Tag: Other Stories

A Free Lunch

Businesses band together to help feed children

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Michael Callahan

“On the count of three. One, two, three!,” beckoned Pell City Superintendent Michael Barber. Sixty young voices — in unison — rang out in an animated reply across the lunchroom of Walter M. Kennedy School.

“THANK YOU!,” they said, putting the perfect exclamation point on a good idea that has caught on across the school system.

The object of their gratitude stood in the front of the room, scarcely able to conceal their smiles. It was a group of business people who saw a need and filled it by filling the lunch plates of a school full of children — for free.

It’s a not-so-random act of kindness that plays out each week in schools throughout the school system. It’s lunch, courtesy of Town & Country Ford, Woods Surfside Marina, Tradesman Co., Robinson Law Firm and Metro Bank.

Doug Bailey, general manager of Town & Country, came up with the idea when he received an email about his own daughter’s lunch account being low. It sparked thoughts about the struggles of parents every day, trying to meet financial obligations that seemingly never end.

In turn, it became the catalyst for what Bailey called a “crazy idea” for his business to feed a school one day. The first month was in October. By November, five other businesses chipped in, and now the goal has become feeding one school one week each month en route to covering every elementary school twice per year.

Of course, if more businesses join the effort, the goal is within reach that much quicker.

“We want to support people who support us,” Bailey said of the program that helps parents with a financial obligation that really does make a difference.

Bailey said he took his inspiration of paying it forward from the late Curtis Capps, a successful businessman who was at the heart of scores of good works throughout the region. Capps had told him Pell City was a “community that takes care of its own.”

By the businesses feeding children in the school system for free, it takes that burden off of the parents. “Our families get a little reprieve at a time when there are so many demands on them financially,” Kennedy School Principal Dr. Leah Stover said. “These are hard-working families who take responsibility for their children. It really is a blessing.”

Charlie Robinson of the Robinson Law Firm couldn’t agree more. “It’s not about us. It’s about the kids and their families and giving back to a community that has been good to us. It hit home to me when I saw that a gallon of milk cost more than a gallon of gas. When parents are both working, they have bills and obligations that come along with family. That’s tough.”

Metro Bank’s vice president, Matthew Pope, talked of the relationship between good nutrition and learning. Children cannot focus when they are hungry.

“This gives them the opportunity to meet their fullest potential,” he said.

“The rewards of giving back have been so well received by the community,“ said Fred Casey of Tradesman. “We have received thank you notes from parents. I am thankful for the opportunity to give back to the community. It has just been a pleasure to us — phenomenal.”

Jerry Woods echoed the sentiment. “It is great to give back to our community,” he said. “These kids’ parents made my business the last nine years.”

“This is one of the most wonderful programs I’ve seen in my 28 years in the school business,” Barber said. “It is encouraging to see the community get behind these kids.” It forms a strong connection between business and schools. “It makes a difference. It’s good all the way around.”

Clean plates all around the lunchroom with smiles from adults and kids to match are a good indicator that Barber’s assessment is exactly right.

Other Stories

Col. Robert L. Howard

The legend behind name of veterans’ home

Story by Leigh Pritchett
Submitted Photos

The military heroics and achievements of Robert L. Howard are no secret.

They earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor, among many other medals and awards.

However, what may not be so well known about this man — who is the namesake of Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home in Pell City — is that he appeared in two John Wayne movies, said his brother Steven Howard.

During his 36-year Army career, Robert completed multiple tours in Vietnam and received a commission from master sergeant to first lieutenant in 1969. He was a Ranger, Pathfinder, Paratrooper, Infantryman and a member of the Special Forces. Ultimately, he rose to command positions. He also was involved in Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

Information from the veterans’ home website reveals that he was an honor graduate as a Ranger, Pathfinder and parachute rigger and was deemed an “outstanding” Infantryman in his class. The site gives an extensive list of medals and awards Robert received, among them the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star for Valor, eight Purple Hearts, Legion of Merit and four Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry.

The awards and medals that Robert received during his military career are, in fact, too numerous to fit in the shadow box display at the veterans’ home.

In 1956, 17-year-old Robert entered the U.S. Army, continuing a family military tradition that dates back to the Spanish-American War, Steven said.

In between Robert’s enlistment in 1956 and his retirement in the fall of 1992, the Opelika native earned degrees from the University of Maryland, Texas Christian University and Central Michigan University and graduated from the National War College.

