From New York to an island paradise, the sky is the limit when you are willing to travel
Story by Linda Long Submitted photos
Planning on
attending a wedding anytime soon? Then, you might want to don some traveling
duds and pack a suitcase. Destination weddings are a hot item these days,
according to Joanie Mardis owner of Seasons of Adventure Travel in Moody.
From Half Moon
Bay, Calif., to Tucson, Ariz., adventurous couples are hitting the road for hot
places to get hitched. Among the top 10 in the U.S., says Mardis is, “anywhere
in Florida – from San Destin to the Keys. “The closest to us for a wonderful
wedding is San Destin with beautiful green waters and sugar white sand
beaches.”
Other can’t
miss destinations include Cape Cod, Napa Valley, Newport, New York City, Aspen
and even as far north as the state of Maine. “And, of course, Las Vegas, where
almost anything goes,” says Mardis. “Although, I can honestly say, I’ve never
booked the Elvis Presley Wedding Chapel for anybody,” she laughed.
According to
Mardis, the Caribbean is also a popular place to go where an all-inclusive
resort is a favorite choice. At some venues, the wedding package is actually
free of charge. The most familiar is Sandals Resort with options in Jamaica,
Antigua, Saint Lucia, Bahamas, Grenada and Barbados.
“They have a
basic wedding package that includes the ceremony (on the beach, in a garden, in
a gazebo, day or night),” said Mardis. Add a bouquet and boutonnière of
orchids, reception, decor and wedding cake, all in a standard color scheme of
fuchsia and yellow, and you’ve got all you need.”
Mardis says
the bride and groom can customize these weddings with different styles, ideas,
colors, flowers and decor. The couple can have a larger, more elaborate
reception for as many guests as they choose to bring. The more guests to stay
at the resort with them, the more perks the couple gets, such as a welcome
celebration, spa themes bridal party and a room category upgrade.
Another great
resort for the free wedding offer, according to Mardis, is the Couples Resort
in Jamaica. “A couple can choose from three locations for a dream wedding, free
for the bride, groom and four guests staying in the resort for three days or
more. These weddings can be customized for only the bride and groom, called the
Runaway Bride Package for $350 all the way up to a Private Island wedding for
up to 40 guests for $4,750.
Another
popular wedding destination – a ship – from a private yacht to a cruise
ship. According to Mardis, cruise ship
weddings take place, usually, before the ship sails. The wedding party boards
the ship as soon as the ship is ready for passengers. A venue is already set
up. The ceremony and reception take place. Then, those not sailing depart the
ship before sailing time, and the bride and groom go on a honeymoon cruise.
But why are
brides and grooms choosing destination weddings instead of traditional church
wedding at home among family and friends?
There could be any number of reasons, says Mardis.
“It might be a
second marriage for the bride and groom, or the couple may have families in
different places. Instead of one family traveling, everyone travels. You get a
great family vacation along with the wedding. Many times, the family only stays
about 3 days (before, day of and day after the ceremony), then the bride and
groom remain for several days for the honeymoon. Sometimes the bride and groom
do not necessarily want a huge wedding, so they only invite a few people to
join them in the destination of their choice. Or maybe, it’s just the thing to
do these days.”
Mardis has one
bit of caution, however, for couples planning a wedding outside the country.
Requirements can vary from location to location. As Mardis explained, “Some
places require you to be on the island for a select number of days before you
can apply for your marriage license, anywhere from one to seven days. Some
islands charge you fees to get married or to obtain your license, which can be
up to $450 or maybe less than $100 depending on the island you choose.”
Couples also will have to have proof of ID, divorce decrees or a spouse’s death certificate if previously married, or parental consent, if under age
For more of Discover St. Clair’s special wedding coverage, read the full magazine in print or online at ISSUU
Retired policeman turns on “blue light” for business
Story by JackieRomine Walburn Photos by Graham Hadley
Retired police officer Ed Brasher has found his ideal
after-retirement avocation.
Brasher – a former police chief and regional drug task force
officer – combined an innate mechanical ability and career-honed knowledge
about emergency equipment with a passion for the adrenaline boost of fast, cool
vehicles to create a growing electronics, lighting and warning equipment and
installation business in Odenville.
BEI Lighting and Warning (BEILW), previously Brasher
Electronics, outfits police, fire and emergency vehicles with lights and
security features, produces graphics and detailing for business and public
vehicles and, most recently, is marketing its own line of LED lighting and
sirens.
Today, the business Brasher and son Trey started in 2003 in
the family’s two-car garage is the largest supplier of emergency equipment in
Alabama with 5,000 square feet of custom work space and three employees.
And, as they expand the business with a new line of lighting
and sirens and a growing list of services and clients, the father and son are
continuing a family tradition of owning a business – begun by Ed Brasher’s
businessman father.
Law enforcement career
After a very short tenure training as a butcher apprentice
(too cold and messy, he recalls), Brasher began his three-decade career in law
enforcement as a policeman in the small St. Clair town of Whites Chapel, a
community that’s now part of the town of Moody. Next, he moved to the Odenville
police department and served as police chief for Odenville from 1987 to 1990.
Joining the Pell City police force in 1990, Brasher served as
night shift patrolman, then sergeant. He spent the mid-90s as part of the 30th
Judicial Circuit’s Drug Task Force. Eventually promoted to captain then
assistant police chief with Pell City Police, Brasher officially retired in
2014.
While a police officer, Brasher continued to drive trucks for
his father’s business. “Some days I’d park the patrol car at the end of a shift
and get in the 18-wheeler for a long haul, then return to start over again,”
says Brasher, who noted that many police officers and firefighters supplement
their incomes with additional work. “You do what you have to do when you are
raising a family.”
Family tradition
Born in Birmingham, Brasher moved with his family to
California and spent his childhood on the west coast where his father operated
one of his businesses. Returning to Alabama with his family when he was 16,
Brasher attended Hueytown High School for six months, then settled in at St.
