Friends

&Neighbors

A Special

Supplement to

The Daily Home

2013

2A — THE DAILY HOME, Talladega and St. Clair counties, Ala., Sunday, February 17, 2013 Friends & neighbors

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Boyd McGehee: A get it done kind of guyBy LAURANATION-ATCHISONHome Lifestyles editor

Step inside Boyd McGehee’s office at Talladega Insurance and you get it.

He’s a “get it done kind of guy.”

There are three com-puter screens going, a computer tablet at his fin-gertips, an erasable wall board with notes written on it behind his desk, and both the cell phone and the office phones are ring-ing.

The 31-year-old is the fourth generation of McGehees to be in the family insurance business, which has been in opera-tion since 1838.

You can tell, too, that his town, his family and alma mater — the University of Alabama — are important, too.

Family photographs are arranged along the walls and on his desk and on one wall there’s an historic photograph taken after the Civil War of a group of war veterans from Talladega.

Then there’s the Alabama memorabilia he’s collected, from attending football games and other campus events.

But McGehee doesn’t stop with getting his job done at Talladega Insurance. He and his wife, Misty, have become integral to many things in their town that help make it a better place.

Most who are famil-iar with Talladega know that his parents, Bill and Evelyn McGehee, are also big believers in communi-ty service and have a long tenure of giving back.

For decades, the elder McGehees have worked with so many volunteer organizations, and now their son has joined the ranks of those working and giving their time to enhance their community.

This is his fifth year to serve as chairman of the annual Antique Talladega Mardi Gras Gala and Art Auction, which takes pull-ing together volumes of volunteers, organizing committees and subcom-mittees and a whole lot of time.

“I do share the same passion that my dad does, it’s true, but it doesn’t have anything to do with fol-lowing in his footsteps,” McGehee said. “It has to do with how much fun it is to work alongside and pull together the people of my generation. It’s a new wave of ‘doers’ in Talladega. We all want the same thing — a better Talladega with good educational activities

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home

Boyd McGehee has headed up Antique Talladega’s Mardi Gras Gala and Art Auction for five years now, which raises funds for the organization’s arts events and arts oppor-tunities for youth.

McGehee is pictured at right with his wife, Misty, and daughter, Anna Harrison.

as well as a better quality of life in all aspects.”

McGehee recalls one of his favorite moments watching what the non-profit organization Antique Talladega does.

Antique Talladega’s purpose has always been heavy on providing arts opportunities for youth, and this one stands out in McGehee’s memory.

“When the Preservation Hall Jazz Band came to perform there was a free performance for local schoolchildren,” he said. “When they played “When the Saints Go Marching In,” all the kids stood up and sang with that world class band. That was such an opportunity for them.”

Antique Talladega, formed almost 20 years ago, was largely headed up by McGehee’s father and oth-ers who wanted to enhance their community through restoring the city’s historic Ritz Theatre and find ways to use the space to provide an outlet that would pro-vide a venue for theatre and music and a space for public use as well.

Since then, it has housed visits from performers such as Judy Collins and Mickey Rooney, Don McLean and Diahann Carroll, world renowned symphonies and dance companies, public meetings and fundraisers for other organizations and just about everything in between.

The theatre and Antique Talladega also host yearly visits from The Missoula Children’s Theatre, which offers a week-long theatre experience for children and teens.

“Having theatre pro-

ductions like “The Color Purple,” “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” and so many others right here in our back yard is incred-ible,” McGehee said.

“It’s working, it helps bring economic develop-ment,” he said, “in addi-tion to an outlet for the arts. What better way to bring about interest in a community than to show that you care about these things?”

McGehee points to a number of new businesses that have come to down-town Talladega, includ-ing the art gallery and workshop LMo&Co, The Pigeon’s Roost and others.

McGehee has been involved with other enti-ties as well, including the Rotary Club and the Alabama Independent Insurance Agents Organization, The Red Cross and The Red Door Kitchen, which feeds peo-ple at no cost and delivers meals as well, The Boys and Girls Club and lots of other charities he’s given

his time to.But he realized he

couldn’t spread himself too thin, and has had to make the choice to concentrate on the several that he feels most effective in.

Plus, there’s his profes-sion to continue to pur-sue. He is now working on becoming a certified insurance counselor, which involves taking a series of about six tests that are spe-cialized for handling the many aspects of providing insurance services.

After college and receiv-ing his bachelor’s degree in 2003 in human envi-ronmental service, which McGehee explains includes a variety of courses in busi-ness and marketing, he then went to Florida State University to gain the sta-tus of becoming a National Alliance Procurers School graduate.

He returned to Talladega in 2004, joining his fami-ly’s company and has been there since.

He did spend a year working in Birmingham

along the way, but chose to return to his roots and to a small town environment where he felt he could have a stronger impact on the overall community.

“And I love the peo-ple here. They are so real and we all want the same thing,” he said. “And that’s an even better Talladega. I’m just glad to be a small part of it.”

It also crosses his mind that perhaps his young daughter will find Talladega a place she wants to return to when she grows up and find the same satisfaction of giving back to the town in which her family’s roots run so deep.

Gathering up the doz-ens of committee members it takes to put together the yearly gala isn’t that dif-ficult, McGehee said.

“If you don’t give back, who will,” he said. “And I think our long list of committee members and volunteers all feel the same way.”

McGehee said he

believes the small town feel in Talladega is largely part of the inspiration for “doing.”

“I think people feel ‘ownership’ here,” he said. “In a small town, you can make a serious difference. I couldn’t imagine trying to get involved in a big city. Where would you begin and how could you tell if you are really making a dif-ference?”

Here, he said, you can see the direct results of our volunteers’ efforts.

“There’s the April in Talladega Pilgrimage Council, for instance, which through their yearly Pilgrimage Tour of Homes provides funding for restor-ing our buildings in town,” he said. “And, of course, the Mardi Gras funds go directly into the programs at The Ritz and arts in edu-cation events for school-children.’

Then there’s the annu-al Rotary Club Golf Tournament that generates funding for the club’s chari-ties around town.

McGehee is quick to point out that if it weren’t for the incredible staff at Talladega Insurance, he and his father would not have the time to free themselves for the volunteer work they do.

“Our staff is so profes-sional and well educated on the entire spectrum of what we do,” he said. “They deserve a lot of the credit.”

As for the way the Mardi Gras Committee works, McGehee said each mem-ber brings their own diverse talents to the table.

“And that’s how it is successful,” he said. “Some are good at working on our web site, some are working with social media to market the event, there are those who are good at carpentry, some are good at finding the art for the auction and others are instrumental in setting up for the gala and then taking it down after-ward. There are so many things necessary to make it work.”

McGehee also notes the cooperation and support the various organizations receive from the Talladega City Council as part of the picture.

At the end of the day, McGehee can point to so many things there are to be proud of in the city he returned to.

“How can you not get excited about what is tak-ing place here,” he said. “I am very proud of our town and its people. I love show-ing people all that it has to offer.”

On Jan. 2, 2013, Robert Weaver depos-ited $2 into his savings account to commemorate 85 years of banking with The First National Bank of Talladega.