Robert was also named to the Military Hall of Fame of the Hoover Institute; Military Hall of Fame of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Alabama; State of Texas War Memorial; Ranger Hall of Fame, and posthumously to the Army Aviation Association of America Hall of Fame.

Robert earned “every medal for combat courage in what is known as the military ‘pyramid of honor’ at least once and, in some instances, multiple times,” Steven said in a speech July 11, 2014, on “Colonel Howard Day” at the veterans’ home. That date was Robert’s birthday.

“From rifleman in the Infantry, he rose to become a recon team leader … with the most elite of America’s special operations units, the Special Operations Group or SOG, as it is commonly known today,” Steven recounted in his speech. “Fifty-four months in Vietnam, 380 combat patrols, 1,683 parachute jumps and eight awards of the Purple Heart. It should have been at least 14 instead of just eight. But many incidents Robert just quietly shrugged off as insignificant and unworthy of another medal.”

Robert’s many acts of battlefield bravery and determination, especially in circumstances when the soldiers were surrounded or outnumbered, earned him nominations for the Congressional Medal of Honor. Oftentimes, Robert put himself in danger to rescue wounded soldiers, Steven said.

One time, Robert executed a daring mission in which he entered an enemy camp and captured a North Vietnamese Army colonel. During later interrogation, the enemy colonel gave vital information about troop placement that aided U.S. strategy and saved the lives of many American soldiers, his brother recounted.

As a result of the capture, the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong placed a bounty on Robert, said Steven, who, himself, is a two-time Purple Heart recipient in Vietnam.

Prior to that, Steven had served alongside Robert in Vietnam. After a price was put on Robert’s head, the Army separated the brothers out of security concerns, Steven said.

From battlefield to big screen

During one tour while Robert was a Ranger, he was wounded and sent to a hospital. President Lyndon Johnson and John Wayne visited the hospital. Johnson remarked to Wayne that Robert was a good-looking Green Beret. Wayne agreed and sought to have Robert take part in Wayne’s upcoming movie, Steven said.

Thus, Robert appeared in The Green Berets. He played the role of an Airborne instructor, according to the website, www.rlhtribute.com.

It was not long before World War II hero-turned-actor Audie Murphy joined Wayne in trying to convince Robert to become an actor, Steven said.

To tout the movie The Green Berets, Wayne, Murphy, Robert and Steven were seen going about New York City together for two nights.

“They were all so much alike,” Steven said of the two actors and Robert. “All of them were nice guys, the kind you’d like to hang out with.”

Steven was elated when he saw his brother on the movie screen the first time. “He was amazing!”

Robert also made a parachute jump in another John Wayne movie, The Longest Day.

Ultimately, Robert decided against a movie career in order to be involved in one of the most elite and covert of the Army’s Special Forces, Steven said.

“He had made the decision that the Army was for him,” said Steven.

Author John Plaster took note of Robert’s deeds and battlefield actions and has recorded them in two books, SOG: The Secret Wars of America’s Commandos in Vietnam and Secret Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warriors of SOG, Steven said.

After Vietnam, Robert’s service concentrated greatly on teaching and training soldiers preparing for Airborne, Infantry, Ranger or Pathfinder assignments. He was also an instructor at the Special Warfare School, and Command and General Staff College.

“He loved his men,” Steven said.

Upon his retirement from the military, Robert settled in Texas and worked with the Department of Veteran Affairs. He retired in 2006.

“He was a straight-up guy. He was easygoing. You’d never know he was in the building, unless someone told you. My brother was the kind of guy I always wanted to be,” said Steven, who relocated to Pell City from Prattville to volunteer at the veterans’ home.

Robert – who was a husband, father and grandfather — died Dec. 23, 2009, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

“Much has been written and said about Robert’s chest full of medals — both U.S. and foreign,” Steven said in his July speech. “But I will never forget one statement that he made to me, and it was profound indeed. Looking down briefly at the left side of his uniform, he said, ‘I would trade all of these to train one soldier.’

“To many, he will be remembered as a larger-than-life Green Beret,” Steven continued. “And this, he was. But to me, he will be simply Robert, my brother.”

Additional assistance with this article was provided by the staff of Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home.

