Springville, AL

springville-at-night

Marching to its own rhythm

Story by Paul South
Photos by Susan Wall

In one sense, Springville rocks to the gentle rhythm of a quintessential Southern small town, where folks speak to everyone – even strangers – on the street. In the mornings, locals and visitors feast on steaming plates of biscuits and gravy at Springville Café, a meat-and-three at lunch, seasoning their food with talk of politics and football and gossip.

They worry when their neighbors are sick, celebrate when a new baby is born and mourn when a neighbor passes away. It’s a rhythm of Springville Tiger football on fall Friday nights and heartfelt prayers on sun-washed Sunday mornings.

But in another sense, this town of nearly 4,100 souls marches to its own drumbeat, crowding the local library for the latest literature, tapping their toes at intimate music venues like Local Color, or celebrating local artists and craftspeople at Homestead Hollow. It loves the cool, clear water of Big Canoe Creek, the same ancient waters that brought Native peoples and white settlers to the area centuries ago.

This town that once boasted its own college cherishes history and education, like the Old Rock School, crafted from stones yanked out of the ground by locals, and the current Springville High School that strives for excellence in and out of the classroom

Like its sister cities in St. Clair County, Springville is growing, but at its own pace, with its own sense of how things should be done. It’s a stained-glass window of a town, vibrant in life and color, where the light of possibility shines through.

“Springville is a very welcome, gentle, conservative-minded but progressive-thinking city for people to live in. All of those are here,” said Springville Mayor William “Butch” Isley. “They are all seeking for it to be slow and easy for people to live here. The daily life here is easy. The town is welcoming and warm to all who come here. That’s why I’m here.”

 

A rich history

Why the Springville area’s first settlers came here is simple: Water, pure water. The area’s crystal clear waters from natural springs made it a popular rest stop for Native peoples and later European pioneers who traveled through and settled in the area. The first settlers came to Springville – first known as Big Springs – before Alabama achieved statehood in 1819. The first church was established in 1817. With the establishment of the first post office in 1833, the town’s name was changed to Pinkhill, but was again changed a year later to Springville. The town was incorporated in December 1880.

Descendants of families who settled in Springville in its earliest days – Woodall, McClendon, Bradford, Forman and others – still call Springville home.

A co-educational academy was built in 1861 and in 1873 was renamed Springville High School. The 1870s were marked with both triumph and tragedy. The Alabama Great Southern Railway came through the town in 1870. Sadly, the advent of the railroad brought with it the dreaded disease cholera, killing many of the railroad workers.

Telephone and electricity came to Springville in the first quarter of the 20th century. And the town’s water and sewer system came into being in 1935, in the heart of the Great Depression. In 1957, a new city hall was constructed.

Donna Davis is part of a cadre of volunteers working at the Springville Museum and Archives. Once located in the upstairs portion of the Springville Public Library, when the library moved to a new building, the museum made the Masonic Lodge on Main Street its home.

In late October, Davis and the museum volunteers bustled, decorating for a Christmas exhibit. She remembers one of the milepost moments of Springville history, the explosion at the local train depot in January 1969.

“I was in the second grade, and it was two days past my birthday, and I remember it very well. We were all in school on that day,” Davis recalled. “What I remember was the panic of everyone. We all were evacuated from the school and ran up the hill behind the school, trying to get to safety. The explosions were shattering the windows of the houses around town.”

big-canoe-creek-springvilleIn the panic, children piled into the cars of neighbors to get home. Firefighters from as far away as Birmingham, as well as the Alabama National Guard came to fight the blaze, sparked when a train carrying propane exploded. Miraculously, despite the damage to buildings, no one was killed.

One former town landmark, now gone, brings happier memories. Residents of a certain age will remember a lake constructed by the city in the heart of town.  Filled with carp, bream and trout, the lake was popular for picnics and other social events, as well as for folks who simply wanted to feed the fish. A hill behind the lake was home to Easter sunrise services, a celebration of resurrection and renewal.

Springville Lake was a popular spot until the late 1960s when the state health department ordered that the lake be covered over and filled with dirt, opening the floodgates of protest. Letters to the editor flooded local newspapers, and the lake’s closure generated coverage from big city papers.

Writing in the Birmingham News more than 40 years ago, the late Frank Sikora reported, “Springville Lake was a natural park. You could hardly walk around the place through the crowds that came on July 4. Now it’s gone. Where the water was, there is now only red-yellow dirt. Nobody wanted it to happen, but it did.”

The lake was the heart of the town, said lifelong resident Donna Davis. In the early part of the 20th century, Springville had its own college, attracting students from as far away as Texas, many of whom roomed at local homes. Spring Lake College burned down in 1912.

The lake even spawned a number of businesses, flour mills and axe handle mills and hotels. Most notable was the Herron Hotel, which attracted politicians, movie stars and travelers who flocked to Springville to dine.

“It was famous for its fried chicken, which you could get for 50 cents,” Davis said.

Big Canoe Creek and other tributaries of the Coosa River have helped the city keep its time-honored ties to the water. And as water enriches life, some natives of Springville have enriched and entertained America, like former major-league ballplayer Artie Wilson, a four-time all-star in the Negro Leagues who hit .402 in 1948.

Wilson broke briefly into the National League, where he was a teammate of Hall-of-Famer and Fairfield, Ala., native Willie Mays. Wilson was also a four-time batting champ in the Pacific Coast League.

Aubrey Willis Williams was head of FDR’s National Youth Administration during the New Deal. He was also assistant federal relief administrator during the Depression, the second-highest ranking American relief official at the time.

And the late Springville native Hank Patterson performed the unforgettable role of Fred Ziffel in the classic television comedy, Green Acres. Patterson also had a recurring role in Gunsmoke and appeared in a number of television classics, including The Twilight Zone and Perry Mason.

 

Smart growth, economic diversity

Like other municipalities in St. Clair County, Springville is growing. In the past 12 months, 50 new homes have either been completed or are in progress, a sign that the housing market is coming out of the recession of 2007-08, Isley said.

St. Clair County Realtor Josh Kell agreed. New rooftops are becoming common in Springville after years of an almost flat-lined housing market. Kell and his late father built one of the new developments in Springville, Village Trace.

“Especially in the past year, you’ve seen a lot of new construction in Springville, more than the last several years,” he said.

Proximity to I-59 is a key selling point, Kell said, attracting newcomers from Jefferson County.

As far as future trends, unless something unforeseen happens, Kell sees continued residential growth.

“I see a lot of continued growth,” he said. “There’s still plenty of opportunity for new rooftops, barring something similar to what we just came out of.”

At the heart of the community’s overall economy? Pride.

“The businesses are very focused on that community,” said Don Smith, executive director of the St. Clair County Economic Development Authority. “Pride is at an absolute high in Springville.”

The town, with rare exception, has operated on a cash basis and has more than $2 million in its rainy-day fund, Isley said. The town has invested some $500,000 annually in recreational facilities and is also working toward sidewalks, curbed and lighted downtown streets as part of a state-sponsored Streetscapes program.

The city has seen growth of new restaurants and businesses along its part of the I-59 corridor and hopes to attract a hotel chain. But Isley would also like to see St. Clair cities along the interstate team up to develop economically.

“We’re happy with our retail, but we want to try to partner and market with our sister cities, Argo, Odenville, … Ashville and Steele,” Isley said. “I think that we should be promoting our I-59 corridor as sister cities. We’re a team player in that regard.”

While the town wants to market itself to the wider world, its citizens are the priority, as evidenced by the dedication to parks and other amenities. One of the cornerstones of Springville’s economic development is a longstanding commitment to a community blueprint aimed at maintaining the traditional character of Springville.

“That commitment was already in place back when I became the mayor. That commitment has been in place with all of or mayors to help maintain the downtown district – home to the historic district. We have had a concerted effort with the local preservation society and the historical society to maintain the character of the town and to improve it.”

Springville has held fast to its blueprint, with positive results.

“They wanted quality-built neighborhoods. They wanted quality developments and didn’t change because of the whims of the times. They’ve been very selective about what they’ve been involved with,” Smith said. “They’ve been very particular about how they grew, and they wanted to grow in a certain manner.”

Smith can see Springville becoming a community more deeply committed to the arts, like a smaller version of Fairhope, Ala., in the future. But it could also be a draw for IT businesses.