Weaver’s father estab-lished the account on his behalf with the bank, then known as Isbell Bank, on

Jan. 2, 1928, with $2 given to celebrate Weaver’s birth just a few days before.

Weaver has been a cus-tomer of FNB since that time, and said he is as proud of Talladega’s only community bank as he is of his hometown itself.

Weaver often shares the story that “at the age of

10, with $24 saved up, I made my first withdrawal — $18 for the purchase of my first bicycle. Mr. John Ivey Tubbs, who later became president of the bank, was a teller at the time. He reminded me there would only be $6 left after my withdrawal, but I was ready to buy a bike.”

Robert Weaver, pictured with FNB teller Helen Sims, commemorates 85 years of banking with First National Bank.

Weaver has been a customerat First National Bank since 1928

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Teaching a rewardingprofession for RobertsBy EMILY ADAMSHome staff writer

A respect for her own teachers led Pam Roberts to a career in education, and for 36 years, she has never doubted it’s what she was meant to do.

“I really think God put me in this place,” said Roberts, a fourth grade math and science teacher at Pinecrest Elementary School in Sylacauga. “I think God has a purpose, and he guided me through several different channels to get me to where I need-ed to be, and it has been a very rewarding job work-ing with the kids.”

Growing up, Roberts wanted to be a dentist and then an architect, but she somehow landed in educa-tion along the way.

“I don’t know what point I really turned and decided to be a teacher, but I know I grew up in this system, and I had so many wonderful teachers,” she said. “It was just a respect for the hard work they put in and for the low pay they receive, and I appreciated that.”

During 33 years in the Sylacauga system and about three from her time studying at UAB, Roberts

has taught upwards of 3,000 children. Each one of them with a unique learning style, she said the job is both challenging and satisfying.

“The best part about teaching is developing the relationships with the children, and working one on one to find techniques that work, because they’re all so different,” Roberts said. “It’s very difficult to incorporate all the learn-ing styles into one class, but with the technology we have now that was pro-vided to us through the School Foundation, we have the opportunity to do so many things that we didn’t have before.”

Roberts has taught fourth grade for 18 years and previously taught the APEX gifted class for 12 years. During her career, she has been involved with 4H, Boy Scouts, Yearbook staff, safety patrols, church activities, Relay for Life and tutoring, which she still does now.

She said classrooms have changed dramatically during her tenure, from teaching techniques to the incorporation of technol-ogy to what is expected of students, but some things about teaching will always

stay the same.“Teaching is about tak-

ing each child and doing the best we can with them,” she said. “It’s working with teachers as a team, which we do a really good job of working together, and finding what’s best for the students. With 25 students in each class now, you have to find a way to work with so many, but still come out with the same results.”

To accomplish these goals, Roberts said a great teacher must be a devoted teacher.

“You’ve got to love what you do and know that you’re going to have to give unlimited hours, but still balance your fam-ily and out-of-school life,” she said. “Twenty-four hours a day is not enough to do your job in teaching. You’re thinking constantly, even when you’re doing other things, about what you can do to make some-thing work better or how you can present that new lesson in a way the kids are going to be excited about it and see a reason for learning it.”

For all the hard work put in, Roberts said there are many great rewards.

“The big reward at the end of the year is know-

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home

Pam Roberts has taught in the Sylacauga school system for 33 years. A fourth-grade math and science teacher at Pinecrest Elementary, she says teachig is both a challenging and a rewarding profession. Pictured is Roberts with student Gavin Smith.ing they can move onto fifth grade and be success-ful and eventually gradu-ate,” she said. “But it’s also just little bitty things, like dropping a note on my desk or asking for extra help, or when they say, ‘Mrs. Roberts, thank you for helping me understand a certain skill.’”

Sometimes the reward comes years later when you

see a student at the store who remembers you, she said.

“Even beyond the class-room, there are many of us that will try to help a child that doesn’t have something they need, and we’ve had so many teachers within our system that do that,” Roberts said. “Those students coming back and remembering that in years

to come is a great moment. Just the children having positive memories to take with them, along with the skills, is what I want.”

With retirement coming up in one to three years, Roberts said she plans to stay involved in education, but also pursue other hob-bies like photography and writing children’s books.

Barbara Storey ‘looks for ways to lift up others’By CHRIS NORWOODHome staff writer

Barbara Storey has been an active member of Mt. Canaan Baptist Church in Talladega for more than 38 years, and has been involved in a host of activities in and around the church for that whole time.

“She has been a true princess in the life of our church and in the greater community. She is a kind person who always looks for ways to lift up others and advance the kingdom of Our Lord. We are very fortunate to have her as a member of our church family,” the Rev Horace Patterson, pastor of Mt. Canaan, said of Storey.

Storey says that, as a deaconess in the church, “I work with any organiza-tions where I am needed. I also work with the fam-ily life center, with civic groups, fraternities and sororities.

“Our church is a com-munity family. We serve God by loving and caring for each other’s Christian needs. Our Sunday school, 11 o’clock worship servic-es, Monday night prayer meetings and Wednesday night Bible studies provide great spiritual growth,” she said.

“For growth in our communities, we have organized a quilting group (and) had such affairs as tablescapes, a Valentine Gala, Gourmet Gent’s Tasters’ Meal and our Ropes program,” Storey said.

The latter, she said, is a program for 10- to 17-year-olds designed to help them prepare to enter society. “We worked on putting that together for a while, and we’ve already had one graduating class,” she said. She has also been involved in “many affairs that involve working with the community.”

Storey also works with other groups to decorate the church, prepare com-munion and minister to the sick and shut-ins.

“We like to go out and check on those who can-not make it to the church,” she said. “We help folks out with their power bills and any other problems they might be facing. A lot of these things we just do, without necessarily keep-ing a record of it.

”You know,” she said, “I feel that when you say you are a Christian, it is a cov-enant not just with God

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home

Barbara Storey has been a member of Mt. Canaan Baptist Church for almost 4 decades.

but with every other per-son you come into contact with. I like to give back. And I am fortunate that I have been blessed with a dynamic spiritual leader. Rev. Patterson really is a spiritual, Godly man and I

respect him a lot, him and his family. I really have enjoyed working with the church. He had been at the church about a year before I joined, and he has always been my spiritual leader. Under his leader-

ship, I have served as a member of the Deaconess Board, the Usher Board and the Beautification Board.”

In conclusion, she said, “To all we do, may God be the glory.”

4A — THE DAILY HOME, Talladega and St. Clair counties, Ala., Sunday, February 17, 2013 friends & neighbors

Sylacauga native finding her niche on golf’s greatest stage

‘This is where I’m supposed to be’By HEATHERBAGGETTHome staff writer

Watching Jordan Hardy practice at the driving range at FarmLinks, it’s hard to believe the 25-year-old ever failed at anything sports related.

The Sylacauga native’s cool, calm, collected demeanor seems to be a coach’s dream for an athlete in any sport. But the local woman who has rookie status on the LPGA Tour this year came back to golf when she fell short in other sports.

IN THE BEGINNINGHardy credits her father

for introducing her to the sport of golf. She said she began seriously participat-ing in golf at age 11.

