Chandler Mountain

A pinnacle of St. Clair History

Story by Joe Whitten
Submitted photos

Rising to an elevation of approximately 1,315 feet in the northern part of St. Clair County, Chandler Mountain extends from the southwest to the northeast for about 10 miles.

Its average width is about two and a half miles with an area of about 25 square miles. The terrain is rugged with numerous outcroppings of rock.

According to Place Names in Alabama (The University of Alabama Press, 1999), by Virginia Foscue, the mountain got its name from Joel Chandler, “who brought his family to this area soon after the Creek Indians were removed in 1814.” He settled on Little Canoe Creek. The mountain behind his place provided good hunting, and hunters, who used a trail near his property to climb to the hunting ground, began calling the mountain Chandler’s Mountain. In time, the apostrophe “s” was dropped, and Chandler Mountain has been the name since.

Despite the rugged terrain, settlers arrived. The first, Cicero Johnson from northwest Georgia, entered land on Chandler Mountain in 1855. Historian Vivian Buffington Qualls records that others soon came with their families from Georgia and the Carolinas to join Johnson: Franklin Smith, Jake Lutes, John Bearden, W.V. McCay, John Hollingsworth, Boze Wood, Jake and Bob Robinson, John Hollingsworth and Levi Hutchens. Hezekiah McWaters came from Troy, Alabama. So, the area began to be settled and cultivated.

Darrell Hyatt tells a family story of his Robinson great grandfather, George, who as a boy learned to play the fiddle. During the Civil War, when Confederate troops had camped between today’s US 231 and the Beason House, George would entertain them by playing the fiddle. Years later, George married Susie, who played the banjo. Darrell shared a treasured photo of the couple—Susie holding her banjo; George, his fiddle.

An interesting feature of this Chandler Mountain lies in the water level. Water for family and livestock came from dug wells or creeks on the mountain and in the valley. According to written sources, mountain well-diggers struck water within 25 or 30 feet, whereas in the valley, wells sometimes went as much as 75 feet down before finding water. 

Lee Gilliland and Larry DeWeese, who grew up on the mountain, said that early on, wells were hand-dug and lined with rock, brick or wood. They also spoke of “punched wells.” A bit about 4 inches in diameter and attached to a long heavy tube was mounted on a truck. A motor pulled the tube high and then let it drop, pounding it into the earth. This process took up to two weeks before it reached the water source. The steady pounding could be heard for quite a distance.

Numerous springs bubble from the ground, but the water doesn’t flow far before sinking back into the earth. In 1949, D.O. Langston wrote his master’s degree thesis at Auburn University about Chandler Mountain. He stated that “Gulf Creek is the only stream that flows any distance, and its water disappears in dry seasons.”

Two roads give access to the mountain: Steele Gap on the east and Hyatt Gap on the west. Hyatt Gap is named for John M. Hyatt, who migrated from Heard County, Georgia, around 1875.

For his master’s thesis, Langston interviewed Hillard Hyatt, who gave an account of John Hyatt’s coming to Chandler. Hillard told that John, living in Georgia, fell in love with a young woman. Her parents objected to the courtship, so John came to his cousin, Hezakiah McWaters, on the mountain. After working for McWaters “for a year or so,” John bought “80 acres near the southwest end of the mountain.” Then, “…he went back home to Heard County, married his childhood sweetheart, and they came back home, bringing all they possessed on one small pony. They arrived with 20 cents in money.”  John’s 80 acres included what is today’s Horse Pens 40, an international tourist and recreational attraction because of its centuries-old rock formations. Its history includes an ancient Native American burial ground, a hideaway during the Civil War and for outlaw Rube Burrow. It was nationally known for bluegrass festivals with rising stars of the day like Lester Flatt, Bill Monroe, Charlie Daniels, Ricky Skaggs and Emmylou Harris. Today, it is home to world class bouldering, hosting the triple crown climbing championship.

Darrell Hyatt recounted that family lore named John Hyatt as the last person to be granted a homestead in Alabama and that John and wife arrived here with all they owned in a pillow case. Wikipedia says the park derived its name from the original deed when allocating the acreage: “the home 40, the farming 40, and the horse pens 40.”

 

Organization of schools and churches

According to Mrs. Qualls, the first school on Chandler was called Mt. Lebanon. The building was across the road from today’s Mt. Lebanon First Congregational Methodist Church. A note written in old minutes of the church states, “A building was near the site of Mt. Lebanon Church in the late 1880s and was used for school meetings.”

The Mt. Lebanon School was on the east end of Chandler. On the west end, around 1895, the McCay School was organized. Mrs. Qualls records that John Hyatt had recently built a new house and donated the logs from his old home for the school building on the McCay property. Langston states, “After this house was built, the school then alternated between the church located on the east end of the mountain and the school on the west end. The church being on the east end and the school on the west made it necessary to alternate between the two to keep peace and harmony. …” Then, in 1902, the school relocated to a new building on the Hollingsworth property.

The two schools eventually consolidated, and in time the school became the Chandler Mountain Junior High School, which flourished for many years. The students consistently made high scores on the yearly standardized tests. The county school system closed the school and today buses students to Steele and Ashville.

The date that Mt. Lebanon Church started worshiping together is not known, but they likely met in the Mt. Lebanon school building. It is known that the Mt. Lebanon First Congregational Methodist Church officially organized in July 1905 and that William Robinson, a Congregational minister, would come from Georgia to the mountain to visit his Robinson relatives. While on these visits, he conducted revival meetings, and one of these revival meetings culminated in the establishing of Mt. Lebanon Church. William Robinson served as the first pastor from 1905 to 1911.