A big hurdle economically is finding suitable property currently for sale.

“The challenge for Springville is to continue to redevelop their activities. They need to look to expand without losing their identity.”

 

Cherished Education

There’s been a school in Springville since the middle of the 19th century. The city’s deep educational heritage and love for it is evidenced by the preservation society’s efforts to restore the old Rock School and expansion at the Springville Public Library.

The belief in education and love for creativity flows through local schools, said Springville High School Principal Virgil Winslett.

“You don’t have a lot of arts funding for the school. But we have visual arts. We have a very strong band program. We have a choir and choir classes. One thing about Springville High School is we try to be the best we can in every facet. We try to give 110 percent in every aspect.”

As it has throughout its history, Springville loves its schools.

“Without a doubt this is one of the strongest bases of support for all of our schools,” Winslett said. “We have great support from the mayor and City Council, the Fire Department, the Police Department. When we need help, we get it.”

As an example, the city stepped to the plate to help Springville High repair and upgrade its baseball and softball fields after dugouts were destroyed in a storm.

“They’re that way all the time. They are very supportive of what we do,” Winslett said.

The schools are also willing to help with local city youth sports program. It’s a two-way street, Winslett said.

Parental involvement is also a big positive for Springville schools.

“Our teachers feel like they’re supported. There’s a good relationship between parents and teachers. That shows in the academic success of the school,” Winslett said.

Part of its academic success is the school’s course offerings.

“We’re now an A-Plus College-Rated School,” Winslett said. “We were given a three-year grant. We offer six AP classes and dual enrollment through Jefferson State Community College, which allow students to earn college credit while in high school.”

Winslett has been an educator in Springville for more than two decades. He’s home. New teachers who come from outside to teach in Springville rave about the schools.

“It’s not a struggle to get up and come to work every day,” he said. “You get up. You’re excited about coming to work. We’ve got good kids here. I don’t know of a kid here who would say he or she is not proud to be a Springville Tiger.

“Springville has grown a lot since I’ve been here, but it still has that small-town feel. People talk to one another and take care of one another. You go to school and go to church with the same people. There’s something about that sense of community you won’t find in a bigger place. To me, that’s very important to me and my family.”

Two other avenues for education are the recently-expanded Springville Public Library and the Springville Museum and Archives. Both celebrate literature and the arts. The library recently expanded, adding a young people’s literature annex and also celebrates a local artist and author of the month.

On a recent morning, even though it was early, Library Director Jamie Twente was busy, as the library bustled with readers. A book group meets here monthly.

But the library, while it celebrates literature, also cherishes the arts. It offers quilting classes, Cherokee leaf printing, folklore, even martial arts.

The library also offers a variety of services: copying, printing and job-search resources. The library recently received a $20,000 grant for additional computers.

But as with every library, books are at the heart of the facility. Twente said readers at the Springville Library accounted for half of the circulation of the St. Clair County Library System. The Springville Library is now independent.

“Per capita we were checking out seven items per person,” Twente said. “People here like to read. They love the printed word. We have artists with no formal training who can do amazing things I could never do. I feel fortunate to live here.”

The pace of life in Springville lends itself to a love of the written word and the arts.

“It’s a very friendly place. It’s a very charming place. People here love their community, but they also love their private time to pursue their interests.”

The new children’s annex was at different times the Springville City Hall and the local fire station. A huge bay window allows light to stream into the new annex.

“Keeping the downtown area alive is good for the downtown and good for the community,” she said.

As for the Springville Museum and Archives, one of its featured exhibits is a piece from one of the World Trade Center Twin Towers, on loan from the Port Authority of New York. The towers were destroyed by terrorists Sept. 11, 2001.

While this month, the museum is celebrating classic Christmas decorations and toys, it’s also building its collection of historical archives. Every Springville High yearbook has been preserved digitally. The museum is also working to preserve old newspapers and records, a treasure trove for historians and genealogists.

The museum, along with the historic preservation society, is working to preserve the old Rock School.

It was built in 1921, and “we’re trying to renovate it and get it back to its former glory,” Davis said.

The Springville Historic Preservation Society is also working to restore a building known as “The White House” for use as a welcome center.

These efforts, aimed at preserving Springville’s past for the future, are another facet of the character of the town. The museum staff is a cadre of volunteers working without pay.

“The people, when needed, will join forces together to help each other, and most of the people who’ve lived here all their lives and even the people who have moved in have a strong love for Springville. They are really dedicated to their town.

Running

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Cross Country in St. Clair

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

A methodical thud of a rubber sole hitting a dirt trail below – a dozen or more pair of them – emanate from the woods just beyond St. Clair County High School’s campus in Odenville.

It is almost like a cadence, interrupted and punctuated by the distinct inhales and exhales of determined runners. It’s a sound heard all summer long as the high school’s cross country team prepared for battle across the state.

At home, their arena is a 3.1-mile path cut through woods, up hills, around bends and under the canopy of towering hardwoods and pines.

cross-country-st-clair-running-2“We’re proud of the hills,” said former Coach Mason Dye, who helped former Principal Brian Terry realize his dream of having a cross country track. “It’s a challenging course.”

“It’s unique in the county,” added Terry. “It’s almost unique in the state.”

The course twists and winds all around the campus. There’s even a pond runners make their way around, and its diverse landscape is perfect for non-competitors, too, who just want to take a walk in the woods. The trail is open to the public.

Terry has since retired from St. Clair County High School but is working in Georgia. “I run it when I’m home on weekends…for nostalgia,” said Terry, a track athlete himself in his younger days at Samford University.

On a hot, summer day, surrounded by young, aspiring cross country runners when Terry was still principal, he and Dye talked of the genesis of the course. The cross country program is now in its fourth year. “I started working on it six or seven years ago,” Terry said. He had a “vision” of what it should be, and he set out to make it happen.

Two miles were laid out courtesy of a Soil and Water Conservation grant to build a nature trail. Scooter Dorsett helped in the project.

“Cross country to me is a sport that attracts a group of kids who don’t have another niche. They’re loners. They’re bright. They’re not football players,” he said, noting that it gives them an outlet in which they excel.

“It brings in a group of kids who need to do their thing,” Terry added. “The kids tend to unify.” It becomes a team sport.

“They become like family running together,” Dye said, adding that it is co-ed.

cross-country-st-clair-running-3When Dye, who also ran track in college, arrived on campus, the course was finished. “He put the vision into play,” Terry said of his young coach.

It has had a tremendous impact on athletics. Five students from St. Clair County High have already earned track scholarships. More than a dozen schools held a meet in the fall with more than 300 athletes participating.

And the Odenville course has been a catalyst for growth in other programs around the county. “Every school in the county now has a cross country team except Ragland,” Terry said. “Cross country is growing and evolving as a sport. It builds excitement.”

Parents and volunteers maintain the course, and the community is beginning to learn about its existence and about the sport itself. “The community as whole is unfamiliar with what cross country is,” Terry said.

But now, awareness is increasing and with it, there is heightened interest from middle school and high school students. “We don’t cut,” Dye said. “It is not limited to a set roster.”

By its very nature, it encourages more and more to become involved. And, like Dye and Terry, these runners see they can grow personally and physically, and they can compete for scholarships.

“Track and field paid my way through Samford,” Terry said, and he wanted to see other young people provided with the same opportunities he had. “It’s a great sport to be a part of.”

 

Joe Whitten

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Historian, storyteller, teacher: A life well lived

Story and photos by Jerry C. Smith
Submitted photos

The usual love triangles pale in comparison with Odenville educator and historian Joe Whitten’s quadrangle of passions. In no particular order, they are St. Clair County history, Gail Elaine McGeoch, hundreds of grateful students and the Lord, whom he credits for bringing it all together.

Joe was born in 1938 in Bryant, Alabama, a Jackson County town that dangles near the edge of Sand Mountain, almost in Georgia. His father, Nathan Whitten, died that same year. Joe’s mother, Lorene Hawkins Whitten, remarried four years later to John Armstrong, a teacher and Cumberland Presbyterian minister.

Under his stepfather’s surname, Joe went to Glencoe High School in Etowah County until the 12th-grade, then was sent to Bob Jones Academy in Greenville, South Carolina, to complete high school prior to beginning college at Bob Jones University.