“I always went out to the golf course with my dad on Sunday afternoons when I was little and hit around with him,” she said.

At the time, it wasn’t apparent to her that golf might be a professional endeavor later in life. In fact, it wasn’t even the first sport she tried out for in middle school.

“I guess it was around fifth-grade or sixth-grade — you know that time in middle school when all your friends are trying out for sports and teams and things — so I tried out for everything,” Hardy said. “I tried out for cheerlead-ing, dance team, basketball — you name it, I tried out for it, didn’t make it.

“So through the course of figuring out what I was going to do, I found out there was a golf team and

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home

When not traveling for golf events, Hardy can often be found at FarmLinks in Fayetteville, perfect-ing her game on what she calls the best conditioned course she’s ever played on.

I thought, ‘Well, I always played around with my dad,’ so I approached the coach — it was Rocky White at the time — he said, ‘If you can shoot a certain score then you can make it and play with the guys’ because there wasn’t a girls’ golf team. I tried out and made it, played all through junior high, seventh- and eighth-grades and then all through high school. Then I played through college and here I am.”

That short and sweet synopsis doesn’t fully explain the success Hardy had at the high school and college level. As a junior in 2004, Hardy won an

individual state cham-pionship, shooting 150 for 36 holes. That same year — “a really cool year,” according to Hardy — she made history by becoming the first female to win both the Women’s Alabama Golf Association’s Junior Championship and State Stroke Play Championship.

“It was a pretty great year,” she said. “It was also my junior year and that’s when you’ve got to start making decisions about where you want to go to school. For me it was great. It was divine intervention, great timing, because it really opened some doors for me to go to college.”

White, Hardy’s high school coach, said he watched her progress through her high school years.

“Jordan came to me mid-way through her sev-enth-grade year and asked if she could try out and play for the golf team,” he said. “As I pointed out to her, she would be the only girl on the boys’ team. I could immediately see the challenge that I had already accidentally set in her mind through her eyes. I then took her to the range to watch her hit some range balls, and I was just surprised by her athletic ability and hand and eye coordination for

someone just trying out for a team.

“A few weeks later, I told Jordan that I wanted to keep her score for 18 holes and see what she could ‘legitimately shoot.’ We only made it through nine holes … Jordan shot a 73, which computes to a 146 for 18 holes. Not good. She and I both had our work cut out for us.”

The challenge was one Hardy met and surpassed.

“Her eighth-grade year she shot a 91 at section-als in Auburn in 2001, missing the Girls State Tournament by one shot,” White said. “Her ninth-grade year, Jordan fin-ished 10th in the State

Tournament at Prattville in 2002. It was between her sophomore year and junior year that she made the most improvement. Having played on the Robert Trent Jones yearly for the previ-ous three years really helped Jordan improve. Playing against stiffer competition throughout the year, and competing against my boys’ golf team from the back tees at Sylacauga Country Club ignited Jordan’s drive to be the best.

White said Hardy was the second strongest golfer on Sylacauga’s golf team her junior year, besting all but one of the male golfers on the team when it came to the weight room.

“By the end of Jordan’s sophomore year, I knew that she would have a chance to be competing on the LPGA Tour,” White said.

SUCCESS CONTINUESIN COLLEGE

After a championship junior year, Hardy began looking at colleges, but she already had one firmly set in her mind. But Hardy was beginning to learn that plans change.

The whole decision to go to Birmingham Southern was completely off the charts,” she said. “I always wanted to go to Auburn. That was my dream school. I actually went on a recruiting visit there, had an offer there, but when I stepped on the campus of Birmingham Southern, I loved it. There’s just something about it that just told me that was

See Hardy, Page 5A

THE DAILY HOME, Talladega and St. Clair counties, Ala., Sunday, February 17, 2013 — 5Afriends & neighbors

the place for me. I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship there.”

Hardy signed a scholar-ship to attend Birmingham Southern College and play golf at the Division I level.

“When I got there, we were Division I,” she said. “We were one of the smallest, if not the small-est, Division I school. It was fantastic competition. We played against Auburn, Alabama, LSU, all the SEC schools. It was kind of the best of both worlds. I got this fantastic education, a unique campus, unique environment and I was able to compete at the highest level.”

That fantastic competi-tion and playing at golf ’s highest collegiate level con-tinued for Hardy’s first two years at BSC. And then came more change.

Birmingham Southern moved from Division I to Division III midway through Hardy’s collegiate career.

“That was a very difficult time,” Hardy said. “A lot of athletes left because they committed to a Division I school; that’s how they wanted to compete. I felt the same way.

“I took different trips, different visits to a couple of colleges in that transi-tion period. But overall, I had started at Birmingham Southern. I was involved there; I loved it. I loved the education quality and I was still going to be able to compete. So I decided to stick with it. And I’m glad I did.”

While BSC was a Division I school, Hardy competed at two NCAA Division I Regional Tournaments in 2006 and 2007. If 2004 was Hardy’s banner year in the high school ranks, 2009 was the year she made her mark as

a collegiate golfer. That year Hardy was

named BSC’s Female Athlete of the Year, was the Women’s Alabama Golf Association State Amateur Champion and qualified for the Navistar LPGA Classic as an amateur.

FORGING APROFESSIONAL

CAREERDespite immense suc-

cess in the high school and college ranks, Hardy was in for a rude awakening when she started making her way toward becoming a profes-sional golfer.

“After I graduated, I attended Qualifying School in November, and quali-fied for the Future’s Tour and started playing in some tournaments in 2010,” Hardy said. “That was an eye-opening experience. It was completely different being in the competitive world of golf, a much high-er level of competition.”

In addition to the com-petition, the professional tournaments marked the first time Hardy was truly alone when competing.

“I didn’t know anybody really,” she said. “It’s dif-ferent; there’s not a team to fit in with or gather around. There are no par-ents with you. You’re just kind of there by yourself. It was tough; it was really tough. Oftentimes, those kinds of factors affect how you perform, too. So 2010 was just a tough year of learning how to compete at a higher level, assessing what I needed to do. I real-ized that I needed to work a lot harder to improve my game.”

During this time, Hardy was living in Birmingham, but the reality of trying to become a professional golf-er led her to make another change.

“In fact, 2010 was the year that I decided to move

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HardyFrom Page 4A

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home

Jordan Hardy began “seriously” playing golf when she was 11 years old. She won an individ-ual high school state championship in 2004 and went on to play golf at Birmingham Southern College.

back home,” Hardy said. “… When you travel, it didn’t make any kind of financial sense to pay rent if I wasn’t going to be there. I moved back home. I’m so incredibly blessed to have FarmLinks here 15 minutes down the road and they are generous enough to let me practice out here.”

Living back at home after college was not Hardy’s dream, but it did allow her to focus her attention on pursuing golf.

“When you’re jumping

into it, there comes a point where either you’re going to do it 100 percent or you’re not going to do it at all,” she said. “Because it’s not worth doing if you’re going to give it less than your all.”

