discover st. clair october november 2012

Outdoor Kitchens • St. Clair Wedding LocationsEarth Born Pottery • Gulf Creek Canyon • Ashville Stockyard

Music on the RocksThe history behindThree on a Stringand Horse Pens 40

October - November 2012

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Features and ArticlesDiscoverThe Essence of St. Clair

October - November 2012

For Their ServiceNew veterans home goesabove and beyond expectations

Page 8The soldier behind the name

Page 21

Traveling The BackroadSHow coal turned a small crossroads into a community

Page 26

on a diFFerenT noTeBrad Ryan looking beyondbluegrass to gospel music

Page 37

ouTdoor cookingLatest entertaining trendgoing strong in St. Clair

Page 38Outdoor recipes: Ribs, ribsand more ribs

4

Frankie’S Fried PieSA St. Clair culinary sensation

Page 46

BuSineSS BrieFingPage 50

aShville STockyardA half-century livestocktradition continuesevery Monday

Page 52

geTTing Married in ST. clairTake a look inside and outat five perfect locations

Page 58

The ulTiMaTe Pony carRestoring and customizingMustangs and much more

Page 64Owning a piece of automotive history

Page 69

earTh Born STudioSPayne’s dinnerware is anationwide sensation

Page 70

yWca’S PurSe & PaSSionFundraiser empowering women

Page 76

hidden TreaSureGulf Creek Canyon’sbeauty will be preserved

Page 78

Big neWS For canoe creekPage 82

Bluegrass band Threeon a String has a long

history with Horse Pens 40

Page 32

onl ine @ www.discoverstcla ir.com

Cover and Index photos by Jerry Martin

Music on the Rocks

6 • DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair | October - November 2012

Samantha Corona works as a communications coordinator for O2 Ideas, a public relations and marketing firm in Birmingham. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Auburn University, where she served as associate sports editor of The Auburn Plainsman and freelance contributor for the Opelika-Auburn News. She began her professional career with The Daily Home, covering community news, events and local government, as well as contributing to Lakeside Magazine.

Mike Bolton was a senior reporter for the Birmingham News for 25 years covering mainly outdoors and NASCAR. He was an eight-time winner of the Associated Press Sweepstakes Award for best sports story of the year. He retired from the News in 2009 but still contributes stories. He has lived in St. Clair County for 22 years.

Writers AND Photographers

Samantha Corona

Mike Bolton

Jerry MartinJerry Martin is chief freelance photogra-pher for Partners by Design, a multimedia group based in Pell City. He is a veteran newspaper photographer, whose work earned numerous state awards. His photo-graphs have appeared in many magazines, publications and online.

Carol Pappas is editor and publisher of Discover The Essence of St. Clair Maga-zine. A newspaper veteran, she retired as editor and publisher of The Daily Home, St. Clair Times and Lakeside Magazine to start her own multimedia company. She has been published in various newspapers and magazines, won dozens of writing awards in features, news and commentary and was named Distinguished Alabama Community Journalist at Auburn University for 2011.

Carol Pappas

Elaine Hobson Miller is a freelance writer with a B.A. in Journalism from Samford University. She was the first female to cover Birmingham City Hall for the Birmingham Post-Herald, where she worked as reporter, food editor and features writer. A former editor of Birmingham Home & Garden magazine and staff writer for Birmingham magazine, she has written for a variety of local, regional and national publica-tions, including American Profile, Woman’s World, The Dallas Morning News and The Birmingham News. She is the author of two non-fiction books, Myths, Mysteries & Legends of Ala-bama and Nat King Cole: Unforgettable Musician.

Elaine Miller

Jerry C. Smith’s interest in photography and writing go back to his teen years. He has produced numerous articles, stories and photographs for local websites and regional newspapers and magazines, including the St. Clair County News, Sand Mountain Living, and Old Tennessee Valley. His photos have appeared in books, on national public television, in local art displays and have captured prizes in various contests. A retired business machine technician and Birmingham native, Jerry now lives near Pell City. He recently published two books: Uniquely St. Clair and Growing Up In The Magic City.

Jerry C. Smith

Loyd McIntosh is a freelance writer and former news reporter and sports writer for several newspapers throughout the South-east, including The Daily Home. In over 10 years as a freelance writer, he has published work in a variety of magazines. He is a na-tive of Trussville and now lives in Pell City with his wife, Elizabeth, and daughters Em-ily Grace and Lily. Loyd is currently the marketing manager for the Birmingham YMCA.

Loyd McIntosh

Carolyn Stern is retired after a career in publishing. Her work has appeared inProgressive Farmer, Birmingham Home and Garden, Birmingham Parent, Birmingham Post-Herald and St. Clair News Aegis. She is author of Ponds: Building, Maintaining, Enjoying and has earned writing awards on a state and national scale. She lives in Beason Cove and is owner of Cove Cottage Bed and Breakfast.

Carolyn Stern

Graham Hadley is the managing editor and designer for Discover The Essence of St. Clair Magazine and also manages the maga-zine website. Along with Carol Pappas, he left The Daily Home as managing editor to become vice president of the Creative Division of Partners by Design multimedia company. An Auburn journalism graduate, Hadley also served as the news editor for The Rome News Tribune in Rome,Ga.

Graham Hadley

October - November 2012 | DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • 7

Interviewing Three on a String is like securing a front-row-center seat at one of their gigs all by yourself.

But it doesn’t matter if they’re playing to an audience of one or one thousand. The antics rarely stop, and the unmistakable ‘pickin’ and grinnin’ trademark of this historic bluegrass band always has you coming back for more.

Such is the stuff of which memo-ries are made. And for 40 years, Three on a String has delivered them. I know. I have those memories myself of a younger trio playing at Home-wood’s Lowenbrau Haus on week-ends. Home from college for me, it was THE place to be on a Saturday night.

Those evenings even sparked an interest later on in my traveling to St. Clair County’s Horse Pens 40 each fall for a bluegrass festival that drew thousands from across the country to the mountaintop for music, food and fun. What I didn’t know then that I do now is the connection between the two.

Jerry Ryan and Bobby Horton played that very first folk festival just days before they were to officially become two of Three on a String. Ryan had the vision of the bluegrass festival atop Chandler Mountain, and he helped owner Warren Musgrove create what became one of the best bluegrass festivals in the country, drawing names like Lester Flatt, Ralph Stanley, Bill Monroe and Emmy Lou Harris to “the Bluff.”

There were more big names and even taller tales in the years to come, and I discovered a few during my interview with the legend-ary Three on a String.

In this issue, we discover other St. Clair County legends and landmarks — from fried pies to wedding venues to a breathtaking canyon protected for future generations.

It’s all here and more. Come along with us as we continue to discover what we call the essence of St. Clair.

Carol A. Pappas,Editor and Publisher

From the EditorMemories make the best stories

Discover The Essence of St. ClairOctober - November 2012 • Vol. 8 • www.discoverstclair.com

Carol Pappas • Editor and PublisherGraham Hadley • Managing Editor and Designer

Brandon Wynn • Director of Online ServicesJerry Martin • PhotographyArthur Phillips • Advertising

A product of Partners by Designwww.partnersmultimedia.com

6204 Skippers CovePell City, AL 35128

205-335-0281

Printed at Russell Printing, Alexander City, AL.

Story by Carol PappasPhotos by Jerry Martin


FOR THEIR SERVICENew veterans home goes above and beyond expectations

It may be an overused cliché when a sight is so mesmerizing, so impressive that it takes your breath away. But just inside the grand entrance to the Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home is a sight that … well … takes your breath away.


There is no institutional setting here — no hospital-like rooms lining the hallways, no dark corridors where the only light comes from an occasional window or door.

Step inside, and you think you are in a mall or strolling along a quaint downtown street. Vintage signs hang from the tops of a series of storefronts enclosed mainly in glass, not walls. Barber shop, pharmacy, beauty shop, library, chapel, Stars and Stripes Café. They line the stone-tiled cor-ridor, beckoning one and all to come inside and have a look.

Once within, the light streaming through windowed walls overlooking an expanse of lush, green courtyards and meandering paths lets you know immediately this is indeed a special place.

“If you ask veterans where they would rather be, their answer would be, ‘I’d rather be at home.’ ” said Rear Adm. Clyde Marsh, commissioner of the Alabama Vet-erans Administration. “We tried to create a home they would like to go to and enjoy. We think the veterans will be happy here.”

Filling all of its 27 acres just north of In-

VETERANS HOME

Rear Adm. Clyde Marsh by display case that will hold

military memorabilia

Main street lined with ‘shops’

W i l l i a m s B l a c k s t o c k A r c h i t e c t s

PROUD DESIGNER OF THE COLONEL ROBERT L. HOWARD

STATE VETERAN’S HOME IN PELL CITY, ALABAMA

I n s p i r i n g . C r e a t i v e . I n n o v a t i v e .

C o l l a b o r a t i v e . I n s i g h t f u l .

C r e a t i v e . C r e a t i v e .

A R C H I T E C T U R E I N T E R I O R S P L A N N I N G

2 2 0 4 F i r s t A v e n u e S o u t h S u i t e 2 0 0 B i r m i n g h a m A l a b a m a 3 5 2 3 3 2 3 31

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VETERANS HOMEterstate 20 in Pell City, this sprawl-ing town, as it could be known, has a main street, a town center, neigh-borhoods and homes all under roof.

Outside are courtyard gardens, and homes have classic back porch-es complete with rocking chairs.

The neighborhoods come togeth-er in what is called Town Center, a huge room with a towering stone fireplace heading upward to a sky-light and pine cathedral ceilings. It has the look and feel of a Colorado ski lodge with fireplaces opening on two sides and cabinetry and large-screen televisions on the other two.

Floor-to-ceiling windows bathe the room in a warm glow — the kind of place where people will naturally gather. It can be used to hold events for the veterans as well, said Manda Mountain, who is the Alabama Department of Veteran’s Affairs director for the Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home.

From the town center are three neighborhoods with names like Vic-tory Way, Liberty Lane and Patriot Place with three homes in each, enough room to accommodate 126 veterans.

Architects get marching orders“Putting it in perspective, it’s a

new design concept for state nurs-ing homes for veterans,” Marsh said. Williams Blackstock Archi-tects of Birmingham designed it “from the ground up.” There was no blueprint or model, just an admi-ral’s order to create a home worthy of veterans’ service and sacrifice, not an institution.

“We wanted it built with dignity, the comforts of home, serenity — all that in mind,” Marsh said. “We wanted a warm environment so people could enjoy it.”

That was no easy feat for 240,000 square feet on one level alone, said architect Joel Black-stock, principal-in-charge on the project. “Admiral Marsh really pushed us to make it state-of-the-art, not like any other.”

The concept was “ to provide a sense of community throughout for the residents because it really is like a small town or village,” he said. Lead architect Sean Whitt worked full-time on the site to oversee the

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e St. Clair CountyMayor's Association

welcomes

COLONELROBERT L. HOWARD

STATE VETERANSHOME

Mayor Rusty Jessup, Chairman, Riverside

Mayor Rodney Christian, Odenville

Mayor William “Butch” Isley, Springville

Mayor Bill Hereford, Pell City

Mayor Paul Jennings, Argo

Mayor Joe Lee, Moody

Mayor John McHugh, Steele

Mayor, Robert McKay, Ashville

Mayor Lanis White, Ragland

Mayor Jeff Wilson, Margaret


VETERANS HOME

Kim Justice and Admiral Marsh in the town center, which is still in the midst of moving in for an

expected November opening


Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home at a glance

• Expected to employ 300 people• A $50 million project funded 65 percent

by a grant with the Department of Veterans Affairs and 35 percent by Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs

• 238,000 square feet• An under-roof village of three neighborhoods

with nine homes plus a domiciliary for independent living for 80 and two Alzheimer’s/Dementia neighborhoods with four homes

• Situated on 27 acres just north of Interstate 20 in Pell City

• 254 single-occupancy rooms• 14 veterans in each of the

neighborhood homes• 12 veterans in each of the

Alzheimer’s/Dementia homes• Apply for occupancy online at

www.va.alabama.gov or contact your local veteran service officer

• Apply for jobs online at hmr.veteranservices.com

• Expected to open in early November

Vintage signs denote ‘shops’

along main street.

Justice, Marsh and Mountain pause inside one of the homes.

Each room has tall shelving to accom-

modate large TV, memorabilia.


VETERANS HOME

construction process.Existing facilities of this type are typically

institutional in character, with nurses’ stations and rooms. Not here. It is divided into neigh-borhoods with three homes — each housing 14 veterans in their own private rooms. Once inside the home, instead of narrow hallways with rooms on each side, the centers are wide open and contain a full kitchen, a dining room and living room, with bedrooms on both sides — just like a home.

Meals are prepared in the main kitchen, but prepped in each home’s own spacious kitchen with all the amenities, so veterans can actually see and smell what is cooking before it is served in an adjoining dining room — all right there in their own home.

Each house has a living room, dining room and kitchen shared by a small group of residents. Three houses form a neighbor-hood with its own lobby, and there are private “family rooms” for out-of-the-way visits and

A neighborhood courtyard

Windows throughout let in plenty of light.


Your new home is our home...

Welcome!The City of Pell City and our community thank you

for your investment in our city and your commitment to quality care for our veterans,

who have sacrificied so much for all of us.

1122 INDUSTRIAL DRIVEPELL CITY, AL 35125 205.884.4766800.226.5098

G A R R I S O N S T E E L

Colonel Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home

BUILDING A BETTERAMERICA


VETERANS HOME

overflow visitors. “The neighborhoods surround a town center, complete with a main street, simi-lar to the small towns many of us grew up in,” Blackstock said.

Williams Blackstock interior designer Jen-nifer Tillman’s attention to detail is apparent — from the blend of aesthetic and patriotic paintings to a mix of leather and cloth sofas and chairs. They are the perfect complement to their homey surroundings. Private rooms feature tall wooden shelves with room for a large-screen television — all residents will have one — books, framed photos and other personal items. A stylish armoire holds a wardrobe.

While beds are equipped to move up and down like the hospital variety, headboards and footboards are made of wood, not metal, giving it more of a home-like look and feel.

Bathrooms are spacious — built for easy ac-cess — and huge walk-in showers are examples of the latest trends in home design. Every room has its own window with an exterior view.

A stroll down main streetActing as tour guide on a walk down the

building’s ‘main street,’ Marsh talks of how the Veterans Home got its name. Col. Robert L.

Spacious dining room inside each home


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Col. Robert L. HowardState Veterans Hometo St. Clair County.


VETERANS HOME

Howard was an Alabama Army veteran, Medal of Hon-or winner and the most decorated soldier in history.