The church purchased land on which to construct a building from Bent Engle. They paid $2 an acre for two acres. A penciled note in some old minutes record that Jeff Smith donated land for the cemetery.

From 1933 to 1936 the church had a woman pastor—Annie Struckmeyer Moats, an ordained minister in the Congregational Church. Annie’s husband was Alley Mathis Moats. Annie’s granddaughter, Barbara Robinson, is a current member of the church.

Mt. Lebanon celebrated its centennial in 2005, and as it has done for over a century, remains a vibrant contribution to Chandler Mountain.

Chandler Mountain Baptist Church through the Years—1910-2010, compiled by Ellis Lee Gilliland and Mary Gilliland, recounts that on Oct. 22, 1910, members of the Missionary Baptist Church met at Cross Roads, or as some called it, Pleasant Valley, in Greasy Cove District near Gallant, Alabama, and organized a missionary Baptist church. The organizing presbytery consisted of John Heptenstall, Colman Buckner, Mon Umphres, J.D. Vicars, J.B. Rodgers and H.H. Turley.

Minutes dated Nov. 6, 1910, give that name as Cross Roads Baptist Church, which indicates that was its first name. These minutes show the church elected John Heptenstall as minister and M.C. Rogers, son of Deacon J.B. Rogers, as church clerk.

Years passed, new buildings replaced outgrown ones, and in March 2001, the church named a committee to proceed with plans for building a new sanctuary with a basement fellowship hall and to obtain a loan for a stated amount. The committee completed its job, and worship services moved from the old 1948 building into the new. The first service in the new building occurred on Sept. 9, 2001. The church paid off the loan in 2011. They used the 1948 building as a youth facility.

Then in 2017, structural weakness in the trusses caused unsafe conditions in the new sanctuary, and the congregation had to meet in the old building again. Over the years, church members have been faithful and resilient in difficult times, and so has it been in this set-back. The repairs haven’t been completed yet, but the church is making progress and looking forward to being back into the 2001 sanctuary.

Chandler Mountain Baptist Church celebrated its centennial in 2010 and continues its 108-year legacy of a faithful church body that is a source of spiritual strength to the community.

 

Lumber and Sawmills

The Ashville Museum and Archives has photocopies of articles Kenneth Gilliland wrote of his family and the mountain. One tells of the logging industry of the 1920s. There were sections of timber that had never been cut over and contained “a large supply of virgin timber, mainly pine trees. The pines were tall and straight. We called them ‘Old Field’ pines. Many of the trees would yield 12” x 12” timbers, eighteen to twenty-four feet long.”

Kenneth’s and Lee’s daddy, Sylvester Gilliland, built a portable sawmill that he could move into a tract of timber and have it set up in a day or two. Kenneth wrote, “A gasoline automobile engine was used to power the mill. Daddy used an engine out of a 1927 Buick for many years. He equipped it with a gravity-fed carburetor system from a Model A Ford. He would saw 8 to 12 thousand board feet of lumber a day if all went well. … The trees were all cut down and cut into logs of the correct length by two-man crosscut saw” and the “… logs were snaked in by mules.”

In those days, men found work wherever they could — usually for $1 a day. Gilliland paid his workers $2.50 a day because “they were worth it.”

In an interview, Lee Gilliland commented that his dad could do anything he set his mind to. His brother, Kenneth, recorded one such endeavor — electrifying their home seven years before Alabama Power climbed the mountain with their electricity in 1939-40. He wrote: “…electricity came to the S.B. ‘Vester’ and Dora Gilliland family about 1932. Daddy installed two 32-volt D.C. Delco Light Plants. They were set on concrete slabs in the corner of the garage. These were a one-cylinder gasoline engine pulling a direct coupled D.C. generator. These engines would run on kerosene also. They would charge a bank of lead/acid batteries. Wire was run from the bank of batteries into the house. Mom’s first appliance was a 32 V.D.C. iron bought from Teague’s Hardware in Ashville.”

In a 1977 interview with Dale Short of The Birmingham News, Sylvester Gilliland said, “The first 5 dollars I ever got hold of after I was grown, I sat down with the Sears-Roebuck catalog and ordered me a book about automotive mechanics. Most folks around thought I was a little touched, because not only did we not have any sign of a car, but even if we had, we couldn’t have got it on or off the mountain, roads being like they were.”

Observing that Gilliland devoured the automotive book, then ordered a book about steam power, then one about hydraulics, and then one about radios, Short commented, “Now he can look back over half a century of keeping sawmills whirring, gins ginning, mowers cutting, and in later years, radios and televisions playing.”

It would be correct to say that Sylvester Gilliland was the right man at the right time for Chandler Mountain.

 

Peach paradise?

Many do not know that mountain farmers grew peaches and sold them commercially. A Mr. Sloat and a Mr. Bush came from Michigan and introduced peach orchards to Chandler Mountain. Just when they came and what their first names were seem unrecorded, but it can be surmised they arrived toward the end of the 19th century. Sloat and Bush convinced the farmers, and they planted several thousand trees.

Vivian Qualls writes that around 1907 W.L. Yeilding from Birmingham bought Sloat’s orchard. She quotes Yeilding’s son, Ency, “The farm included about 200 acres of land, one-half of which was in peach trees. … The original trees … were about 7,500. About three years later, he began to plant another orchard of between 3,000 and 3,500 trees.”

Mr. Langston wrote that the men built a stone packing shed near the railroad depot in Steele, and “the trees bore their first crop about 1900. The fruit was of a desirable kind and of very high quality. The packing house was ready. The crop, properly graded and packed, sold for a good price. The farmers were well pleased with their new adventure.”