COMING TO ACROSSROAD

When most people think about professional golf, the best come to mind. Those

golfers who are at the top of their game, the top of the money list, and seem-ingly the top of the world. Hardy explained a different version of the professional golfer’s life, the part where the athlete is working to get to the top. And it’s not a glamorous life.

“It’s just a tough life,” she said. “It’s a tough way to try to make a living. As someone coming out of col-lege, you want to be inde-pendent; you want to try to spread your wings and

fly. And I moved right back home. So there are those feelings — especially when you didn’t play well in a tournament, didn’t make any money — of being completely dependent. I had to fight those feelings for a really long time.

“The hardest thing about playing professional golf is getting the opportu-nity to play.”

In golf, Hardy explained, the opportunities in the future depend on a person’s success the previous year. If that person struggles this year, it will be difficult to have the chance to compete the next year. So Hardy’s struggles in 2010 set her up for “a particularly rough year” in 2011.

Qualifying School is a set of tournaments, called stages, that determine a golfer’s status on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour or the Symetra Tour, a develop-mental tour for the LPGA. If a golfer has no status on these tours, or didn’t finish high enough in the stand-ings to earn the next year’s card for the tour, she can go to Q School and try to improve her status and earn a card for the tour.

Entering Q School in 2011, Hardy said she felt “the best I’d ever felt.”

“I hit the ball great,” she said. “Practice rounds went great. I hired a tour cad-die, tried to do everything right, and the first day I shot 81 and pretty much blew myself out.

“It was just devastat-ing because I felt every-thing had come together and then everything just fell apart at the completely most important time. So of course that meant 2012 was going to be a struggle. I joined the Symetra Tour, but I didn’t play in any-thing. I played mostly Sun Coast in Orlando. I did a couple of Monday qualifi-ers for LPGA tournaments, but spent most of my time in Orlando. Then the sum-mer came.”

HARD WORK AND ALOT OF PRAYER

The summer of 2012 was a “make it or break it point” for Hardy. After years of hard work and try-ing to make it as a profes-sional golfer, Hardy knew

this was the point where she would either break through to another level in the sport or find another career.

“The reason that this year was so big for me was because this past summer, I came to the point that I was ready to quit,” Hardy said. “It wasn’t giving up, because I felt like I had worked really hard and hadn’t really seen the results that I was hoping for, or that would justify me con-tinuing to play.”

All through her years of playing golf, Hardy held strong to her faith in God. So as she was contemplat-ing ending her professional golf career before it really started, she turned to the Lord for direction.

“One huge lesson that I’ve learned is that you can’t compartmentalize your faith,” she said. “It leaks into all parts of your life. Looking back, I can see how it has. When I was in middle school and didn’t make any of those teams, the Lord opened this door for golf. It was a great way to join a team … it paid for my education. It’s just a huge door that He opened for me in a way that I wouldn’t have thought.”

So when it came time for Q School the summer of 2012, Hardy prayed for more open doors.

“It just became a prayer this summer that if this was what I was supposed to be doing with my life, then that the Lord would just open some doors for me,” Hardy said. “I just needed some direction. The Lord had done so many great things in my life because of golf, but if golf wasn’t sup-posed to be there anymore, that was OK. I just needed some direction. That’s how I went into this past quali-fying school.”

Because she hadn’t

See Hardy, Page 6A

played in any Symetra Tour events the previous year, Hardy had to start in Stage I of Q School. She played well in the opening stage, recording rounds of 72, 73, 73 and 73 to finish tied for 40th, advancing to Stage II.

“I was super excited about that,” Hardy said. “Stage 1 was the most intense stage, because if you didn’t at least make it out, it was going to be another year of no status. I was thrilled to go to Stage II. That is where the ter-rible 81 happened the year before. So I wasn’t coming back to the best memories. But I was thankful to be there.”

Stage II started off with Hardy scoring 74 and 75 the first two days. She then shot 72 on the third day and was “sitting right on the cut line” entering the final day of competition. A birdie and a hole-in-one started Hardy’s last day off with a bang. She finished the round with a 68 and was tied for 20th for the second stage. The great last round allowed her to easily advance to Stage III.

“I was pretty much just ecstatic to make it to Stage 3, which was back at LPGA International in Daytona Beach,” Hardy said. “I was excited to be there. It was my first time ever to com-pete for a chance of LPGA status. . I was thinking I just want to play. I’m just happy to be here. I was just so happy to be there that I didn’t even consider LPGA status or anything like that.”

Hardy opened the final stage shooting a 75. She then shot 72 and 73 before firing a career-best 67. She recorded a 74 on the final day and tied for 39th for the stage, good enough to earn conditional rookie status on the LPGA Tour and nearly unconditional status on the Symetra Tour.

WHERE TO GOFROM HERE

Now, having that elusive opportunity in professional golf, Hardy is focused on continuing to work hard and pray harder.

“It’s a faith-based, really hard working prayer,” she said. “I don’t want you to think I haven’t worked really hard. I put in the work before this whole thing started. I’ve been working harder than I’ve ever worked in my life for anything. I just believe that the Lord lets things happen for a rea-son.

“I don’t know why 2011 Q School had to be so ter-rible, but this year He made everything come together, and I’m thankful for that. I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be and this is what I’m supposed to be doing. So for as long as I’m out here and I’m doing this, I want to work harder than anybody else. I obviously want to be the best player out there.”

Hardy said she doesn’t “know what 2013 holds.” Her website, www.jordan-hardygolf.com, lists a year full of golf tournaments, events both on the Symetra Tour and the ones she hopes to be able to play in on the LPGA Tour.

In addition to her hard work and her faith, Hardy said she is thankful for hav-ing parents who s“believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.

“If I have to give credit to someone other than first and foremost the Lord, it’s my parents,” she said.

While Hardy may not know what the future holds, one former coach sees her potential to be one of the greatest at anything she sets her mind to accomplish.

“She has that rare com-petitive spirit that you can always find in winners,” Rocky White said, “That self-motivating drive to be the best at whatever you choose to do, and to prac-tice for that goal with zeal, commitment and persever-ance under all types of bar-riers and roadblocks put in their way. That is a rare quality found in adults or young people these days. Coach (Paul ‘Bear’) Bryant had it, Dale Earnhardt Sr. had it, Coach (Nick) Saban has it, and Jordan Hardy has it.”

6A — THE DAILY HOME, Talladega and St. Clair counties, Ala., Sunday, February 17, 2013 friends & neighbors

HardyFrom Page 5A Wingo got hooked on racing

By KENNY FARMERSpecial Projects editor

Harold Wingo sits with his wife and dogs at his home in Munford as he looks through pictures that document his past in auto racing.

Most of his pictures were destroyed during a tornado that came through the area in 1991, however, Wingo’s stories, and love for the sport, remain.

Wingo said his love for racing began at a racetrack in Eastaboga when he was 9 years old. He would go there on Saturday nights to watch drivers such as Eddie Martin, who was a friend of his dad’s, and Doc Brown, who lived nearby.

“I’d go down there where the drivers would line up, and I’d crawl into that old car and ride with them,” Wingo said.

After that, he was hooked on racing. Several years later, Wingo crawled into the window of race car again, but this time he was sitting behind the wheel.