A glass display case built into the wall is dedicated to Howard’s life as a soldier. Five more cases line both sides of the main tiled avenue leading to the town cen-ter. They represent each branch of the service — Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, and all the cases will have memorabilia commemorating their service to country.

Kim Justice, executive director of state Veterans Homes, points out features along the way. And there are plenty of them.

The first feature that dominates a stop inside any of the ‘shops’ is oversized windows that frame a court-yard scene. “Each courtyard is unique with a wander-ing path that gives it a different look and feel,” she said.

Just down the way a bit is the Stars and Stripes Café, a sports bar where veterans can gather for pool, cards, checkers and other games. They can watch events on a big-screen TV and be served their favorite

Kim Justice explains room amenities.

Family room for overflow visits

St. Clair CountyECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENTCOUNCIL

_______

W E L C O M E SO U R

C O M M U N I T YP A R T N E R

COLONELROBERT L.HOWARD

STATEVETERANS

HOME_______

www.stclairedc.com205.814.1440

The man behind the nameCol. Robert L. Howard en-

tered military service on July 20, 1956, and was medically retired on September 30, 1992.

He received a direct ap-pointment from Master Ser-geant to First Lieutenant in December 1969. His 36 years of military service included more than 33 years on air-borne status.

He participated in two mov-ies concerning airborne and special operations missions, both featuring John Wayne. He made a parachute jump on the filming of The Longest Day and as an airborne in-structor in The Green Berets.

Military assignments in-clude duty with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions; 2nd Ranger Battalion; 3rd, 5th, and 6th, Special Forces Group; 5th Infantry Division; 7th Corps, XVIII Airborne Corps. He served in the Eighth United States Army and Combined Forces Command.

Service in Vietnam in-cluded serving with 327th Airborne Infantry, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, 5th Special Forces Group, and MACV SOG.

Col. Howard commanded a Reconnaissance Company, MACV SOG in Vietnam, a separate Ranger Company at Fort Benning, Ga., two Ranger Com-panies while assigned to the 2nd Ranger Battalion.

He was the Post Commander of Kelly Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany, Execu-tive Officer of the 2nd Ranger Battalion and the Mountain Ranger Camp.

Military Instructor duties include Airborne, Ranger and Pathfinder at the Infantry School, tactics at the Command and General Staff College, Special Operations and Special Forces at the Special Warfare Center.

Staff assignments have included duty with AC of S, G3, XVIII, Airborne Corps, C3, J3, G3, Combined Forces Command/Eighth United States Army, Korea.

His military training included the Basic and Advanced Infantry Courses at the Infantry School; Special Forces Enlisted and Officer Courses at the Spe-cial Warfare Center and School; Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth and the National War College in Washington, D.C.

Col. Howard was a distinguished honor graduate of the Ranger Course, Pathfinder Course and Parachute Rigger School. He received the Outstanding Infantryman’s Trophy as Outstanding Infantry Officer of Class 1979-1980 at the Command and General Staff College, and he graduated from the National War College, Class 1987-1988.

His military service also contributed to exceptional civilian recognition for service to his nation. He received the Outstanding Youngman of America award 1970; was nominated as one of 10 Outstanding Young Men in America in 1971 and 1972; was inducted into the Military Hall of Fame, Hoover Insti-tute, Stanford University in 1980; was inducted into Military Hall of Fame, Veterans of Foreign Wars, State of Alabama in 1973; and was promoted to Colonel for Life, Alabama State Militia, State of Alabama, Gov. George Wal-lace, 1976.

— From the Alabama Veterans Administration


VETERANS HOME

soft drink or “mocktail,” Justice said. “It’s a place to gather and enjoy each other.”

Just across the way is Eagle’s Landing, the main dining room. Both the café and the dining room open out into the town center, the focal point of the complex with walls of stone custom cut onsite to fit.

From the wood-beam ceilings to skylights to an impos-ing stacked-stone fireplace, the concept is “a resort town center. We were trying to capture it all,” Marsh said. It was a challenge to have a building this big meet the needs but still achieve the atmosphere it obviously conveys. “We are one of the first in the nation to have a home of this size, style and of this concept.”

From the town center, you can head in any of three direc-tions to the neighborhoods. Along the way are multi-purpose rooms, conference rooms and whirlpool bathing suites.

On both sides of a grand lobby in the entrance to the building are a two-story domiciliary wing for more indepen-

dent living in small apartments called Freedom Court and an Alzheimer’s/Dementia unit called American Harbor. This in-dependent living area is the only one of its kind in Alabama veterans homes.

It is a veterans home of comprehensive care, the first of its kind in the state and a sharp departure from traditional veterans homes across the nation.

Partnerships fuel progressThe $50 million project’s location in Pell City did not

happen by accident. Some pretty enticing variables came to-gether at just the right time that made the decision an easier one for Alabama’s fourth veterans home.

St. Vincent’s St. Clair, the county’s new hospital, located just across the street. Jefferson State Community College, known for its nursing program, is just down the block on the same campus.

The three have become partners in a win-win-win for

Living room inside each home

ST. CLAIR COUNTY HEALTH CARE AUTHORITY is proud to welcome the Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home, and we look forward to a strong and long lasting relationship between our organizations.

We salute the Alabama Veterans Administration and its dedication to the highest of quality care for our veterans, who have given so much in service to our country.

Lawrence Fields, chairmanTerry CappsMayor Joe LeeJudy MartinMayor Rusty JessupBill MurrayRen WheelerPat FoutsMayor John Wesley McHugh


VETERANS HOME

all involved. Specialists from the hospital can be utilized by the Veterans Home. If a veteran needs hospitalization or emergency care, the proximity is ideal and the resources immeasur-able.

Jefferson State not only gives the entire area a college-campus atmosphere, plans call for students from its nursing school to be involved in rotations at the veterans home, giving them real-life work experience. There will be oppor-tunities for internships, volunteering and perma-nent employment.

It was a “perfect fit,” said Justice.Along the way, the partnerships with the hos-

pital and college along with the support of City of Pell City, the mayor, County Commission and Chairman Stan Batemon, and St. Clair Eco-nomic Development Council “tipped the scales” in Pell City’s favor, Marsh said. “They would do anything they could to help us build this home.”

And later this fall, veterans will be welcomed to a special place created just for them.

“Admiral Marsh wanted something of the highest quality — extra special,” Blackstock said. “It has been very rewarding. It is nice to see the Veterans Administration putting so much care and effort to see that it is a state-of-the-art facility, not only for the health of veterans, but just as importantly their quality of life. I don’t think there is anything exactly like it.” l

All kinds of games are available at the Stars and

Stripes Cafe.

A pool table and bar are café focal points.


Welcome to the new Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home.

Here to serve thosewho have proudly served our country.

Here to serve thosewho have proudly served our country.

(205) 338-3301 • 7063 Veterans Parkway, Pell City, AL 35125

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Traveling theBACKROADS

Story by Jerry SmithPhotos by Jerry MartinSubmitted photos

In 1910, Coal City was home to some 1,200 souls, far outstripping Ragland’s 600 and Pell City’s 400 combined. In fact, Coal City was once considered for a second county seat, but Pell City was somehow chosen instead. It was a coal mining boom town of impressive proportions, although you’d never recognize it as such today.

The first white settler to put down roots there was John Bolton, who arrived with his family in 1820. According to a South-ern Observer story by Mattie Lou Teague Crow, Bolton had followed an Indian trail which ran from the Creek village of Cataula (now Ashville) to Cropwell.

They found their “four forties” of home-stead land at the intersection of another Indian trail running from the Coosa River to today’s Friendship community. Bolton built a log cabin approximately where Old Coal City Road crosses Alabama High-way 144, and the area became known as Bolton’s Crossroad.

According to legend, a mixed band of settlers and friendly Indians were hunting on Bolton’s land. One of the Indians shot a deer, which fell into a creek. His arrow had broken when it entered the deer. As they ran to retrieve the kill, the Indian shouted “Thle Teka”, which is Muscogee for bro-ken arrow.

Thus was the creek named, and the new settlement. Broken Arrow Post Office was established in 1839 in the home of its first postmaster, Francis Barnes Walker, who held that post until the Civil War. More set-tlers began moving into the area, building homes, schools, churches and other frontier accoutrements.

An abundant seam of coal was discov-

Coal CityWhen mining helped turn acrossroads into a thriving community

Coal City coke ovens

C R Fay Mine owned by WC&I

Wattsville


ered by William Gould of Newcastle, England, who had heard of major coal deposits in the area. Gould and other pioneers dug wagonloads of coal from surface outcroppings and transported it on flatboats via the Coosa River to Selma and Wetumpka.

Gould formed Ragland Mines Company in 1854, and owned other coal lands in Shelby County. Somewhere around the 1850s, Broken Arrow became known as Coal City — a depend-able source of quality coal of many types. During the Civil War, shipments of coal escalated in support of the war effort.

Harkey’s Chapel Methodist Church was organized in 1829. Its ministry survives today as one of the oldest in St Clair County. Mrs. Crow relates a legend about Harkey’s cemetery: the first burial was not a local resident, but rather a child from a tribe of gypsies who were camped nearby.

Other churches followed: Refuge Baptist in 1860, Broken Arrow Baptist in 1890, Pope’s Chapel Congregational Method-ist in 1904, Shiloh Baptist (African American) in 1913, Mount Moriah Baptist in 1925, Wattsville Church of God in 1945, and Wattsville Freewill Baptist in 1947. In earlier days, some of these churches shared circuit rider preachers on alternate Sun-days. Their churchyards host some of the oldest marked burials in the county, pioneer families such as Alverson, Barber, Carr, Rowe, Bibby, Milam, Savage, Crump, Weathers, Walker, Man-ning, Layton, Pope, Edge and Byers.

An old Birmingham Ledger article cites the Alverson & Moore firm as the oldest commercial business in Broken Ar-

row. They dealt not only in mercantile goods, but also operated a few mines, eventually constructing a two-story building to handle their operations.

The settlement had a succession of names, including Bolton’s Crossroads, Slope, Broken Arrow, Coal City, Watts-ville, Old Town and New Town. Pell City native Sharon Gant says you can always tell a stranger because they pronounce Broken Arrow exactly as written, with four distinct syllables, whereas tenured locals always call it Broke-nar (two syllables).

According to Mrs. Crow, not long after the Civil War, George Washington Daughdrille brought his family from De-mopolis to settle there. Daughdrille was educated at Howard College (now Samford University) while it was still in Marion, Ala. He had served in the Confederate Congress and, near the end of the war, joined the CSA army and fought under J.E.B. Stuart.

Once a wealthy man, he had lost most of his fortune in that war, like many other Southerners. The small wherewithal he had left was invested in coal interests at Broken Arrow. Though cash-poor, the Daughdrilles still owned a few trappings of wealth, among them some fancy French furniture, a rosewood piano, a harp and a small library.

Mrs. Crow relates that Mrs. Daughdrille was quite a musi-cian, often entertaining their rustic neighbors in their log cabin with the music of Bach and Beethoven, and loaned books to those who could read.

Seaboard rail depot, Coal City



The Daughdrilles also donated land for the Broken Arrow cemetery. The first burial was their infant grandson, “Little Jim” Daughdrille, whose repose was eventually joined by oth-er family members and local pioneers. This cemetery, across from Broken Arrow Baptist Church, is a story unto itself.

It’s sited on rolling knolls with scant level space. Sisters Sharon Gant and Adonis Milam Fisher tell us that the ground there is so hard and rocky it was often necessary to use ex-plosives borrowed from the mines at Ragland when digging graves. And then there’s the matter of the Broken Arrow ghost. (See sidebar story)

Daughdrille sold his mining interests in 1883 to John Postell, a business promoter. Postell changed the official town name from Broken Arrow to Coal City. He also built a narrow-gauge track called the East & West Railroad from Coal City to Cedartown, Ga., for shipping coal to various other rail connec-tions.

Seaboard Air Line Railroad eventually bought this line as part of a new system that ran from Birmingham to Atlanta and all points beyond.

Seaboard converted the East & West Railroad to standard gauge and added a 7-mile section to connect with Central of Georgia in Pell City. Its roadbed comprised present-day Pell City’s oddly-angled Comer Avenue and Old Coal City Road, connecting with Seaboard’s main line near Wattsville Free-will Baptist Church. Coal City residents Clarence Alverson and Gilbert Pope recall hopping free rides to Pell City on the “Hoodlum”, as the train that ran this route was called.

This new rail link shifted the town’s geographical center northward a mile or two as the whole area began to build and prosper. Coal City officially incorporated in 1910.

There were four major coal seams: Dirty Dozen, Coal City, Broken Arrow and Marion. In fact, there was so much coal that residents picked it up off the ground or pried it from outcrops to heat their homes. In total, the coal basin runs about 32 miles long and two miles wide, ample reserves upon which to build a thriving local industry.

Mrs. Crow reports that some 600 to 700 miners worked at Coal City, often on overtime. Two new iron ore mines near Kiker’s Camp on the Coosa River employed more than 100 additional miners and brought even more settlers.

The quality and variety of Wattsville coal became widely known. Coal from the Bibby mines was especially good for use in blacksmith forges. Soon there were several mining interests in the area, including at least one Japanese company. Imagine the conflict of interests this caused as World War II became imminent. But all this mineral prosperity brought a few problems. A huge array of coke ovens was built near Shi-loh Baptist Church, in an area Paul Manning calls Dog Fennel Ridge, where his father was born. These ovens roasted na-tive coal to produce high quality coke, destined to stoke blast furnaces in Birmingham and elsewhere. Mrs. Crow describes the ovens thusly, “... they were in constant operation, belching forth evil-smelling, lung-choking black smoke.”

Another cottage industry flourished as well, evidenced by the name of a local waterway, No Business Creek. Locals all agree that its name has always meant “if you ain’t got no busi-ness there, don’t go.” Apparently, it supplied water for some questionable private enterprises. We can probably assume that

a nearby place name, Home Brew Knob, had similar origins.A major player in Coal City’s future was an ambitious

politician/investor named T. Watt Brown, who already owned extensive land holdings in St Clair County. He re-organized the Ragland Coal Company in 1896, and eventually spread his mineral empire to Coal City and beyond. It’s been said you could walk from Ragland to Odenville on Brown’s land.

On Jan. 16, 1929, Watt managed to get the Coal City Post Office changed to Wattsville Post Office. Soon afterward, according to a story in Southern Aegis, 1929, Seaboard Rail-road changed the name of their station, and a State Geologist re-designated the coalfield as Wattsville Coal Basin. In one fell swoop, T. Watt Brown had managed to get everything in sight named after him.

