother Pearl, Cobbler Cook Extraordinaire
His Sunday school teacher, Andrew Wright, was the principal of Iola Roberts Elementary School at the time, and his pastors were teachers, as well. “To have three men in your life who were elementary school teachers and in ministry showed me how God could use you in education,” Barber said. “God has always put the right people around me.”
Although he retired from the school system in 2019, Barber performs contract work for the Alabama Association of School Boards. “I’ve had a great experience in public education,” he said. “To me, education is ministry,” he said.
Barber was an assistant principal in 1995 when God called him to preach, as well. He had a guitar and his Bible, and he traveled around ministering at nursing homes and “wherever God placed me.” He landed at Mt. Zion as a deacon and has been preaching for about 25 years.
One ministry he particularly enjoys is Cake Walk, the bluegrass band he helped form that earned its name from the early days of playing at cake walks and fall festivals. “Mt. Zion is a musically blessed haven,” he said. “Anyone you pick out of a pew can pick something, play something or sing something.”
Barber, who plays mandolin, guitar, banjo and bass, said the size of the group fluctuates and the members range from 8-year-olds to 90-year-olds. “We’re not the best musicians in the world, but for some reason when you put us all together, it sounds pretty good,” he said. “It’s a joyful noise, I know that.”
The group plays live every Sunday morning on WFHK 94.1 The River, and before the coronavirus pandemic, the members regularly shared their music at nursing homes and other places. “I’ve seen people who were really sick wiggle a toe under the cover when they hear the banjo,” Barber said. “It’s a wonderful ministry, and members of the band have said they had no idea that service could be so much fun. For me, that’s when you really hit the mark.”
A tool for ministry
Barber’s outreach ministry was the impetus for Vegetables for Sale, and the idea had been in the back of his mind for a while. “I had a bunch of stories I wrote years ago, and I’d always planned on doing something with them, but I didn’t know what that would look like,” he said. Once the pandemic hit last March, Barber finally had time, so “I went to the attic and started gathering stories I’d written in old spiral notebooks.”
Although he’d planned to leave them behind at speaking engagements, COVID-19 changed those plans, so Barber started to give them away. “My idea of promoting it is leaving a copy on the table at Starbucks,” he said with a laugh.
After his wife, Legay, posted about the book on social media, it started taking off. “We accidentally, I guess, launched it,” Barber said. “The potential to reach people through the internet is mind boggling.” The book, which features a childhood photo of his father on the cover, is available through Amazon, Walmart.com, Barnes & Noble and Kindle. It will soon be available on Audible, an audiobook book service from Amazon.
Barber said he read the book for the Audible recording because the subject was so close to his heart. “This is a book about my mom, my daddy, my sister and brother and my grandparents,” he said. “I sure didn’t want someone reading it and having it be just a book to them. Besides, I hate when people try to fake a Southern accent.”
Although he never expected to sell a single copy, Barber said he’s heard from people from all over the country who have shared how the book has touched them. A hospice nurse shared how a family read it together during the last hours of their mother’s life, and it gave them a chance to laugh and cry together. Another woman wrote to say the book helped her after receiving a cancer diagnosis.
“If God doesn’t use it for anything other than that, it was worth writing it and putting it out there,” Barber said. “I’m definitely not a writer, and I’ll never be a best-selling author, but this was a labor of love. Whatever voice we have, whether it’s a guitar or an ink pen, as long as we’re giving God the glory, He’ll use it.”
A Greek bearing delicious gifts, a star-studded past
Story by Scottie Vickery Submitted photos
When it comes to cooking, Polly Warren has trained with the best. As a young girl growing up in Greece, she learned the intricacies of meals and pastries from her mother and grandmother. After marrying an American and moving to Georgia as a young bride, she mastered Southern dishes in her mother-in-law’s kitchen.
The result is something she calls American Greek cooking – a delicious blend of both countries born from two families full of tradition and love. “I love the cooking,” she said, her Greek accent still heavy. “I love to learn and do new things. If I see something I like, I make it, add to it, and make the recipe my own.”
As a result, she’s bridged the divide between two cultures by introducing her favorite Greek dishes to her American family and friends and taking some Southern favorites home to her family. “I made them chili,” she said, laughing at the memory of the first American dish she shared with her loved ones in Greece. “They loved it. They thought it was great.”
A popular caterer in St. Clair County, Polly works out of the kitchen of the Pell City KFC, which her family has owned for nearly five decades. In addition to weekly meetings of the Rotary Club of Pell City, she caters everything from tailgate parties and luncheons to teas, rehearsal dinners and weddings. “Whatever anybody wants, I can cook it,” she said.
Growing up Greek
Born Polyltime Stavridis, the daughter of Dimitri and Kostantina, Polly grew up in Athens, Greece, with her brother, Costas, and her sister, Vaso. Whenever she thinks of her childhood, the first thing that comes to mind is the family kitchen. “I can still close my eyes and see myself there,” said Polly, now 72. “We’d always be in the kitchen. Always the girls served the men.” The main meal was served at 2 p.m., and after an afternoon siesta, the men would return to work. “Then they would come back, and we would eat leftovers,” she said.
Even as young girls, Polly and Vaso worked alongside their mother and grandmother, who lived with them. “We started when we were young, 5 or 6,” she said. ‘“They always gave us a little dough so we could participate. We would clean the potatoes, help with the dough, make cookies. When we were 10, 11 or 12, we would start participating completely.”