Clair High School, where he would meet his future wife on his first day.
“I sat down behind her in homeroom. I saw this beautiful girl
and fell in love,” he says of his wife of 38 years, Kathy Foreman Brasher. “I
told my best friend then that I was going to marry Kathy one day.”
And, he did marry Kathy Foreman, who it turns out shares
Brasher’s mechanical bend and “adrenaline junkie” passion. They raised two
sons, Trey, 33, and Shannon, 30.
Before becoming a police officer and as a sideline income
since, Brasher drove long haul trucks for his father’s business, including
delivering natural gas in 18-wheel rigs.
While Brasher worked as a police officer and sometimes truck
driver, Kathy worked for the St. Clair sheriff’s department as a 911 dispatcher
for 10 years and today manages the county’s pistol permit program.
Fast cars, motorcycles and an airplane
Always an “adrenaline junkie,” Brasher first flirted with
speed and daring as a drag racer in California as a teen. He’s since had fast
cars – a favorite being a 1969 AMX hot rod – and motorcycles, enjoying both the
rides and the tinkering with engines and anything mechanical.
When their sons were young, Ed and Kathy Brasher loaded the
boys up on their his-and-her big motorcycles and traveled on vacations to the
west coast and Canada. Trey recalls these trips with fondness and admits to
inheriting the mechanical adventure spirit from his parents.
Brasher recalls with
Trey, who is co-owner of BEILW and the company’s graphic expert, the time his
parents had a 350 Chevy V-8 engine up on blocks in the living room, rebuilding
it.
Since then, there have been other fast cars, a Piper 235
airplane that he and Trey are both licensed to fly and a new Gold Wing
motorcycle, purchased as Brasher’s retirement present to himself.
Try this
The catalyst for what became BEILW was a friend who was
selling police equipment but didn’t install the equipment. “He knew I had a
background in electronics and asked if I was interested in the installation
side of the business,” Brasher says. The friend knew the products would sell
better if installation was part of the deal.
One day, Brasher came home to find a Crown Victoria in the
driveway with equipment in the seat and a note, “Try this.”
Brasher and Trey installed the equipment on the Crown Vic.
Then there were two or three more police cars in the driveway. They soon set up
shop in the family garage.
Four years later, in 2007, they built the lobby and first
workspace at the current location on Oakley Avenue in Odenville. In 2015, a
graphic workspace was added. Then, in 2017, the company added its giant
warehouse addition designed to accommodate fire trucks and ladder trucks, even
18-wheelers, with a 12- by 16-foot door. Upstairs is a break room and Brasher’s
office. There’s also a parts room. The most recent workspace addition is a
converted garage outfitted for painting and powder coating equipment.
Lights, sirens, graphics
Brasher’s company serves a specialty market, installing
lights, sirens and other equipment on police, fire and emergency vehicles. The
services and products include prisoner partitions, equipment consoles, radar,
gun racks, laptop connections and push bumpers for police vehicles. They add
towing bars and safety lifts on wreckers. The company creates graphics for the
exteriors of emergency vehicles and for Realtors and others businesses. The
graphics side of the business also produces signs and banners for the general
public as well.
As each job on a vehicle begins, the business digitally
records the VIN number and image of each vehicle they work on, before and
after. This video databank helps with quality control, warranties and being
able to reproduce exactly what the customer wants again.
In addition, video security cameras – and screens in
Brasher’s office – work 24/7 patrolling the areas around the business to
protect the expensive equipment and the customer’s vehicles.
Smart start
Another service offered by the company is installation,
testing and removal of “Smart Start” ignition interlock systems in vehicles as
part of court-ordered alcohol monitoring of drivers convicted of driving under
the influence. The company is one of the state’s certified installers of the
system that analyzes the driver’s breath and locks up if alcohol is detected.
The Smart Start program is operated by Alabama’s Department of Forensic
Sciences.
LED lights a game changer
LED lights that last longer and shine brighter have changed
the world of emergency lighting, Brasher says. “They are compact and more
reliable and use less power.”
The company’s new line of lighting and siren products, called
BEILW and for sale online at BEILW.com, include products designed by Brasher
and son with installation and use in mind. “They are more installer friendly,
more functional and more aesthetically pleasing,” Brasher says. The line
includes siren speakers, beacon lights, light bars and dash lights.
Emergency lighting on vehicles is color coded. Red is for
firefighting vehicles; blue is for police, and amber is for emergency vehicles.
“It’s always been against the law to have colored lights on civilian vehicles.
The type of lights might change, but the color code is consistent, at least
regionally. But, it’s the opposite “up north,” Brasher says, with fire being
blue and police red.
Investing back in the business
When Brasher still worked with the police department as the
company ramped up, he made sure he met all ethics requirements to not do
business with police department he’d work for, and he made sure to funnel
company proceeds back into the young business. Today, he says, the company is
debt free as it continues to grow and add services. Before he retired and went
to work there full time, “we invested everything back into the business,” he
says, noting there were many what seemed like “43-hour days and 23-day weeks.”
But now the retired police officer tries to hold his work
days to five-day weeks, leaving him time for adrenaline-inducing fast cars,
motorcycles and airplane rides.
Organizer extraordinaire puts skills, compassion to work for good causes
Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Michael Callahan Submitted Photos
Doris
Munkus likes to organize. When she’s not organizing line dancers, senior
citizens and fundraisers, she turns to her own household.
“I
color-code everything,” she confesses, not the least bit sheepishly. “I have
five grandchildren, and I color-code their towels, their bedding, their chairs,
even their toothbrushes and drink cups. They can’t change them, either. I don’t
have to buy name tags at Christmas, I just wrap their gifts in their colors.”