This did not sit well with many residents. It was felt that Brown had used undue political influence in forcing the PO name change but, if so, Brown seemed to have covered his tracks well. Petitions were signed, meetings were held, and serious threats were made, but the name persisted even unto today. Gadsden Times reported that some residents were so outraged they started receiving their mail via RFD from Pell City and Ragland rather than have it addressed to Wattsville.

Sharon Gant speaks of her mother, Elvie Milam, who would not utter the word Wattsville at all, citing a Bible verse that

Old hotel in Wattsville, name unknown

The hotel today under renovation


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The ghost of Broken Arrow Cemetery

According to granddaughter Adonis Milam Fisher, Henry Russell Rowe (rhymes with now) was a large, powerful man with a deep bass voice, who often sang Sacred Harp music and played several instruments.

When Seaboard began laying tracks through his property, he burned a trestle to emphasize his objection. Later he went to Oklahoma Territory, where he became a federal marshal. Upon return-ing home, he was chosen to lead a posse which captured and killed some bank robbers.

Rowe was ultimately destined to become the man who bested the Ghost of Broken Arrow Cemetery. Residents claimed this ghost could only be seen during a full moon and would attack if approached. Rowe set out one moonlit night to see for himself.

Sure enough, when the moon was high he was able to make out a ghostly apparition, shimmer-ing in the moonlight between two tall monuments toward the back of the cemetery. As he drew near, he could see it moving slightly, pulsating back and forth. With all the boldness he could muster, he walked right up to it, only to discover it was nothing more than a giant spider web.

He tore it down and rode off laughing, but he didn’t disclose the ghost’s secret for years after-ward.

Henry Russell Rowe



urges Christians to refrain from speaking of unpleasant, evil things. To Mrs. Milam, and apparently many others, Wattsville was a cuss-word.

Wattsville/Coal City became a true boom town, with a large warehouse, mine commissary, hotel which still stands today, several barber shops, livery stable, a casket factory, city hall, jail, some stores, pool halls, and several boarding houses, the most noted being Mrs. Louisa Alverson’s. Her prize roomer was none other than T. Watt Brown himself.

According to Mrs. Crow, the town’s social life consisted mainly of “... school concerts, church socials, dinners at the hotel and joy rides through the scenic hills to the river.” Men folks attended meetings at three fraternal lodges — Order of the Red Men, Odd Fellows and Woodmen of the World. A Ma-sonic lodge opened later. All three original lodges shared Red Men Hall, which also housed a school and community meeting area. The Red Men, America’s oldest lodge, dated back to the Sons of Liberty in Boston. Their Broken Arrow chapter was active from 1889 to 1921.

The Wattsville/Coal City area built a succession of eight schools. The first was in the old Refuge Baptist Church build-ing, followed by Old Town School near Broken Arrow Baptist Church, then Red Men’s School which met in the Red Men meeting hall. Next came Robinson School in Pope’s Chapel, then Rowe School at Mt. Moriah. The first Coal City School, built on a hilltop in 1919, taught all 12 grades. The last two students to graduate were Joe Black and Inell Savage, in 1929.

After that, Coal City School, also known as Rabbit Hop, served only elementary grades until it burned in 1951. Today’s official Coal City School is on US 231, near Paul Manning’s BBQ. Gilbert Pope relates that in the late 1920s an airplane was scheduled to fly over Coal City, and the school was let out to see it.

Pope also tells that electricity didn’t come to Coal City until the late 1930s, and the only fully-paved roads in the entire county were US 78 through Pell City and US 411 through Ashville. This was during the Great Depression, when Pope remembers working all day for a small bucket of syrup.

Whatever level of prosperity Wattsville had enjoyed in the earlier part of the century, the whole enterprise has gradu-ally and mysteriously dwindled to nothing. Paul Manning, born in 1952, says it was essentially all over by the time he started school, except for a few strip mines owned by a Blount County firm. No one living today seems to know what actually caused the decline, whether from competition from DeBarde-laben’s operations in western St. Clair, or conflicts of interest from Japanese-owned mines at the beginning of World War II, or just a mature community that had simply moved on to other interests.

There’s still a Wattsville Post Office and a water works, but one must now explore many side roads among Alabama’s lush foliage to find remnants of the now-unincorporated town’s former greatness — an abandoned city hall/jail, an old hotel that’s currently being renovated, several pioneers’ homes, cemeteries full of their families, and a few enigmatic road signs like Home Brew Knob, Memory Lane and No Business Creek. l

For more photos of the Coal City and Watsville areas from the past and present, check out discoverstclair.com

Broken Arrow Baptist Church

Coal City School


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Jerry Ryan, Brad Ryan, Bobby Horton at Mushroom Rock


Music on the RocksThree on a String &

Horse Pens 40Story by Carol PappasPhotos by Jerry MartinSubmitted photos from Three on a String and Brad Ryan

At 6 years old, Brad Ryan played among the gigantic boul-ders of Horse Pens 40, high atop Chandler Mountain. At that age, he was more in tune to things little boys are interested in instead of the bluegrass show on stage, even if it was his father, Jerry, playing guitar and singing.

To the youngster playing with his brothers, Andy and Barry, it wasn’t quite as captivating as the rocks that towered overhead or the whiff of Aunt Plumma’s Baptist Biscuits baking nearby.

“But the music was always in the background,” he said, leaning back in a chair at his Springville home as he retold the memories of that day more than 30 years ago as if it happened just the week before.

A new decade had dawned. It was the 1970s, and onstage were Jerry Ryan — a college basketball coach — and Bobby Horton — a college student interested in music. Days later, John Vess joined them in their first gig as the legendary Three on a String at the Vestavia Country Club.

They were excited about the prospect of being booked professionally to play, but they didn’t have a name. “Coach and the Fast Break” was voted down, thankfully, as was “Pea-nut Butter and Jerry.” Finally, Bobby’s fiancé, Linda Powell, reasoned that they all played a stringed instrument, so why not call themselves, Three on a String? And it stuck for the next four decades.

They would return to Horse Pens throughout the 70s, de-lighting crowds with a masterful medley of music and mer-riment and helped build it into one of the greatest bluegrass festivals in the country.

The ‘rocks’ of Horse Pens formed a natural amphitheater, and the sounds of Lester Flatt, Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley and Emmy Lou Harris echoed through them for years.

It was Jerry’s vision that gave birth to the very first Horse Pens 40 bluegrass festival. According to a history written on the group, Jerry asked owner Warren Musgrove — an advertising salesman by trade and a promoter by natural gift — if he ever considered promoting a bluegrass festival there.

“What is a bluegrass festival?,” was the Musgrove response reported in Three on a String’s history. “I don’t know,” replied

A silhouette of a photo taken at Horse Pens 40 ultimately became

the Three on a String logo.

Jerry, “but according to Bobby, they are a lot of fun and a lot of people pay to attend.”

‘Pay to attend’ caught Musgrove’s attention, as the story has it, and he said, “You set it up, and we’ll see how it goes.”

And for more than a decade, by all accounts, it went well. Tens of thousands of people made their way up the snaky Chandler Mountain Road each year to hear good bluegrass,


Music on the Rocks

Today’s Brad Ryan in same spot as 70s’ Brad

Ryan with brother, Barry


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take in the mountain air, people watch and just have fun.An unrivaled promoter, “He (Musgrove) would sell the

sizzle, not the steak,” said Bobby. “Doc Watson, Bill Monroe — every top name in bluegrass — came through here.”

Watson was a blind guitar picker from North Carolina. “When he hit the last note,” Bobby recalled, “everybody sprang to their feet. It was something.”

“If they were big, they were here,” added Jerry, rattling off an additional who’s who of “Claire Lynch, Hickory Wind, Front Porch Swing Band, Country Gentlemen, Seldom Seen. …”

Three on a String returned to where it all started to tell their story and to pose for a photo shoot. They even posed at Mush-room Rock, the place where their logo originated decades ago — Three on a String atop the boulder at Horse Pens.

They looked a little different now, of course — Jerry’s hair no longer thick and curly; Bobby’s hair a bit grayer than it was 40 years ago. And Brad, all grown up, no longer the youngster playing among the rocks. He’s onstage playing in the band.

When Brad was 20, his father and Bobby asked him if he wanted to play with them. He turned them down saying, “I don’t want to play with y’all. You’re too old and uncool.” But he did agree to fill in some. “That’s been 27 years now. I’m a 27-year fill-in,” he joked.

“Over the years, we’ve been blessed enough to play with symphonies in Longmont, Colo., South Carolina and the Gulf Coast Symphony,” he said. Three on a String did a tour with the

This is Horse Pens in the mid 70’s. Mushroom Rock is seen to the right of the boiling pot.

Bobby Horton


Music on the Rocks

Alabama Symphony, and they played “warm up act” for Bill Cosby. And they have appeared with Red Skelton, the Statler Brothers and Barbara Mandrell as well as events for former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.

Perhaps their best known, long-running ‘gig’ around these parts was at Homewood’s Lowenbrau Haus, where the group played for years. Their musical ability coupled with hilarious antics made them a weekend staple on the Birmingham enter-tainment scene.

“Most of the bits just happened,” said Brad. If you tried to sit down and write the comedy, it wouldn’t be nearly as funny. Take the infamous “More door!” audience chant during a rendition of Kenny Rogers’ “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town.”

There was a door at the back of the tiny stage on which the group played at the Lowenbrau, and Horton accidentally discovered its faulty latch could make a rhythm. So when the

song gets to the part where the lyrics say, “She’s leaving now, I just heard the slamming of the door,” the door could be heard slamming a single time, much to the delight of the audience. The lyrics continue, “just like I heard it 100 times before,” and you guessed it — with “More door!“ encouragement from the crowd, Bobby would go for more.

As the “only door player in existence,” the group’s history said, what choice did he have but to go for 100? “Never made it. Never got close, but it didn’t matter.” The bit that just hap-pened became a must see every weekend.

It was all about making memories, Brad said. “We come out here and have fun and make memories with each other. You don’t have to wow them with singing, you just have to enter-tain them, and they’ll be back. That’s why it’s been going for 40 years.”

For more, visit threeonastring.com

Three on a String take center stage at Horse

Pens again


On a different note ...Looking beyond bluegrass to gospelStory by Carol PappasPhotos by Jerry Martin

You might say versatility goes with the territory for a prolific musician. Brad Ryan would say it was a natural extension of doing what he does naturally — make music.

Springville’s Ryan, who happens to be a third of the award winning bluegrass trio, Three on a String, has ventured into gospel music with a new CD.

He was to sing at First Baptist Church in Trussville, and he had seen Kelli Johnson and Michelle Cone play with Sweet-water Road. “I asked them to go with me. We worked up three songs, and it seemed to really go well.”

Only problem was when they finished, people were “won-dering where the CDs were,” he said.

And that was the beginning of the gospel group, JCR — Johnson, Cone and Ryan — and their new CD, “Just What I Need.”

“I had the songs, and I could hear those two singing them,” said Ryan, who produced the CD in his home studio, BTR Music. “I knew they would give life to the original music, and that’s exactly what happened. And to hear them do a classic, like Wayfaring Stranger, is just incredible … and we got it on this CD.”

For 27 years, he has been playing alongside his father, Jerry Ryan, and Bobby Horton in Three on a String. But all three do their own bookings as well.

In addition to the major role he plays in Three on a String, he also wrote and produced the theme song for the nationally syndicated radio show, Rick and Bubba.

He has toured Scotland with Michael Adler Ministries as a featured “fiddler” on a 10-day musical mission and outreach for Christ and had written praise/worship and gospel music before the JCR CD.

He also helped form a group called “Man’s Best Friend,” which is a Good Time band playing Good Time music for all kinds of folks. It also features Birmingham favorite Jason Bai-ley on mandolin.

As for Ryan, he plays stand-up bass, guitar, mandolin, fiddle “and a little piano — not enough to be dangerous.”

And in his spare time, he produces music.“It came easy to me. I’ve been hearing it all my life,” he

said.The “Just What I Need” CD is “kind of hard to classify,”

he said. “It’s got original music plus some old classic gospel tunes.”

He calls their early debut a “thrown together” appearance in Trussville. “I got a call from Joe Estes (minister of music at First Baptist Trussville and former member of Three on a String) wanting to put together a Wednesday night banquet. So I called Kelli and Michelle.” After being invited back to perform for a Sunday morning worship service, the trio decided they better head to the studio.

“I had some original praise music I wanted to record, and

come to find out, Kelli did, too. So we just got busy recording,” said Ryan.

“We wanted it to be a simple, acoustic CD. In fact, four of the tracks are just guitar and vocal. We wanted to see if the songs would stand alone without all the production.

“We are bombarded today with huge bands and huge stage productions that just overwhelm the senses,” he explained. “I love it as much as anyone. But now and then it’s good to hear songs with just a guitar and a singer. We wanted the focus to be on what the songs had to say.”

“Michelle and I had been wanting to do a CD like this for some time,” added Johnson, a Gadsden resident who performs all over the south and frequently at Local Color in Springville. “Brad had these great, unique songs, and we just went to work. We have performed together on several occasions, so I knew it would be a fantastic project. He produced everything and really got the most out of us in the studio.”

With six original songs on the debut CD, Brad says Mi-chelle and Kelli have a special sound. “If you’ve heard them, then you know how fantastic they sound together. The blend in their voices is incredible. You can tell they were meant to sing together.”

And he said he hopes “Just What I Need” can have an impact. “We want God to be glorified, it’s that simple. Every-one has their own walk, their own struggles, their own way of worshipping. If we can somehow inspire others to increase their faith or challenge them to seek His face ... that’s what it’s all about.” l

For more, go to johnsonconeandryan.com

Brad performing with Johnson, Cone and Ryan.

OUTDOOR

COOKING

The Farmers’ dining area and kitchen in the open-air, high-ceiling building make for easy cooking and entertaining.

Story by Mike BoltonPhotos by Jerry Martin

Turn on the DIY Network or HGTV, and you don’t have to watch very long before you’ll see an-other outdoor kitchen under construction. A number of homeowners are now skipping the patios and decks that have long been a staple of home owner-ship in favor of elaborate outdoor kitchens designed to entertain family and friends.

That trend hasn’t bypassed St. Clair County. All across the county, builders are adding outdoor kitchens to the backyards of homes. Backyard tailgating has become the rage with many outdoor kitchens, hosting dozens of guests as college foot-ball teams play on television on Saturdays.

When Kenny St. John told his wife Jamie a decade ago about his dreams of building an out-door kitchen, the fad was fairly new. She said she couldn’t even picture what he was talking about.

Today she is a fan. Their beautiful cedar-clad, outdoor pavilion in Springville gets used for every-thing year-round, she says.