Other Stories

96 and going strong

Farmer once served as bodyguard for Gen. Eisenhower

Story by Linda Long
Photos by Jim Smothers
Submitted Photos

The old wooden farmhouse is typical of many found in rural St. Clair County. Surrounded by winter swept fields, a Black and Tan hound sits on its front porch poised to sound a welcoming bay to approaching visitors. Across the way, a patch of dark green turnip greens awaits, ready for the picking.

Yes, the old house may look typical, but the farmer who lives here is anything but. At 96 years old, W.M. (Ike) Murphree still works his 105-acre farm, the place where he is the happiest. “I was born to be a farmer and a gospel singer,” he says, but, fate and Uncle Sam had other plans for this quiet, unassuming gentleman. Back in 1943, Ike Murphree found himself on the front lines of history, an ocean away from his beloved country home.

Dressed in his usual starched denim overhauls and a plaid shirt, Murphree chuckled, “I’ve been accused of having a computer in my head.” That becomes obvious as the farmer turned story teller recalls memories of a life well lived. Sitting in his small living room centered by a braided rug and a blazing space heater, Murphree is surrounded by faded black and white photographs, family pictures which line the walls. An upright piano holds a hymnal open to one of the farmer’s favorite songs. And over it all, the American flag hangs proudly.

Reaching back in time to tell his story, Murphree’s steel blue eyes take on a faraway look as he remembers the day his life changed forever. It was 1943. The then 26 year-old young farmer walked slowly back from the mailbox that crisp fall morning, letter in hand containing news which he knew he must share with his beloved wife Alice Lucille. The letter announced his induction into the United States Army.

“One day I was working my farm, the next thing I knew I was packed and ready to head overseas. I had one son, Billy. We went down to the bus one morning. My wife was crying. Billy was saying ‘Daddy, don’t go. Don’t go.’ That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I didn’t know if I would ever see them again.”

Eventually, he did see his family again, but not before fighting in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, narrowly avoiding disaster on the sea in the North Atlantic, being named a master marksman, serving as a member of the escort guard responsible for the repatriation of American held German prisoners of war and serving as a personal body guard to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

It was January 1944 when Murphree saw some of his toughest combat operations. He was one of the American troops to storm the beach head at Anzio, a signature battle of World War II. Those scenes are etched forever in his memory. “The first wave went in and about 1,700 soldiers and nurses lost their lives at that landing,” said Murphree.

Though he started the war as a member of the infantry, his commanding officers soon learned of the young country boy’s sharp shooting skills, skills honed back home on Chandler Mountain while hunting for rabbit and squirrel. “I shot 198 out of a possible 220,” said Murphree, “everything the army had…30 and 50 caliber machine guns, a grease gun, a pistol, a rifle, the M-1 rifle, a shotgun, and the tanks. I would hit it (my target) every time. I was the only one of 200 people that did that, and it went on my record as a master marksman.”

Murphree’s job was to escort German prisoners captured on the battlefield to concentration camps, a dangerous and often deadly assignment. The old man is still haunted by some of his memories.

“We were climbing a mountain, German prisoners in tow. German snipers were in the trees, all around. I heard a gun go off. The bullet hit my buddy in the ankle. It tore his foot off, but I couldn’t stop and do anything for him. The next day I heard he bled to death. He had a wife and two little girls back home. I try not to think about that,” said Murphree in a soft voice, “ but I can’t help it sometimes. General Patton, one of the greatest military men ever to put on a uniform, said it best, ‘war is hell.’ You can’t make nothing else out of it.”

For most American soldiers in the European Theater that “hell” came to an end when — as Murphree explained — “the bombers were back on the ground, a peace treaty was signed and the guns were silent. Soldiers were loaded on the ships coming home. I said, ‘I want to go home,’” a simple request, but one that was not to be honored for almost one more year. “My company commander said, ‘No, you are still on special assignment. General Eisenhower needs you.”

That began the young soldier’s post war assignment as a member of the escort guard, whose duty was to protect General Eisenhower. One of his most memorable assignments in that role was to accompany the war hero on his first return visit to his hometown, Abilene, Kansas. It was on that trip that Murphree faced perhaps the most harrowing ordeal of his military career..

“The General flew to New York,” said Murphree. “Me and the other guards went by ship, the USS Sea Robin, a 55,000 ton battleship. About halfway there in the North Atlantic, we hit one of the worst storms in history. They told us we might have to abandon ship. We lost all our life boats and life lines. We were literally between the devil and the deep blue sea. The ship would rock up on its side and just hang there, and I would think well, it’s going over this time, but it would come back down and hit the water. It sounded like it was going to bust into a thousand pieces. Even the captain who had been sailing for 40 years said this was the worst storm in history.