Graduating in 1960, his first degree at Bob Jones was a speech minor in English. While at the Academy, Joe reverted to his birth name of Whitten, as he had never been officially adopted by his stepfather.

Joe’s involuntary exile to Bob Jones became a godsend, for many reasons. Not only did he have his old name back, but he had also escaped a strict household where he’d never been able to make any decisions of his own. “I had a new name, new friends, a new place and never looked back,” he says.

After graduation in 1960, he sought employment suited to his education and ambition, but only succeeded in finding work at a sauerkraut factory in Seattle, Washington, that he wryly defined as “the most miserable job ever.” Vowing to do better, he returned to Bob Jones in 1961 to continue his studies.

This time, he specialized in education courses. After graduation, his mother, who worked at Jacksonville State University, urged him to explore Calhoun and Etowah counties for an entry-level teaching position.

After months of fruitless search, Joe had almost made up his mind to join the Air Force when he got word of an opening in a school that was being built in a tiny burg called Odenville in St. Clair County. He’d heard of the place, but had never been there.

 

Young teacher hired

At his interview with Principal Dodd Cox, Joe was told that the job was in a new grades 7-12 school currently under construction. “I’ll take it,” he quickly replied. The principal reminded him that he didn’t know a thing about the position and should probably hear the rest of the offer before making up his mind.

Joe says their conversation went something like this:

Principal: “You will be teaching eighth-grade English, ninth-grade English and seventh-grade Math.”
Joe: “I’ll take it.”
Principal: “But wait, the school isn’t even finished yet. …”
Joe: “I’ll take it.”
Principal: “It only pays $350 a month for 10 months a year. …”
Joe: “I’ll take it.”

And thus, on the day after Labor Day in 1961, at age 23, Joseph Whitten began a career that made him a living legend in Odenville education. In all, he taught more than three generations of St. Clair youngsters before retiring at the turn of the century and is a revered guest at every class year reunion.

“Mr. Whitten” was only 5 years older than some of his students, but Mr. Cox insisted his teachers control everything in their classrooms.

Joe relates, “The last thing you wanted to do was take a student out of class and march him to the principal’s office. You took care of it yourself. All us teachers knew it and, more importantly, so did the kids.”

Among his students were those who would one day make a difference in St. Clair County: Sheriff Terry Surles; Coroner Dennis Russell; practically everyone on the Odenville Water Board; Pell City businessman Connie Myers, who would later become principal of St. Clair County High School; and retired teacher Mary Kelley, who taught physical education and health at Odenville before being assigned to the Board of Education, where she served until her retirement in 1999.

“Mr. Whitten was different from any teacher I had ever met,” Mary says. “He was very talented, witty, educated and respected by his students as well as the community of Odenville. As an English teacher, his objective was for students to learn the information and participate in class discussions. These skills worked well – in school and in later life – by providing us with the self-confidence and ability to communicate well with others.”

As the school counselor, Joe’s door was open to students, teachers and support personnel. His professional knowledge provided students with advice and encouragement in the resolution of school and personal issues.

Of his demeanor in class, several respondents agreed that, while Joe was outwardly easy going and gentle, he had ways of getting attention when needed, and everyone knew when to shut up and listen.

Odenville’s Scott Burton tells of his shouting out during an unruly moment in his library class, “Silence, you vile wretches!,” and remembers a sign posted on Mr. Whittten’s desk that fairly warned one and all: CAUTION: DISPOSITION SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

Both Mary and Scott said everyone wanted to be in his classes. They found his delivery quite entertaining as he acted out various passages from English literature. He always found ways to make education fun and still managed to help them learn and retain what they’d learned.

According to Scott, Mr. Whitten’s adherence to classroom decorum extended even to paperwork that students turned in. He would not accept sheets torn from a spiral-bound notebook because of their ragged edges, and was known to call kids to the front of the class, hand them scissors and demand they remove those “frizzy” borders. Scott also credits him with being the only English teacher who could make sentence diagramming understandable.

There are enough Mr. Whitten stories told by former students to fill a small book. A local favorite involves one of his Speech classes in which he asked various students to stand and speak on some subject with which they were most familiar.

One boy eagerly volunteered at the beginning of class and took his place at the front of the room. This boy was Odenville’s legendary Slow-Talking John, who was a master at taking forever to tell anything.

His chosen subject was “How To Build A House.” John began by drawing a rectangular set of lines on the blackboard, then said, “This … is … the … footing …,” then proceeded to describe in agonizingly slow, ponderous detail exactly how to dig a foundation wall, pour concrete, etc.

Joe says that by the time John’s house had reached its interior walls, the bell had rung, and he was too numb to do anything but dismiss the class.

While they were sitting on Joe’s front porch some 14 years later, Joe mentioned that day to John, who laughed out loud and explained that the other kids in class had taken up a collection and paid John to speak first so they would not have to recite their own work.

Scott says the one thing that really sticks with him to this day as a result of having Mr. Whitten for a teacher is a deep appreciation for the works of Charles Dickens, Joe’s favorite author. Scott recalls the kids acting out speaking parts while reading Oliver Twist and David Copperfield aloud in class. Scott adds that he would love to do A Christmas Carol today, with Mr. Whitten playing Ebeneezer Scrooge.

The creation of the Odenville/St. Clair County School System is a historical epic in its own right. From its very beginnings in 1864 as a one-room cabin at Hardin’s shop on Springville Road to today’s sprawling campus just east of town, its establishment was an uphill battle all the way.

The school’s history is far too complex to explore here, but the entire saga is neatly summarized in Whitten’s Odenville, Alabama, A History of Our Town 1821-1992.

Many local pioneers and other notables were heavily involved, including entrepreneur Watt T. Brown, Governor Comer and Judge John Inzer. They took special pride in the fact they had beaten Pell City for the honor of having one of the first county high schools in the state.

In 1960, the main building was razed, and a third-generation structure of impressive proportions and excellent design was built. Now grades 1-12 were all on the same campus, divided only by clever architecture. Over the years, he taught English, speech, mathematics, and also served as librarian and counselor for the grammar school. One might feel that Joe and the new school grew up together. As he once remarked, “I wasn’t born in Odenville, but I got here as fast as I could.”

 

Gail, a love story

gail-whittenA beautiful young lady in Miss Mabe’s Bible class at Bob Jones raised her hand to answer a question. Joe, who was sitting behind her and had wanted to answer first, grabbed her arm to try to lower her hand. This incensed her, and she reminded him in no uncertain terms that this school had a rule against opposite sexes physically touching one another.

Like many relationships, theirs got off to an unusual start, but Joe Whitten and Gail McGeoch of Cambridge, New York, quickly became friends and remained so for the rest of their stay at Bob Jones. They went their separate ways after Gail’s graduation in 1961.

After eight years of being completely out of touch, Joe received a letter which Gail claimed God had told her to write. She was in Pensacola, Florida, at the time. Joe phoned her, and they talked for nearly three hours. He said the long-distance phone bill was horrendous, but he never regretted paying a penny of it.

They married in 1971, thus beginning a long, beneficent, storybook life together that would warm everyone they met. Gail often defined their marriage as a “strange and wonderful relationship,” always adding, “You’re strange; I’m wonderful.”

Gail and Joe resided in a vintage house built by an Odenville newspaper editor named Luther Maddox. When Joe first came to Odenville, he lived at the Cahaba Hotel, which no longer stands. Later, he boarded with the Bartletts, who lived next door to Maddox. Joe said its restoration was a real challenge, but today it is of museum quality inside and out.

joe-and-gail-whittenGail taught school at Ragland for a while, then transferred to Odenville, where she taught in the elementary grades. Her classroom was next to the library where Joe worked at the time.

Every person I’ve interviewed admires the same things about Gail – her wonderfully warm smile, loving, benign personality and immaculate reputation. The Whittens were very popular with all the students. Together, they were a dream team.

Scott added that Mrs. Whitten loved the snow and always got all excited over the first flake that fell. He also tells a rather amusing story about her coffee habits.

Every day she would make fresh coffee, but first she would carry the pot to an open window on the second floor, holler YOO-HOO, then throw out the old coffee and grounds, never looking to see if anyone was standing below. Everyone quickly learned to avoid that area during morning hours.

Gail played piano and sang in the choir of several churches, as part of a musical family that included Joe on the church organ. Joe praises Gail for proofreading his historical works, and helping to make them the useful volumes they became.