“Kenny has a vision for things that I don’t have,” she said. “I didn’t realize just how much we would get out of it.”

Their facility has anything anyone could ask for. It overlooks a beautiful pond where Canada geese swim as white-tailed deer frolic nearby. In the back-ground is towering Straight Mountain.

Their outdoor living pavilion includes a 55-inch big screen television and a sitting area where visi-tors can take in football games on Saturdays, Sun-days and Monday nights. The cooking area has a Big Green Egg, a smoker, a gas grill and a cook top stove.

There is also a meadow where their kids and visi-tor’s kids can play football, an enormous outdoors fireplace with its own television and a large hot tub. Visitors can also fish for catfish in the pond if they like.

“This is where I live,” Kenny St. John said as he lounged in the outdoor kitchen with an NFL pre-season game playing on the big screen television. “I stay out here all the time.

“I always wanted something like this growing up. We use it year-round. We have the fireplace and propane heaters that will keep you warm late in the football season when the weather gets cold.”

OUTDOOR

COOKING

Latest entertaining trend going strong in St. Clair County

Plenty of room on the St. Johns’ uncovered deck with a huge stone fire-place

Night lighting makes a great atmosphere for outdoor activities.

A big-screen televi-sion sits above a

fireplace in the open kitchen dining area.


OUTDOOR COOKING

The St. Johns’ backyard kitchen has understandably become the spot to be on football Saturdays and for family gatherings.

“I have six brothers and sisters and my mother lives in a garden home so we have the only place really big enough to have everyone on Thanksgiving,” Jamie St. John said. “We had my nephew’s rehearsal dinner here. A few weeks ago we had 75 people out here for my daughter’s birthday party.”

The entertaining is nice, but what would an outdoor kitchen be without food? Kenny St. John is the master chef for all events with his wife handling all the non-meat items. He cooks turkeys and hams for Thanksgiving, but it’s his barbecue, steaks and fish fries that draw rave reviews throughout football season.

“We cook a lot of pork butts and ribs,” he said. “My wife makes potato salad, fried green tomatoes and a lot of Rotel dip and a lot of hors d’oeuvres.”

If it’s a sport it gets watched at the St. John outdoor kitchen. There’s NASCAR, drag racing and NFL football, but it all hinges around college football on Saturdays. The St. Johns are big Alabama fans and most parties revolve around watching Crimson Tide games.

“We watch everything, including Wheel of Fortune, out here, but college football is what we live for,” Jamie St. John said.

Living in such a rural area does have its advantages for really rabid football fans, the husband and wife team agreed.

“We have a cannon that we fire every time Alabama scores a touchdown,” Kenny St. John said. “One of our neighbors said he doesn’t even have to watch the game because he knows every time Alabama scores.”

If you’re wondering why in the world someone with a 7,000-square-foot home would need an outdoor kitchen, you obviously haven’t seen the view from Johnny Grimes’ Pell City backyard. And besides, who wants 100 people milling around

inside their home no matter how big it is?Grimes’ outdoor kitchen, which overlooks Lake Logan

Martin and Stemley Bridge, is headquarters for many Pell City area Auburn fans on football Saturdays. A crowd of 75 people on game day is not that unusual, and the record stands at 105. Crowds are so big in fact that those who arrive by vehicle must park in a designated area away from his home, and they are brought to the party in a 15-passenger van. Some choose to ar-rive via the Coosa River and park their boats in Grimes’ covered slips on the water.

Once there, visitors can watch Auburn on one of two big screen televisions at the lavish cypress bar in the outdoor kitchen, or they can listen to the game as they lounge around the 52-foot saltwater pool, which has a walk-in beach. The pool is surrounded by immaculately manicured gardens and fed by a waterfall.

Grimes, who owns Johnny’s Electric in Pell City, is the chef and he prepares ribs, chickens, hamburgers, steaks and crawfish boils from his $6,500 Viking gas grill that is located just feet from the 10-seat bar. The outdoor kitchen also has a freezer, refrigerator and deep fryer.

An air-conditioned and heated bathroom is located just off the flagstone patio of the kitchen.

“This keeps all the mess outside,” Grimes said. “We cook the main dishes in the outdoor kitchen, and the breads and all the sides are cooked in the house.

“People just feel more comfortable and enjoy being outdoors on game day. They can whoop and holler and mingle, and it is a lot more pleasant for them to be out here. I built this kitchen five years ago, and everyone just loves it.”

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Don and Deniase Farmer prepare cheeseburgers on the grill.


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dreds of people would show up over a two-day period to eat barbecue and celebrate Independence Day.

“I was born on July 3 so for the longest time as a kid I thought everybody was coming to my birthday party,” Farmer said with a laugh. “With my dad now gone, I now have great memories of all those family members and friends coming to our house like that.”

Farmer says it is those memories that spurred the build-ing of his outdoor kitchen. He says it was a project that started out small, but he admits that it kept growing until it turned into a monster.

Farmer’s outdoor facility atop Simmons Mountain is indeed monstrous. The L-shaped structure is 30 feet by 40 feet on one side and has the same dimensions on the other. It is complemented with a swimming pool and a hot tub that seats 10 people.

It features beautiful brickwork arches and stamped concrete floors and countertops. A big-screen television is the focal point every Saturday during football season. The double pavilion is designed to entertain a lot of people and it does that whenever Alabama is playing on television.

“For some of the bigger games like Tennessee, it’s nothing to have 80 people here,” Farmer said. “We’ve had people we don’t know just be driving by and stop. They just say they see all the cars on Saturdays and wonder what is going on.”

Farmer is an excavator by trade. He says no engineers were involved in the massive project, and no plans were ever put on paper. He said it was “just all in my head. It

OUTDOOR COOKING

Kenny St. John and wife, Jamie

Family is often present for good food and football games on the wide-screen television. Left to right are Herb Sherer, Martha Sherer and Dalton St. John.


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all began when my granddaughter Chassidy said she wanted a swimming pool,” Farmer said. “I told her Nana would run down to Wal-Mart and get her one. She came inside a little while later and said she didn’t want that kind of pool. She said she wanted one in the ground.

“I started digging the next week.”Farmer first built the pool and then decided to add a pavilion on the side so his

mother and mother-in-law could get out of the sun. It would also serve as an area under the cover so he could grill.

“That was okay but my wife decided she wanted to enclose it and make it part of the house,” he said. “I decided I was going to have me a place where I could cook.

“My wife said if I would build it that she would take care of it. I got it in my mind what I wanted but I didn’t realize how big it was going to be until we actually started building it. It has about become a full-time job for my wife to take care of it now.”

Farmer says he did some research and got some very good advice early. “Some-body said don’t put anything into the construction of an outdoor kitchen that didn’t come from the earth. It’s almost all stone, brick and concrete – even the walls. The only wood in it are the gable ends and the exposed beams.”

Farmer loves kids, and he didn’t want a place where kids weren’t welcome. He says he made everything “kid friendly.” There is a playhouse, and parents can watch their kids in the pool and the hot tub from the raised kitchen that looks down on both.

The rules to attend a get-together at the Farmer’s outdoor kitchen are simple. You can bring a dish if you like, but Farmer and his son Heath provide the meat and do the cooking. Boston butts, pork ribs, different sausages and steaks are their special-ty. The kitchen has a smoker, a broiler, a griddle, a stovetop, a grill and a barbecue pit.

When the weather cools late in the season, a fireplace keeps the area warm. Blinds can be lowered to keep everything cozy.

“We’ve had 140 people here on July 3 and about 80 the next day,” Farmer’s wife, Deniase, said. “We just stay up all night and celebrate Don’s birthday and July 4th.”

Farmer says his goals in building an outdoor kitchen were simple even though the final outcome was not.

“I wanted a place that would keep the foot traffic out of the house,” he said. “I wanted a place where somebody could spill a drink or drop a meatball on the floor, and it wasn’t a big deal.”

The grandchildren, from left to right,

Abbey Farmer, Brooklyn Penny

and Hope Farmer, with Deniase and

Don Farmer


OUTDOOR COOKING

All three of our outdoor chefs agreed to share their favorite recipes. They apparently share more than a love for outdoor cooking and entertaining. All three submitted ribs as their favorite recipe.

Now, they are sharing them with you …

Kenny St. John’s St. Louis style ribs• 1slabSt.Louis-styleribs• Cavender’sGreekSeasoning• garlicsalt• 1onion,choppedfinely• 6oz.beer• blackpepper

Liberally sprinkle ribs with Cavender’s Greek Seasoning. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Lightly sprinkle with black pepper. Rub mixture into ribs. Form a rectangular bowl from aluminum foil. Sprinkle ribs with chopped onion. Add one-half beer to bowl. Wrap tightly with foil. Place ribs sealed with foil on grill on medium heat for 1 hour. Remove ribs and unwrap. Put slab on grill on low heat and baste with juices that ribs cooked in. Cook until ribs begin to pull off bone with minimum effort. Baste ribs with barbecue sauce and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Don Farmer’s Baby-back ribs• 1slabbaby-backribs• 1/2cupyellowmustard• PJ’sDeepSouthBBQRub• salt,totaste• blackpepper,totaste

Cover ribs with yellow mustard and massage into meat. Sprinkle with PJ’s Deep South BBQ Rub. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap ribs tightly in foil and place on grill. Cook at 280 degrees for 5 hours.

Johnny Grimes’ game time ribs• 1slabSt.Louis-styleribs• 1/2c.Moore’smarinade• 1/2c.applecidervinegar• 1/4c.lemonjuice• salt,totaste• blackpepper,totaste• BBQsauceofchoice

Pull white membrane from back of ribs. Salt and pepper ribs. Sear both sides of ribs on hot grill giving ribs a nice color. Remove ribs from grill. Make oblong pan from foil long enough for ribs. Put ribs in foil pan and add Moore’s, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice. Wrap tightly and poke several holes in top of foil for steam to escape. Put foil pan with ribs inside back on grill and cook until tender, usually about 1 hour. Remove from grill and unwrap. Finish ribs on grill on low heat. Brush with barbecue sauce.

Ribs, ribs and more ribs


Kenny St. John puts the sauce on the ribs during the

last minutes of cooking.


Frankie’s Fried PiesA St. Clair County culinary sensation


Story by Loyd McIntoshPhotos by Jerry Martin

Fried foods may be bad for the heart, but they’re oh so great for the soul.

Done right, a deep-fried anything can be heaven in a flaky golden container. Case in point, in an episode of the old WB television series Gilmore Girls titled “Deep Fried Thanksgiv-ing” the character Jackson Belleville, Sookie’s main squeeze, insists on frying a turkey for Thanksgiving in the front yard. By the end of the evening Jackson and his buddies spend the remainder of Turkey Day deep frying anything they can get their hands on, including an old sneaker as the group eggs him on with the cheer of “deep fried shoe!”

Needless to say, we like our fried foods ‘round these parts. Golden battered catfish is practically a staple in Pell City, and it isn’t hard to find fried dill pickles throughout the county as well. But if there is one delicacy that is sure to get mouths wa-tering and stomachs growling, it’s Frankie Underwood’s fried pies. If you’ve ever had one, then you know those fast food versions just can’t compare.

Born and raised in Ragland, Underwood and her husband have called Pell City home for more than 40 years. A ball of en-ergy, Underwood has more oomph and vitality than most people half her age, and she shows no signs of slowing down at all. She worked for 30 years as a bank teller at Colonial Bank be-fore attempting to retire, then working 10 more years as a teller at Metro Bank. She also has three booths at Landis Antiques, but she’s best known for her fried fruit pies she began cooking in her home kitchen around 20 years ago as a treat for her col-leagues at Colonial. They were an immediate hit and, before she knew it, Underwood had herself a new career. “I didn’t decide to start a business. It just happened,” she says while talking from her kitchen table one Saturday morning in late August.

“I was working at the bank, and that’s when I started doing some, and all of a sudden, it just exploded. I’ve been doing this mess for 20 years, and I don’t know why I keep doing it,” she says with that infectious laugh sprinkled with a hefty dose of good-natured sarcasm. It’s hard not to smile and laugh a lot when talking with Underwood. She’s more than willing to tell an anecdote about NASCAR’s Bill France, Jr., buying up every cherry pie in stock at a local barbecue joint or how she for years toyed with a woman who has practically begged her to share her recipes and techniques. “It has driven her crazy. But I still won’t tell,” she says.

If you think you’re going to be the one to get any informa-tion about how she makes those pies, good luck. When asked what kind of cherries she uses in her cherry pies, Underwood’s response was, “I don’t tell.” She says the same thing when asked what type of oil – if it is indeed oil at all – she uses in her fryer. She was, however, surprisingly forthcoming with her technique for preparing apples for her best-selling apple pies. Due to costs, she recently had to switch from apples from The Apple Barn in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to a variety Underwood’s daughter Tanya Foster discovered online from New Jersey. There are several boxes of these apples waiting to be turned into fried pies. “After about 30 minutes of cooking these, I let them cool, I drain them, I put sugar on them and season them, put them back on the eye, and cook them again. Then, I drain them again and then I spread them out on paper towels to take up the excess liquid. And then, they’re ready to fry.”

That’s before she even begins the process of mixing the ingredients for the dough, rolling the individual pies, and filling

them in her spotless home kitchen. She can fry up around 20 pies in a half hour, and currently churns out around 800 each month, which she then ships to special order customers as far away as Pennsylvania. She also sends pies to a few retail spots around town that do their best to keep in them in stock.

On average Underwood begins her day at 5 a.m. unless she has a big order to fill, then she may rise at 4 a.m. By 8 a.m., Underwood’s day of frying pies is complete, and she’s on to the next project, usually before most people have finished their first cup of coffee and answered the first e-mail. Sitting down and propping her feet up with a novel in her lap simply isn’t Underwood’s style.

“I’m crazy! I don’t know how to sit down and be still. I really don’t. To sit down and watch TV or read a book, that’s not in my category,” she explains. “I am a crazy person. I have to have every minute counting for something until I go to bed. Everybody says, ‘I wish I had your energy.’ I guess it’s just nervous energy. I’ve always been like that.”

The art of fried pies goes back at least 200 years, and is, of course, most popular in the South. According to Wikipedia, they’re also known as “crab lanterns,” but wherever that term originated from is anyone’s guess. They’re not specifically the domain of the South. New Hampshire native and 14th Presi-dent Franklin Pierce was known to be a fan of the fried pie.

As with many traditions with a basis in folklore and rural roots, the fried pie is a dying culinary art. But Underwood re-members as a child growing up in Shoal Creek how her mother used to make them regularly, not as a special treat necessar-ily, but as a way to feed her family. “Back when my mom did them, they used to dry their own apples. They would turn them


in these flour sacks and turn them in the sun every day. I never did do it, but I remember them doing it,” Underwood says. “Now, you just call and order them.”