He began his career at the Anniston Speedway in the 1960s, and continued at the Gadsden Raceway in Hokes Bluff throughout the ‘70s, up until 1981. At the Gadsden Raceway, he mostly competed in 6 cylinder, open competition events.

“The old guy that ran the track (Gadsden Raceway) back then, he said that I won around 80 feature events over that time frame,” Wingo said.

He quit racing at the Gadsden Raceway in 1981, but he resurfaced in 1982 at the Talladega Short Track, and continued rac-ing there until the end of the 1983 season.

“The short track was going real strong at the time,” he said.

By the end of 1983, Wingo was finished rac-ing. Over time, he began to prefer working on cars rather than driving them.

“I did a lot of work on other people’s cars after that,” he said. “I made a dollar or two off what I’d learned.”

While Wingo’s racing career had come to an end, he was still doing business at the short track.

“I got into making rac-ing fuel there for a few years,” he said. “I had a recipe for that, and made it for about 10 years, I guess.”

He said the recipe for the racing fuel, which was a mixture of gas and alco-hol, was given to him by Bill Hamler, who owned a speed shop in Birmingham. Wingo said he would carry two drums of the fuel to the short track every Saturday night, and that most nights he would sell out.

“I got to selling so much at the short track, they run me off,” he said.

As Wingo looked over the old pictures spread out on his kitchen table, he picked up a picture and began talking about a unique modification he had made to one car.

He got his hands on a “real nice sedan” that had been crashed into a wall during a previous run. He described the vehicle as “tore up,” but thought it could be rebuilt.

“I cut it down and shortened the wheel base on it. I put a 302 Ford in it. I was one of the first to be up there at the Anniston Speedway on a 302. We won some features with that car right there,” he said, pointing to a picture.

Oxy Gray from Coal City drove the sedan. It became known as the “Ox Cart.”

Wingo said that after driving the car initially, Gray came over to him and said, “I just don’t feel good with nothing over my head.”

“So we got an old awning off of a porch and put it up there on that thing.”

Wingo said “things have changed so much” in auto

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home

Top photo: Harold Wingo in his workshop in Munford.

At right: Wingo with the No. 44 car belong-ing to Harold “Shug” Willingham.

racing.He said it was not as

expensive to get started in the sport “way back yon-der.”

He said “you needed money back then,” but not the amount that it takes today.

He said most of the parts that were needed back then were not bought at the auto parts store, but were made.

“That played into my hand a whole lot, ‘cause I had some friends, some machinists,” he said. “They made a lot of things for me that you just couldn’t buy.”

One of his machinist friends was Louis Carden.

“He was a well known guy in Birmingham,” Wingo said. “He built cars for the Allisons and Red Farmer.”

Wingo said that when building a car he would go to Carden for cus-tom made parts because Carden’s parts fit his cars “just like they were made for them.”

“Back in the old days” Wingo said he would take parts and “bend them around a tree limb, try-ing to get something to fit something.”

While Wingo’s days

in racing are over, he still keeps up with the sport.

About the current state of the speedway, he said, “They claim the speed’s getting too high. All that would stop if they’d cut them banks down, from 33 degrees down to 15.”

Wingo said if that was done, “you’d see them looking for that brake pedal.”

“That would stop all that,” he said.

Wingo talked about what kept him interest-ed in racing through the years, “just working with the car, trying to make it win, trying to make it

competitive.”

While Wingo was com-petitive, he was compas-sionate, as well.

“He helped a lot of people with their cars,” Wingo’s wife, Faye, said. “I couldn’t understand why, when somebody would need something, he would loan it to them. I asked him, ‘You’re racing, why do you do that?’”

“Because they’d do the same thing for me,” he replied.

Contact Kenny Farmer at kfarmer@dailyhome.com.

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THE DAILY HOME, Talladega and St. Clair counties, Ala., Sunday, February 17, 2013 — 7Afriends & neighbors

Sims ‘perfect choice’ forTeacher Hall of FameBy CHRISNORWOODHome staff writer

Mary Sims is on her way to the Teacher’s Hall of Fame at Jacksonville State University. She has been teaching at C.L. Salter Elementary in Talladega for six years, but she admit-tedly took an unusual path to her chosen profession.

“Going into teaching was a decision I made later in my life than a lot of peo-ple. I had just had my old-est son, and I decided that I needed to buckle down and get a direction in my life. I wanted to do something where I could make a dif-ference for someone.”

And buckle down she did. She earned first a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s degree at the University of Montevallo, maintaining a 4.0 grade point average throughout.

And being a single mother all the while. She is current-ly applying to Jacksonville State University for a sec-ond master’s degree, this one in library and media science. “But I’m not there yet,” she said.

She said she is teaching a second-grade class this year, but has also taught fifth-grade generally and fifth- and sixth-grade lan-guage arts classes.

“I’d say I am very hard working, and pretty tech-nology savvy, but the main thing is I love the children I teach, and I love seeing them succeed. I’m here to do what I can to help them succeed. It helps me pro-vide a good life for my son, for my family, but mainly I want to be the best I can be for any students that happen to cross my path. I want them to be prepared, be knowledgeable, and I want to help make the dif-

ference for them.”As for the Hall of Fame

nomination, that originat-ed with her peers.

“The teachers at each school nominate three peo-ple for Teacher of the Year and for the Hall of Fame. Those nominations go to the school board, and they pick the finalist to send to the Hall of Fame. I’m hon-ored that they chose me.”

Salter principal Jenni Griffin agreed with that choice. “Mrs. Sims is the perfect choice for Jacksonville State University Hall of Fame,” she said. “ She works diligently with her students each day to incorporate the newest technology, math and read-ing skills, and character education in her teaching. She has developed a life-long love of learning in the students in her classroom. Mrs. Sims is such an asset to our faculty!”

Player always workingfor a ‘good cause’By KENNY FARMERSpecial Projects editor

Inspired by her teachers, her church, her pastor and her big sister, Talladega’s Marie Player has dedicated much of her life to helping others.

“I hope to inspire some-one else like I have been inspired,” Player said.

Player’s biggest inspira-tion comes from her big sister, Dr. Ethel Hall, who died in November 2012.

“She’ll continue to live in my heart because she inspired me in so many ways,” she said.

Hall served on the state Board of Education, and was re-elected numer-ous times. Prior to her service with the Board of Education, Hall taught at Montevallo University and the University of Alabama. She also served on vari-ous boards after her retire-ment.

“What she did, I wanted to do,” Player said.

After retiring from the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, where she worked for almost 34 years, Player knew she wanted to remain active in her community, much like her sister.

“No rocking chair for me,” she said. “I did not retire to sit in a rocking chair and watch TV. I wanted to stay involved.”

Player is heavily involved with many groups, orga-nizations and educational programs in the Talladega area. She is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, she serves meals at the Red Door Kitchen, she is active in her church, she is a member of the Retired

Brian Schoenhals/The Daily Home

Marie Player says the biggest inspiration in her life was her older sister, the late Dr. Ethel Hall.Educators Association and is also active with the city Planning Board.