“ Finally,” continued Murphree, “the USS Sea Robin limped into New York Harbor. Boy, it had taken a beating. I don’t see how in the world it made it through that storm.”

Then, pausing in his narrative, Murphree added, “well, actually, I guess I do see how it made it. I went down in the bow of that ship and I got serious with the Lord. I said, ‘Lord, there’s nothing I can do about it except for You. I’ve got a beautiful woman and a little boy back home, and I would like to go back to them.’ About half an hour later, it was announced on the intercom, that the storm had weakened. The captain said we had blown off our course, but he believed we would make it.”

By this time, Murphree just wanted to go home. “Each time I asked, all I was told was, ‘No, you are still needed here.’ I said, I don’t care nothing about being a big shot. I had been gone almost three years away from my wife and baby. All I wanted to do was get out of there, get this thing over and get back home. I wanted to get back on the farm, pick some cotton, grow some corn, smell some sorghum syrup a-cooking. That’s all I wanted to do.”

Finally, in 1946 , Murphree was discharged from the army. Once back home, he bought the farm where he now lives and where he and his wife raised their son William, Junior and three daughters Elizabeth (Mealer), Linda (Vaughan) and Alice (Cater). And, it was here where Murphree resumed his passion for gospel singing.

According to his daughter Elizabeth Mealer, “Daddy was into gospel singing from the time he was a small child.” As the story goes, one of his uncles took him to a gospel singing, and he actually got up there and directed a song.

Gospel singing was also on his mind in a fox hole in France. According to Mealer, “Daddy said he prayed if the Lord would get him home he would like to have a trio of girls that would sing. He always wanted a singing family, and that’s exactly what he got.”

“We had a wonderful life,” said Murphree, “Me and the Murphree sisters. We traveled around in a Greyhound bus singing the gospel all over the southeast from Montgomery to Georgia. That blood harmony. There’s no way you can beat it.” And his son sang bass in several gospel groups.

Murphree says about the only time he sings these days is when he’s out on his tractor. Neighbors listening closely might hear him bellowing out old favorites like, “What a Meeting in the Air,” That Heavenly Home will Surely Be Mine,” or Power in the Blood.”

Despite his age, Murphree lives alone, still drives a car, and works his farm along with some help from grandsons Wayne Mealer and David Murphree and great grandson Cody Mealer. He says he’s often asked what keeps him going at his age, and his answer is simple. “Hard work. If hard work would kill somebody, I would have been dead 35 years ago.”

“Somebody once told me ‘you don’t have a bit of business out here doing this at your age. When are you going to quit?’ Well, laughed Murphree. “I said I imagine when my toes are up.” Does he ever think about retiring? “Oh, sure. I think about it every year, and every year I say well, this will be the last one. But, then the wild onions put up and you can smell them; and the fruit trees bloom out, and the bees go to swarming. It just gets in my blood, and I have to get out there and go.”

Now, with a new John Deere tractor complete with power steering in the shed, Murphree may have even more reason to postpone his retirement. “Yeah, I’m proud of that tractor. When you get my age, it gets harder to steer but now that power steering has taken care of all that.”

“I can say I’ve had a good life,” said Murphree. “I was talking to my cousin the other night. She said, ‘I guess you realize how the Lord has blessed you.’ I do. He’s given me a good life. He shepherded me through one of the bloodiest wars in history and one of the worst storms ever on the sea. I have had a very good life. I don’t go around bragging about my life, but I am proud of it.”

Other Stories

Jamie Merrymon

Artist’s work making television appearance

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

Jamie Merrymon sees possibilities when others simply see the object in front of them. Evidence of it hangs behind her mother’s desk in the Pell City courthouse – “a painting without painting.”

Fashioned from frame corners that don’t meet and scores of mismatched buttons from her great grandmother’s button tin, it is a work of art others would never have thought to create.

“I have an eye for it,” she said. That, she does. Jamie sees art in just about everything around her. A wine cork. Newsprint. Bullets. A stack of old license plates found in the courthouse basement. They all are possibilities in a Jamie Merrymon original.

She once carved a self portrait from a block of linoleum. It took her three months to finish, but when she was done, it earned her the Dean’s Merit Award at Auburn University and a cash prize.