She led an exemplary life, but her greatest moments were yet to come.

 

Joe, the historian

As if taking scores of St. Clair’s kids under his wing wasn’t enough, Joe also became an educational outlet for the rest of us. If you’re seeking obscure information about almost any historical aspect of St. Clair County, you will sooner or later work with Joe.

Between Joe and recently-retired County Archivist Charlene Simpson, there’s practically nothing one can’t learn about our history. I’ve used both resources for many stories you read in this magazine, as well as my own published works.

Both Charlene and Joe will hasten to say they learned at the hands of veteran chroniclers such as Rubye Hall Edge Sisson (From Trout Creek To Ragland), Mattie Lou Teague Crow (History Of St. Clair County and Diary Of A Confederate Soldier) and Vivian Buffington Qualls (History Of Steele, Alabama).

Joe has published several books of his own, as well as scores of historical society periodicals, papers, meeting minutes and surveys. He worked extensively with the late Garland Minor, who located and annotated hundreds of Civil War burial sites in our area, obtaining markers and other memorials for them.

Joe joined the St. Clair Historical Society shortly after it was formed in the early 1990s by the legendary historian and writer, Mattie Lou Teague Crow, in order to save the historic Looney House from demolition. Joe’s contributions include a nicely-done periodical called Cherish, which is still archived in many local libraries and is an excellent source of research material.

Charlene recalls his frequent visits to her St. Clair County Archives when it was in the Ashville Library building as well as two later locations on the town square. She says Joe was always pleasant, never declined to pause in his own work to help others and added much to the usefulness of that department.

Charlene says his favorite thing was going through archival copies of old St. Clair newspapers, looking for interesting, poignant or just plain funny wedding announcements, epitaphs and other bits of Victorian-era news for his two books, By Murder, Accident & Natural Causes and Wedding Bells &Funeral Knells, both of which are still available.

His first published books were a genealogical study of his Hawkins family, a history of St. Clair High School called Where The Saints Have Trod, a compendium of 18 local church histories called In The Shadow of the Almighty, and the aforementioned Odenville, Alabama – A History of Our Town. All these works still find heavy usage as research materials, especially from St. Clair youngsters working on yearly history projects for a statewide contest with finals in Montgomery.

All his reference works have proper indices, often a large proportion of the book itself. He considers a wasted effort any reference book that is not properly indexed, and totally useless if there’s no index at all.

Joe also serves as a board member for County Archive as well as Odenville’s Fortson Museum. Over the years, he’s donated countless display items and reference works to both places, including a wonderful old foot-pump organ that now graces the Fortson collections.

 

joe-whitten-song-alabamaJoe, the poet

One of Joe’s favorite pursuits is writing poetry, particularly oddly-punctuated verse that doesn’t rhyme. He’s an active member of the Alabama State Poetry Society, and his works have fared well in regional contests. He’s printed several chapbooks of his poems, and at one time was the official Poet of the Year of Alabama.

Joe’s love of poetry goes all the way back to his high school days, when he often penned satirical works about his teachers, much to their chagrin and the delight of his fellow students.

One of his proudest possessions is a framed piece of sheet music with one of his poems, Evensong, as its lyrics. Written especially for Joe’s poem, the music got a lot of exposure as part of a Year 2000 millennium project sponsored by the White House Millennium Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Evensong can be found in Joe’s latest book of poetry, Learning To Tell Time.

Joe takes special pride in helping to connect an American family with a group in France working to erect a memorial to American flyers who had crashed there during World War II. One of those flyers was Richard Smith, whose family had contacted Joe for further information from an obituary he had collected. Smith’s family was invited to France for the dedication ceremony.

 

Dark clouds gather

A few years ago, Gail was stricken with cancer, marking the beginning of an epic struggle that gave courage to many others who were fighting their own battles. Her unflappable persona remained unchanged for the entire ordeal, always beaming that special smile that could not help but warm those around her.

Her passing in 2010 marked the end of 39 years of an idyllic marriage for Joe and Gail Whitten and brought hundreds into mourning.

Joe says she was cheerful until the very end. He recalls one of their last conversations on the day before her passing, when she was heavily infused with pain medicine and somewhat groggy.

He asked, “Do you know who I am?” She replied sweetly, “Of course I know who you are, Joe.” Some hours later, he leaned over close and whispered a final “I love you.”

Her answer: “I love you, too, whoever you are,” her eyes dancing as she spoke.

 

Finding peace

Joe says that God moved into their home after Gail passed and has kept him company through his years of loss and resolution. He’s since become involved in mission work to Ecuador as well as extensive world travel and plans to write a few more books.

Perhaps the first stanza of his signature poem, Evensong, tells it best:

The world is quieter now.
Mist rises to mist
and a quietness comes to me
like the quietness of an old house
that whispers long-loved contentment
to past and present.

Ashville, Alabama

ashville-1

Storied past; promising future

Story by Paul South
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.
“Ashville, the county seat of St. Clair Co., Ala., is a dignified old town, seeming to possess the even tenor of its way at peace with all mankind.”
—Mary T. Whitson, The Southern Aegis, Feb. 9, 1910
When Mayor-Elect Derrick Mostella returned home to Ashville after six years in Memphis, he went to his father-in-law at Teague Hardware. There, he’d talk politics with customers, who’d share their ideas and concerns about the town. During slow spells at the store, he’d take walks and drink in all that made his hometown special. And there, he made a decision.

“I knew I wanted to make my impact in Ashville,” he said. “I had a sense of responsibility to come back and be part of something of a renaissance. I think we’re at that point right now. There’s a new feeling that’s taken over the city. We’ve got people that are active, involved and engaged and ready to see good things happen in Ashville.”

It indeed seems that St. Clair’s original county seat is on the cusp of a renaissance. The town is emerging from the housing recession that began in 2007. St. Clair County government and private entities have made some $8 million in investment in its buildings downtown, including $1.5 million in the administrative annex, transforming cramped government offices and meeting rooms into welcoming spaces.

Phase I of the expansion added 4,725 square feet of space on the east side of the Administrative Building. Cubicles were removed and nine new offices, along with a chairman’s office and a conference room, improved the functionality of the building. The St. Clair County Commission Chambers were also expanded, which allows major events, as well as Probate Court, to be conducted in more spacious surroundings.

A second-floor expansion provides more space for the Information Technology Department, the Revenue Commissioner and the Probate Office.

Two manufacturers, Valmont and Grooms Aluminum have also made multimillion dollar reinvestments in their plants, generating additional jobs. In total, the two firms invested more than $3 million.

Grooms – a family business — began operation in Ashville in August of last year. A favorable location, as well as Ashville and St. Clair County’s business-friendly climate, drew the Grooms family to open in Ashville, said co-owner and spokesperson Tammy Grooms.

ashville-courthouse“We researched and looked for land. We found a few different spots. Cost influenced it, of course, but Ashville and St. Clair County were just really good to deal with. They made the process easy. We found a location that worked for what we needed and what we do. It was great working with Ashville,” she said. “They’ve gone out of their way to try to help.”

Grooms receives and cleans scrap aluminum from customers, then melts it into ingots called “sows.” The sows are returned to the customer, who then sells it to other clients to be made into a product.

Other private concerns have invested in the historic downtown, providing yet another shot in the arm.

“As far as job creation, this has been an incredible last couple of years for (Ashville),” said Don Smith, executive director of the St. Clair County Economic Development Council.

Unlike other municipalities, Ashville has taken a more practical approach to economic growth. With a population of less than 3,000, practicality is key.

“It’s been more of a refocus on working on what you can control,” Smith said. “Historically, Ashville has had some limitations as far as infrastructure and utilities to be able to handle large growth. That is being worked on now. I think there’s a renaissance of community pride and a focus on improving what can be improved, and do the things that can be done to help the community take that next step.”

 

Steeped in history

There is something of an eternal elegance to Ashville, a town that has preserved many of its historic landmarks that go back to the state’s earliest days. And when John Ash and his family first explored the area in the early 19th century, a tragedy struck that would offer no clue as to the future. A tiny gravestone would be the symbolic cornerstone for the future county seat of St. Clair County.