Several years of good peaches selling for good prices followed. Then the bottom fell out of the market. Langston records that one farmer hauled 304 bushes of high quality peaches to Steele and returned home with $12.08. His crop brought about four cents a bushel.

Mrs. Qualls relates that the Yeildings built a canning plant so the peaches could be preserved and sold when prices went up again. For a few years the peaches were canned. However, Langston notes that when the average life of the first trees ran out, none of the farmers were willing to replant, and the peach industry dwindled out.

 

Tomatoes become king of mountain

Both Qualls and Langston record that Otis Hyatt, son of John Hyatt, raised the first crop of tomatoes marketed from Chandler Mountain. Over the years, Otis had learned farming from his father, John Hyatt.

John became a successful grower of garden produce. At some point, he raised enough to make it profitable to take the produce down the mountain to sell. Needing a more convenient road than Steele Gap, Mr. Hyatt built the road known today as Hyatt Gap.

Mr. Langston records that John built the road “single handed down the mountain to Greasy Cove.” Darrell Hyatt recently added that his great grandfather used a “team of oxen and a slip scrape” to build Hyatt Gap Road. The gap was paved in the 1970s.

In a 1940s interview with Mr. Langston, Otis gave 1926 as the first tomato year. He raised the crop, harvested it, packed the tomatoes in baskets and peddled them. He received “on the average one dollar per basket.”

The next year, his brothers planted tomatoes and sold them the same way. The brothers established routes and delivered tomatoes three times a week. Through experimenting with planting times, they found they could harvest from July to October, for first-frost came later on the mountain than in the valley.

Langston records that the Hyatts’ “… neighbors soon began to follow the same practice, and by 1932, the local markets could not take care of the crop produced.” Thus, began the crop that has made Chandler Mountain famous.

Production increased, and by 1940, McDonald Produce Company of Terry, Miss., was sending trucks to the mountain to be loaded with tomatoes for selling in Mississippi. With a longer growing season on the mountain, Mississippi and other states realized they could have fresh tomatoes into late autumn for their markets. In 1948, The Southern Aegis reported that the farmers shipped tomatoes to buyers “from New York to Miami.”

The farmers banded together and formed the Chandler Mountain Tomato Growers Association in 1943. As recorded by Langston, the following men were the first directors: Farmer Rogers, Cecil Smith, Hershal Smith, J.D. Osborne and Clarence Smith. The association incorporated in 1945. There were two packing houses for processing the crops, and that year, the association graded approximately 30,000 bushels of tomatoes.

Production continued to increase, and in 1946, Ross Roberson and J.D. Osborne built packing sheds near Whitney on the Birmingham to Chattanooga highway—U.S. 11. In 1947, the association processed 60,000 bushels of tomatoes, some coming now from Blount County farms.

As the 1948 season progressed, farmers saw excellent harvests and sales. October came with prices reaching $3.50 a bushel. Then disaster struck. As reported in the Oct. 22, 1948, issue of The Southern Aegis, an “unseasonable ‘snap-freeze’ that swept over most of Alabama Sunday night (October 17)” ruined an estimated 40,000 bushels of tomatoes. The Aegis put the financial loss at between $100,000 and $150,000.

Most farmers are invincible, and gradually tomato farmers recovered, and production still flourishes today.

So, the next time you slather mayonnaise on two pieces of white bread and cut thick slices of Chandler Mountain goodness for your sandwich, remember Otis Hyatt, who started it all.

And as you take your first juicy bite, whisper thanksgiving to the Lord for this summer satisfaction!

Northside Medical Home

Wellness center, more expansion in planning

Story by Carol Pappas
Discover Archive photos
Submitted renderings

No sooner had Dr. Rock Helms cut the ribbon on the state-of-the-art, 50,000 square-foot Northside Medical Home earlier this year than he was envisioning Northside’s next phase. After all, in an ever-changing medical landscape, Helms usually blazes a trail right through the middle of it.

Helms and his partners, Drs. Michael Dupre’, Steve Fortson, Scott Boykin, Tom Perkins and Hunter Russell are united in the vision that patient-centered health care means putting the patient’s needs at the center of everything they do. That’s why you see expansion after expansion, improvement after improvement.

Beginning from a 3,000 square foot, small town doctor’s office, Northside Medical Home now encompasses three building phases, a cutting-edge imaging suite, access to more than a dozen specialties all under one roof, infusion center, laboratory and diagnostic center.

So, what’s next? A wellness center, he said, complete with indoor pool, workout facilities, classrooms for activities like aerobics or spinner biking, racquetball, physical, occupational and massage therapy and a walking track. He even envisions day care for ill children and after-hours daycare.

Helms and the partners at Northside are in the early stages of planning a wellness center through a partnership among community members, government and private entities to help further its development. When it comes to fruition, it would top a longtime wish list for the region.

“I’d love to see the senior center move there as well as a daycare for children,” he said. Both would fill a niche needed. Seniors would have access to many more activities through a wellness center and staying active is vital to their everyday lives.

On the daycare issue, he noted that after hours care is essentially not available, yet parents’ jobs may not fit the usual 8 to 5 work day or a Monday through Friday schedule. This would give them an option.

And where do children go when they are sick, and the parent must work? Helms sees the wellness center daycare for children when they are ill as a natural fit. “We have the ability to take care of them with RNs,” he said.

The daycare could even be used on an hourly basis for parents who want to work out in the wellness center.

Having an indoor pool would fill a variety of quality of life needs. The high school could have a swim team. Water therapy and swimming for exercise could be an integral component of programming there.