She sees color as her greatest ally, and she isn’t afraid to use bright hues and bold strokes to tell her story on canvas. “Colorful makes me happy,” she said. Nor does she shy away from texture, using tissue and paint to create a three dimensional work of art.

Working in the garage of her parents’ Pell City home, she said, “When I get in the mood to paint, I get in and paint.” It is not unusual for her to spread materials on the ground, circling it as she works. Her professor once told her the best abstract looks good from any angle, words that drive her approach. It’s why she signs the back of her work. There is no true bottom or top. It is in the eyes of the beholder.

“Art to me is the freedom to be creative. There is no right way or wrong way,” she said.

It is that same eye for creativity that landed her a TV gig behind the scenes on the show of professional organizers, The Amandas, after graduating from Auburn in Fine Arts. And it is that same flair for creativity that moved her work in front of the cameras on that show as well as on Fix It and Finish It with Antonio Sabato Jr.

“I wanted to be a decorator, but I couldn’t get out of Chemistry,” she mused. That put her on course for a Fine Arts degree and a stint as a “starving artist.” She shotgunned 60 resumes and found The Amandas willing to take a chance on her. “I lived in Atlanta a month, New Orleans a month and Birmingham for a month,” helping behind the scenes with reorganizing rooms and making over houses for use on the TV show.

In New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina struck, the owner of the house to be redone for the cameras mentioned she loved original art. “We have an artist right here,” Jamie recalled Amanda Le Blanc saying. And with that, she plopped down on the driveway and painted herself right into the show. It was a 5 x 5 foot abstract featured in a room makeover.

Although that show was later cancelled, she got a second chance when Le Blanc sent her a message about creating artwork for Fix It and Finish It. Yet another of her works appeared in that show. It gave her the opportunity to work with Orlando-based Pink Sneakers producers Craig Campbell and Trish Gold, who helped produce such reality shows as Project Runway and The Kardashians.

These days she spends her time crisscrossing the county as a court referral officer, carrying on what has become a family tradition of serving St. Clair County. Her mother is judicial assistant to Circuit Judge Bill Weathington. Her grandmother, Sara Bell, was chief clerk of the Probate Office.

“I love my job. I love people,” Jamie said. “I’m a good people person.”

You’ll get no argument from attorney Van Davis, who serves as municipal judge in several St. Clair County cities where Jamie works. “She’s amazing,” he said when he learned she would be the subject of a magazine piece.

There’s no argument from District Judge Alan Furr about her artistic talent, either.

He offered her mother $500 on the spot for her Painting Without Painting, she said. But it’s not for sale. Vicki counts it among her most prized possessions, a Mother’s Day gift from Jamie.

Other pieces are for sale, and Jamie continues to spend her off time producing them in an unlikely sanctuary – her parents’ garage she calls her ‘studio.’ There among the stacks of boxes and usual occupants of a garage, she has carved out her creative corner of the world. “I don’t have to answer to anybody but myself when I’m in my creative zone. I do what I want to do. It’s my zone.”

And as she works toward some of the same goals as other 20-somethings – a house, perhaps a family – her art is never out of the picture for her life. “If I could afford it, I would just retire and paint.”

Other Stories

More Scenic Drives

Driving directions to
St. Clair’s scenic spots

Words and Photos by Michael Callahan

As I stood on my deck overlooking Logan Martin Lake, the wind bore down with a crispness and chill that could only mean winter was upon us in St. Clair County. Above me, a whirling grey mass of clouds, blocked out the sunlight. However, it had been quite a few weeks since I had packed up my camera gear and headed out to bring our readers a scenic St. Clair drive.

While I was badly missing the beautiful colors of fall, I knew where I was headed on this day. With camera, tripod — and warm clothes — I set out. Driving north from Pell City, I turned onto Alabama 174 , then over to Kelly Creek Road. Turning left on Kelly Creek, I just settled back and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Hay fields abound, and that means numbers of scenic pastures with livestock dot the drive along this idyllic road. Kelly Creek Road skirts the western side of Bald Rock Mountain. It had been quite a while since I’d made this drive, and I was taken in by the numerous horse riding stables and facilities.

Traveling down through the valley, I knew where I was headed. A couple of weeks back while working with one of our writers on an assignment in Springville, I had become quite interested in all of the older homes, churches and businesses in the area. I knew I wanted to capture some of what I had seen to share with our readers.