Twenty years after frying up a batch for friends, Frankie’s Fried Pies is one of those American success stories. Un-derwood largely runs the part time business on her own, with the exception of her daughter, who helps print labels for the individual packages. “That’s all I can do,” Foster says. “That kitchen is her space.”

Underwood offers apple, cherry, sweet potato, lemon, and chocolate pies. She had to stop offering peach due to the rising cost of peaches. She claims she’s tried to quit the pie business on a couple of oc-casions, only to be lured back into it, to the delight of sweet tooths throughout the commu-nity. She said she knows there will come a day that she’ll hang up her apron for good and she’s made contingency plans to make sure her fried pies will live long into the future – as-suming the younger genera-tions will take the time to do it right.

“Tanya’s mother-in-law has been telling her ‘you need to find out how your momma does those pies so you can do them.’ They’re not going to do them,” she says. “It’s just not going to turn out as good because I know exactly what to do. I know exactly what to do with my apples, I know exactly what to do with my pie filling, and I know exactly how to do my sweet potatoes.

“When I decide I’m going to quit doing pies, I’m going to do a cookbook and put all of my secrets in it and sell cook-books,” she adds. “I don’t have time to do it right now. That’s not my world.” l

Frankie’s Fried Pies

Deborah Smith buys a fresh apple fried pie from Kerry Foster of Pell City Produce.

Our PlaceThe YWCA Central Alabama’sDomestic Violence Program

in St. Clair County

Since opening in October 2009,

114 women and 91 childrenhave found shelter at Our Place.

In 2011...Justice on Wheels, free legalservices, assisted with 59cases.

1,504 domestic violencevictims were assisted throughSt. Clair County CourtAdvocacy Program.

From January toJune in 2012...Justice on Wheels, free legalservices, has assisted with 47cases.

655 domestic violence victimshave been assisted through theSt. Clair County CourtAdvocacy Program.

34 young women were able toattend prom because of theProm Dress Giveaway.

28 women and 24 children havefound shelter at Our Place.

What is Domestic Violence?

A pattern of violence or intimidation in an intimate relationship by one

partner against another, designed to establish power and control over the

victim. Domestic violence may be physical, sexual, and/or psychological

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contact the YWCA St. Clair County Domestic Violence Program today:

1 (205) 338-8808 St. Clair County Office

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central alabama

50 • DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair

Business Briefing

Steele has plenty of economic good news to celebrate. The St. Clair County Economic Development Council an-nounced the expansions of the Rain Bird Corp. and Yachiyo Manufacturing of Alabama (YMA) — both located there.

Rain Bird Corporation is the leading manufacturer and provider of irrigation products and services. It located a manufacturing, assembly and distribution facility in Steele in 2008 with 25 employees and has announced its second expansion since coming to Steele. Employee roster will be more than 70 employees.

The expansion includes a $2.4 million capital investment in the facility’s equipment.

“This will allow our company to increase its Southeastern footprint and distribute to our customers more effectively. We appreciate the support of the local governments in our efforts,” said Rain Bird’s Anthony Nix.

Yachiyo is an automotive supplier specializing in automo-tive frame parts for the Honda facility in Lincoln. The com-

pany, headquartered near Tokyo, Japan, located in Steele in September of 2000, shortly before the opening of the Honda facility. Since its opening, YMA has expanded three times and grown from 150 employees in 2001 to 220 employees.

The newest expansion came after Honda’s announcement to add the Acura MDX luxury sport utility vehicle to its pro-duction lineup. It spurred a $13.5 million capital investment for YMA, and will increase employment by 66 employees and payroll by $1.1 million.

“Rain Bird and Yachiyo Manufacturing of Alabama came to our county with the intent to grow here, and we are happy to see them succeed.

“We are also happy to see the job growth occur in the Steele area,” St. Clair Commission Chairman Stan Batemon said.

Steele Mayor Pro-Tem John Wilcox agreed. “Both of these companies are good corporate partners, and they pro-vide jobs for our citizens.”

Rain BiRd, YachiYo expanding

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • 51

New presideNt for st. ViNceNt’s rural Hospital operatioNs

St. Vincent’s Health System has announced the appointment of Evan Ray, FACHE, as President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Rural Hospital Operations. “Evan comes to St. Vincent’s Health System with substantial experience as Chief Operating Officer and significant accomplishments, especially in growing services,” says Vicki Briggs, FACHE, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for St. Vincent’s Health System.

Ray previously served as the COO of East Cooper Regional Medical Cen-ter (ECRM), Tenet Healthcare, in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina; Vice Presi-dent and COO of Jennie Edmundson Hospital, a part of Methodist Health System in Council Bluffs, Iowa; and as Assistant Administrator and Director of Ortho/Neuro Services for Shelby Baptist Medical Center in Alabaster.

He earned Masters’ Degrees in Health Administration and Business Ad-ministration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Mississippi State University.

“I’ve met with the staff members at both St. Vincent’s Blount and St. Vincent’s St. Clair and have been impressed by their teamwork and commit-ment to providing quality care,” Ray said. “ We are also looking forward to offering new services and recruiting additional physicians to meet the grow-ing needs of our communities.”

BHc adds cardiologistBirmingham Heart Clinic has announced the addition of cardiologist Jacob

Townsend, MD to its practice at 100 Pilot Medical Drive, Suite 300 in Truss-ville.

A native of Augusta, Georgia, Dr. Townsend completed his interventional cardiology and general cardiology fellowships at the Medical University of South Carolina. He studied internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where he also served as the Chief Medical Resident.

Dr. Townsend earned his medical degree at the Medical College of Geor-gia in Augusta, Georgia. He received his Bachelor of Science in Microbiol-ogy and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. He is board certified in internal medicine, general cardi-ology, and interventional cardiology.

Dr. Townsend has credentials at St. Vincent’s St. Clair, St. Vincents Blount and St. Vincent’s East.

lakeside coffee House opeNs iN pell cityA new coffee shop has opened in Pell City. Lakeside Coffee House &

Princess Cupcakes is located at 1604 Martin St. S., Suite 3.Owners are Melissa Tims and Patricia Daigle, and they report that business

is doing well since opening Aug. 21.They serve a variety of coffees, frappés, lattes, iced coffees and lattes,

smoothies of all descriptions and a host of flavors to suit all kinds of tastes.Cupcakes are made fresh every morning and if there happens to be any left

by afternoon, Lakeside declares a “Happy Hour” from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. with cupcakes going for half price.

There are four different varieties of cupcakes, and specials are run each day.

By Carol PappasPhotos by Jerry Martin

Evan Ray

Dr. Jacob Townsend

Lakeside Coffee House & Princess Cupcakes

52 • DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair

Story by Elaine Hobson MillerPhotos by Jerry Martin

Stock trailers line the parking lot, farmers and craftsmen spread their wares in the beds of their pickup trucks, and the mournful sounds of cattle lowing fill the crisp autumn air. It’s Monday morning at the Ashville Stockyard: Let the buying and selling begin.

A mini-flea market cranks up around 8 a.m. in the parking lot of the stockyard, located about a mile south of the intersec-tion of U.S. 231 and 411, on Highway 11. Farmers and crafts-men park under the shade trees, let their tailgates down and dis-play used watches, antique farm implements and finely-crafted boxes of maple and cedar with wooden bows on top. They sell donkeys, chickens and puppies and give away kittens. In the summer, they bring fresh produce, and in the winter, they build fires in barrels to keep warm.

“It’s like a mini-trade day,” says Tilda Plunkett, who has owned the 48-year-old stockyard with her husband, Brad, since 1990. “One guy sold a barn full of stuff before moving to Alaska. Anyone is welcome, and we don’t charge a fee.”

Marlyn Galloway, a woodcrafter from Gallant who makes the delicately-decorated boxes, and Ken Davis, known as the Bird Man of Attalla for his birdhouses and feeders, usually

Ashville Stockyard

A half-century livestock tradition continues every Monday

Marlyn Galloway and Ken Davis enjoy pickin’ and

grinnin’ when they aren’t selling their wares.


Cattle wait their turn in the

holding pens.


Ashville Stockyardbring their guitars. Robert Kitchens of Ashville often joins them on his banjo in the soulful, “The Meeting In The Air,” or the lively, “Old Joe Clark.”

By 10 a.m., the traders are packing up and leaving. Dually trucks continue to pull in with their loads of goats, cows and the occasional sheep. Sometimes they bring whole herds, some-times one or two animals. The come from all over Alabama, because they know they can get what their animals are worth here, says Brad Plunkett. “Other yards might not support the market as well as we do.”

Between 300 and 500 animals pass through the yard’s week-ly auction, which closes only when Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day or the Fourth of July falls on a Monday. It’s a far cry from its heyday in the early 1990s, when the Plunketts once sold more than 2,000 animals in a single day.

“The farmers are dying out,” says Tilda. “We buried three in January, and their children aren’t taking over. They’re sell-ing off their parents’ herds.” That’s what happened to Carolyn Burnett, an Ashville woman who works in the stockyard office. “When my husband’s father died in 2004, my husband and his sister sold his cattle here,” she says.

The auctions crank up around 11:30 for the sheep and goats, 12:30 for the cows, in a large arena arranged amphitheater-style behind the office. But to get to the office, you have to run the gauntlet of stockyard regulars in the chairs and swings on the porch or gathered around the lunch counter run by Shaw’s Barbecue.

“It’s a meeting of the local liar’s club,” one man jokes. “We just sit around and shoot the bull.”

Signs on the office walls warn against cattle thieving and im-plore you to, “Eat More Beef, the West Wasn’t Won On Salad.” Brad’s collection of old farm implements — crosscut saw, bits, yokes and a come-along — are displayed alongside bulletin boards laden with business cards and fliers. Another sign over the defunct water cooler in the snack room pleads, “Please don’t spit food or tobacco in the water fountain. Thank you.”

Tilda sits behind a computer, which she uses to keep up with the sales, something she did manually during the yard’s hey-days. “We had 10 ladies working here in the office at one time during the early 1990s,” she says. Now, it’s mainly Tilda and Carolyn in the office, although the yard employs about 20 part-time helpers.

You can reach the buying arena through the front office and up a flight of wooden stairs, which takes you to the top riser of the nine-level seating area. Or you can enter through a door on either side of the livestock ring at ground level. Today, about four dozen potential buyers sit on the risers or use one of the odd chairs scattered about. Tilda remembers when the place, which can seat several hundred, used to be packed.

The bottom row consists of theater-style seats, and that’s where the professional order buyers reside, boots propped on the lower rung of the 5-foot-5-inch tall pipe fence that sur-rounds the ring.

“The order buyers come to the sales for big farmers and ranchers,” explains Brad. “Companies like PLI out of Mis-sissippi or Garrett out of Montgomery will fax their orders to the buyers here at the barn, who buy for feed lots and packing houses, too.”

Small farmers come to the sale themselves and take their purchases home with them. Trucks come in all night to pick up the cows the order buyers purchase. “Normally, by Wednesday, all the cattle have been picked up,” Brad says.

Auctioneer Clay Veal, of Roanoke, stands in a booth behind the small livestock ring. In front of him, two helpers stand behind a three-panel, vertically-hinged, armpit-high wall, like rodeo clowns inside protective barrels. On each side of the booth, another helper opens and closes the door to the barn via a rope-and-pulley system.

Animals come in audience left, looking scared or confused. The calves stick close to their moms, taking every step she takes. Some cows dash around looking for a way out, others amble through as if they have all the time in the world.

The bulls stomp and pace like angry fashion models on a dirt runway, slinging their heads — and saliva — from side to side. All the cows wear ear tags that look like huge, floppy earrings, and back tags, stickers with the numbers that identify their owners. Black Angus, Charolais, Brahmas, longhorns and mixed breeds of every color combination parade through the ring, and the audience murmurs appreciatively when a particu-larly beautiful specimen appears.

Buyers watch the parade of ani-

mals from their front-row seat.

Vendors at the mini-flea market often bring pup-

pies to sell.


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Ashville Stockyard

“I’ve seen a longhorn with horns so big he could barely get his head through the door,” says Leonard Jones, a farmer who raises goats and a few cows. ”I seen one bull come over that rail one time.”

The helpers behind the hinged wall use long sticks to prod the cattle, which spend no more than 20 seconds in the ring before exiting audience right, through a chute and into the holding pens.

Billy Painter Sr. weighs the cows on scales just outside the window that’s located audience left, in the auctioneer’s booth. He gets a cow’s tag number and hands it to clerk Evelyn Stevens, who enters that information into her computer. She also records the buyers’ names, and the weight and price per pound or head of each cow, depending upon how it’s sold. The information pops up on a small television screen facing the audience. Buyers pay up in the office, after the auction ends. The stockyard earns a commission on each sale.

Clay Veal sounds like the seasoned auctioneer he is as he runs through his chant faster than a speeding bullet. “They teach you a basic chant of numbers and filler words,” says Roanoke’s Clay of his experience at the Missouri Auctioneer School in St. Louis. ”But you develop your own over a period of time. I use mostly numbers.”

Veal keeps a keen eye on his audience, especially the order buyers, and usually describes the cows as they come through. “She’s short-bred to a red bull,” he says of one, who goes for $82 per pound today. Short-bred means she’s one or two months pregnant, middle-bred means she’s in her second

trimester, and long-bred indicates that she will deliver within a couple of months. A cow’s gestation period is similar to a woman’s, the latter being about 285 days.

“Not many folks like to buy heifers,” says farmer Daryl Stallings of Gaylesville. “They may have trouble getting bred or problems giving birth.” His friend, Jay Tate of Leesburg, agrees. “If she’s already pregnant, you can get a calf on the ground sooner,” Jay says.

Buyers indicate their bids by an almost imperceptible nod of the head, lift of a finger or wink of an eye.

“The auctioneer knows the buyers, which ones are interested in which animals and which to focus his attention on,” says Philip Gleason, an Argo veterinarian who stops by to deliver some medicine. “A buyer may tell him he needs 75 of a certain weight, for example. He also knows what the market can stand, so he knows where to start the bids.”

Cows and heifers bring from $75 to $86.50 per pound this particular week, while others go for $970 a head. “The cut-ting bulls are going to the feed lot, so they bring more than the cows and heifers,” says Buddy Carden, a farmer who buys, sells and sometimes helps work the gates. Today, they brought up to $125 per pound.

Prices fluctuate from week to week, and the recent drought in Texas didn’t help any. It forced the ranchers in that state to sell off their herds, flooding the market and bringing prices down.