 “We’re in the early stages working with community partners to develop it,” Helms said. “We don’t want to own it, but we are willing to take the lead on it to make it happen.”

That is evident in the architectural drawings already done by Russ Realmutto of Birchfield-Penuel Architects for the proposed 50,000 square foot center on property targeted next to Northside Medical Home on a ridge overlooking Interstate 20. Drawings indicate it will be two stories with plenty of glass to give a bird’s eye view high above the heavily traveled highway.

It all centers around the question Helms continues to ask – ‘What if…?’ It’s a question he asks all too often. And he generally answers it with a well thought out plan that benefits the entire community.

That’s why you see innovative programs like Northside’s CARE Team, which sees about 200 people, providing services inside and outside the office to keep them healthier and out of the hospital. It was the first of its kind in the state.

‘What if?’ is why you see a patient-centered medical home with specialties ranging from vision to cardiology, from gastroenterology to general and oral surgery and an in-house pharmacy. 

And it’s why the dedicated staff has grown from a few in those early years to more than 150 today. Or Northside clinics are found in Moody, Springville, Ashville and Trussville.

What drives the planning for more, Helms said, is how much Northside and its partners are able to improve the quality of care here at home. “They get better care, and patients love it. It is rewarding to see patients come and thank us because they can see a doctor here and have their testing done” in their own hometown.

But the drive doesn’t stop there. Helms hopes to develop an urgent care center within the main operation at Northside, a vision of Dr. Dupre’s, expanding hours to seven days a week and giving patients the ability to have better continuity because they will be cared for at their own medical providers’ offices.

Stressing that it, too, is in the “early works,” a feasibility study is being done for an outpatient surgery center at Northside. And initial discussions are being held for partners on senior living and patient rehabilitation facilities.

Northside has added the latest in CT scanners for its growing, cutting edge diagnostics, and 3-D Mammography is on the horizon.

“We are always looking for ways to improve upon things,” Helms said. “I’m a builder by nature. I like to build things. I guess it could be selfish. I get a charge out of seeing good things happen.” l

Business booming in Springville

New growth driving local economy

Story by Katie Beth Buckner
Photos by Mike Callahan

If numbers are any indicator, Springville is in the midst of what is being called a business boom for this northeast St. Clair County city.

Five businesses have opened their doors to the community already this year, and the outlook for the future is promising, officials say.

On Saturday, May 19, the Springville Area Chamber of Commerce hosted grand openings for HBI Salon, Daylight Donuts, Laster’s Sundries and Bam’s Coin Laundry. The owners and their families and friends took part in a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of their new businesses.

 

Hair. Beauty. Inspiration

HBI Salon served Springville for many years from a location right off of Main Street, but it relocated to a larger space at 6448 US Highway 11. The new location in downtown Springville has added artistic flare to the area.

The staff is dedicated to using their knowledge, passion and experience to meet their clients’ hair care needs. To help her clients achieve their hair style goals with minimal effort, owner Jenny Ryan uses high-quality products she’s confident will keep her client’s hair healthy, yet stylish.

“We are so excited to be a part of what makes downtown Springville hop,” Ryan said. “Our clientele pulls from Springville all the way to Nashville. We love that all of our (Springville’s) unique shopping options can offer them an experience that goes beyond great hair.”

 

Sweets, sweets
and more sweets!

Amid the growth, Springville has gained two small businesses that cater to that sweet tooth. Daylight Donuts opened a new location at 449 Marietta Road. They serve a wide variety of donuts, croissants and coffee that are made fresh daily. The most popular treat sold is the apple fritter.

Co-Owner Vatanak Sap said he fell in love with the town and its friendly people and decided it was the perfect place to open a donut shop since there wasn’t one nearby.

“I love the support the locals have shown me. Business has been great,” Sap said. “We are very busy in the mornings. People like to stop by and grab breakfast on their way to work.”

Meanwhile, what was old has become new again. Laster’s Sundries, a historical ice-cream parlor, recently reopened under new ownership. Its lively atmosphere and central location in downtown Springville make it a great place to host a birthday party or similar event.

Their ice-cream is imported from New York and offers customers a large variety of flavors you can’t get elsewhere. They also serve shakes, floats and sundaes for customers who want a sweet treat beyond a regular ice-cream cone.

Locals have been very receptive of Laster’s reopening and wish to see their limited hours extended, according to Mayor Butch Isley.

“Business has been great and busy,” Laster’s manager Jordan Hamilton said. “People seem to really enjoy our ice cream.”

 

Wash, dry and fold!

A convenient new service is now available in Springville. Bam’s Coin Laundry, LLC opened a new location at 143 Marietta Road. They provide 24-hour access to large capacity washers and dryers, allowing customers to wash their clothes, comforters and blankets for a reasonable price. Bam’s is also equipped with video surveillance, free Wi-Fi and cable television.

Individuals on a tight schedule can take advantage of their newly offered wash, dry and fold service. They can coordinate a drop-off and pick-up time with an employee and have their laundry done for them at a small additional charge.

“People from Springville were coming to our laundromat in Pell City and saying that they wanted us to open one closer to them,” owner Billy Blaylock said. “We found a location and opened to meet their needs.”

 

First pediatric clinic comes to town.

Springville Pediatrics, located at 350 Springville Station near Walmart, opened its doors to patients on March 12. The clinic is the only one in the community tailored toward pediatric care with patients ranging in age from infants to 18 years old.

“We have new patients coming in everyday, so we are excited about being able to take care of children in Springville and the surrounding areas,” office manager Jennifer Richardson said. “We are set and ready to care for our patients in the best way possible.”

 

What’s Ahead?