In January 1817, John Ash, his wife Margaret and their three daughters and seven slaves were part of a party of a half dozen families on a wagon train en route to Shelby County when they decided to explore Beaver Valley. According to legend, wrote the late historian Mattie Lou Teague Crow, John Ash shot a deer. Ash was near the team of horses when he fired, and little Betsy Ash was thrown from the wagon and suffered a fractured skull. She died of her injuries days later. Reluctant to leave their little girl, the Ash family settled nearby. The Ash home still stands today. John Ash would later serve as a judge, county commissioner and state legislator.

St. Clair County was created in the Alabama territory in 1818. In 1820, the governor appointed Ash and other men to a board of commissioners. The board purchased 30 acres of land from a man named Philip Coleman for $10,000. Sixty-four lots were created from the purchase, including land for the courthouse.

Like other towns in St. Clair County, changes in transportation – the railroad, US 231 and the interstate highway system transformed the town. But the town lots, laid out in the first map of the town in the early 19th century, remain unchanged, with its heart in the Courthouse Square. The first court hearings were conducted at the home of Alexander Brown, according to Crow’s writings.

And the descendants of many of the families who first built Ashville – Ash, Box, Inzer, Newton, Byers and more, remain in modern-day Ashville.

Across the years, history has rolled through Ashville, bringing with it harmony and progress, disagreements and disputes. The town, like the rest of the county, was divided over the issue of secession on the eve of the Civil War. Col. John Inzer had opposed secession, but went on to fight for the Confederacy. He would distinguish himself at the battles of Corinth, Shiloh and Chickamauga before being taken as a prisoner of war. After the war, he would go on to a distinguished career in public service in government and was also a trustee of Howard College (now Samford University). His home, the Dean-Inzer home is one of the town’s preserved treasures of antebellum architecture.

Asked how she would describe Ashville, Laura Lawley, clerk to the St. Clair County Commission called it a town “near to God’s heart.” And indeed faith has played a role in the town’s history.

Methodists have worshipped in Ashville since 1818, served by a circuit-riding minister in those days. The Masonic Lodge was shared by the Methodists and the Masons until 1892. Baptists constructed a new house of worship in 1859 and Presbyterians in 1879. The original Presbyterian church now serves as a Church of Christ congregation.

These days, churches are still growing in Ashville. Flow of the Spirit Church now worships in the former Burton Foods building, while First Baptist Church is developing plans to expand in anticipation of the anticipated growth in Ashville, according to local real estate executive and developer Lyman Lovejoy. He serves on the building committee of the Baptist church.

One of the gems of the town is Ashville High School. The first school in town was Ashville Academy, founded in 1831. It later became Ashville College and in 1910, Ashville High School.

Ashville has also had an impact in popular culture, both locally and on the world stage. The “Upping Block” is an important local landmark, marking where politicians and orators took to the stump. It’s also where ladies were helped up to their horses. World famous archer Howard Hill, married and buried in Ashville, made his mark in Hollywood, using his skills in a number of films, notably Errol Flynn’s 1938 classic, The Adventures of Robin Hood.

And, Ashville has been named one of Alabama’s coolest small towns by the online site onlyinyourstate.com, one of a dozen towns selected. Ashville was third on the list, behind Alabama’s seafood capital, Bayou La Batre and the Walker County town of Cordova.

Of Ashville, onlyinyourstate.com wrote: “Ashville, the county seat of St. Clair County, was established in 1822. This historic Alabama town offers a wonderful city park for family outings, in addition to Greensport Marina, the perfect place for boating and fishing.”

 

Preserving past with eye to future

But with all the changes, Ashville remains true to its history and traditions, preserving it as a family would hold dear to an heirloom quilt or pocket watch. Lunch at Shaw’s Barbecue, greeting strangers and friends on the street and church on Sunday are deeply woven into the quality of life.

St. Clair County Commission Chairman Paul Manning and outgoing Ashville Mayor David Thompson are optimistic about the town’s future and believe economic growth is on the horizon, both downtown and on the Interstate 59 corridor, but that Ashville will never lose its hometown feel.

“Ashville is unique,” said Charlene Simpson, who succeeded Crow in the role as town historian before her own retirement at Ashville Museum and Archives. “It still has one stop light. And the courthouse is still the center of town. It’s a place where people still speak to you on the street. It’s close to big cities, but it’s still a little country town.”

A number of historic homes – some nearly two centuries old — still thrive as residential or business properties in Ashville. For example, the Alameth Byers home, built in the 1820s, is home to Kell Realty. The Byers family came to Ashville from South Carolina, where they were indigo farmers, Simpson said.

Alameth’s brother, Amzi Byers also owned one of the historic homes downtown. The home was built in 1835, constructed by Richard Crow. The house was eventually owned by Judge Leroy Franklin Box, who presented it to his daughter, Stella Box Hodges, as a wedding gift in 1889, Simpson said.

The Bothwell home, owned by Dr. James J. Bothwell, one of the town’s first physicians, is also still thriving today. It was also built by Richard Crow in 1835. It was given as a wedding present by Judge Box to another daughter, Lula Box Embry.

“Ashville is a small, close-knit town,” Simpson said. “A lot of the houses were family-owned for a long time, and the families worked to preserve them,” Simpson said.

In the last several years, efforts have been made to preserve historic homes and buildings in Ashville, one of St. Clair’s two county seats.

“Hopefully, that’s going to continue,” Simpson said.

 

A strong foundation

To a person, it seems a universal feeling that Ashville is poised for a revival of sorts. Josh Kell, the owner of Kell Realty, says his firm has enjoyed its best year since the 2007 recession. Low interest rates, affordability and quality of life have driven the recovery.

The founder of Kell Realty, his father, Paul Kell, passed away in 2011 after more than two decades as a respected real estate executive and developer. A former president of the St. Clair Association of Realtors, Paul Kell was also involved in a variety of charitable, civic and church activities, including Relay for Life and The Children’s Place.

The family business is located on the Courthouse Square in one of Ashville’s many historic homes, the Alameth Byers home built in the 1820s. Among the historic buildings are the Looney House – listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as are the John Inzer Museum and the Dr. James J. Bothwell House. The Dean-Inzer house now serves as the John Inzer Museum.

The Dean-Inzer House also serves as the headquarters for the local Sons of Confederate Veterans. The Inzer family also donated the land for the historic Masonic Lodge and Mattie Lou Teague Crow Museum next door.

One of Ashville’s landmark business families, the Fouts family, has operated gas stations, a car dealership and now a tractor business in downtown Ashville for some 80 years, across four generations.

“It’s been some sort of family business for over 80 years,” said Fouts Tractor President Pat Fouts. His grandfather, C.P. Fouts, and great-grandfather, W.O. Fouts, founded the business.

Downtown revitalization, as well as the shift in population north from Jefferson to St. Clair County has boosted Fouts’ business.

“I think the future should be good. The main thing that’s helped us is the population growth from people moving out of the Birmingham area. It continues to come this way. The more people that come this way, the more customers you’ve got. So if you keep doing business the way you’re supposed to do it – the right way – you should be able to stay successful.”

Downtown revitalization of historic buildings and restoration of historic homes – like the Looney House and the Masonic building – also has had a positive effect, Fouts said.

“Anytime anything is redone, gets better or is improved, it’s got to be at the very least a positive impact because at least it doesn’t look like something that’s run down. There are several towns… where the downtown gets torn down and run down. “(Revitalization) gives you a sense of ‘Hey, this looks pretty good. Maybe I’d want to do stuff here, live here, buy stuff here.’ So it’s definitely been a positive.”

One of those positives is the renovation of the historic Rexall Drug location in the heart of town. Once in disrepair like a badly-aging debutante, the tall structure with a front full of glass now shimmers, thanks to local dentist Dr. Joseph Labbe.

Labbe had practiced in an office on a dead end street for about two years when the Rexall building became empty. He watched as years took its toll on the drugstore that once teemed with customers.

ashville-alabama-football“I liked the building a lot and I wanted to build a new practice,” Labbe said. “I needed to remodel my building, but I really liked the (Rexall) building. I put in an offer and was able to buy it. I thought it would be great to be down in the town square. I thought the town square needed more businesses on it.”

When Labbe first came to Ashville a dozen years ago, the Rexall was the second building he noticed after the historic St. Clair County Courthouse.

“I thought it was really neat,” he said. The courthouse square and the drugstore sparked memories of his childhood in Selma.