“If it’s for a good cause, I want to be a part of it,” she said.

Player has been a mem-ber of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority for 56 years. She refers to herself as “one of those golden girls.” Through her involvement with the sorority, Player has donated canned goods to the Red Door Kitchen, given supplies to local schools and registered high school and college students to vote. The sorority also supports Relay for Life, Sickle Cell research and local health fairs.

“AKA is really about service to mankind,” she said.

Player served as presi-dent of the sorority for four years. Three out

of those four years, she was recognized with the Regional President of the Year Award (2001, 2002, 2003).

She has worked with Talladega’s Red Door Kitchen for many years. In the past, she has deliv-ered meals, as well as hav-ing served on the Kitchen’s Board of Directors. She continues to serve meals at the Kitchen once a week.

“When I was helping deliver goods for the Red Door Kitchen, I would feel so good after we came back from the routes,” she said. “The people were so appreciative of what had happened.

“They did as much for us as we did for them. They might not have known it, but they did,” Player said.

See Player, Page 8A

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Mary Sims teaches her second-grade class at C.L. Salter Elementary School. She said she finds her work fulfilling because she loves helping her pupils to succeed.

8A — THE DAILY HOME, Talladega and St. Clair counties, Ala., Sunday, February 17, 2013 friends & neighbors

Player is a current member and former president of the Retired Educators Association. Even though she is retired, she continues to have a big impact on local schools. One way she has contin-ued to do this is through her involvement in the SOAR program. The goal of the SOAR program is to support local schools by providing services and supplies, donating funds for special school projects and through mentoring of new teachers.

In the past, Player has also served as chief inspector at the voting polls, and served on the Board of Directors for the Red Cross, United Way, Community Action and Chamber of Commerce. She has also served as president of the Talladega City Schools Foundation Board.

Player is also heavily involved at her church, Mt. Canaan Missionary Baptist. She participates in Bible study and Sunday school, sings in the choir and helps with various other projects. She is also on the decorating com-mittee for the church’s Family Life Center.

Player said one pro-gram offered by the church, the ROPES pro-gram, is especially pleas-ing to her. The program, which stands for Rights of Passage Empowerment Service, aims to develop young people into “pro-ductive and inspiring lead-ers” through “spiritual, personal and educational development.”

“We taught them dif-ferent topics of interest during the workshop — how to deal with stress and peer pressure, how to earn better grades in school, relationship advice and college preparation,” she said.

Player is a graduate of Alabama A&M University, as was her late husband, Eddie, and her two sons, Eric and Dwyane. She describes herself as a “loyal supporter” of the school, and her support has not gone unnoticed by the school and classmates. She was given a class achieve-ment award in 2000 by the Class of 1957, and was named Alumnist of the Year in 2008.

Fifty-six years after her graduation, Player continues to give back to the school she loves. Her chapter of the university’s alumni association gives 10 $1,000 scholarships to deserving students each year. She said the com-munity has always been supportive of her Alabama A&M fundraising efforts.

“If I can help some-body, my living is not in fain,” said Player.

Concerning whether or not Player feels her sister would be proud, she said, “Oh yes, she would. She would be proud to know her little sister is still try-ing to emulate her.”

PlayerFrom Page 7AChappell recognized

for his contributionsBy ELSIE HODNETTHome staff writer

He believes in service, and for years Jeff Chappell has given of his time to help his community.

“Before anything else, I believe that Matthew 23:11 should be the basis for our lives when it comes to ser-vice to others,” Chappell said. “It says, ‘The great-est among you must be a servant.’ I translate that to mean that we should always put others ahead of ourselves, that we shouldn’t look at social status or appearance, and that we should try to serve those who may need our help, whether it be through sports or any other avenue.”

Chappell and his wife, Cynthia, of Eastaboga, have three children, Whitney, 23, Austin, 20, and Laynie, 10. He attends Eastaboga Baptist Church and is active working with youth there.

“I think that all of my desire to volunteer in other areas is tied to my faith and the things I am taught as a Christian,” he said.

Chappell said he is for-tunate because most of his volunteer activities have been in things he enjoys.

“I started coaching in 1986 when my younger brother, Jason Chappell, was playing baseball,” he said. “My dad, Bill Chappell, was the head coach.”

Chappell said his father has always been a huge influence.

“My dad has always been one of the first people to volunteer his time when he saw a need,” he said. “I continued to coach, either as a head or assistant coach, in baseball through my son Austin’s younger years, until he reached high school in 2003. During this time, I also coached my oldest daughter Whitney’s softball team along with my older brother, Greg Chappell. We made the transition from slow-pitch softball to fast-pitch during that time, as well, and my brother and I actually coached the first fast-pitch softball team in Lincoln.”

Chappell said he was

also drawn into something else by his father — offi-ciating.

“I refereed high school football for 20 years and was fortunate enough to be asked to officiate three high school state championship games during my career, which is the highest honor for an official,” he said. “I also umpired baseball for 10 years on the high school and college level.”

In 1991, Chappell was invited to become a member of the Gulf South Conference (college foot-ball) as an official.

“In 2001, while on an officiating crew with my dad, we were invited to officiate the NCAA Division 2 national cham-pionship game,” he said. “We were the first crew in the history of the Gulf South Conference to offi-ciate that game, and were also the first father/son duo to officiate an NCAA championship game.”

Chappell said when his oldest children reached high school, he retired from officiating so he could watch Whitney cheer and play softball at Lincoln High School. Soon after, in 2005, Austin began playing junior high football.

“I was asked by the coach at LHS at that time, the late Keith Howard, if I would be interested in coaching the junior high football team,” he said.

Chappell has coached junior high football at LHS since 2005, continuing to do so even after his son graduated because of his love for the sport.

“Through officiating and coaching, I have had the opportunity to see some of the finest athletes in the state of Alabama, and some who became great athletes at the college level,” he said.

In 2004 and 2005, LHS started a wrestling and youth wrestling program.

“When Coach Gene Taylor left in 2006, I was asked by LHS principal Terry Roller to coach the youth wrestling program at Lincoln, where I have remained until now,” he said. “I also had the oppor-tunity to help with the

varsity wrestling program during the early years with Coach Skylar Mansfield and Coach Brian Kelly, and was fortunate enough to see Lincoln High School’s first state champion, Jonathan George, who now plays football at the University of Kentucky. I have also been fortunate enough to see Jamarrio Howard become the second state champion at LHS.”

From 1999-2001, Chappell served as com-missioner of the Lincoln Youth Baseball League when it was a parent-run organization.

“We would usually arrive on game days around 3:30 p.m. to get fields, con-cession stands, etc. ready for the games and leave around 10 p.m.,” he said. “That experience has made me appreciate the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Department staff for their contributions to our com-munity. As a volunteer staff comprised of parents, I want to mention the great job LPRD director Roben Duncan and her staff does and how much we appreci-ate what they do.”

In 2007, Chappell start-ed coaching softball again with his youngest daughter, Laynie.