“People have been very receptive of these new businesses,” Mayor Isely said. “They’re meeting the needs of the community.”

Looking forward, he hopes to see more development of businesses near Interstate 59. He’d like to bring a large chain restaurant and a full-service gas station to town.

Candice Hill, retail specialist for St. Clair County Economic Development Council, is working with Isely to bring more retailers to town in the shopping area near Walmart.

But while Isley likes growing big city amenities for the community, he notes that there are elements of downtown he wants to maintain. He plans to work alongside business owners to preserve the historical charm of the area by restoring some of the aging and unoccupied buildings.

Downtown revitalization is part of the plan for the future.

And while Springville has visions of continued growth, Isley said it’s vital the town doesn’t grow too rapidly and become something he and locals aren’t proud of. Growth is good, he said, but it needs to grow in the right way, filling needs while maintaining the city’s allure.

 

Making Alabama – Bicentennial Exhibit

Taking center stage in St. Clair County

Story by Katie Beth Buckner
Photos by Carol Pappas
Submitted photos

To celebrate the bicentennial of a county older than the state, officials in St. Clair knew the series of events they planned en route to November 2018, marking the county’s 200th year, had to be special.

At the heart of the county’s celebration was the state’s own bicentennial event – Making Alabama: A Bicentennial Traveling Exhibit presented by Alabama Humanities Foundation in partnership with Alabama Department of Archives and History and Alabama Bicentennial Commission. After all, a year later, on Dec. 14, 2019, Alabama would follow St. Clair’s move and become a state.

To commemorate, Alabama Humanities Foundation led a movement to assemble a traveling collection of interactive displays to retrace Alabama’s footsteps through eight periods of defining history. The exhibit features key events, people and cultures that played vital roles in shaping Alabama and is traveling to all 67 counties.

St. Clair County was one of the first stops on the exhibit’s journey through the state and was on display at Moody Civic Center April 9-22. Open to the public free of charge, it was an ideal time and venue to display historic moments, people and places in St. Clair County’s own history.

“That’s what makes these exhibit stops so amazing,” said AHF Executive Director Armand DeKeyser. “They each put their own one-of-a-kind signature on the state’s history and how their county fits into that larger story of Alabama becoming a state. St. Clair was no exception.”

“Hosting the bicentennial exhibit gave St. Clair County, the city of Moody and its civic center statewide recognition,” said Linda Crowe, a bicentennial committee member who serves as Moody’s mayor pro-tem. The St. Clair County Bicentennial Committee, a group of 34 appointed individuals, worked tirelessly to make the event successful. They devoted several hours of their time to plan, promote, set up and work this event.

“Putting on something like this takes the efforts of several folks. Fortunately, we had a wonderful committee that volunteered a lot of hours to put this event together and be a part of it while it was exhibited,” said St. Clair County District Judge Alan Furr, who chaired the committee.

The end result was an impressive display of the county’s history told through storyboards and artifacts from not only the county’s overall vantage point but from the angle of every community in St. Clair.

The county exhibit combined iconic photographs and brief overviews of historically significant events and people to create informative storyboards for each of the county’s 10 municipalities. Two additional storyboards were dedicated to the history of the county’s early modes of transportation and settlements that no longer exist.

Several of the locals were intrigued by the storyboards. According to Furr, they enjoyed the storyboard’s visual elements and easy to read descriptions.

“A lot of people were appreciative of the state exhibit, but they responded really well to what we did locally,” Furr said. “We saw people spend a lot more time looking at the storyboards.”

The St. Clair County storyboards sparked great conversation. A few locals recognized individuals and places pictured on the boards and were able to share memorable stories with others in attendance. For others, the storyboards served as educational tools, enabling them to learn about monumental pieces of their town’s history.

“Getting to meet and hear stories from folks who love and appreciate the history of the county was exciting,” Furr said. “We had several folks come through and share information about some of the photographs – how they came to be and the people in them.”

The traveling exhibit’s various displays kept visitors engaged while showcasing important pieces of Alabama’s history. A combination of artistic collages, an audio sound wall and interactive computer tablets that delved deeper into the history of each period provided them a rare learning experience.

Moody Civic Center proved to be a great location to host the exhibit. The newly built building offered adequate square footage for the exhibit’s vast layout and ample parking for guests. Its central location made it easily accessible as well.

“The civic center’s layout kept the flow of people moving, especially when we had large attendance from schools,” Crowe said.

“Despite all our efforts to promote and advertise it, the exhibit came and went with a relatively small part of our population getting a chance to see it,” Furr said. But they now have an opportunity to see portions of it in their own communities.

After the exhibit’s time in Moody ended, Furr distributed the storyboards to each respective municipality. They are currently on display at city halls, museums, community centers and libraries throughout the county for locals to view. Also, each courthouse has a storyboard on display highlighting its historical significance.

In addition to hosting Making Alabama: A Bicentennial Traveling Exhibit, St. Clair County has already held or will hold more celebratory events leading up to its bicentennial. The St. Clair County bicentennial hymn sing held in Ashville earlier this year had an impressive turnout. Since it was a success, a second hymn sing will be held Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. First Baptist Church in Moody. It’s a great opportunity for locals to fellowship and sing old-fashioned hymns with one another.

A St. Clair County Bicentennial calendar, full of historic anecdotes and old photographs, was published by the committee, and this keepsake is available at libraries throughout the county.

The crowning event will occur on November 20, the county’s 200th anniversary of statehood. A birthday type celebration will be held at each courthouse, complete with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque. Festivities will kick off at the Ashville courthouse at 10 a.m. and move to the Pell City courthouse at 2 p.m.