Freud
might call her anal about organizing, but folks around Pell City call her
genius. Over the past six years, her organizational skills have helped raise
more than $150,000 for various charities and first responders in her community.
Her main claim to fame is Dancing With Our Stars. This annual
competition mimics television’s Dancing With The Stars, pairing
experienced dancers with local bankers, professionals, business owners, elected
and school officials, firefighters, police officers and others.
But
Doris’ organizational skills go back much further than the 2014 debut of DWOS,
however. “I organized a float to represent Dallas County for former Gov. Guy
Hunt’s inauguration
parade,” says Doris, who taught art in that county’s school system when she
lived in Selma. “I staged an Invention Convention for the school children, too.
I like to organize big things.”
In
2001 former Pell City Councilwoman and fellow church member Betty Turner picked
up on Doris’ organizational abilities and asked her to start an exercise class
at their church, Cropwell Baptist. “I couldn’t then because my mom lived with
me and I was taking care of her,” Doris recounts. “She died in 2002, so in 2003
I started that class. It was free and open to anyone.”
After seven or eight years, the exercising
hour got a little too long. Doris had taught line dancing as activities
director at the Pell City Senior Citizen Center in the late 1990s, so she
suggested adding that to the mix. Everyone involved agreed.
“We
did a half hour of exercise, half hour of line dancing for several years, then
we dropped the exercise portion and just did line dancing,” Doris explains. In
2009, the classmoved to Celebrations, and Doris added a$4
charge per class to cover the expenses of renting Celebrations, buying the
music, the signage, the DVD player and other incidentals. The rolls show 50
people, but the average attendance is about 30.
While
the class was still at Cropwell, the late Kathy Patterson was on the board of
the St. Clair County Relay for Life and asked whether Doris’ line dancers might
want to raise money for cancer research. “That first year we raised $2,000, and
dancing wasn’t even involved,” Doris says. True to form, shestarted
thinking bigger, and the class held sock hops the next year. People responded
well, so Melinda Williams, the American Cancer Society representative for St.
Clair and several other counties, suggested the dancers hold a Dancing With
Our Stars as another fundraiser.
“Our
first was February 14, 2014,” Doris says. “February seems to be best month, but
we have done it in March and April. In February of this year, we raised $23,111
and those numbers are still climbing because we’re selling DVDs from the show.”
Deserved rave reviews
Tim
Kurzejeski is a battalion
chief and one of four members of the Pell City Fire Department who line-danced
to the 1977 Bee Gees hit, Stayin’ Alive, at the first DWOS – in
full protective gear. He has nothing but praise for Doris and the DWOS
event.
“Thefire department here in Pell City has had a dance team at Dancing With
Our Stars every year since that first year,” Kurzejeski says. “Doris is
great. She’s very energetic, she just tries to do the best and most she can to
give back to the community. She’s very easy to work with, and it’s actually
fun.”
Dancing With Our Stars
no longer raises funds for Relay for Life. Instead, the money goes to a
different organization each year. In 2016 it benefitted Children’s Hospital of
Alabama, in 2017, it was the Pell City Fire Department, in 2018 the Pell City
Police Department, and this year, it was for the St. Clair County Sheriff’s
Department. Next year, DWOS will raise money for the St. Clair County
Children’s Advocacy Center. “The dancers and people who buy tickets respond
well to local charities,” Doris says. “People call us and ask us to raise money
for their charity, and we put them on a list. We check them out, and the entire
committee must agree on them. We’ll never do it for an individual, though.”
She
has a committee of eight line dancers who do much of the planning for the
event. “We already have the menu for next year,” she says. “Vickie Potter,
who’s in charge of the food, already has next year’s food court and theme. It
will be a hobo theme in 2020.”
Other
committee members include Donna McAlister, photo and technical coordinator;
Kathie Dunn; Kathy Hunter; Lavelle Willingham, treasurer; Martha Hill; Paulette
Israel and Sue Nickens, Silent Auction coordinators. Jeremy Gossett has been emcee, and Jamison Taylor has been the disc
jockey for the event since its inception. Griffin Harris is the tech guru who
sets up the text line the audience uses to vote for favorites. “It’s all run by
volunteers,” Doris says.
Recruiting
dancers was hard the first year, but it’s much easier now. In fact, people
often call Doris asking to participate. “It’s amazing how much talent we have
in this area,” she says. This year, 600 people paid $25 each to eat dinner and
watch the show at Celebrations, where all but one DWOS has been held.
Next year, it will move to the CEPA building, on the gym side, which holds
2,000 people. “There’s more parking space there, too,” Doris says.
St.
Clair County Sheriff Billy J.Murray readily admits that Doris is one of
two people he just can’t say “no” to. (The other is his wife.) “Doris has a
tremendous work ethic, and she’s very organized,” he says. “There’s always a
lot of stuff that comes up that someone has to handle in preparing for the
show, and she steps up to the role of managing the chaos.”
Although
dancing is out of his comfort zone, he has already signed up for next year
because Doris makes it so much fun. “I know how to be sheriff, but I don’t know
how to dance,” Murray says. “We (the sheriff’s department) had nearly 30 people
helping in some capacity this year, dancing, building props, helping with
costumes and makeup. I wouldn’t hesitate to partner with Doris and her line
dancers again.”
Joanna
Murphree, the executive assistant to the administrator of St.
Vincent’s St. Clair, has worked with Doris on DWOS for the past three
years, and she, too, has high praise for this wonder woman. “The hospital has
had a team in the group division,
the Dance Fevers
team,” she says. “Doris’s organizational skills are phenomenal. She’s pleasant to work
with, too, and very thorough.”