Family favorites included stifado, a Greek beef stew; spanakopita, a spinach pie; bifteki, which Polly describes as a stuffed hamburger; and keftedes, or Greek meatballs. “My mother used to make a big pan and leave it on the stove, and we’d eat it like popcorn,” she said.
There were plenty of pastries, too. Melomakarona, or honey cookies, were a staple, as well as tea cakes and baklava. Polly remembers her grandmother rolling out big sheets of homemade phyllo dough that was used for pastries and pie crusts. “Back in those days we made it homemade,” she said. “It took two people.”
Cooking for a crowd proved to be a challenge. “Back then, we had a little bitty oven, and our oven couldn’t bake all those cookies and big dishes like stuffed peppers and tomatoes,” Warren said. They took their dishes and pastries to a nearby baker, who cooked it for them in his industrial oven. “You tell him you want it ready for the family at 2, you give him $1 or $2, you pick your food up and carry it home,” she said.
A good student, Warren skipped the sixth-grade and graduated from high school at 16. “I started modeling and playing parts in movies,” she said, adding that her uncle was a producer. “Somebody didn’t show up one day, and he calls me and said, ‘Polly, do you want to do this?’ It was a commercial for shoes.”
After that, she had a “little part in a movie here, a little part there,” including a role as a party guest in the 1965 Italian movie, The Three Faces of a Woman. The movie starred Princess Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari, the ex-wife of an Iranian shah, and Richard Harris, who later played Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Young Polly’s acting and modeling career didn’t last long because she soon met her future husband – Wayne Warren, an American serviceman from Georgia who was stationed in Greece. “I have good memories of it, and I did it until I met Mr. Warren,” she said. “Mr. Warren, he says ‘no.’ He didn’t like all those guys hanging around.”
The two met when Polly’s friend, who was engaged to an American buddy of Wayne’s, invited her to a party. She was hesitant to go because she didn’t know what to tell her family. “Back in those days, you didn’t go off to a party,” she said. “I did a little white lying and said we were going to the movies.”
The two really did go to the movies a few weeks later, after Wayne had gotten permission from Polly’s father. “A commercial came on the big screen, and there I am big as life,” she said with a laugh. “I’m hiding under the seat, and he couldn’t believe it. It was a commercial for glassware for a wedding.”
After the two married, Polly left her beloved Greece in 1967 to move to the U.S. with Wayne. After a quick stint in Texas, they headed to Columbus, Ga., Wayne’s hometown. He was still in the Air Force, so Polly lived with his mother, Irene Warren, in her beautiful old house with a big wraparound porch. “It was very, very nice,” Polly said. “My mother-in-law, she loved me to death.”
Southern influences
Although she missed her family, cooking with Irene helped cure some of the homesickness. “We cooked together in this big kitchen, and you felt like it was home,” Polly said. “I learned how to do squash casserole, make creamed corn and snap peas.”
The dishes were different from anything she’d had before, but Polly appreciated good food when she tasted it. “Mac and cheese, I never ate it in my life, but once I tasted it, it was good. I learned to eat pork chops, and I learned to eat ribs and turnip greens. I loved it.”
As a new bride, she learned to fix some of her husband’s favorites, which quickly became hers as well. “I love a good steak and baked potato,” she said. “And vegetables with cornbread. I could sit and eat the whole skillet.”
Another Southern staple, fried chicken, soon became a big part of her life. After Wayne retired from the Air Force in 1970, they moved to Selma, where he worked with a dear friend who owned KFC franchises. He decided he wanted to open one himself. Although “we only had baked chicken in Greece, we never fried it,” Polly was on board.
Wayne started scouting locations, and while driving through central Alabama one day, he happened to stop at a gas station in St. Clair County. “An 18-wheeler driver told him to look at Pell City,” she said. “That’s what he did, and that’s where we are.”
Polly Warren plating her famous baklava.
While raising their three sons – Michael, Jimmy and David – the Warrens spent lots of time at various ballfields and soon became fixtures in the community. Polly got her catering start while working in the concession stands, where she cooked plenty of hot dogs and hamburgers. That led to dishes for athletic banquets and other events, and things took off from there.
“Before you know it, they asked, ‘Do you mind doing a tea,’ so you do a tea. Then they said do, ‘Do you mind doing a wedding,’ so you do a wedding. I started with 100 people, and I have been up to 600. That’s how it all got started,” she said.
Although Wayne passed away 10 years ago, Polly still loves cooking for her family and especially enjoys time in the kitchen with her four grandchildren. She’s happy to share recipes, although at times that proves a little difficult. “I never measure anything,” she said. “I put a little bit of this, a little bit of that. So, when they ask, I have to figure it out and write it.”
Alabama has been home for most of Polly’s life, but she still gets homesick for Greece on occasion. Yearly trips to Athens help, and she loves to get back in the kitchen with her mother, now 90, and her sister while she’s there. She makes sure to bring back her favorite fresh spices. “It grows wild over there,” she said. “You see rosemary, you see basil. I bring all that back. The American spices, they do not taste the same.”
Whether it’s the spices or the love she puts in each dish, Polly’s cooking is always a hit. “It’s good therapy,” she said. “I get in the kitchen and get busy cooking, and I never leave. I make a lot, and I give it away to neighbors and family and friends. I love it when people eat it and say how good it is. No one has complained yet.”