“For the third time, we started in T-ball and worked our way up to 10-under softball at the cur-rent point,” he said. “I have coached the Lincoln All Stars in the Alabama Recreation and Parks Association state tourna-ment three times, begin-ning in 2009. In 2009 and 2012, my teams were awarded the Sportsmanship Trophy by the ARPA tour-nament committee. In 2010, the Lincoln 8-under All Stars finished in third place in that tournament in Ft. Payne.”

Chappell said many of those girls have moved on to travel softball teams, but many still play in Lincoln.

“I have coached many teams in several sports — football, baseball, softball, wrestling — but that team in 2010 would have to be my favorite,” he said. “I had a great group of coach-

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home

Jeff Chappell was recognized in January by the Alabama Recreation & Parks Association. He received the 2012 Community Service Award “for his substantial contributions to recreation and parks.”

es, even better parents and players who did everything they were asked. I have coached undefeated teams in every sport and have won league championships, but never enjoyed a sum-mer or a group of parents, kids and administrators as much as I did in 2010.”

Chappell began a fall softball team in Lincoln in 2011 and continued it this year.

“This probably pres-ents my biggest challenge, because it takes place dur-ing football season,” he said. “Most days we practice football until 5 p.m. then I run over to softball at 5:30 p.m. My girls love softball and can’t get enough, so we try to give them every opportunity to play.”

“I have also been asked to coach junior high soft-ball at LHS and started my first season in January,” he said. “And I am also, of course, preparing to coach youth league softball in Lincoln again with the 10-under age group.”

Chappell was recognized in January by the Alabama Recreation and Parks Association. He received the

2012 Community Service Award “for his substantial contributions to recreation and parks.”

Chappell’s volunteering is not limited to sports. He began working for Honda Manufacturing of Alabama in 2001.

“Within the first few years, Fran Pope (with HMA) began a program called Volunteer Summer where associates are encouraged to volunteer in their community,” he said. “For every HMA associate who volunteers their time, HMA gives the organiza-tion $100. I have been for-tunate enough to work with AIDB (Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind), Lincoln High School and Lincoln Elementary School through this program. We performed work includ-ing landscaping, cleaning, painting and anything else they request. I have also been fortunate to include Laynie in this activity.”

“I am very fortunate to be associated with people who have a giving heart and are always looking for ways to help others,” he said.

PCHS teacher making a differenceBy DAVID ATCHISONHome staff writer

She gave up a business career to teach, and there are no regrets.

“I sometimes wonder how I get paid for some-thing I love so much,” said Danielle Pope, 26, of Pell City.

Pope has taught at Pell City High School for the past three years, after she left a large accounting firm in Birmingham for a career in education.

“I thought in high school I would be a math teacher,” the Leeds native said. “I always thought I would be a teacher.”

But her priorities changed.

Pope graduated from the University of Alabama

with an undergraduate degree in accounting. She completed her graduate work in tax accounting and passed her CPA, certified public accountant, exami-nation before starting work with Sellers, Richardson, Holman & West, LLP, in Birmingham.

“It is the degree to get,” Pope said. “There are so many opportunities, so many things you can do.”

She worked two to three years with the Birmingham accounting firm before deciding to change careers and move to Pell City with her husband, Mathew Pope, who grew up in Pell City.

Her husband is vice president of Metro Bank,

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home

Danielle Pope goes over instructions with one of her students, Shae Carter.See Pope, Page 9A

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THE DAILY HOME, Talladega and St. Clair counties, Ala., Sunday, February 17, 2013 — 9Afriends & neighbors

and the couple were mar-ried five years in August.

“We met on a church ski trip,” she said.

Pope said they dated through college and mar-ried after she graduated. They are active in church and attend New Hope Baptist Church in Eden.

“I wanted to live, work and go to church in the same community we lived,” Pope said. “We started looking at all our options.”

She said her husband wanted to move back to Pell City to be near the water. At the time they lived in Moody.

“My husband coaxed me out here,” she said. “I love it now.”

As soon as she was hired

by the Pell City School System, the couple moved to Pell City.

This is her third year at the high school, where she teaches accounting, busi-ness finance and business technology.

“It’s sort of funny,” Pope said. “My husband knows all the older generation, and I know all the younger generation.”

Pope is also yearbook sponsor and is one of three advisors for Future Business Leaders of America.

Pope was the valedicto-rian at her high school in Leeds. She also captured the Class 3A Alabama High School State Pole Vault Championship her junior and senior years.

Pope said she is excited

that there are plans to build a new track and field area for students in Pell City.

“It’s difficult to have a good track program with-out a track,” she said. “I hope I will be involved with it. I love track.”

And as for Pell City, she believes she and her hus-band have found a home.

The Popes are expecting their first child in June.

“My priorities will change some outside of work,” she said of the upcoming addition to their family.

And she hopes to con-tinue her teaching career at Pell City High.

“You really feel like you’re making a difference in people’s lives every day,” Pope said.

PopeFrom Page 8A

Jay Adams loves to make people laughBy GARY HANNERHome staff writer

One might say that Jay Adams is a simple man. He’s soft spoken, and never gets upset with anyone. He will be one of the first to tell you he is “old school.”

He has a dry, witty sense of humor, and loves to tell jokes. The man who has called Riverside home the past 25 years just loves to make people laugh.

When you ask him his age, he says, “I’m celebrat-ing the 29th anniversary of my 39th birthday, add 19 years to that, and then take away six years.”

For you math majors out there who are sharp with addition and sub-traction, Adams recently turned 81 years old.

“I was born on President Richard Nixon’s birthday,” Adams said. “That’s Jan. 9, and I was born in 1932, while Nixon was born in 1913. Through the years, I have seen a lot of changes in this world.”

Adams moved to Riverside when he asked Shirley Brannon to be his wife.

His favorite television shows through the years have been “Laurel and Hardy,” “Bonanza,” “Hee Haw,” NASCAR rac-ing, and “The Grand Ole Opry.”

He has enjoyed televi-sion personalities such as Roy Rogers, Archie Campbell and Gene Autry. His favorite musician is Bill Monroe.

Adams does not need any of the newer vehicles of today. He would rath-er brag about how many miles to the gallon his 1989 Honda gets.

“It’s beginning to slip down a little, ‘cause I’m

Jay Adams is pictured in a Cullman studio in 1996, performing on a guitar for a gospel group cutting a cassette. He has played the guitar for more than 40 years.

Jay Adams was surprised at Riverside Baptist Church last year with his 80th birthday party. He is pictured with his children and grandchildren.

only getting 42.5 miles to the gallon right now,” he said with a grin.

The Honda has 225,000 miles on it, and he recently drove it to Kentucky along with his son.

“I’d drive it to California if I had to,” he said. “And I’d drive it to Germany if I had a bridge to go across.”

Early on in his life, Adams started work-ing in the cotton mill in Alexander City, a job he held for six years.

“I then started driving nails for about 20 years, and hardly anybody called me a carpenter,” Adams said. “But I told one lie, and everybody called me a liar.”

When asked what the lie was, Adams laughed and said he couldn’t tell.

Adams learned to lay brick, and became a brick

mason for several years. He retired for a year or two, and then started put-ting vinyl siding on houses until he retired at the age of 73.