Destination: Worthy cause
When
she’s not working on DWOS, Dorisorganizes short, one day or
overnight trips for the St. Clair County Baptist Association as a volunteer, as
well as cruises and one- and two-week bus trips under the banner of her Pell City Cruisers. This sideline began in
1998, when she worked at the senior center. She charters the buses, plans the
itineraries and the meals, books the hotels, the whole shebang. “I did one
14-day bus trip where we flew into Las Vegas and toured 12-14 national parks in
nine states,” she says. She has done tours to Canada, Colorado, Montana, Utah, the Ark in Kentucky and the
Panama Canal Zone. She makes photo books of each trip, just like she does with
each DWOS event. “All of these trips and cruises are open to anyone of
any age or denomination,” she says.
In
addition, she and the Pell City Line Dancers perform at community events, such
as the Halloween Festival at Old Baker’s Farm in Shelby County, Homestead Hollow
in Springville and the Pell City Block Party. They dance monthly at the Colonel
Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home in Pell City, at the Village at Cook
Springs, and at Danbury in Inverness in Shelby County.
When
she isn’t traveling or organizing something, she helps her husband, Victor, who
is retired from National Cement in Ragland, with Munk’s Renovations. They
remodel apartments, refurbish the cabinets they remove and resell them. The
couple has been married for 22 years, and yes, she organizes his life, too. But
he doesn’t mind at all.
“She’s
a wonderful lady, she’s sweet, lovable, real thoughtful,” he gushes. Victor
says she organizes his closet, too. “I have a section for work shirts, for
dress shirts, for shoes, socks, pants and underwear,” he says. “She has tags,
so I’ll know where everything’s supposed to go. She doesn’t like for me to
leave my shoes or clothes lying around, and she’ll come behind me and pick them
up. I’ve been living with her for almost 23 years, and I guess neither of us is
going to change.”
Editor’s Note: For a video or DVD
of still pictures of the 2019 Dancing With Our Stars, call Doris at
205-473-4063. They are $10 each.
You may also call her for more information about her
trips.
Line
dancing classes meet at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays, with beginner classes
following at 10 a.m. on the same days. Payment is on the honor system, with a
box set out to collect the $4 per person charge. l
Coosa Riverkeeper and lake associations work to protect treasured waterways
Story by Paul South
Submitted photos
Even in the bleak midwinter, in a season of heavy rain and rising
water, Gene Phifer, Linda Ruethemann and Frank Chitwood can almost set clocks
by the nature’s magic on the Coosa River.
For Phifer, president of the Neely Henry Lake Association, the
White American Pelican returns to entertain each winter, nesting near Phifer’s
Neely Henry Lake home. For Ruethemann, a board member and past president of the
Logan Martin Lake Protection Association, small black ducks – Ruethemann calls
her feathered neighbors “diving ducks” – plunge for food under the Army khaki
green water in the mornings, delighting a human audience.
And for Frank Chitwood, the Staff Riverkeeper and founder of the
environmental watchdog group Coosa Riverkeeper, anytime is a good time on the
river. But the special times are when the sun rises or sets, painting an
ever-changing pallet, the moon is full and glowing, or in those seasons when
colors, not crowds, clamor for attention.
The lake associations and the Coosa Riverkeeper are united in a
singular mission – to protect the Coosa River system that runs through Alabama,
downstream from the river’s headwaters at the confluence of the Etowah and
Oostanaula rivers near Rome, Ga. The heart of the mission – to protect the
quality and quantity of the waters of Coosa and its six lakes and by extension,
the overall environment and economy.
Phifer calls Neely Henry, the Coosa and its sister lakes, “a
treasure.” The three organizations are carrying on a love affair with the
water.
“It’s really a treasure to have something like this, Phifer said.
“There’s no other way to put it. We’re so fortunate. We have a river system
that flows through the center of Gadsden and then on downstream. With a river
like this with all the recreational and all the aesthetic and environmental
benefits of it, goodness, it’s a treasure to have this. You don’t see this when
you go across the United States.
Native peoples called the
Coosa home long before Hernando DeSoto became the first European to see the
river in the 16th century. Neely Henry and Logan Martin were
man-made bodies of water, the result of Alabama Power’s construction of
hydroelectric dams in the 1960s. While these days, the river and lakes are in
better health, there was a time in the not-so-distant past when Logan Martin,
Neely Henry and its parent river were a dumping ground for all manner of human
refuse from beer cans to busted refrigerators.
“The river system years ago was a biological eyesore as far as the
way the water was being treated at that time. Something needed to be done,”
Phifer said. “Things weren’t being done the way they should have been done by
residents and the communities. Renew Our Rivers moved to the cities and
counties, and a groundswell of law enforcement, schools, businesses and the
media got involved, too. Etowah, St. Clair and Calhoun all got involved.”
The result was Renew Our Rivers. Started in 1998 on Neely Henry
and quickly spreading to other Alabama waterways. On Neely Henry alone, some
500 tons to debris has been cleaned out of the river. On Logan Martin, the
first year saw tons of debris pulled from the lake. The amount has decreased
over the years, thanks to increased awareness throughout the water system.
Team work
Keeping the Coosa River system clean is only part of the story.
For example, an all-volunteer army of trained Logan Martin residents take to
the river monthly to test the waters. The effort springs from an Auburn
University initiative called Alabama Water Watch.
Since 1996, the water tests
have been carried on come rain or sun, sleet or snow. Ruethemann is a trainer
for the testing effort, which looks for warning signs in the water. “You don’t
have to be a chemist to be a tester,” she says. “If you can follow a recipe,
you can do this.”
Testers don’t worry much about weekly reports but search for
trends in quality.
“When I’m out testing and someone sees me, they say, ‘Is the water
good?’ And I can tell you what the numbers are today. But what you’re really
looking for are the trends,” she says. “Is the water quality getting better? Is
it getting worse? Do you suddenly see changes in certain areas of water quality
that we need to take notice of and say, ‘Something’s changed here, what is
that?’ Then you start going upstream to where the issue started.”