“In order to make a small fortune in cattle,” says Talladega farmer Tony Hanks, “you have to start with a large one.”

Cows strut their stuff before po-

tential buyers.


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Knowledge of cattleis everythingStory by Elaine MillerPhoto by Jerry Martin

Brad Plunkett and Scott Aaron make their money buying and selling cows. It’s the only life they’ve ever known, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Brad, co-owner of the Ashville Stockyard with his wife, Tilda, and Scott, an order buyer, were raised around livestock. “I grew up on Sand Mountain, about a mile from the old stock-yard in Albertville, and I used to play hooky from (grammar) school to go there,” says Brad, who met Tilda in 1977 at the stockyard in Kilpatrick. “I”d work all night at the stockyard and go to (high) school and sleep through my classes.”

The Ashville Stockyard holds its livestock auction on Mondays, so the rest of the week Brad helps farmers get ready for the sale. He will comb through their herds, culling the ones ready for the market, often hauling them to his stockyard himself. He also helps with inoculations, calving and branding. “We have cattle, too,” Brad says. He and Tilda live part-time at a mobile home on the 25-acre Ashville facility, part-time at their farm on Sand Mountain.

As an order buyer, Scott Aaron works for four and some-times five different farmers and ranchers, attending a livestock sale every weekday. Hailing from Corner, he grew up raising cattle. He stays on the road all week, getting home each night between 10 p.m. and midnight. But the long hours don’t bother him. “I’m a third-generation buyer, and I’ve been doing this since I was 16,” says the 50-year-old. “It’s all I know.”

He buys for shipping companies in Mississippi and Ten-nessee, which pick up his purchases and put them with others to send to Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Nebraska, wherever there’s wheat for grazing.

“I love what I do,” says Aaron. “I’m self-employed, so I have no guaranteed paycheck each week. I work on commis-sion, and the market is volatile, sometimes changing $20 per pound in one week.”

He doesn’t see a future in the business for his kids, though.“I think the way we sell at stockyards will change not too

long in the future,” he says. “Eventually, it will go to Internet sales, videos and buying stations.” l

Stockyard owners Tilda and Brad Plunkett, left, talk with Chip Turner, left, and Scott

Aaron, regular order buyers.


getting married in st. clair

Five Perfect LocationsWeddings create lifelong memories. The dress, the colors, the decorations and the food all

must be chosen, hopefully pleasing both the bride and the groom. But what about the setting for the vows? That may be one of the most difficult decisions.

Here in St. Clair County, almost any wish can be granted. Whatever venue is desired: for-mal or natural, on top of a mountain, beside water, in a rustic barn or a meadow. At least five choices are available without even crossing the county line.

Story by Carolyn Stern • Photos by Jerry Martin

Since 2001, Debbie and Harold Mathews have been helping create memorable days for couples at Mathews Manor.

Debbie began her hospitality career as a caterer in 1980, and she eventually expanded her business to providing food for weddings. A cake-decorating class gave her a whole new skill that led her to a new adventure. It was only natural that she dreamed of having her own wedding venue. She put her plan into action when Harold’s parents had their Springville property for sale for a year without a buyer.

Harold and Reba Mathews built their Spanish-style stucco home in 1980 on a corner lot fronting Highway 11. Close to Springville’s business district, Debbie saw it as a perfect spot for her planned enterprise.

Harold was away from home (flying a Lear jet for corporate clients) when Debbie called him in Colorado. She started the conversation by saying, “Listen to my idea before you say, ‘No’”. He didn’t say “No.”

Debbie and Harold bought the property, which included a swimming pool, in December of 1999. Rather than demolish-ing the existing sturdy structure, they built around it. The sizes of some of the areas were expanded, and a second floor was added to a portion of the original house. After installing a commercial kitchen, Debbie hosted business meetings and public lunches in the tea room area.

The Mathews began booking weddings in 2001, and the tea room and the additional first floor space are now used for Rebecca’s Garden weddings or receptions. Couples may choose to have the ceremony inside or outside. A covered outdoor reception area also is available. The existing swim-ming pool has become a favorite wedding choice for starry nights. The Mathews added to the already well-landscaped surroundings, retaining the grapevines that had been planted and tended by Harold’s grandmother.

1 Mathews Manor

Grace, one of the Mathews’ grandchildren, has reason to be proud of her namesake.

Harold and Debbie Mathews


Two sons, Trey (wife, Tammy) and Tyler (Lindsay), help manage the maintenance of the extensive property. Daughter Traci Creel and her husband, Jason, live in Montgomery. The various sites on the property are named for grandchildren Rebecca, Grace, Amelia and Micah. Carson has yet to have his own feature.

The path through Rebecca’s Garden passes the Grand-mother’s house, which now is used as a consulting office, and a large fountain is the centerpiece of the garden area. Next is Grace Hall, probably the most impressive of the venues, an 8,400-square-foot structure that can accommodate almost any sized wedding party, even if a full meal is planned. Ac-cessed from the lobby, the bride’s spacious chamber has furniture for relaxing and a floor-to-ceiling mirror that will as-sure all the ladies will be appropriately groomed. So will the men, of course, who have their space just across the way. At the rear of the hall is a commercial kitchen (designed and installed by Harold) that, when necessary, has held more than 20 workers.

When land across Hwy. 11 became available, the family decided to expand their services. The first installation was Amelia’s Pumpkin Patch, which is open in October so visitors can pick pumpkins and enjoy games and treats. Harold’s next project has been Micah’s Meadow, planned for the couple who want a natural setting. A stone-based raised platform is the stage, and a lighted chandelier hangs between two of the large oak trees. Other lights make this a wonderland for evening events.

Harold describes an additional feature of the meadow celebration. “A horse-drawn carriage brings the bride over a stone bridge to the wedding stage,” he says, “and when the couple leaves the ceremony, the carriage takes them through Lover’s Lane.”

Debbie and Harold, who have been married for 39 years, agree that their favorite part of the wedding business is meet-ing the people involved. “It’s very touching to be part of some-one’s special day,” says Debbie. “She always cries,” Harold adds.

Before she found her true calling, Audrey Odom studied art at the University of Montevallo and at UAB. But when she decorated a cake for

her daughter’s third birthday, she realized that was how she wanted to express her creativity.

During the 30 years since, Audrey’s reputation for excep-tional cakes has spread all over the state. Her creations have appeared in the Birmingham and Montgomery Museums of Art, and a recent event at Birmingham’s The Club featured a six-tiered cake for 300 people.

After some thought, Audrey and her husband, Phillip, de-cided a wedding venue was the next step. The first order of business was finding a suitable location, and it wasn’t easy to find, says Audrey. They finally discovered one that satis-fied both of them: a one-story, brick building that had for-merly housed a restaurant.

“The large parking lot was what caught Phillip’s interest because we knew parking would be an issue for a wedding site,” explains Audrey. “I saw the space inside and was al-ready planning how each area could be used.”

In January of this year, Waterview Weddings came to

2 Waterview Weddings & Events

A graciously detailed gazebo al-most glows in the summer sun.

Chandeliers, arches and attrac-tive seating bring a sense of

formality to Grace Hall.

The space formerly used as a restaurant is more than enough for mid-sized weddings at Wa-terview.


Riverside. Audrey still provides cakes for weddings at other locations, but Waterview is her dream. Many days, Audrey and Phillip take cake layers in coolers, in their van and SUV, to assemble and decorate at various wedding sites and then return to Waterview to prepare for their own events.

Audrey treats every cake as special. A popular cake flavor is French vanilla almond, she says, but she will create the fla-vor and look that the bride chooses. Brides sometimes send her photos of their wedding gowns and ask that she echo something in the design on the cake. “It’s fun to see what they envision,” she says.

One bride whose dress had satin-covered buttons down the back requested frosting replicas of them down the tiers of the cake. That detail was added. Audrey also has sculpted lace and other trim to match wedding dresses.

This cake artist says she welcomes “whimsical” ideas. “One bride wanted to surprise her groom with a cake shaped like an 18-wheeler because he drives a truck,” Audrey says. “It got a lot of attention.”

One reason Audrey can balance her “double-duty” is that she allows the couple to work out the details of their spe-cial celebration. The bride and her helpers plan and place the decorations in the ballroom and the outside spaces. The couple chooses the food to be served, from appetizers to dessert, and Audrey and her staff prepare it. The wedding can be conducted in the dining room-ballroom or outside on the 12-foot-by-24-foot deck that’s on a quiet inlet of Lake Logan Martin. Not surprisingly, most choose the deck.

Some things Audrey just can’t leave to others. “I’m all about romance,” she says, “and I want to make the couple’s wedding day as perfect as possible.” She adjusts the cafe lighting inside the ballroom to fit the mood, which, of course, can be counted on to increase the romance factor. She chose the globe lights that seem to float above the dance floor. The adjacent covered patio has chandeliers that Audrey lovingly collected and painted white. “They cast a golden glow,” she explains.

That’s romance.

getting married in st. clair

Just a year ago, Miss Tina began opening her 80-acre private estate to brides and grooms who are looking for a unique wedding venue. Even

before opening, she says, she had requests from prospective guests who wanted to know more.

“I hadn’t even gotten my site up, and I was already hear-ing from people who had seen postings on Facebook,” says Miss Tina, the name she goes by.

“I’m in my late 50s,” she explains, “and decided I was ready to move from Miami and find a place I loved.” After crisscrossing the country for a while and not finding that place, she posted her requirements on the Internet. “I wanted rolling green hills, water on the property, trees and a project.”

Alabama was not really in her plans. But a reply came from our state. She says her reaction was “WHAT?”

However, the property met all of her criteria. She came, she saw, she bought.

Then her project began. She had been a general contrac-

3 Sweet Apple Farm

Audrey Odom has used her artistic talent to create exceptional wed-ding cakes.

Japanese lanterns and chande-liers brighten up the multiple-use covered patio that overlooks the wedding platform.

Even in daylight, the crystal chan-deliers in Sweet Apple’s barn are

impressive.


Sharon Thomas, Broker205.365.8875

[email protected]

Specializing inResidential & Lake Home SalesProperty Management & Rentals

www.SharonThomas.netsharonthomas.remax-alabama.com

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P.O. Box 1304 | Pell City, AL 35125205.338 SELL (7355) | 866.377.9415

tor in Miami, but she had to convince local workers that she knew what she was talking about when it came to building and restoring.

The main wedding spot is the barn, which had been home to cows and pigs for years. After numerous hours spent cleaning, repairing and adding features, it now has new hardwood floors, as well as crystal chandeliers, making it the most popular place for weddings. Tina says the wedding couple’s family may furnish their own food and use the kitchen in the barn, thus saving a catering fee.

The Country Cottage (once a garage) can serve as a relaxation and dressing area or as a space for overnight wedding guests. An 1841 log cabin can be used for the bride and bridesmaids before the ceremony, for overnight wedding guests or as a honeymoon suite.

A small chapel in the woods is available for couples who want to keep their wedding simple. It is suitable for up to 32 guests, and the family and guests may provide their own meal or refreshments.

After putting the “frosting on the cake” of her dream property, Miss Tina is now settled in her new state and providing an elegant rustic setting for many happy occa-sions.

Miss Tina

The 1841 log cabin may be used as a honeymoon spot.


Camp Sumatanga, where untold numbers of campers have spent glorious summer days, is fairly well known in the state. But the idea of

holding a wedding at the Sumatanga Camp and Conference Center most likely would be a surprise to those couples who might be searching for just what it offers.

This 1,700-acre property runs alongside and up the side of Chandler Mountain. The name, “Sumatanga,” is said to be a Himalayan word meaning “a place of renewal and reflection.” This was the purpose the founders envisioned for the original site. In 1965, that spirit was carried to the mountaintop with the establishment of Creel Chapel.

Named for Judge E.M. Creel and built in 1964, the chapel was originally used only for individual meditation or prayer. Drawn by descriptions of its fabulous view, couples now are choosing it as their wedding site.

The small, open structure has a lofty timbered metal roof supported by native stone pillars. Stone steps (that can pro-vide standing room for 50 wedding guests) lead to an altar with a cross silhouetted against the sky. Beyond is an excep-tional view of distant mountains. The view, coupled with the silence of the forest around the site, create an incomparable mood.

Matthew Johnson, executive director, says small weddings also can be held at the Lakeside Amphitheater on the main campus, and three pavilions are available for receptions. Lodging for overnight or out-of-town guests is no problem.

Sumatanga has found yet another way to reach out to people who are making important life decisions.

4 Creel Chapelgetting married in st. clair

Debbie and Charlie Lewis have hosted about 700 weddings since they opened their wedding site on Simmons Mountain in 2003. The most

interesting occurrence, says daughter Misty Watkins (the wedding director), was when “a helicopter delivered the bride to the front lawn.” And that’s not all.

“After the wedding,” she adds, “a professional pyrotechnic team produced an awesome fireworks show.”

Debbie says her first weddings were in churches and school gyms. “We used a rented trailer to carry all the things that were needed, loading at home, unloading at the site, then loading and unloading again.”

When the Lewis’ children, Charlie and Misty, left home, it didn’t take long for Debbie to see she had a wonderful opportunity that didn’t require any loading and unloading. Charlie is a contractor and had built their two-story home to fit a family. Debbie had spent a lot of time collecting antiques and decorating the house to perfection. Why not use it to help couples begin their life together?

The 11 acres on which the house sits offered numerous opportunities for creating garden areas for a ceremony or for photos. The existing swimming pool could become a wed-ding feature. And there also was the outstanding view.

Charlie added a window-lined ballroom to the back of the house to provide more open space for receptions, dinners

5 Mountainview Gardens and Ballroom

Sumatanga’s Creel Chapel is a simple struc-ture framing an

extraordinary view.

A simple wooden cross may be the back-drop for a service that applauds the wonders of nature.

Misty Watkins, wedding direc-tor, and the circle of Greek col-umns that surrounds the pool’s ceremony space


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or dancing. In inclement weather, it also can be used for the ceremony. On one side of the home, the garden is the wedding spot. A picturesque gazebo offers a ter-rific photo opportunity. On the other side, the pool takes center stage. The ceremony platform has stately Greek columns, and a waterfall flows into the swimming pool.

“I direct the ceremony and the receptions of the wed-dings, and my mother does the catering,” says Misty. “She did it all until I started helping.”

On the first floor of the main house, the bride and bridesmaids have a room decorated with some of Deb-bie’s finds from antique shops, including a round velvet settee. The groom and his entourage have a space on the second floor that includes a pool table and a large-screen TV.