Building St. Clair’s medical community

Enhancing county’s quality of life

Story by Carol Pappas
Discover Archive photos

St. Clair Economic Development Council Executive Director Don Smith looks at the medical community landscape, and he can’t help but see it as a burgeoning medical center for the region.

“It has definitely become a medical hub from east and south of St. Clair County because of the number and quality of services provided,” he said.

Sitting in his office on the third floor of Jefferson State Community College, he doesn’t have far to look in any direction to see signs of that. Just down the hallway from his office, a new nursing and allied health wing has become part of the college’s offerings in St. Clair County, drawing nursing and medical career students to its classrooms from multiple counties.

From his office vantage point, he can see St. Vincent’s St. Clair Hospital, Physicians Plaza and the Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home. Across the interstate lies a sprawling – and growing – Northside Medical Home.

“I don’t see it stopping,” Smith said. And that makes his job a little easier with growth not only in the medical arena but in industry and business as well because of it.

“With the number of medical-related companies and when you have that kind of synergy taking place on I-20 and US 231, it is very attractive to those investing in the medical sector. The community took a very proactive approach toward health care at a time when many rural hospitals were going out of business,” he said, noting that various entities worked together to build a replacement for its aging, outdated facility.

When St. Vincent’s St. Clair, a state-of-the-art hospital, opened seven years ago, it “refocused health care in the area, plus quality doctors like those at Northside and Pell City Internal and Family Medicine with their private practices accelerated the progress,” Smith said.

On the business side, Smith sees more pluses. “A company’s largest expenses are labor and payroll. With having so many services here to help with physical therapy and access to emergency care, it helps offset their potential medical-related expenses in their payroll costs.”

And the medical community itself takes a proactive approach, going into companies and helping improve procedures to help offset long term labor costs. “It’s a real asset,” Smith said. “It speaks volumes. I don’t know of any companies going outside for health care.”

Over the past decade, Smith has seen at least a $100 million investment in the county’s medical sector, much of it shouldered by St. Vincent’s and the VA home. Couple it with multiple, major expansions at Northside and key moves by PCIFM to expand its services and reach, and the medical community in St. Clair County shows no signs of slowing.

Their investment are well spent in laying a strong foundation on which to build, Smith said. “It will continue to be more important as demographics continue to shift with more folks getting older and needing quality health care. I believe that sector will continue to grow.”

And the quality of life has definitely benefitted. People looking to retire and settle into an area look at the quality of medical services available.

Job opportunities and expanded medical care for citizens are also among quality of life factors trending positively. “Jefferson State has been wonderful to respond to the growing needs in our community. Before there was a replacement hospital, the VA and Northside, there was no significant medical presence. Now, Jeff State offers a complete Registered Nursing program with 100 percent passage and placement rates.”

Citing the $.5 million investment in the nursing program, Smith said officials are hopeful the volume of graduates continues to grow.”

And as St. Clair County’s population continues to grow, Smith predicted that the medical sector will have a strong future for at least the next 20 to 30 years.

And that opens up even more opportunities. “We want to make sure our brightest young people have the opportunity to remain in the community so they can become pillars of the community. It is always good if you can retain the next generation of leaders instead of exporting them to other areas.” 

St. Clair’s got taste

Food galore to tickle any palette

Story by Elaine Hobson Miller
Photos by Susan Wall
Submitted photos

From barbecue to sushi, fish to chicken Alfredo, St. Clair caterers can do just about all the wedding food a bride dreams about. Whether you’re having a casual barn wedding or a formal church ceremony, a grand gala with 300 people to feed or a small, intimate affair with family and close friends, someone in St. Clair County can make your dinner or reception an event folks will be talking about for years.

Caterers around St. Clair share common reasons for what they do. Most of them got into the business because they like to cook, and doing weddings gives them warm, fuzzy feelings of being part of a happy celebration.

“I like taking stress away from the bride and groom, letting them enjoy their special day,” said Craig Frickey, co-owner with wife Michelle at Sammie’s Touch N’ Go Catering in Pell City. “I like seeing kids who grew up coming to my restaurant, and now I do their weddings. That does make me feel kinda old, though.”

The Frickeys opened Sammie’s in 2000 in a log cabin overlooking the county airport. Soon people started asking about catering their special events. What began as a side business took off, and four years ago they closed the restaurant to the public and began catering full time, both on site and at other venues. Meanwhile, they purchased J & S Country Store & Deli in Pell City, which is why you’ll find their Sammie’s catering brochure there.

“Michelle and I are a team,” said Craig. “I decorate the plates, and she, the rest of the place. We do a lot of weddings. So far this year (early May), we’ve probably done six or seven and have that many more scheduled.”

He always talks to the bride and bridegroom, telling them it’s their day, and they can have whatever they want in the way of food. “Whether they prefer finger foods or a sit-down meal usually depends on the time of day,” Craig said. “We want it to be about them, let them make the decision, then just show up and have a good time.”

A popular trend is to have several food stations at the reception, each featuring a different item. One might be a roast beef carving, another pasta, a potato bar and even a grits bar. “Shrimp and grits is one of my most requested items,” Craig said. “I put lots of butter, heavy cream and andouille sausage in it, and I do sautéed shrimp on top and a basil cream sauce. Two things that never change are shrimp and grits and bread pudding.” Frickey said his company is a full-service caterer, from table linens to liquor, but he doesn’t make wedding cakes.

Like most caterers, however, Craig and Michelle can whip up just about any main dish requested. “I had some lady who wanted an Indian dish,” Craig said. “I said, ‘You get me a recipe, and I can make it.’ I did and they loved it.”