Like the associations, Coosa Riverkeeper is focused on water
quantity and quality. Chitwood, founder of Coosa Riverkeeper and the retiring
staff riverkeeper for the organization, patrols the waters in a quest to
safeguard the river. He founded Coosa Riverkeeper in 2010 after volunteering
for other Riverkeeper organizations around the country.
Like the Neely Henry and Logan Martin citizen groups, Coosa
Riverkeeper is an advocate for the river system. While unlike the other
organizations, Riverkeeper has a small paid staff, the goals of the groups are
the same.
“What we do is patrol the river, educate the public and advocate
on behalf of the river. Citizen-based, nonprofit,” Chitwood said. “We do a lot
of the work that people expect the government does, but they don’t. In a sense,
we are a watchdog organization. We do things like monitor water quality to make
sure it’s safe to swim and to fish. We respond to citizen complaints. We go and
speak to school groups or civic groups about the river and its importance. We
monitor pollution sources and seek to reduce those sources of pollution.”
The public perception of the organization among river residents
has changed since its early days.
“When we first started, not many people knew what the Coosa River
was,” Chitwood said. “They thought of it as individual lakes. So, we talked to
people on Logan Martin about the Coosa and they’d say, “We don’t know where
that is, and we’d say, it’s right here.” That has changed a lot. They are more
aware of the connectivity between systems and between the lakes and how we’re
impacted by what people upstream of us are doing. That’s one big change.”
The other is changing the general perception that the Coosa is
unsafe for swimming because it does have such a polluted history, especially on
Logan Martin because of the PCB issue. What we did was start a program called
Swim Guide, where we do water quality testing all over the river every week in
the summer. We post that information free so people can see if it’s safe or not
to swim that week in their location, instead of just speculation and hearsay.
That has been really huge. A lot of people have been reassured about the safety
of swimming in the river. But a lot more people are assured about the safety of
the water.”
And Coosa Riverkeeper isn’t shy about using the legal system to
protect the waterway.
While the lake associations closely monitor water issues and
advocate and educate on behalf of the river system to schools, civic groups and
government agencies, Coosa Riverkeeper will put its legal muscle behind its
efforts.
“That’s why I’m really proud of our group because we’re standing
up and doing something about it. And we’re making progress. It just takes
people to stand up against industry and the government that are insanely
powerful in Alabama and say that’s not really how we want things to happen in
Alabama,” he noted.
“There are people out there that they know what they’re doing is
not right. And they know that what they’re doing has an impact. But if they
don’t get fined for it and they’re not going to spend however much money it is
to do the right thing, there’s no consequence. It takes more than one approach
to really address all these issues. That’s what sets our group apart. We’re
willing to go toe-to-toe with industry, and we’re willing to call in the
lawyers and file a lawsuit. There aren’t a lot of groups willing to do that. I
think that we have to be willing to do that. If we don’t, we’re never going to
change the status quo.”
Perhaps the dominant issue – one that would impact the three-legged
stool of the lake associations’ mission to protect water quality, quantity and
property values – are the so-called “Water Wars” among Alabama. Georgia and
Florida.
In an effort to get more water for a thirsty, growing Metropolitan
Atlanta area, Georgia wants to dam the waters that flow into the Coosa, which
is downriver from the confluence of the Etowah and Oostanaula. Its impact
reaches far beyond the Coosa, to the Tallapoosa and the Alabama Rivers. The
Alabama is a navigable waterway, critical for barge traffic to the Port of
Mobile.
Choking the flow of water to the Coosa, however, would damage a
fragile ecosystem and parch the local economy. If you want an idea of how
brittle the Coosa and its lakes are, consider indigenous beavers in the wake of
February flooding. While it’s the opposite effect compared to lower water
levels, the lesson here is environmental impact.
“Any change in the water level is going to affect the
environment,” Ruethemann says. “While it’s the opposite of that, in the flood,
beavers were wandering in people’s yards, and they were scared, not sure where
to go.”
All of the Coosa advocacy groups are closely monitoring the
mountain of litigation related to the water wars, Phifer said.
“We can’t continue to lose a lot of water without damaging us
downstream in dry season. When nutrient levels in the water get too high, you
have the potential for the nutrients to cause rapid algae growth and when the
algae die, it sucks oxygen from the river system, damaging quality of life for the
river. When you have dissolved oxygen, it becomes a pollution problem.”
In the years ahead, if the waters of the Cahaba – from which
Birmingham derives much of its water – begins to run dry – there is concern
that a parched Magic City might turn to the Coosa for water, putting the Coosa
in the crossfire of two fronts in the water wars.
“That’s not just a battle for Alabama, Florida and Georgia, but
there’s going to be a battle between Birmingham and the Coosa,” Chitwood says.
“It’s only going to be so long before Birmingham comes for the Coosa. They’ve
talked about it before.”
“When I train people in these (water testing) classes, I tell
them, water in not a limitless quality,” Ruethemann says. “You can’t make new
water. People say, ‘Why don’t you go to the Birmingham Water Works and get more
water? Well, where do you think they get that water?”
One of her water testing students took a biblical view, she says.
“Yup, that’s the same water that floated Noah’s boat.”
Ruethemann adds, “As it gets more limited and as we have more
people, and we start growing more in urban areas like Atlanta and in the
outskirts of Birmingham, people are going to be fighting for that limited
amount of water.”
Other development-related issues, like sediment runoff from
construction sites, sewerage and stormwater runoff concern the Coosa River
organizations of Weiss, Neely Henry, Logan Martin, Lay, Jordan and Mitchell
that make up what Ruethemann calls, “The Coalition.”
But another point of advocacy for Coosa Riverkeeper and the Neely
Henry and Logan Martin groups is the development of a statewide comprehensive
water management plan. Currently, Alabama is the only state in the Southeast
without a water management blueprint.