Debbie isn’t worried about the future of her business if she decides she’s had enough. “Misty could take it over,” she says, and, eventually, so could Misty’s daugh-ter. “One time I was taking her into the kitchen,” Debbie adds, “and she told me to tell the ‘people in the kitchen that I’m the boss’”.

This is a busy family. Misty and her husband, Bryan, have five children, who are home-schooled. Misty has an additional one-day job out of the home. Bryan, as well as Misty’s father and her brother, are all firefighters. A couple of cousins make five in the family.

Bryan also is qualified to perform a wedding ceremony, says Misty, and is a deputy sheriff. Charlie, the father, and Charlie, the son, do almost all of the maintenance necessary on the property.

Debbie says her favorite part of the wedding process is “seeing the look on the bride’s face when she comes into the reception area and sees all of the decorations and the cake. That’s worth all our effort.”

Misty adds, “I love being involved with their day and making it as special as the couple could want.” l

For more photos of these venues, visit Discover online @ discoverstclair.com

Mountainview Gardens and Ballroom

Charlie Lewis added this room to the main house.


The Ultimate Pony CarWant a car exactly like Steve McQueen’s “fast

machine” from Bullitt?Want to give your vintage Mustang Fastback the

latest in modern suspension, engine, exhaust, add air conditioning and power seats and have it meet emissions regulations in all 50 states?

Want to turn your SVO into a street-legal racecar?Or do you just want your 1964 1/2 Pony Car

restored to show-room new (or your El Camino, or Fairlane or Lincoln Mark VII for that matter)?

Then you need to talk to Paul Becker and Jason Nance at SVP Unlimited in Odenville.

... and other cool ridesStory by Graham Hadley

Photos by Jerry Martin


The Ultimate Pony Car... and other cool rides

Jason and Paul showing off a completely custom-built $130,000 Mustang.


Ultimate Pony CarPaul and Jason have decades of experience working with

cars — both sharing a love of vehicles since their teenage years — and have successfully turned that into a thriving custom-vehicle business located on at the back of a small business complex just off Highway 174 in Odenville.

One glance around the garage and surrounding lot, which is full of vintage and specialty vehicles in all states of repair and, in some cases disrepair as parts are pulled for other projects, and there is no question that SVP specializes in the iconic Ford Mustang. But Paul and Jason don’t draw any lines in the sand when it comes to cars — they will work on just about anything.

Paul is the owner, but quickly points out that the business is a partnership and that they both bring essential skill-sets and a dedication — or “obsessive compulsiveness” as he puts it — to detail.

“We may not do the fastest restorations in the business, but we want to turn out the best vehicles we can, and that takes time,” Paul said.

And for customers who are willing to wait — unless they have lots and lots of money on hand — that patience pays off with some of the finest custom rides produced anywhere in the country.

“If someone came in here and said money is no object, then we could probably turn one of these restorations around in a year, but the average is two to four years, sometimes more,” Paul said.

One of the vehicles they were rolling out that was nearing completion is a replica of a vintage 1967 Shelby Cobra GT 500 — a compilation of three different vintage cars combined with the most modern engine and suspension parts. They even had to cut special channels through the trunk for the performance exhaust. The price tag: around $130,000.

“We rebuilt the whole car; took it down to the welds. … It will pull 1.5 g on a skid pad, and when we finish tuning it, it will turn around 480 hp,” Paul said.

That is one of the multi-year projects, and it is a time frame that makes car modification and restoration projects possible for many of SVP’s customers. Custom car work can quickly hit the tens of thousands of dollars mark. By breaking down the work and the billing into smaller pieces, SVP does exactly what is in their customers’ budgets each month.

A few hundred dollars of work here and there, and gradually the project nears completion.

“Customers say what they can pay, and we schedule the restoration to what they can pay. That way, we can work with a wide range of budgets,” he said.

Often, SVP is hired just to do what Paul calls the “really hard work,” and will deliver a partially completed car to a customer, something perfect for one of those “father-and-son” weekend garage projects.

On top of what they do for their customers, Paul and Jason also have their own personal vehicles on site.

Among other vehicles, Jason is working on a Ford Fairlane and an El Camino. The latter is literally a labor of love. Jason’s father is a mechanic who taught him everything he knows. The first car he ever bought for his son was an El Camino. Jason is duplicating that car to give back to his father, who is too ill to work on cars anymore.

Paul did something similar for his father with a restored Lincoln.

The Mustangs

SVP’s street-legal Mustang SVO racecar

Another vintage Mustang in the paint room will be shipped to London, England.

One of Paul’sfor-sale projectcars


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His personal fleet on the lot includes a 1950 DeSoto Cus-tom (complete with the original light-up hood ornament) that he plans to get running and road worthy, an older panel truck with wooden flooring that was once an ambulance, one of the classic Mercury Cougars with the sequential turn signals, and, of course, a whole host of Pony Cars — Fastbacks, at least one 1968 390 V8 (the same car used in the famous “Bullitt” chase scene), Mach 1s and several SVOs — which is where Paul got the idea for the name SVP.

Especially when it comes to the vintage vehicles, Paul keeps several “for-sale” projects in the works. He builds on the cars when he can, and they are always for sale. The price goes up on them the more work he does.

Paul has a special affinity for the Mustang SVO, which draws its name from Ford’s Special Vehicle Operations De-partment. They were made in limited production from 1984 to 1986 and at the time were the fastest Mustangs on the market. He has several of the specialty cars on hand, including one street-legal racecar that he sometimes drives around to get parts.

“People will look at you funny when they see you going down the road in a fully caged racecar,” he said.

It was his love of that particular vehicle that originally brought Paul to Odenville and Alabama. He had started the business in 1999 in Annapolis, Md., and focused mainly on supplying specialty parts.

He came to take part in a track days SVO event at the Gran Prix Raceway between Talladega and Munford in Talladega County and stayed with some friends in Odenville for the dura-tion.

While he was here, he took time to visit around town and saw how people treated each other and how they did business. A few days later, his wife, who was home sick and having to work, called to see how things at the track were going.

“I told her they were going great. Then I told her, ‘We are moving here.’ She hung up on me,” he said.

But as soon as Paul got the chance, he flew his wife down here and she fell in love with the area, too.

Paul opened the first SVP in Odenville, over by the Post Office, in 2002, still focusing on selling parts, but doing some specialty car work.

Along the way, he met Jason at several car events dedicated to another car they both are fans of, the Lincoln MK VII, and soon brought him on board. Jason specialized in paint and body work.

By 2003, they were in their current location, which had more room and was better suited to their needs, and focusing more and more on custom cars. Though they still have spe-cialty parts — and can track down more than what they have on hand, the business these days revolves around building the perfect car for their customers (or themselves).

Paul and Jason say St. Clair County and Odenville in par-ticular have been good for their business, helping encourage and support them in their endeavors.

They are returning the favor, both by bringing in money to the community — SVP has customers all over the world; they even had a Mustang in the paint room that will eventually be shipped to London, England — and in more direct ways.

SVP is in the process of converting a surplus military High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or Humvee — what eventually spawned the Hummer line of civilian SUVs, for use

Ultimate Pony Car

by the Odenville Police Department. When they are done with it, the Humvee will go from the camouflage military paint job it has now to a more appropriate black paint that is virtually indestruc-tible and designed to be graffiti proof.

Paul said he gets up every day getting to do something he loves for a living and expects the business he and Jason have worked so hard to build to continue to grow and flourish here. l

Other wheels

Paul and his 1950 DeSoto Custom

Jason is restoring this El Camino for his Dad.

A customer’s Ford Fairlane is waiting on a part


Owning a piece of automotive historyStory by Graham HadleyPhotos by Jerry Martin

Dr. Russell Bean, one of the veterinarians at Branch-ville Animal Hospital in Odenville, owns a piece of history — thanks in part to the generosity of a former employer and the restoration prowess of the people at SVP Unlimited.

Bean says he has always been fascinated by cars, espe-cially vintage and unusual vehicles, but had never had the opportunity to own one before.

All that changed back when he was still working in Atlanta. As part of an incentive package to keep him at his job for a while longer, they offered to give him a 1966 Ford Mustang Coupe, which he gladly accepted.

“The package was unusual. My boss knew I liked Mus-tangs — we used to talk about old cars. When it came time for my renewal, he asked me about more salary and said, ‘Here is an old Mustang.’

“It kept me in Atlanta for another year, but the car was a basket case” and needed a lot of work.

It was not until relocating to Odenville, where Bean met Paul Becker from SVP Unlimited, that he realized how much of a project the vintage Ford would turn out to be.

“Mr. Becker came in so I could look at one of his cats. I asked him what he did, and he told me he worked on Mustangs. So it was just luck I found them,” he said.

They talked about the car, and Bean decided to let SVP take a look at the Mustang. He wanted some basic me-chanical work done and some safety upgrades like modern seatbelts.

“It was rough. When Mr. Becker and I first talked about it, we did not know how rough it was. … But when he started, it turned out we had to replace the entire top because of damage hidden by previous restorations,” Bean said. That was in addition to other bodywork and eventu-ally a full restoration and mechanical upgrades.

SVP had another matching Mustang with a bad body but good top, so they were able to replace the roof. Then they went to work on everything else, ultimately produc-ing a show-quality car.

“Mine is a resto-mod. It has modern Mustang seats that recline, modern sound system, LED interior lights, Shelby suspension modifications. It’s got shoulder belts on the front, and they added seatbelts in the back — it did not originally come with them,” he said.

“It now has the 5-liter engine with an electronic choke and the original automatic transmission. I have wide tires on the front and the back, and on the front, they put on disk brakes.”

The project, which also included a custom paint job, took about three years of off-and-on work.

“It’s easier to swallow smaller payments than making it all at once,” Bean said.

He puts the total cost for the final restoration and modi-fications at between $15,000 and $20,000, but Bean has

one more piece of work he ultimately wants done.Right now, he mainly drives the car in the fall, winter

and spring because, like many cars of its day, his Mustang lacks air-conditioning, so the blistering Southern summers can make his beauty unpleasant to ride in.

“Adding AC will most likely be my next project,” he said. “… The AC would be about the end of it for me be-cause I am very content with what the car is like now.”

And like the other work on his prize, he wants Paul Becker and Jason Nance at SVP to handle the job.

“I want to brag on SVP. They took an honest look at it and gave me an honest price and were not afraid to tell me what needed to be done,” he said. “They are really meticu-lous.”

Odenville veterinarian Dr. Russell Bean’s 1966 Mustang was restored and customized by SVP.


Earth Born Studios

Payne’s dinnerware is a nationwide sensation

Nabeel Emaish shapes a clay item on the wheel at

Earth Born in Leeds.


Story by Mike BoltonPhotos by Jerry Martin

The unremarkable brick-faced building on Parkway Drive

in Leeds doesn’t look much different than any other small-town warehouse in Anywhere, USA. Dare say thousands of motorists pass by each day not even giving it a second glance.

The simple sign outside 24,000-square-foot building that proclaims the business as Earthborn Studios doesn’t do justice to the incredible artistry that goes on inside, either. Nor does it explain that while passersby may not be familiar with what goes on inside, top chefs and restaurants across the world are well aware.

This is where Tena Payne plies her trade. To simply call her a potter would be like calling Mount Rushmore an art project. You say you aren’t familiar with her work? Maybe you are. If you’ve ever eaten at the nationally acclaimed Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, you’ve eaten off Payne’s dinnerware. Have you ever visited Las Vegas and dined at the Bellagio Re-sort and Casino or Caesar’s Palace? Their exquisite dinnerware is Payne’s unique creations, too. In fact, you may have even eaten from her dinnerware in top restaurants in New York, Chicago, Miami and London.

Payne is not some artsy transplant. She’s a surprisingly humble and polite Birmingham-area native that has found her niche. She doesn’t brag about her exploits and instead tells anyone that will listen that her success is a result of divine intervention.

“I took pottery when I was a student at Homewood High School,” she explained about her initial introduction to clay work. “An instructor took a lump of clay and turned it into a beautiful vessel in front of my eyes. It came to life in 30 seconds.

“Pottery is instant gratification for me. When something can pull out what’s inside of you that quickly it is very powerful. I was captured in that moment forever. I knew that is what I wanted to do.”

Payne’s father built her a pottery wheel from an old wash-ing machine motor and in the basement she used it to hone her skills. “It had two speeds,” she recalls with a laugh. “Fast and really fast. We eventually had to change the gearing to slow it down a bit.”

After high school, Payne went to college at the Univer-sity of Montevallo and majored in geology and ceramics. The young woman appeared well on her way to fulfilling her dreams, but real life suddenly got in the way.

“I fell in love, got married and had babies,” she said with a laugh. “But all during that time, I never forgot about what had captivated me so.”

A business involving pottery wasn’t in the equation early in her marriage. She is now somewhat thankful for that. She says she now realizes that the jobs she worked were not indiscrimi-nate but were instead part of God’s overall plan for her. She said that jobs that seemed to have nothing to do with her even-tual course in life actually played an important role in making it happen.

“I was an editorial assistant for Southern Living from 1991 to 1998,” she explained. “I was in the garden department screening people for what gardens may get in our issues. After that I wrote copy for radio station WYDE.

“At Southern Living, I learned to observe people with their skills and how to operate in a professional atmosphere,” she said. “At the radio station, I learned how to promote niche

products. It would all come back to be a huge help to my even-tual career.”

While working for Southern Living, Payne learned that chefs from the Birmingham area were clamoring for steady supplies of quality, locally grown products. She started grow-ing shiitake mushrooms pretty much as a hobby, using most of them in her own cooking and selling a few to Birmingham-ar-ea chefs. One day, while delivering mushrooms to Chris Hast-ings, the owner and head chef of Birmingham’s Hot and Hot Fish Club, she noticed some broken dinnerware in his office.

“I told him ‘You know that I do pottery.’ “He said he and I need to talk.”It was a start of a relationship that, well, would mushroom.Payne’s love of pottery making had never waned. In 1980

her husband, Wynn, had purchased her a pottery wheel as a gift. She played around on it whenever possible.

So in 1997, she began working at night and on weekends in her basement producing the dinnerware that Hastings would use in his restaurant. It was a relationship that changed her love of pottery from a hobby into a business and a relation-ship that continues today. Hastings uses her artisan dinnerware exclusively.

Hastings, who was named top chef in the South by the pres-tigious James Beard Foundation in New York earlier this year, says Payne’s work is an important part of the overall work at his restaurant.

“The creative collaboration is a result of our continuing dia-log and a part of how we have evolved,” Hastings said. “What we did 10 years ago is different than from what we do today.

“I tell all my chefs to do their homework, and we go to her studio as a team, and we bring ideas and what we need to the table. She understands that form must follow function. It must be both durable and appealing. She and Wynn do really, really well.”