“We had drugstores downtown when I was younger, and it kind of reminded me of that, Labbe said. “I hated to see a really nice building like that just fall in. At the time I was looking at building a new practice, looking at land down the highway,” he said. “When this building came open, I thought ‘That would be perfect.’”

Labbe was attracted by the possibility of more foot traffic to the downtown corner office, as well as the courthouse renovation.

He liked the shape of the front of it, a tall building right on the corner of a main intersection in town. “It had a lot of windows in the front and kind of took up the whole corner. It’s just a neat looking building.”

The move to the courthouse square in July has boosted his practice, Labbe said. “We actually have a lot more people walking in,” Labbe said. “Before we were on a dead-end street, and I don’t think too many people knew we were out there. It was mostly word of mouth and advertising.

“Once we started working on the building, people realized that we were here. And when we moved in, I think a lot of people wanted to see what the building looked like. We’ve picked up a lot. We have a lot more patients walking in who want to make an appointment.”

 

Bright future ahead

Blending old with new has been a good growth strategy for Ashville. “It’s an attractive place for people to live,” said Josh Kell. “We’re 45 minutes from Birmingham and 20 minutes from Gadsden, so while you’re not in an urban area, you’re under an hour in both directions from anything you need. It’s convenient. You can be to the Atlanta airport in less than two hours.”

And, along with homes in town, there are also larger lots outside town, as well as Neely Henry Lake, one of the county’s “best-kept secrets,” Lovejoy said. Ashville, he added, is a community on the move.

“It’s not where the rest of the county is, but for the first time since we went through the recession, things are looking better up there,” said Lovejoy, former chairman of the St. Clair EDC.” People are doing some renovation downtown that we haven’t seen in a long time. It was a little slower coming out of the recession than these other places were, but it’s definitely on the rise.”

Optimism is bubbling in Ashville, from county political and economic development leaders, to young attorneys like Meg Clements. She practices with the Robinson Law Firm, which has represented clients for generations in town.

“I really believe the sky’s the limit for Ashville,” Clements said. “I believe Ashville will be able to keep its small-town feel. I think Ashville can (grow) the right way, working around the interstate and in the industrial park, while keeping its small-town feel.”

Many believe Ashville will be the next community to experience significant growth. Clements supports the idea of slow, steady growth. She remembers when U.S. 231 was four-laned in Pell City. Growth occurred steadily over 25 years.

“I think that’s important,” Clements said. “I think there’s a lot of potential here.”

As a new administration takes office in November, preparation is critical.

There’s been a ton of money invested in our downtown. We’re seeing progress. It’s slow, but we’re getting there,” Mostella said. “At the end of the day, we have to create the kind of environment that’s conducive to growth. That’s what we want to do.” Whatever comes our way—residential, industrial commercial, we want to be prepared for it.”

Odenville, Ala.

odenville-1

Growing community‘A place to call home’

Story by Paul South
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

There’s a story Joe Whitten likes to tell, a story that speaks far more loudly about Odenville than about himself.

In 1961, Whitten was a newly-recruited teacher to St. Clair County High School, a stranger in town. He’d been given a 10-month contract, paying $350 a month.  And he was scared.

“I’d been in town for about three weeks, and parents of the kids were calling me and inviting me for an evening meal. I don’t remember exactly what was served, except it was good home-cooked food. But what I remember is that these people invited me into their lives and into their community. I’ll never forget that acceptance.”

Whitten, now 78, would go on to teach in Odenville for more than 35 years and write histories of Odenville and St. Clair County High. He still lives in town, on some nights, he’s lulled to sleep by the gentle rumble of the CSX train as it rolls slowly through town.

“God put me here,” he said. “I love it here.  It’s wonderful.”

Stories like Whitten’s – of welcome and acceptance — are told over and over again by newcomers and lifelong residents to this town of less than 5,000, 3,585 according to the 2010 census. Even as the town has expanded out to Interstate 59, the heart of the town hasn’t changed.

 

Beginnings

Peter Hardin, a blacksmith and Presbyterian pastor, led the first band of settlers to what’s now Odenville in 1821, two years after Alabama was granted statehood. It was the first of several key historic milestones for the town once known as Hardin’s Shop. Odenville was incorporated in 1914, but no one is sure exactly how it got its name, Whitten said.

In 1903, the Seaboard Airline Railroad (now CSX) helped tie Odenville to Birmingham, Atlanta and the northeast. Not only that, but along with good-paying jobs and company-built homes, the railroad boosted local businesses. The Cahaba Hotel was one of them, offering room and board for travelers. The now-gone landmark once was a favorite of Odenville’s children, according to Odenville Library director Betty Corley.

“There was a candy store on the first floor of the hotel, “she said. “And kids used to love to go there to buy penny candy.”

Whitten recounted how townsfolk would gather near the tracks to wave at Miss Alabama each year, as she traveled northeast to Atlantic City, N.J., for the Miss America pageant.

Strictly freight rides the rails now through Odenville. But in its prime, the passenger line even provided transportation to school for rural St. Clair County schoolchildren to the St. Clair County High, which once housed grades 1-12 under one roof.

The high school and where it would be located sparked spirited debate between the editors of the newspapers of Odenville and Pell City. Whitten has written a history of the high school (Where the Saints Have Trod) and of Odenville (Odenville, Alabama: A History of Our Town,1821-1992).

“The editor of the Pell City paper (The Pell City Progress) wrote that he was afraid the state would regret “ ‘putting a $10,000 school in a thousand-dollar town.’ ” And the editor of the Odenville paper countered that Pell City was fine for a mill town, but not for a school. It was something,” Whitten said.

Odenville won the school, and St. Clair County High remains to this day. The original school opened in 1909. Today, a state-of-the-art high school has replaced it.

And while the trains no longer haul passengers, they carry a multitude of memories for Odenville residents like Jimmy Bailey, Odenville’s Mayor Pro Tempore and the manager of Odenville’s water system, the county’s largest water utility. Bailey’s father was a conductor on the Seaboard Airline train that ran through Odenville. Bailey often rode with his dad to Atlanta and back in a day.

Among his treasures are his Dad’s uniform, his briefcase and a timetable.

“I’ve always loved trains. What stood out to me was the Atlanta Terminal Station. They had a big model railroad set up there,” Bailey said.

But while the passenger trains are gone, more people – and businesses – would come to Odenville and St. Clair County.

 

An expanding footprint

If a key word could describe Odenville’s growth, annexation springs to mind. In 2007, the town of Branchville merged with Odenville after a landslide approval. A subsequent annexation has expanded Odenville’s footprint to the Springville/Odenville exit on Interstate 59. Four new businesses have already located there. The town is hopeful for more, city leaders say, and there is a daily drive to recruit new businesses. The city has developed a reputation that may lead to success.

“Odenville is the most business-friendly city in the county,” said longtime real estate executive and developer Lyman Lovejoy. “They are out recruiting every day.”

Evidence of Odenville’s growing footprint is Legacy Park, an approximately 250-acre mixed use development near I-59. Four businesses are already open at the site. A Foodland Plus grocery store is also on board for the multi-million-dollar project, according to Greg Bratcher, building inspector and revenue officer for the City of Odenville.

odenville-2On the residential side, an apartment complex with an estimated 242 units is planned for the site.

“As this site is developed, this will provide extra funds for the surrounding communities, employing hundreds of people, which will have a large impact for Odenville, Springville and St. Clair County, Bratcher said.

The anticipated economic bounce is also expected to provide more money for police and fire protection, Bratcher said. And the City of Odenville has purchased a 65-acre tract in the community to provide a multi-purpose park.

Like many of its neighboring communities, Odenville wrestles with managing growth, while preserving the history and character of the city. It’s a delicate waltz of preservation and progress.

Traffic is a problem, particularly during school hours. But on the other side of the coin, the town has invested in preserving historic buildings, like the old Odenville Bank building and city hall, where the “Sis” Fortson Museum and Archives now resides. The town also converted one of Odenville’s historic homes into the police station and is working on other preservation projects.

Pride is the driving force behind the preservation of the past in Odenville, Mayor Rodney “Buck” Christian said.  The city is “full of public servants,” committed to making their town better.

“They’re proud of their history and where they came from, and hopefully they’re encouraged about where we are headed in the future,” he said. “There are people in our community who would prefer no growth, I’m sure. But it’s coming our way, whether we like it or not. How you manage and accept that growth is critical.”