“In my opinion, (if) we get to a courtroom, it’s hard for us to
say (water) is of utmost importance when we don’t have a plan together. I think
that plays against us tremendously.”
What happens to the Coosa if Alabama loses the water fight?
“We always think the worst. I think human nature is (to think)
that everything will fall apart. I don’t know. There are many places on this
lake that if the water stayed at 460 (feet), that a lot of people would not
have waterfront property at all. You’d still see the diving ducks and the
pelicans, but in these narrow sloughs, a lot of people would not have
waterfront at all.”
Water quality and quantity should be on the minds of folks along
the Coosa and across Alabama, as neighboring Georgia builds more reservoirs at
the headwaters of the river.
“I would bet you if you talk to 90 percent of the people in this
state, they don’t even think about water, Ruethemann says. “They turn on the
faucet, and it’s there. They go to the beach or lake or river of their choice,
and it’s there. We have a lot of water in Alabama – today.”
Should they think about it?
“Oh yeah,” she says. “At some point in time, it’s going to become
an issue.”
Meanwhile the groups
collaborate, educate and advocate for the river system, pushing for clean,
ample water, effective policies and responsible development. The reason is
simple. “Anyone who spends time on our waterways in Alabama is going to
appreciate them,” Chitwood says. “You’re not going to go kayaking on Big Canoe
Creek and say, ‘Who really cares about that creek? ‘You’re going to say ‘Wow,
that’s something worth protecting.”
Logan Martin LakeFest
& Boat Show returns in May with more entertainment, more vendors, more
boats, impressive giveaways and even an extra day to enjoy it all.
The weekend of events May
17-19 will mark the ninth year for LakeFest, an event that celebrates lake
life.
This year, a pontoon boat
and an all-terrain vehicle are among the many giveaways.
The free, family-friendly
LakeFest – to be held at Lakeside Park at the Pell City Civic Center complex –
is the largest in-water boat show in the Southeast, according to event
coordinators Eric Housh and Justin Hogeland.
To date, the annual
fundraiser has generated $250,000 that has been given to about 40 different
charities, said Hogeland, a board member of LakeFest’s parent, Logan Martin
Charity Foundation.
This year, LakeFest will
again have a three-day format after having a two-day schedule for a few years.
“We’re adding back a Sunday this year,” said Housh, who is also a foundation
board member.
The hours of LakeFest are
noon to 9 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
During LakeFest, five
boat dealers will display a total of 15 brands of vessels.
“Some of those boats will
be in the water and people (who qualify) will be able to test drive, which is
unique,” Housh said.
The personal watercraft
vendor Speed Zone will have Sea Doos, Yamaha Wave Runners and Kawasaki jet skis
that those who qualify can take for a spin.
“That will be a lot of
fun,” Housh said.
In addition, Riders
Harley-Davidson will show off motorcycles, and enthusiasts will get to
experience the power, speed and thrill through a simulator.
On-site financing to
purchase a land or water vessel will be offered by America’s First Federal Credit Union, LakeFest’s presenting
sponsor.
In the beginning…
Jerry Woods of Woods
Surfside Marina, Fred Casey of Tradesman Co., and Lee Holmes of Sylacauga
Marine & ATV brought the first LakeFest to life, said Mark Hildebrant,
Woods’ son-in-law.
“Jerry was one of the
main forces behind the event,” said Housh. “… He was the brain of the
original idea.”
The goal was to raise
money for charitable causes, particularly Logan Martin Lake Protection
Association (LMLPA), said Housh and Hogeland.
“Jerry’s dream was to
give back to the community and have an event that showcased the lake and lake
life,” said Hildebrant, a foundation board member and current owner of Woods
Surfside Marina.
The event itself would be
free, but sponsorship from boat manufacturers and local businesses would
generate the funds that would go toward LMLPA projects and other community
endeavors.
The inaugural LakeFest
was held at a shoreline subdivision. The event brought together three boat
dealers, about 20 vendors and a crowd estimated at 2,000. Three acts provided
entertainment, with no stage and only a small public address system. About
$2,000 was raised for LMLPA, funds that went toward constructing the wetlands
boardwalk at Lakeside Park, Hogeland said.
The early years of
LakeFest were a struggle because it was a new event, and being outdoors, it was
at the mercy of the weather. In fact, rain canceled it one year.
But Woods and the
foundation board members believed in LakeFest and its mission.
More boat manufacturers
and local businesses gave their sponsorship, and the event expanded
significantly.
When LakeFest relocated
to Lakeside Park, the celebration really blossomed, greatly increasing the
number of acts, vendors, dealers, attendees and the amount of money raised for
charities.
The upcoming LakeFest
will feature more than a dozen musical acts, performing on a 24-foot stage with
professional lighting and sound. On Saturday, comedian Darren Knight – also
known as “Southern Momma” – will make a special appearance.
In addition to the
motorcycle and boat dealers, auto dealers will be on site. The inflatables and
water slides in Kid Zone will keep the younger set entertained on Friday and
Saturday. As many as 50 vendors will sell all sorts of items – from jewelry,
art and furniture to food, food and more food.
One vendor even comes
from Florida to sell crab cakes.
“The food is always a
highlight,” Housh said.
This year’s LakeFest is
on target to be the largest in the celebration’s history.
“We have exceeded our
growth this year,” Hogeland said. “We actually have a waiting list of boat
vendors.”
Housh added that the
space for other vendors is at capacity as well. “We have to turn vendors away
every year. We have to turn sponsors away every year.”
Even a place to dock a
boat has become a premium, Housh said. His advice to those planning to go to
LakeFest by water is to arrive early to secure a spot.
The appeal of LakeFest
draws people from Birmingham, Montgomery, Anniston, Oxford, Huntsville and
event Atlanta, Ga., Hogeland said.
“I like to see people
coming here from other places because this is an idyllic getaway,” Housh said.