Like the Frickeys, Polly Warren can work from just about any recipe. She has been catering more than 30 years out of the KFC Pell City location her family has owned for 46 years. “When my kids were in school, they asked us to cater during football seasons,” she said. “I said, ‘Let’s do steak, baked potato and salad.’ So we did that for 200-300 people. Then folks started saying, ‘Oh, you can do teas, weddings, birthdays.’ Word spread, and they continue to call me.”

She does just a few weddings each year, every one with a different menu. “We don’t do cakes, though,” she said. Polly caters all the CEPA events that have hors d’oeuvres or meals and has catered the Pell City Rotary every Tuesday for 10 years. She does private events, Boy Scout dinners, the annual Pell City Mayor’s Breakfast and just about anyone else who calls. She has done weddings with 350 guests, but her largest civic assignment was for 600. Her smallest group was 20.

“I love to cook and to serve people,” Polly said. “It makes me feel good when they like my food. I think I was born for cooking,” said the native of Greece. “I learned a lot of Southern cooking from my mother-in-law, who was from Georgia. I make Greek foods, too. I may change a recipe and do it my way, but it works. I’ve had no complaints.”

Wade Reich, owner and operator of Butts To Go on Martin Street North in Pell City, operates out of the Pell City Texaco station. But don’t let the location fool you. He’s been featured in USA Today, Southern Living and other publications that have reached internationally.

He does seven or eight weddings a year in Birmingham as well as St. Clair County, and claims, with tongue just lightly planted in his cheek, that he has been catering since he was five years old.

“I grew up with the family hotel business in Gadsden and Birmingham,” he said. “When I was five, my parents let me put the peas on the plates for a Kiwanis dinner.” In 1974, his family opened Pappos in the old Printup Hotel in Gadsden, and he worked in the kitchen there.

“We bought this place (the service station) in ’08 and started catering in ’09,” Reich said. “The food business allows us to be in the gas business.” Many of the weddings he does lean toward smoked meats, but he isn’t limited to those. “We did one at Applewood Farms with grilled pork chops and chicken Alfredo,” Craig said. “The bride wanted the chicken for the younger kids. The rehearsal dinner the night before featured barbecue.” He does steaks, too, but not wedding cakes.

Overnight, he can cook enough meat to serve 6,000 people, but the largest group he has catered was 10,000, if you count his family hotel business days. From Butts To Go, he has catered as many as 450 and as few as one. “We cater to everyone who walks through our doors,” he said.

Kat Tucker is one of the few caterers in St. Clair County who also bakes cakes. She can customize foods or cakes to suit the tastes of just about any bride and bridegroom, including unusual requests like those of her own daughter.

“She doesn’t like cake, but she loves lasagna,” Tucker said. “So, I made lasagna in the shape of a wedding cake.”

Tucker has been catering out of The Kitchen in Pell City for 18 years because she loves to cook and loves making people happy. “That’s my goal, to make the bride and bridegroom happy and make sure their guests have a very enjoyable event,” Tucker said. “A wedding is a time for celebration. If something is not quite right with the food, that’s what they’ll remember. We make sure it’s great.”

Nine out of 10 times, the wedding couple doesn’t have time to enjoy the food, whether it’s served as a sit-down dinner, buffet-style or consists of appetizers only, according to Tucker. So, she always makes a care package for them carry out. “They can eat it in the airport while waiting to catch a plane or put it in their freezer for after the honeymoon,” she said. Tucker sometimes keeps leftover portions of the wedding cake in her own freezer until the couple asks for it.

“I have shipped cakes as far as Florida,” she said. “I carried one to Missouri when I did my nephew’s wedding out there.”

Mandy Camp, of Bowling’s Barbecue/The Complete Catering Company in Odenville, has been catering for more than 10 years. She can feed from 50 to 500 people, providing linens and centerpieces as well. She loves doing weddings, but also caters several civic events and a local Christian school. “People knew we would deliver orders from the restaurant and go set up, so they began asking about weddings,” she said.

She loves weddings because she gets to be part of a couple’s special day. As of May 1, she had catered 10-12 weddings this year and had one or two a month booked through December. “I have a Facebook page, but I don’t really promote my catering business,” Mandy said. “All publicity is by word of mouth or people attending a wedding and seeing what I do.” Popular wedding foods include panko chicken, meatballs, pulled pork and pulled chicken. Most brides prefer the food to be served buffet style. Sometimes those buffets will include Mandy’s green bean bundles (see Discover’s December 2016 Shopping & Dining St. Clair for recipe) and mashed potato bars or stations.

“I don’t do cakes, but if someone asks for a wedding cake, I have a couple of people I can call,” she said. “I used to do them, but since I had a child, I don’t have the patience.” Her mother, Sonja Bowling, is a big part of the catering business, and several good friends and close family members help, too.

MainStreet Drugs in Pell City and Odenville Drugs call Mandy when they have events, she said. “We have provided food for the Gideons every month for eight years, we do catering for Moody High School athletics, the MHS prom this year, civic events, school events and some churches.”

Lisa Vourvas at Two Sisters, a homestyle restaurant on U.S. 231 in Ashville, does a few weddings a year, preparing whatever the bride and bridegroom desire. Although her sister, Betty Cox, works with her, Lisa is the owner.

She has been catering since she opened in 2010. Most of it is for civic and community events, like the Shoal Creek Fire Department’s annual dinner for volunteer firefighters and their spouses. The largest number she has fed is 240 at the WMU fashion show at First Baptist Church of Ashville, while the smallest was a local wedding for 20 people, where the menu featured fish. “We did about 30 at the Ashville High School Class of 1948’s reunion,” Lisa said. “The firefighters want country-fried steak and peach cobbler every year.”