The reality of growth is evident in developments like Legacy Springs, where hundreds of homes have already been built. But there is hope for more restaurants, motels and other businesses, to meet the needs of the citizens. But Christian makes it clear, the heart of Odenville has to be preserved.

Asked his vision for the town moving forward, Christian said, “Obviously we want more economic development, a stronger revenue stream and an improved road system, but at the same time maintaining our identity as a small, close-knit, family-oriented, Christian community.”

Bailey agrees. He’s witnessed the demands of residential growth firsthand as manager of the water system. Now with 7,300 customers, the board also sells water to the Cook Springs Water Authority, the City of Margaret and the Northwest St. Clair Water Authority. In the early 21st century, he said, residential development took off. He points to 2006, where there were some 20 subdivisions under construction within the water system, a good bit of that construction within Odenville.

To put the growth of Odenville’s water system in perspective, when Bailey began as the system’s only full-time employee –aside from office staff—in 1979, the utility had 550 customers. Now with more than 7,000 customers, the system will begin selling water to Rainbow City in November of this year, Bailey said.

“Fortunately, we have always had a board composed of members that wanted to see the system grow and provide water service to those that needed it,” Bailey said. “Also, the growth (of the utility) enabled the creation and development of local jobs, which was a priority for me and the board.

As growth continues, Bailey believes “smart growth” is critical.

“That is a big part of it,” Bailey said. “Upgrading infrastructure is a constant thing. Most of the growth is residential. There’s a small amount of commercial growth that has come with it. One of the challenges that we face is that the residential growth outruns the commercial growth. People who move here expect services and amenities that are in larger towns, and we still don’t have the tax base to provide. We’re constantly encouraging new businesses and commercial development to increase our tax base.”

 

The heart of the city

But beyond tax bases and infrastructure, the heart of a city is its people. Talk to enough Odenville residents and their stories sound a lot like Joe Whitten’s. The people are in love with the town and deeply care about each other.

Trese Mashburn has lived in Odenville for 15 years after marrying her husband Marlin, an Odenville native whose family owned the Cahaba Hotel. She wears a lot of hats – Odenville columnist for the St. Clair County News-Aegis, account representative for a local radio station, 94.1-FM, The River, and she was the creator of the Odenville Area Business Association, a business networking group that on most Mondays, draws 50 business representatives.

She also directs the city’s Christmas parade and in the past has been involved in charitable efforts and two music festivals in Odenville.

The Birmingham native calls her adopted hometown, “a little slice of heaven.”

“It doesn’t have a big bang as far as big business, but we have what we need,” she said. “It’s close-knit and wonderful.”

What makes Odenville special?

“To me what makes it unique and special are the people. Everybody there, even if you’re a transplant like myself, once you’re part of the community, you’re part of the community,” Mashburn said. Everyone there is so helpful and thoughtful and looking out for each other. Anytime there’s a person in need, we pull together and help those people.”

Lifelong St.  Clair resident Joanie Mardis knows personally how the town pulls together. She and her husband Bruce operate Seasons of Adventure Travel, a full-service travel agency they operate in a home passed down from her grandparents.

While to folks in big cities, a travel agency in a town of less than 5,000 may fly in the face of conventional wisdom, Seasons of Adventure has flourished since opening in 2010, with customers in St. Clair County, throughout Alabama and in other states.

“The house that was in the front yard was probably 75-80 years old, but it burned when my dad was a little boy,” Joanie Mardis said “They had an old-fashioned barn raising and everybody came and built my grandparents’ house. They were without anything. Everyone worked together to help everyone else.”

The same has happened for Seasons of Adventure. Odenville and surrounding communities have supported the Mardis’ efforts.

“People might think that people in small towns don’t travel,” Joanie Mardis said. “But let me tell you, they travel.”

Dr. Mike Hobbs had never traveled more than 30 miles from his home in the rough-and-tumble Ensley neighborhood on Birmingham’s west side. Burglar bars on the windows and doors were common. While a student at Jefferson State Community College, he befriended an Odenville native, Shain (cq) Wilson. The two became fast friends and encouraged each other through school and remain friends to this day.

Hobbs remembers the first time he visited Wilson’s home.

“I was like, ’Wow, this is almost to Atlanta,’” he said with a laugh. There were no burglar bars. In fact, Wilson told him, there were some nights folks didn’t lock their doors.

Fast forward a few years. While a student at UAB, Hobbs met a St. Clair County girl. The two dated and eventually married. Bachelor’s, masters and doctoral degrees later, and the Hobbs family has settled in Odenville, where there are no burglar bars. In fact, the only additions to the doors and windows are Christmas lights in December. Hobbs may be Odenville’s Clark Griswold of Christmas Vacation movie fame.

Hobbs, dean of enrollment at Jeff State for the past 18 years, loves Odenville.

“I knew this was the place for us,” Hobbs said. “Everybody just welcomed us here like we’d been here our whole lives.”

 

‘A Place to Call Home’

In Odenville, there’s a Hall of Heroes, honoring all of the city’s men and women who served in our nation’s military. There is a fragile, 1652 volume of John Milton in Latin in the library. The family of comedian Pat Buttram lived here, as did the Western writer Ralph Compton. Football stars Dee Ford of Auburn and the Kansas City Chiefs and former Jacksonville State standout and NFL player James Shaw call Odenville home.

But what you hear about most in Odenville is love and kindness and family. And you hear about memories, of bluegrass being played years ago at an old blacksmith shop, or students and parents leading a new teacher around town, schooling him on the history of his new community.

Historian and retired educator Joe Whitten – the new teacher back in 1961 — probably described Odenville best.

“It’s a place to call home.”

Workforce Development

workforce-development

Programs changing lives, building business

Story by Graham Hadley
Photos by Michael Callahan and Graham Hadley

A decade ago, if you were a high school student in Alabama, chances are, all eyes were on what was touted as the ultimate prize – a four-year college degree.

But about that same time, employers across the state and the country started noticing how lean the labor pool was for skilled workers, whether it was a metal fabricator, carpenter, certified nursing assistant, pharmacy tech or paralegal.

We were literally “running out of skilled labor,” said Garrison Steel owner John Garrison.

An immediate response was needed, particularly in Alabama, if we were going to remain economically competitive.

“As we were getting graduating seniors, we could not get students who needed to do what we needed them to do. They were worried about graduating students who were going to college and not about students who needed a job,” said Jason Goodgame, vice president at Goodgame Company. “Some students don’t need to go straight to college. They need to work.”

St. Clair County and Pell City were particularly in a prime position to address the problem — all the pieces were already in place. Goodgame, Garrison and other businesses like Ford Meter Box, working with the Economic Development Council, the Pell City School System and Jefferson State Community College, began to develop a plan, actually a series of initiatives, to help identify and train students starting in high school or immediately after graduation to fill the ever-growing gaps in the workforce.

“We need brick masons, electricians, plumbers, and really, for us, people who can be a jack-of-all-trades: put down a foundation, frame out a door, a bit of everything,” Goodgame said.

“So we passed a measure to tax ourselves, the businesses that needed the employees, to educate these students that we need.”

The initial results, spurred on by the growing demand for workers as the economy recovered, were varied. From training schools in Birmingham to the iCademy next to Jefferson State Community College in Pell City to new initiatives and classes in the school system — often involving spending part of the school day doing on-the-job training.

“We want students who are coming out of high school to have entry-level skills,” Garrison said. “… Beyond high school, we want them to come into our companies and continue training with post-secondary schools and with on-site training at our facility by skilled instructors.”

As business owners from all areas of the Pell City economy — heavy manufacturing to medical, food, legal and other professional services — stepped up to the plate to help with training and hiring the students, the Pell City School System responded in kind.

“We just have students who are being matched up with specific career interests. The program gives them the opportunity to try out career fields before committing to study through two- and four-year schools,” said Kim Williams, curriculum coordinator for Pell City schools.

“And we are getting the students partnered with people who are passionate about what they are teaching – places like Garrsion Steel, Goodgame, Ford Meter Box,” Superintendent Michael Barber added. “… It is one generation of workers training the next. Whether it is health care, business, construction, kids are getting excited. It’s very meaningful.”

The original varied workforce-training programs are starting to work together under a more unified structure, with coordination coming from both the state and local levels.

“Where we are headed is merging these programs back together,” Goodgame said.