He noted that Pell City
is, first of all, fortunate to have a large and attractive Lakeside Park that
can accommodate an event such as LakeFest. In addition to that, it is unique to
have an in-water boat show where people may test-drive models, talk to experts,
and get on-site financing.
“Having LakeFest at Lakeside Park has been a wonderful experience,” said
Brian Muenger, city manager for the City of Pell City. “It is a great
community-building event, as well as a means of promoting the city and the lake
in general. Last year was the biggest event yet. …”
Housh estimates the 2018
LakeFest attendance at 15,000.
“Any time you can bring
that many people to the area, it’s a great thing,” Muenger said. “The lake is
our biggest draw in terms of new residents, and LakeFest provides a huge amount
of exposure for the city.”
LakeFest has provided
about $50,000 for charities each of the last three years and while many
charitable causes have benefited from LakeFest funds, Hogeland said Lakeside
Park and the City of Pell City are two of the main recipients.
“The Logan Martin Charity
Foundation has … been a generous supporter of (the) Fire and Police
Departments, which we are thankful for,” Muenger said. “They have also
partnered with the city to expand the docks at the park, which was a $50,000
project. We are working towards further improvements in the years to come, and
with the continual growth of the event, I know its impact on the community will
continue to expand.”
Tonja Ramey, LMLPA
president, said LakeFest gives exposure to and promotes LMLPA’s work of keeping
the lake clean and teaching about the lake’s impact upon humans, ecology and
economy.
“The primary purpose of LMLPA is to educate
the public on issues and activities that impact the use and vitality of Logan
Martin Lake,” Ramey said. “… (At LakeFest,) we are able to set up a booth,
mingle with the vendors and share information with the visitors about the
importance of making improvements for the safety of swimmers and boaters, as
well as protecting the quality of our lake. And it also gives us the
opportunity to share information and possibly recruit anyone that may be
interested in learning to be a water monitor. Events like LakeFest are
also a great opportunity to sign up new members to LMLPA.”
A legacy remembered
Year after year, Woods’
influence continued to be a positive force in LakeFest.
Then, just four days
before the 2017 LakeFest, Woods died, Hildebrant said.
Hogeland and Housh said
it was very difficult to continue with LakeFest that year, but the group did so
for Woods’ sake.
The activities this year
will begin with a time of remembering Woods’ vision and commitment.
On Friday evening will be
another time of remembrance, as LakeFest honors some residents of Col. Robert
L. Howard Veterans Home in Pell City. The veterans will be transported in a
procession to LakeFest, where they will be treated in the VIP tent (sponsored
by State Farm agents Bart Perry and Brandon Tate) to dinner, followed by a
fireworks spectacular (sponsored by Bennington, a maker of pontoon boats).
Speaking of pontoons, an
18-foot Avalon with a 50-horsepower Honda motor and an estimated value of
$23,000 will be given away Saturday evening. So will an $8,500 Tracker ATV.
“I think that’s going to
be pretty popular,” Housh said of those two giveaways at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Everyone who attends
LakeFest gets a ticket free,” Housh said. The ticket allows each person to
register at the LakeFest tent for the hourly giveaways.
Coordinating LakeFest is
an undertaking that keeps Housh and Hogeland rather busy for many months.
Nonetheless, “this is my favorite time of year,” Housh said, noting that it is
gratifying to see the way the community shows support by attending LakeFest.
“One of the perks is the
check presentations to charities,” Hogeland added. Giving those, he said, is
reward for all the work.
Check out Logan Martin LakeFest & Boat Show on Facebook. To get sponsor and vendor information and applications, directions to the park, or a schedule of events, visit loganmartinLakeFest.com. In addition to Housh, Hogeland and Hildebrant, Logan Martin Charity Foundation’s other board members are Fred Casey and Lee Holmes. Judy Carr is the financial officer. The foundation is a 501(c)3 organization.
Bain, Colley set to defend the Alabama Bass Trail Series title
Story by Paul South
Submitted photos
When it comes to fishing, Adam Bain and Kris Colley hold to a
simple truth, the same flame that burned bright in classic literature and on
classic TV.
Whether it’s Melville’s Ishmael, or Mayberry’s Andy and Opie
Taylor, it’s not about victory over another angler. It’s man vs. fish.
“It’s kind of like a little puzzle. You have to figure out what
the fish are doing and the time of the year, the depth they’re in and what
they’re biting,” Bain says. “It’s just you and the fish. It’s not necessarily
you against everybody else, it’s you against the fish. There’s as much
competition there, as there is to figuring out if you can beat everybody else.
You gotta beat the fish.”
Bain from Pell City and Colley of Ashville beat the fish and
everybody else in 2018, capturing the Alabama Bass Trail Championship in their
home county on Neely Henry Lake.
They’ve won twice on the ABT circuit over the years, once at
Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee River, and the ABT title on Neely Henry last
year. The pair finished second in 2017, narrowly missing the ABT title on Logan
Martin, their day’s catch losing by slightly more than two pounds.
Sanctioned by the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, the Alabama Bass
Trail Tournament Series features two divisions. Each division –North and South
– includes five tournaments on five different lakes. As many as 225 two-man
boats can compete in each tournament.
Bain, a Realtor and Colley, who works in the railway industry,
have made waves on the ABT circuit with their winning ways that combine
old-school fishing techniques with high technology in the ever-evolving world
of competitive angling.
While the ABT is considered an amateur circuit, each tournament
champion wins a $10,000 grand prize, with $47,000 in prizes going to the top 40
teams. In recognition of Alabama’s Bicentennial in 2019, the 200th-place
finisher will earn a $200 bonus. The total prize money for the 2019 ABT Series
circuit is $568,000.
But for Colley and Bain, it’s not about the money. While they’ve
knocked around the idea of moving to a higher level of competitive fishing,
family comes first.