You may have caught Payne’s work earlier this year on tele-vision. Hastings went against chef Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America on the Food Network. The finish was a virtual dead


Nathan Payne works on serving bowls.

Payne arranges pieces in her

Leeds gallery.

Art, pottery featured at

gallery


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heat with the winning margin being Hastings’ plating score. The dinnerware was courtesy of Payne.

Early in her business relationship with Hastings she dreamt of being in the artisan dinnerware business full-time but real-ized that was impossible until she could produce the same income that she was drawing from the radio station.

In 2003, she took examples of her dinnerware to New Or-leans to a product show for chefs and upscale restaurants and loaned her wares for chefs to exhibit. She passed out business cards.

“I was really hoping only to maybe pick up a few more res-taurants like Chris’,” she said. “A man tracked me down and asked if I could produce 5,000 pieces. I really thought it was just a hypothetical question. I couldn’t imagine anyone want-ing that many pieces of dinnerware.

“I told that him I could.”The man turned out to be a buyer for some of the nation’s

top restaurants, including casinos in Las Vegas. He was seri-ous. He was looking for a line of serving platters for the Bel-lagio Resort and Casino and indeed needed 5,000 pieces.

Payne had failed to mention she was working out of the basement in her home.

With her family that included a son and a daughter and friends pitching in, she designed 15 separate pieces for Bel-lagio Resort and Casino and then made good on the order of 5,000 pieces.

Since that day, top restaurants across the U.S. have beaten a path to her door. She now produces pieces for recognizable names like Sushi Samba. which has restaurants in Las Vegas, New York, Chicago and London. She recently shipped 1,500 pieces to London.

She was eventually forced out of her basement and into the current facility in 2006. She employs eight people and is plan-ning on adding more.

“There just isn’t anyone out there that does what I do,” she

Earth Born Studios

Payne fine tuning her skills


explained. “A chef or restaurant can come to me with an idea of what they want, and I can produce five varia-tions for them to see. I show them what I can do for them.”

Her dinnerware and accessories have caught on in the private sector, too. At the Cook Store in Mountain Brook, Payne’s creations are the No. 1 seller, says owner Wesley Lassen.

“We have carried her line since1999,” she said. “I own it and use it personally. It is dishwasher safe and it is oven safe. It doesn’t chip.

“I think a lot of the popularity is a result of Chris Hastings’ fame. People want a part of that.

“She doesn’t just do dinnerware. She has serving pieces and even rectangular casserole pieces.

“She has 20 different glazes so there is a color for everyone.”

She also now has her own line for the Willow House (formerly Southern Living at Home) catalog.

What began as a basement hobby is now a business operating in a global market. Currently, she purchases custom-blended clay by the truckloads in 42,000-pound orders. l

Earth Born Studios

Peyton Guthrie works with clay stock.

Tena Payne shows off one of the Wil-low House pieces.


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SUPPORTING THOSE IN THE COMMUNITY WHO SUPPORT YOU.

SUPPORTING THOSE IN THE COMMUNITY WHO SUPPORT YOU.


Story by Carol PappasPhotos by Jerry Martin

When Jenny Gauld looked over an overflow crowd of sup-porters for the 2012 edition of Purse & Passion, she couldn’t help but think how quickly the fundraising luncheon has evolved into one of the major events of the year in St. Clair County.

It was just four years ago when Gauld and others dared to dream big to help their cause against domestic violence. She serves on the executive board of the YWCA Central Alabama, which covers St. Clair, and she wanted to see more done out-side Birmingham.

The time coincided with her retirement as vice president of Academic Affairs at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and she had moved to Pell City’s Logan Martin Lake full-time.

She and YWCA CEO Suzanne Durham, who also lives in St. Clair County, “began to see a need in the county” for a do-mestic violence shelter for women and their children — a safe haven to transition from an environment of violence to a new, violence-free and independent life.

“Calls were coming to the Birmingham shelter, and many of them were from St. Clair County,” Gauld said. But when they began tracking who came to the Birmingham shelter, the number was not large. “All women in abusive situations are not going into the big city,” she concluded.

“If they can’t come in to us, we should go to them” was the prevailing thought, added Durham.

At the time, Gauld chaired an $11 million capital campaign for the YWCA, and they “carved out $1 million to start up a shelter.” They bought the land and the house, and continue to expand it today.

“There was a lot of community involvement,” Gauld said of those early days, pointing out that the mayor, council, St. Clair County Commission and Pell City Rotary Club were all engaged and involved.

Then came the issue of continuing support, and Gauld’s expertise entered the picture once again. She had co-chaired the first Purse & Passion Luncheon fundraiser in Birmingham, which now draws more than 1,400 people.

The St. Clair version was modeled after Birmingham, and she and Durham hoped they would sell 10 tables and have 100 people. “Close to 300 attended that first luncheon,” Gauld said. “It’s amazing, but it is who you put together as a team.” They identified who leaders were and how welcoming the commu-nity would be. “It’s not Jenny Gauld, it’s a team,” she said.

“Guys have the will and the wallet. Women have the purse and passion to help,” Durham said. “Susan B. Anthony said, ‘Every woman deserves a purse,’ ” she noted. It’s symbolic. Purses carry all kinds of equipment to help. It may be a Band-aid or a safety pin, but a purse holds help.

As for their success with Purse & Passion, Gauld said, “It

YWCA’s Purse & Passion empowers women

is the value of having a strong team of women who understand the importance of this work and are willing to roll up their sleeves and ask for money.”

As the first female vice president at UAB, she came along at a time when women baked cookies to raise money, she said. “They didn’t think about the importance of asking for money.” But ask they have. This year’s event raised more than $54,000.

“I am impressed and awestruck with the dedication of this group. Some are leaders, yes, but some just have a passion for this cause.

“And the rest is history,” Gauld said.Well, not quite …

OurPlaceoffersnewstartHistory continues to be made at the shelter now known as

Our Place. It was to be called Jenny’s Place for the driving force behind it, said Durham. But she refocused the effort, and it became “Our Place” to give those coming through those doors a sense of ownership. Residents are able to say, “Home is no longer a safe place, Our Place is,” Durham said.

Since its opening in October 2009, the numbers tell the story of need. One hundred seventeen women and 92 children have escaped abusive situations to find safety and a home at Our Place.

In 2011, 1,904 women were helped outside the shelter

Our Place Director Carrie Leland and YWCA CEO Suzanne Durham


through outreach, including court services. In 2012, 750 women have been given assistance. And 34 economically challenged girls from four high schools were given prom dresses at the shelter’s prom dress giveaway, an opportunity staff uses to pro-mote healthy dating relationships.

Some have not been as fortunate as those who have made it to Our Place. Four women have died in St. Clair County in the past four years as a result of domestic violence.

The focus is on empowerment. “Don’t hang on to a bad relationship,” said Dur-ham. And at nearly 110 years old, the YWCA has not forgotten its mission to help empower women. “It used to be a great starting place,” she said, referring to the downtown Birmingham headquarters that provided young women a place to live. “Now, it’s a starting over place.”

The St. Clair County shelter has the look and feel of a home, a place where fami-lies live, talk and plan for the future. The four-bedroom shelter can serve four fami-lies and up to 10 people. They stay 65 days on average, said Director Carrie Leland. But they have stayed anywhere from three weeks to a year.

Abuse crosses all lines, but the victims “we tend to see here are the ones with the least resources,” she said. So the mission is to empower them to get back on their feet again.

“We immediately put a roof over their head” and develop safety planning to pre-vent future abuse. Credit, transportation, driver’s license, employment — they are all issues with which Our Place staff helps.

But just as it takes the proverbial village to raise a child, it takes a community working together to help these women climb out of abusive situations.

Relationships have been built with Emergency Room nurses, hairdressers, Depart-ment of Human Resources, law enforcement, faith-based organizations and medical staff to be alert to warning signs of abuse. “We are creating a culture,” Durham said. “I love it that people are directed to us.”

The support YWCA has seen in its efforts to help women in crisis over the years all started with a ‘what if’ — just like Purse & Passion. And that what if is changing lives every day. l

Luncheon crowd tells success story.


HiddenTreasure

Waterfall on Gulf Creek (Frank Emory, frankemory.com)

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • 79

Gulf Creek Canyon’s beauty preserved for futureStory by Samantha CoronaPhotos by Jerry MartinPhotos courtesy of Frank Emory

As the sun rises over Gulf Creek Canyon, Joyce Lanning makes her tea and carries it down to Picnic Point to take it all in.

The cabin, nestled in the woods of Chandler Moun-tain, is a retreat for Lanning, and her husband, Jerry. The Birmingham-based couple escapes to their St. Clair County hideaway to enjoy nature and all it has to offer.

“It is a beautiful place and a wonderful spot to enjoy,” she says. “I go to Picnic Point in the mornings to watch the sunrise and thank the sun for coming up.”

Picnic Point is just one of three areas the Lannings have discovered and named along their more than 200 acres of property, and it is one of many areas the couple has donated to the Alabama Nature Conservancy as part of the official Gulf Creek Canyon Preserve.

“We wanted to preserve it for future generations, so that they can enjoy it after we’re no longer in the picture,” Jerry said.

Standing from Bonsai Point, it is easy to see why. Complete with a small pine tree twisted into a Bonsai-style shape, the Point’s large rock ledge looks out over a sea of trees, nature and wildlife that is nothing short of breathtak-ing. The view encompasses acres of forest, steep drop-offs and naturally worn caves embedded in some of the white-washed mountains.

The sounds of nearby waterfalls bring a steady, but se-rene background noise to the space, and the occasional bird and rustle of leaves seem like an orchestrated collaboration.

On this late summer day, the green shade of leaves is dominant. But Keith Tassin, The Nature Conservancy’s Director of Terrestrial Conservation, says fall color brings an even more scenic view, and in winter the trees open up.

“After the leaves have all fallen off in the winter months, you can see straight through to the creek below or across to the waterfall,” Tassin said. “It’s hard to find a time of year when there isn’t a great view.”

The Lannings bought the property in 1996, after visiting with friends who owned neighboring land.

“Our friends loved the property up there, and we enjoyed visiting,” Jerry said. “After talking about it, Joyce wanted to see if there was something that could be done to preserve it.”

As a retired real estate and property attorney, Jerry was View from Bonsai

Point seemingly endless


familiar with the requirements, and the Lannings set the wheels in motion.

The couple acquired 200-plus acres of land in the deal, and in the time since, the couple donates some of those acres each year to the Nature Conservancy. To date, about 190 acres are currently under the protection and observa-tion of the environmentally-focused group.

The Nature Conservancy is a global organization formed to help preserve and protect ecologically vital lands, waters, plants and animals for future generations.

Conservancy chapters span across 30 countries, all 50 states in the U.S., and a number of counties throughout Alabama, specializing in providing care and protection for individual areas and the world’s most endangered resources.

Jerry served as a former board member for the Con-servancy and has a long-standing relationship with the group. Dry Creek Preserve off Highway 231 in St. Clair County is also a Nature Conservancy property.

“Like Dry Creek, Gulf Creek Canyon is another great area in St. Clair County that many people might not know about,” Tassin said. “It is a very rich area, full of plants and resources.”

While some preserves are open to the public for hiking, biking and general touring, Tassin said the rocks and cliffs at Gulf Creek are too much of a safety risk right now for outside visitors.

The Nature Conservancy is open to schedule escorted visits with environmental enthusiasts and donors, but ask that interested hikers or adventurers leave this one to the professionals.

However, the creek below is a public draw for one extreme sport – white water rafting.

Tassin said the rapids flowing from Loop Road down to Beason Cove Road is a major attraction for those who enjoy rafting, kayaking and canoeing along the Alabama waters.

According to riverfacts.com and oars.com, the stretch of Gulf Creek river runs 2.2 miles and is rated a Class V for intense and violent rapids with steep drops, waterfalls, massive waves and constricted channels.

“This is definitely no place for amateurs,” he smiled.

EncouragingconservationFor the Lannings, the Gulf Creek Canyon property isn’t

about just one hobby or interest, it’s about protecting a

Gulf Creek Canyon

Creek looking downstream (Ed Orth)


place where people can get outside, enjoy themselves and learn more about the natural beauty in Alabama.

“Nature can be one of our teachers, too,” Joyce said. “I have profound gratitude for the world we live in, and I want others to share that with me.”

The couple has offered up day trips and weekend-long stays at the cabin for environmental fundraisers like the Cahaba River Society, the Freshwater Land Trust, and of course, the Nature Conservancy.

Both Jerry and Joyce are involved in a number of organiza-tions and activities dedicated to preserving the environment and ensuring the resources we have today will still be around tomorrow. Their hope is to raise money for these worthy causes and to increase awareness on the importance of preserving lands.

“A land donation can be many acres, or as small as one acre. And it doesn’t have to have a rare plant or animal to be consid-ered a preserve,” Jerry said. “All the landowner has to have is the desire to protect a part of their property.”

If a property owner is interested in preserving a site, or even a portion of a site, Jerry said owners can reach out to any certified 501c3 non-profit environmental agency about obtain-ing a conservation easement. They are restrictions a landowner puts on their own land, specifying its uses and protecting its resources.

“Donating land can be a benefit for the non-profit organiza-tion, a benefit for the land owner and a benefit for those who are able to enjoy the property for many years to come,” he said. “It’s an important gift.”

For Joyce, the minute she saw Gulf Creek Canyon, she knew it needed to be preserved and showcased as beautiful space and scenery here in Alabama. l

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Boulders and cliffs at the Land-ing (Frank Emory, frankemory.com)


Big news for Canoe Creek

St. Clair County’s Canoe Creek is getting plenty of attention these days. There are two different projects along the waterway.

Friends of Big Canoe Creek has nominated land adjoining Springville’s Big Canoe Creek as a Forever Wild property, which would help preserve the area for future generations to enjoy.

The St. Clair County Commission, through a grant of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, is converting an old marina and boat ramp into an access to Canoe Creek at Neely Henry Lake for recreational enjoyment.

According to St. Clair County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon, the commission bought the Canoe Creek property and is creating a better boat launch with plans for a picnic area, pavilions, bathrooms, handicapped accessible boardwalk and a parking lot that will accommodate 100 bass boats.

The two projects — Big Canoe Creek and Canoe Creek — are not connected, but in the end, they are about access and recognition of Canoe Creek and our waterways, Batemon said.

The left rendering shows the county project, which will give improved access to Canoe Creek at Neely Henry, including parking, pavilions and boardwalk.

Below is the Spring-ville property on Big Canoe Creek nominat-ed for Forever Wild.

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