That means better coordination between the school system and the business community and better job placement for students and recent graduates. Williams even serves on the Industrial Development Board, a sign of the close partnership between schools and the business community.

According to all involved, it is a win-win proposition: The businesses get job-ready workers, and students have the ability to go right into the workforce, earn a real living wage, receive training with room for upward mobility and, if they want, continue their education, often without incurring the heavy debt loads students going straight to college do.

Good Job, Good Life

 

Blake

Blake White, a member of the 2015 graduating class at Pell City High School, is in his second year at Ford Meter Box. The first year he worked there was during his senior year of high school.

And according to Blake, things could not be going better. He has a good job that he likes, he is training and has already moved up the ladder, he is still attending college, and he is earning more money than he dreamed possible right out of high school.

“If I work here full time, they will pay for college — tuition, books, the whole nine yards.”

He already had a scholarship to Jeff State, but that does not cover everything, especially living expenses. Blake always knew he would have to work after graduation to pay those expenses, but before doing co-op at Ford Meter Box, he expected to go to school full time and work fast food or some similar job like many of his friends.

Instead, he works full time and goes to school part time, opening multiple options for his future.

“It was an easy choice, college for two years and have all those expenses, or work, earn money and have someone pay for school,” Blake said.

“I really like working with my hands. I started at the bottom as a flange washer, but now I am in maintenance — I fix things,” he said.

Along the way, he is learning a wide range of skills. Already a natural mechanic, he is picking up electrical skills along the way, something he says may help if he pursues a degree in electrical engineering or similar field.

And starting as the low man on the totem pole was no problem for Blake — it means he gets to train under people who know the business and to work with people he likes.

“Never settle for where you are at. Do whatever needs doing. You can make it to the top, but you have got to pay your dues,” he said. He is working on his core classes for his two-year degree, and the jury is still out on where he goes from there, whether he stays in the business or starts on some kind of engineering degree.

“In a place like this, you can go as far as you want to go if you are willing to put in the time and work hard for it,” he said.

 

C.C.

From his first day on the job at Garrison Steel, Charles Clellon “C.C.” Watson was getting training from one of the best. Now he helps estimate the cost for putting up the buildings. He has only been there two and a half years.

C.C. graduated with a degree in communication from Mississippi State in 2013 — a time when the communication industry was lean on jobs.

At first “I wanted to do physical therapy school. My father-in-law was a project manager here and said they were looking for another erector estimator. John Garrison hired me on a 60-to-90-day trial to see if I was the right person for the job, plus training for about a year.

“My family has always been in the construction industry, but not the steel industry. I came in here pretty much blind and had to learn from scratch,” he said.

“All the training was on the site. From the first day, John opened up a set of drawings. He taught me what everything was, from what each piece of steel costs to sizing construction cranes. And then I went out into the field to do more training there.”

Quick to point out he is making much more money than he probably would have with his communication degree, C.C. says despite the change in professional direction, he is very happy with where he has landed.

“After I got out of college, this was the last thing I thought I would be doing, but I love what I am doing. I have always been really good at math, so this is right up my alley. This is a very competitive industry, so your numbers have to be spot-on to get the contract.

“This has opened up a ton of new doors to new successes for me. Garrison is a great place to work. It has given me options for new jobs here — or anywhere — in the future in the construction industry.”

And though he could go elsewhere with his new training, C.C. is happy where he is now.

“I will stay here as long as they let me. I live in Oxford. It’s an easy drive. John is a great boss. Everyone here is great, and the company is moving in a great direction.”

 

Cody

Like many of his co-workers at Garrison, Ragland graduate Cody Poe first heard about a job through a friend who already worked there.

“A buddy of mine who was a welder called and told me they were looking for a burn-table operator — it’s a CNC plasma machine that burns parts out of plates. That takes training and skill to operate,” he said.

He had originally wanted to be a State Trooper, but things have worked out well at Garrison.

“When I started out, Mr. Garrison was impressed with my work ethic. He pulled me off the floor and is training me to do steel purchasing for the company.

“I came in and proved myself, and doors opened for me. They are talking about sending me to class, but there is also lots of hands-on training from the guy who has been doing it all his life. He took me under his wing, showing me the ins and outs.

That training is an essential part of what has made the whole process such a success.

“Garrison believes in training. When you are first hired, they stick you with an experienced person. You stick with that person until they say you have enough experience to be working by yourself,” he said.

For Cody, that has helped lay the foundation for the rest of his life.

“It has given me financial security. I moved out on my own. I got to buy a vehicle on my own. It’s a jump start on my future. I live about 5 miles from here. It is really great. I don’t ever plan on leaving. I plan on staying here as long as I can.

“You have got to come in and prove yourself, come in and want to work. Give it all you have got to get the job done.

“I came in, gave it my all, and it paid off,” he said.

 

Lauren

Pre-med Auburn student Lauren Luker already had a good idea what she wanted to do with her life when she graduated from Pell City High School in 2015, thanks in part to workforce training at Pell City Internal and Family Medicine her senior year and during the summers after graduation.

“I heard about it from other students who had jobs or who were interning for things like physical therapy. I asked the teacher. I had to fill out a lot of forms and get permission,” she said.

The initial work fit nicely with her senior schedule, leaving plenty of time for school, extracurricular activities and a social life.

“Dr. (Rick) Jotani was the one who gave me the chance and let me do this. I left every day about 2 and stayed until around 4 p.m. It was really good because it started during school,” Lauren said.

The initial school training program was unpaid, but that soon changed.

“I was not paid during the first internship. Then in May, right before I stopped, they asked if I was interested in continuing over the summer. That was paid. So was this summer.

“It’s been really nice. They have been so good to me. They really want me to learn. They have taken a chance on me, always asking if I want to learn to do new things. I have been in the business office, checking people in,” she said, pointing out those are sides of a medical practice usually not covered in medical school.

“This lets me see how a practice works, lets me see that side of things. This reinforced what I wanted to do. When you are in college, everything is so hard, it is difficult to see the big picture. When you get back here, you see what the end goal is.”

 

Good workers, Good business

Jim Ford, human resources manager for Ford Meter Box in Pell City, believes everything they are doing in workforce development is an investment, not only in his business, but in the local economy as well.

“We are doing anything we can to help get the idea out that education is important – not just four-year, but technical training, too — something that gets them a good-paying job,” he said. “We pay 100 percent if our people will commit their time to school as long as they pass. It grows our workforce and our community.

“That is a tenet of Ford Meter Box as a whole.

“It means a sustainable workforce for us in the long run. We think it makes our community better. It brings in jobs and keeps jobs here,” he said.

And an educated and skilled workforce helps people like St. Clair Economic Development Council Executive Director Don Smith bring in better-paying jobs.

“It’s a cooperative effort. We are glad to do it and hope it continues,” Ford said.

Smith agreed, pointing out the beginnings of workforce development go back years, first with the iCademy, now with new classes at Jeff State and Pell City High School and on-the-job training at businesses across the area.

“At the end of the day, companies are going to come where the people have the skillsets they need. Whether it is high school, a two-year or four-year college, if you are producing students, giving them the opportunities to learn those skillsets, then those companies are going to come,” he said.

In fact, that is one of the first questions a prospective business asks about when considering locating somewhere. Having a skilled and trained workforce and a training program in place is essential.

“It’s a great recruitment tool,” said Jason Roberts, assistant director with the St. Clair EDC and someone Smith credits with much of the success of the workforce training program.

The workforce development effort could not have come soon enough for Roberts.

“In the recent past, schools did their own thing, and their objective was usually four-year college or bust. But the reality is, in our community, we have many jobs and fields where the skilled working population is retiring, getting older, and there is no one ready to backfill those positions,” he said.

Some fields, like truck driving, are so in demand that employees willing to put in the time can earn six figures a year.

“You can get those truck driving jobs all day long. The same is true for welders, plumbers and electricians,” he said.

Now, with everyone working together, the workforce development program is helping the EDC take St. Clair County business recruitment to the next level.

“Now everyone is trying to connect. We have let education know companies and businesses are buyers of their products — educated students – and there is a big push to get people trained to fill these gaps in the workforce,” Roberts said.

“It’s essential to business recruiting, especially here, because we have proof of product — students in place at businesses here. It’s the No. 1 driving force when companies are looking at an area,” he said.

“They know their employees are going to make their company successful.”