Entering Springville at the Highway 174 and US 11 intersection, I headed up Murphree Valley Road. At the top of mountain, I turned sharp left onto Pine Mountain Road . Just a short distance later, I came upon The Ridge Outdoor Adventure park. After suffering major tornado damage just a short time ago, they are back in business offering the thrill of off road ATV riding, and zip lines abound. Catch a look at the high flying riders. After watching these guys flying through the air, it was time to head back down.

Along the way, I came across Hullet Chapel Independent Methodist Church. As you can see from the photo, it was founded in 1870. That’s a whopping 145 years.

I came back into the downtown area and very quickly realized there is much history here. Taking the back streets, I came upon a very old business, as witnessed by the weathered boards adorned by father time. As you can see from the photo, it’s been time tested and still standing. Also had to grab a picture of the flag attached to the side of the old place. Just down the way and across from Homestead Hollow, another old business with the classic weathered wood made for a wonderful photo.

Now it was time for the downtown homes and business district. I will let the photos speak for themselves. Many of these classic homes have withstood a century or more of wear and tear. There, the architecture is from a different time and place in our county. Businesses are opening back up in storefronts that have not been occupied for many years. Laster Sundries is a good example of very old business that has reopened. Check out the article by our own Tina Tidmore on this historic business.

Traveling on through town on U.S. 11, I was taken in by the Springville Presbyterian Church circa 1873. Just up the hill you can find an old rock school house that has withstood time for more than 100 years.

As I left town traveling up U.S. 11, I knew where I was headed. About eight miles north of Springville on the way to Steele, a classic road cross still stands. These sign crosses are a fixture on roadways that many of us can remember from our childhood. Reverend Maye’s Crosses were once on our roadways throughout the United States. The one shown in the photo is located on U.S. 11 close to Steele.

Just a few hundred yards up the highway, I came across the decaying hulk of an original Pan Am service station. The Pan Am stations were the Rolls Royce service centers of their day, back in the 50s. While air conditioning was something virtually no business had in that era, Pan Ams did. You could also get gas, food and auto service if needed. They were something akin to our modern shopping centers, years before their time.

Traveling westward on U.S. 11, I turned right onto Double Bridges road headed back to Ashville and home. Rounding a curve, I was really taken in by what is called a winter/green field. Taking a look at this photo, you just have to admit we have some big sky scenes in our county.

Entering the city limits of Ashville, I came across what was probably a very old apartment house. As you can see from the photo, folks back then used rocks for foundations. A few yards down the street, there’s a Masonic Lodge reportedly built in the 1850s. This building is on the historical register.

Just a few hundred feet down the street stands the historic John Inzer house. Built in 1852 by Moses Dean, it became a home to John Washington Inzer in 1866. One of the highlights of this place is a bullet hole in the beautiful colored glass on the front of this Greek Revival home. It is reported to have come from the pistol of a Yankee soldier who was occupying Ashville during the Civil War. A very active group of Sons of Confederate Veterans does a wonderful job of preserving this historic place. The photo you see is Mr. Bill Watkins, SCV 308 St. Clair County Chapter.

A block over and just off U.S. 231 north in downtown, I found another excellent example of historic architecture. It is now called the Quilt House, and its gingerbread highlights, are ornate examples of an era long past.

Leaving Ashville and heading back down to Pell City, I had to get a photo of one more historic house before my drive was over. Just off U.S. 231 in Wattsville, adjacent to the railroad, this house was once a hotel serving customers of the thriving Seaboard railroad that ran through the Coal City/Wattsville area. Another excellent example of historic architecture.

Thanks for once again, meandering across St. Clair County with me. We want to share more scenic drives with you in our picturesque county and explore more of our rich and historic past. Our buildings and structures say much about who we were and how we got here. I am glad St. Clair County is my home.

Photographers Note: Thanks to Jerry Smith , Discover St. Clair writer, photographer and author of Uniquely St. Clair for his help and willingness to share historical data with this photographer. Thanks again to Mr. Roland Thomas’ invaluable resources.

Scenic St. Clair Drives

34 photos

Other Stories

St. Vincent’s St. Clair Three Years

Surgical Services above equal

Story by Graham Hadley
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

It’s been three years since the dream of a new hospital in St. Clair County officially became a reality when the new St. Vincent’s St. Clair opened its doors just across Interstate 20 from the center of Pell City.