The primary chef for Two Sisters, Lisa grew up cooking for three younger sisters.Her most popular catered items are chicken salad and macaroni and cheese, which she also serves in the restaurant. She has a secret ingredient in the chicken salad that she refuses to reveal, although many customers have asked. “It gives the chicken salad flavor but you can’t taste the ingredient itself,” Lisa said.

Karen Stanfield handles the catering side of Local Joe’s Trading Post, near the St. Clair/Etowah county line on Rainbow Drive. “Because we have the use of the kitchens at both restaurants (the other is in Alexandria), it is not unusual for us to have three or four weddings or large catering events per weekend,” said Karen, who owns the restaurants with her husband, Jodie. “Our highly experienced catering staff loves what they do, and it shows each and every time they serve.”

In addition to weddings, Local Joe’s has catered four large community events over the past few years, including The Mayor’s Ball in Gadsden (to benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of America), The Mardi Gras Magic Party (Family Success Center in Gadsden), The Paws for St. Paddy’s (Etowah County Humane Society Pet Rescue & Adoption Center), and The Girlfriend Gala (Success by Six program in coordination with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library). The latter event was for 600 people this year.

The highest number of wedding guests Local Joe’s has catered was 465 people at a family farm, the smallest probably 25-30 at a private home. “The farm wedding had a fun menu primarily of desserts,” Karen said. “They also had some trays of mini croissants with chicken salad and pimento cheese, as well as some mini sliders for people who needed to have something with not so much sugar. There was a coffee bar because the couple loves their coffee.”

Local Joe’s has culinary-trained chefs who will make any cuisine a client wants, from Spanish to Cajun. The most popular catered meats are brisket, smoked turkey, pulled pork, chicken, ham, ribs, sausage and bacon-wrapped smoked shrimp. “Chefs Nathan and Damon make many delicious hors d’oeuvres, as well as some beautiful anti-pasta platters, fruit platters and vegetable platters,” said Karen. Despite the presence of a bakery at Local Joe’s, Karen refers brides to a couple of local specialists for the wedding cake.

She may not be on Local Joe’s referral list, but Lorraine Smith of Steele makes cakes. Operating as Edibles by Lorraine out of the commercial kitchen in her own home, she also bakes cakes for birthdays and other celebrations. She has even been known to donate a few for charitable events.

“I did around 40-45 weddings last year,” Lorraine said. “I also do birthday cakes between weddings. I’ve been doing this for almost 40 years. It’s a specialized business. I get to do something special for someone and that brings me joy.”

 Lorraine got her training at Jerri’s Bakery in Rainbow City, which was owned by her husband’s aunt and uncle. “His aunt opened up a shop for people to buy baking and cake decorating supplies, and from there, people wanted cakes,” Lorraine said. “I managed her place for 13 years.”

Every cake is different, but she does a lot of Auburn and Alabama-themed cakes, which usually take on the personality of the bridegroom. Aubie or Big Al might be wearing golfing attire, camouflage or motorcycle boots. “These are always the fun cakes,” Lorraine said. “The bride’s cake is more elegant.”

One of her most challenging cakes involved a woman who loved old books, old papers and typewriters. She wanted antique handwriting on her cake. “I have a printer that makes edible type, so I printed off the letters and pressed them to the side of the cake,” Lorraine said. “Her aunt had made flowers out of pages of a book.”

Lorraine sets up tastings, where the bride and bridegroom choose flavors from her list. then sit around a table and taste the cakes and discuss their theme. “We try to make their wishes and dreams come true,” Lorraine said.

She can do any flavor a bride or groom wants, even to the point of having a five-tiered cake with a different flavor for each tier. “Bridegrooms sometimes want strawberry (instead of the traditional chocolate), and sometimes a bridal cake will be chocolate or peanut butter flavored,” she said. “Barn weddings are different from church weddings, being more rustic, more country in style. We do a naked cake for a lot of barn weddings.” That’s when she adds extra icing between the layers, then lightly coats the outside with icing that she scrapes off, leaving some of the cake exposed.

Lorraine has no clue as to the number of wedding cakes she bakes each year. “I just count my weddings,” she said. “Most weekends I do two or three. I meet some of the most wonderful people that way.”

Louie’s Grill at Countryside Farm in Cropwell is an impressive restaurant, a wedding and event venue and an onsite catering operation all rolled into one. With veteran restaurateur Brenda Hamby at the helm, Countryside Farm has grown into a destination point for wedding ceremonies, receptions, rehearsal dinners, showers, intimate dinner parties, corporate events, parties, reunions and luncheons.

“We are a full catering service with banquet rooms for all occasions,” Hamby said. Imagine it, and chances are, Hamby and company can make it happen. After all, Louie’s has become a regional attraction for its delicious food in an elegant but casual atmosphere.

Hamby is no stranger to the food business even though she came to Alabama as owner of the thoroughbred training farm when Birmingham Race Course opened as a horse track in the nearby metropolitan area. At the track, she also operated the Back Stretch Cafeteria in the barn area and the Jocks Lounge in the Clubhouse.

Closer to home, she owned Lakeside Barbecue and Grill at Rabbit Branch, then bought Even Odds Restaurant in 1989. In 1991, she opened the City Club, which later became Harbor Lights. “We came home to retire,” she said of the farm. “It didn’t stick.”

You might say it’s in the genes. My mother taught me. She was the best cook I have ever known.” After that, she owned restaurants, hired chefs and “learned a lot more.” But it was the years of early learning by her mother’s side that set her on a successful path. “I had no restaurant experience when I opened the first one.”