“There’s so much money at the local level now that you can stay
around the house and win. But we don’t necessarily do it for the money, but for
the competition. The money is an added bonus. The more money, the more
competition.”
Colley agrees. The rush of the tug on a line is enough.
“We’re both competitive in that we always want to win. It’s not
that we fish against each other, but we joke around and make fun of it. You
know, fishing is fun. Between the both of us, we never take it to the point
where it’s so serious that we take the fun out of it. Honestly, if it ever got
to that point, I’d probably quit.”
That fun and love of fishing has helped hook a strong friendship.
The two have fished together for about a decade. And their fishing style,
forged since childhood on the stained Army-khaki waters of Weiss Lake, Logan
Martin and Neely Henry complements each other.
“He’s probably a little more patient than I am. I like to throw
stuff and wind it in, Bain says of his angling teammate. “I use a spinner bait
or a crank bait. He will take a jig or a piece of plastic and flip it. He
thinks that if I’m up there and catching fish that are active, he can fish
maybe a different part of the water column.”
While most fishermen would probably never admit it, especially in
the age of high-technology depth finders and trolling motors linked to
smartphones and sonar-laced lures, luck takes a hand.
But when Colley is on his game, Bain has a simple strategy.
“When he’s on and when he’s getting bites and catching fish, I
just stay out of his way. He’s kind of the same way with me. It may be his day
a little more often than it is mine. He really does catch a lot of fish.”
Asked his own strengths on the team, Bain quips: “I run the dip
net really well.”
While Colley can flip plastic lures into the tall grasses near the
shoreline or under docks, Bain is the deep-water specialist, hooking big
catches on spinner and crank baits. In the summertime, he generally does well because
he catches them deep,” Colley says.
He adds, “We both kind of fish fast, but we do it different ways.
When you have that and have two ways of looking at it, if one way’s not
working, we’re really quick to switch to another. At the end of the day, you
might fish the same, but it’s somewhat different.”
Like most kids who grow up near the lake, fishing has always been
a simple pursuit. Joy can be had with a cane pole, a box of worms or a cage of
crickets. But as with the rest of the world, technology snagged competitive
fishing in its net.
The days of paper topographic maps of bodies of water are no more.
Water temperature, depth, barometric pressure, the phases of the moon, all
figure into fishing. And the new depth finders make learning an unfamiliar lake
easier,
“They call it video game fishing,” Bain says. “As you’re trolling
around, and you see a fish directly below you on your depth finder, you can
drop a little worm straight down and watch the fish bite on the monitor. There
are people who fish like that a lot. We’ve never gotten into that. Because
we’re from and fish predominately on the Coosa River, which is shallow, the
water stays kind of stained and the fish, most of the year live shallower than
in other river systems. So, to fish competitively, you don’t necessarily have
to fish out deep the majority of the year. Obviously, there are times you have
to go out (deep) to win, even on Logan Martin and Neely Henry, but not as often
(on those lakes) as some of the others.”
Colley is excited by the new technology.
“I think it’s great. It’s changed fishing. It’s sort of created a
wide range of how to catch fish. You see people who fish on the bank and still
win, and then you see people who grew up in the age of technology, and they
know how to use it to their advantage, and they’re able to catch them offshore.
It’s changed the way that everybody fishes because at some point
in time – we’re not the best in electronics – you’ve got to be able to read
them to be competitive. Some of the lengths we go to, you have to know how to
read them, or you’re going to get beat.”
Fishing, it seems, is booming. Bain, who learned angling from his
father and grandfather, remembers fishing junior tournaments with only three
competitive boats. Now fishing flourishes at the prep, amateur, collegiate and
pro level. More than 200 boats compete on the ABT circuit, and some of the pros
show up at those events. And amateurs compete in some of the professional
“open” tourneys.
Bain believes the internet, technology advertising, money and
media coverage have boosted the popularity of a sport that once seemed to be
gasping for air on the rocks. And as a result, the competition is tough
“The fishermen have gotten good. Your average fisherman is a lot
better now than he used to be. Whether that’s the depth finders or the material
that’s he’s able to get to and read about and see the new techniques and all
this stuff, the average fisherman has gotten much better than he was 20 years
ago. It’s got to be the technology that’s doing that.”
Defending champs
Technology aside, Colley and Bain are philosophical as they begin
the defense of their 2018 Alabama Bass Trail Series. Colley doesn’t see a
bullseye on their backs as the new season began.
“It’s not. We look forward to being able to defend. We’re not
going to change anything up. If we go out and do the best we can and if it’s
meant to be, it’s meant to be.”
He adds, “We both have our strengths as far as what we like to do
and how we do it. If it’s a bait or a certain thing he likes to do, he runs the
boat. It just depends on crank or jerk bait like Adam does, or flipping a bait,
that’s more my kind of deal. We try to keep each other up. You’re going to lose
a big fish here and there, and when we do, we just try to make fun of it. We
don’t really get down, we just make fun of and nag each other the rest of the
day.”
Asked if the fishing friends are like an old married couple,
Colley chuckles.
“Pretty much,” he says.
The pair calls the ABT championship their biggest thrill and their
biggest victory in fishing. But even in these days of tournaments and tough
competition, where anglers on the ABT try to land five fat keepers, the story
always circles back to childhood and the thrill of that first big fish, fun and
friendship
“We don’t do a whole lot different than anybody else,” Bain says.
“Kris is an outstanding fisherman. I’m probably very lucky to be fishing with
him. We’ve taken our lumps over the years, but we’ve put a lot of time in and
worked really hard at it. We’ve paid our dues.
“Now
that we do have families we aren’t able to fish all the time during the week,
like we did growing up. But what success we have now, I can attribute to those
days as a kid, fishing for hours, not knowing what you were doing, but just
learning. Eventually, years down the road, that stuff does pay off.”