The underlying goals were to create a cutting-edge, state-of-the-art medical facility that had a warm, welcoming — and comforting atmosphere, all of which are part of the overall big-picture goal of better serving the people of St. Clair County and surrounding communities.

To that end, St. Vincent’s has gone beyond all expectations and continues to do so, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the on-site surgical facilities and services.

“St. Vincent’s St. Clair offers a very unique opportunity to a growing community,” said Dr. Jeffrey D. Lawler, an orthopedic and sports medicine surgeon. “Being centrally located, St. Vincent’s St. Clair allows patients to have world-class care without having to travel. Having a surgical procedure can be a stressful experience. St. Vincent’s staff, operating facility, and state-of the-art equipment help eliminate a lot of these stressors and make for a positive experience.”

A new day for surgeons …
And patients
Because of the forward-looking approach the hospital designers took back in the early planning stages, St. Vincent’s is able to offer surgical procedures to residents in the region that before would have required a trip to Birmingham or another big city.

According to Director of Surgical Services Kara Chandler, St. Vincent’s St. Clair offers colorectal surgery, epidurals, gastroenterology, general surgery, gynecology, orthopedics, ophthalmology, otolaryngology (ENT), pain management, urology, vascular surgery and more.

“In the near future, we will start performing minimally invasive weight-loss surgery, including lap band, laparoscopic gastric bypass and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy,” said Dr. Jay Long, general and bariatric surgeon.

“There are 24 specialists on staff here at St. Clair — 16 surgeons in the ORs, and eight gastroenterologists work in our GI Labs,” Chandler said.

Not only are these procedures available right here in St. Clair, but because of advances in medicine and surgical technology and techniques being implemented at St. Vincent’s, they can mean a much shorter stay in the hospital and, in many cases, a less painful and quicker recovery for the patients.

Foremost among those advancements is the continual honing and perfecting of laparoscopic surgical procedures. Where before, surgeons would have to literally open up a patient, cutting through many tissue layers and muscle with large incisions, now they can make several small incisions and, with the aid of a flexible scope and tools, perform many surgeries in a much less invasive way, said Dr. Scott Smith, a general surgeon and medical director and section chief of Surgical Services at St. Vincent’s St. Clair.

That means a better outlook for the patient — fewer complications and a much faster recovery. Some surgeries that would require a week or more recovery in the hospital now only require a two- to three-day stay. After most surgeries performed at St. Vincent’s St. Clair, the patients can leave after a day. Some surgeries are even done on an out-patient basis.

“Laparoscopy has been one of the most revolutionary things in medicine, especially when it comes to patient recovery and decreased post surgical pain and discomfort,” Smith said. “What was a former six-week recovery for gall bladder surgery now can mean a return to normal activity in a week. … Colon surgery can be done with a three-day stay instead of seven-day stay.”

Many of the most common procedures — appendectomies, hernia repair, gall bladder surgery and other basic gastro intestinal surgeries fall into those categories.

In a similar vein, the hospital also can do endoscopic GI procedures, sometimes in conjunction with the laparoscopic surgery. St. Vincent’s utilizes laparoscopic and endoscopic equipment that is cross compatible with the hookups in the operating rooms.

“We have two GI Suites that are designed with identical equipment so the physicians are comfortable in both rooms. Our GI Suites are state of the art with high-definition digital endoscopic equipment and video tower systems. Our video screens are suspended from the ceiling to allow maximum room and convenience,” Chandler said.

Attention to design
That cross compatibility did not happen by accident. St. Vincent’s St. Clair has two operating suites and two gastrointestinal suites — and their design could be called an industry-setting standard.

The large operating suites have all of the major equipment suspended by booms over the surgical areas. This means nurses and doctors have plenty of room to move around and work on their patients without bulky equipment getting in the way.

“The rooms were custom designed with the equipment centrally located around the surgical table. The equipment is suspended on towers from the ceiling and move in any direction to accommodate the visual needs of the surgeon. This allows for optimal positioning of the healthcare team without requiring them to maneuver around the equipment,” Chandler said.

For orthopedic surgeons — another common surgery performed at the new St. Clair hospital — that is of primary importance. Those surgeries, in particular, use lots of equipment that requires a lot of space.

Thanks to the large operating suites at St. Vincent’s St. Clair, they have all the space they need.

“We have a luxurious orthopedic surgical suite that is significantly larger than the other room to accommodate orthopedic surgery, which requires a great deal of equipment and instrumentation,” Chandler said.

To further cater to the special needs of the surgeons, nurses and other doctors and staff involved in the complicated surgical process, the hospital sets up the rooms identically — the equipment and the surgical tools are in the same place in each room. That makes it much easier for them to move from one surgery to the next without having to readapt to a different surgical environment each time.

The laparoscopic surgery is the future of surgical medical care, and the equipment at St. Vincent’s reflects that. The fiber-optic light and camera are connected to the latest high-definition monitors so the surgeons can see exactly what they need to while operating remotely through flexible laparoscopic sleeves.

Because not all surgery can be conducted laparoscopically, surgical theater lighting is of the utmost importance. Like the high-definition monitors, the better the lighting, the better the surgeons can see what they are doing.

Replacing the traditional doctor’s halogen lights are new low-shadow LED lighting systems that not only provide doctors with a good view of what they are doing, they generate much less heat than the older lighting systems — something that is very important during longer surgeries.

“The lights in our operating rooms are innovative technology. The lights hover from a boom over the operating room table. They are simple to position and have shadow control. The lights are designed for heat reduction so the surgical team does not become overheated during the surgery,” Chandler said.

As a bonus, the modern equipment is infinitely more energy efficient than its older counterparts.

Those advances carry over to the GI labs, said Dr. Owen McLean, one of the gastroenterologists at St. Vincent’s St. Clair. “The equipment is excellent, and the staff are well trained to work with the surgical and endoscopic cases.”

In addition to scheduled surgeries, the surgical staff is on hand to support cases that come in through the emergency room. Though they are not a trauma center, they provide whatever surgical procedures are immediately necessary and within their scope, even if the patient ultimately requires transfer to Birmingham for more specialized trauma care.

All about the care
What ultimately makes the difference at St. Vincent’s St. Clair is the quality of the staff and the importance they all place on patient care and serving the community’s needs. With all the new equipment, all the special considerations the designers made when planning the surgical suites and GI labs — as amazing as all of the technology is — it still comes down to quality care. And they all are benefits patients receive locally without a long drive to a big-city hospital.

The new hospital boasts a wide array of talented physicians who bring a growing number of specialties to the table, from general surgery to pediatric care and orthopedic medicine.

A big part of what is attracting this deep pool of talent to St. Clair is the cutting-edge facility and the hospital’s proactive approach to patient care.

For Smith, who “practices the full scope of general surgery,” the decision to come to Pell City was easy.

“With the move to this facility, it became clear there was a need in this community. There were new industries, new population. There was a population here that did not want to go to Birmingham,” he said.

“The facilities are on par with any facility I have operated in. The advanced equipment is here to do the laparoscopies. The staff and the expertise to do that are here, so it was an easy choice for me to come to St. Vincent’s St. Clair.”

The other side of that is the experienced and professional nursing and support staff, who make it their No. 1 concern to work with the physicians to provide the best patient care possible.

“Here at St. Clair we have the most wonderful surgical team any hospital could ever ask for. Our registered nurses hold dual certifications for both adults and pediatrics and offer over 100 years of combined nursing experience,” Chandler said.

And for the people who make St. Vincent’s St. Clair the top-notch medical facility that it is, serving the local residents who depend on them is the ultimate end game.

That they can do it here in Pell City, providing premium medical care to people not just from St. Clair County, but surrounding areas as well, is a testament to just how well the dream of creating this new hospital here has succeeded.

That achievement is reflected not just in the growing medical offerings at the hospital, but the continually positive response those associated with the hospital receive from the surrounding community, patients and their loved ones.

“I think the community has been receptive to the increased service line here at this hospital. I continue to hear good feedback from people and their families who have been patients here, and not just people I have treated, about the quality of care here,” Smith said.

For the doctors, nurses and staff, nothing is a better measure of St. Vincent’s St. Clair’s success.

“We just want to offer a high level of health care here locally so patients can feel like they are getting first-class medical care at their doorstep without having to go to Birmingham,” Smith said. “With the facilities here and the influx of medical specialties, we are providing that.”

Chandler agreed, “This team is more than a team — it’s a family, and they have one mission — to offer our patients the highest standard of care and services. They collaborate each day regarding each and every case, making sure they have everything they need for the patient. They help each other in every circumstance — they are partners.”

Other Stories