Adams is also an enter-tainer. He travels through-out St. Clair and Talladega counties playing the guitar, singing and telling jokes.

One day you may find him at the Pell City Senior Citizens Center, and the next day at the Talladega Nursing Home. Occasionally, you will see Adams in Childersburg enjoying a picking and grinning they have once a week.

Adams enjoys gospel and bluegrass music, and has played the guitar and mandolin for more than 40 years.

“I pick around a little on the piano just to amuse

myself,” he said.He enjoys telling his

grandchildren the story about the Phree Little

Tigs, and then goes into the story about telling the “Three Little Pigs.” He says words that are not

words, and then corrects himself, which makes the children laugh (even those who are older, and have heard it before.)

He said one of the fun-niest jokes he has ever told, and there are many, was when a Southern man was known for making the worst tasting whiskey around.

“The man didn’t believe it, and was walking the road one day,” Adams said. “A Northern man driving a car stopped and asked him for directions. The Southern man made him get out of the car and taste his whis-key. When the Northerner refused (after smelling it), the Southerner pulled out a gun and told him to take a drink. He did, and then the Southerner gave the gun to the Northerner and told him to hold the gun on him while he took a drink.”

Adams enjoys telling people that he is kin to some of the most famous people in the world. He will tell them he is kin to Hillary Clinton.

“When they ask me how we are kin, I just tell them her mother and my mother were both moth-ers,” he said.

Adams has shook hands with three former Alabama governors — George Wallace, Lurleen Wallace and Big Jim Folsom.

He has met such sports figures as Harry Gilmer, Jimmy “Red” Phillips and Harry “The Hat” Walker, who was from Leeds.

“Walker was one of the best baseball managers I knew,” he said.

Adams has also had a passion for racing.

Back in the day, he owned a couple of race

See Adams, Page 10A

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10A — THE DAILY HOME, Talladega and St. Clair counties, Ala., Sunday, February 17, 2013 friends & neighbors

Mable Carlton devotedmost of her life to teachingBy JUNE WINTERSHome staff writer

Mable Carlton has devoted most of her life to teaching in a school classroom, and says if she had it to do over again, she wouldn’t change a thing.

Her first day in the classroom was at the begin-ning of the school year in 1954. She was 20 years old and had just graduated from Jacksonville State University, where she had earned a bachelor’s degree in education. She got a job with the Talladega County School System, and her first assignment was teach-ing first-grade at Gantts Quarry School.

She remembers that first day and looking out at a sea of 6-year-old faces, all smiling, ready and eager to begin their education. She remembers being so excited and ready to begin

teaching them. “Before I began my class, they gave me two pieces of chalk, an eraser, and one text-book for every two stu-dents. That’s a far cry from today,” she said. Little did she know she would have some of these same stu-dents in high school later when she moved to B.B. Comer High School.

After two years at Gantts Quarry Elementary School, Carlton took a position at Comer High, teaching physics and biol-ogy. She would hold this position for 11 years before leaving the classroom and becoming guidance coun-selor for 600 students.

For the next 19 years she served as the school’s guidance counselor, but until today, she said the major part of that job was paper work. “It was not the one-on-one counsel-ing that was really needed.

That was never possible,” she said.

Carlton is quick to say her happiest years were spent teaching in the class-room. “I always felt like I got more from the stu-dents than they did from me,” she said.

Carlton never stopped her continuing educa-tion, and received a master’s degree in guid-ance and counseling at Auburn University, and later went on to obtain a six-year degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “I took a lot of courses at both Auburn and UAB,” she said. “I never believed in wasting time, and I studied every hour I paid for.”

Mable Weaver Carlton was born in Texas during the Dust Bowl. Her par-ents were Dora and Arthur Weaver, and she had one brother and three sisters.

One of her sisters, Mary Weaver Laird, also taught school at Comer for a brief period.

The family moved to Arkansas when Carlton was 6 years old. Three years later they moved to Jacksonville. She finished high school at Jacksonville, and then enrolled at Jacksoville State University. She lived at home with her parents and siblings while she studied at Jacksonville.

He met her husband, the late Reginald Carlton, when she was a junior in high school at Jacksonville, and he was a freshman at Jacksonville University. He had volunteered to serve in the United States Navy during World War II, and after the war he came to Jacksonville University to study on the “GI Bill of Rights.”

See Carlton, Page 12A

Lavenderfascinatedby the pastBy MARKLEDBETTERHome staff writer

Judith Lavender’s life-long interest in history began with her mother, who read history books and anything related to history. History contin-ued to fascinate Lavender through junior and senior high school.

“If you don’t know his-tory, how are you going to know the future,” she said, “and if some of our politicians would look at the past they would know about the future.”

An Alpine resident for 48 years, Lavender is mar-ried to Daniel Lavender and serves as a receptionist at Limbaugh Community Center in Childersburg.

The couple live on 140 acres in Plantersville and have found arrowheads, scrapes, one complete ax head, and grinding rocks on their property.

Lavender said the past fascinates her and she has traced her family’s geneal-ogy for the past 35 years.

Lavender has been a member of the Talladega County Historical Society since the 1980s and has served as its president the past seven years.

She said one of the more interesting histori-cal places in Talladega County is Jackson Shoals. Her interest in the shoals was peaked after discover-ing a picture from 1913 that included her grand-mother.

“I found a picture from 1913 with my grandmoth-er that was made up there, sitting near the dam,” Lavender said.

She researched Jackson Shoals and found the rem-nant of an old dam still on Choccolocco Creek north of Talladega.

At the turn of the 1900s, the city of Talladega needed power for street lights and Anniston needed power to run street cars. A dam was built in 1902-1903 and six mules began to take a gen-erator to the dam. When the generator got stuck in the mud, Lavender said four oxen had to be used to pull the generator out of the mud and complete the trip.

In 1906, investors from New York bought the dam and constructed Lay Dam. Lavender said this was the beginning of Alabama Power Company.

A unique experience Lavender had was assisting a family from Ohio find their long lost family in the Talladega area.

“A lady contacted me looking for her grandfa-ther, who was a preacher who lived and died in Talladega,” she said.

Lavender researched courthouse deeds and discovered the grandfa-ther owned property on Crookshank Street in Talladega in 1890.

What struck Lavender as unusual was there were names of several fam-ily members listed on the deed.

She found a second piece of property in the grandfather’s name with another wife. The first wife had died and the second wife was the mother of the children in Ohio.

Lavender said she for-

See History, Page 12A

cars. One was a 1960 Starliner Ford, but his favorite was a 1965 Dodge Dart.

“It had a 273 engine in it, and I put a 340 in there,” he said. “Someone asked me why I didn’t

put a 440 in there, and I told them it would slow me down. And it would have.”

Adams said he wishes he could have raced against Dale Earnhardt just one time.

“I believe I could have

took him in the quarter-mile,” he said.

One thing Adams is serious about is his faith in God.

He is a member of the Coosa Valley Church of God, south of Pell City. He loves his church fam-

ily and his pastor, the Rev. Eddie Williamson and his wife, Sonya.

He has been a member of a Church of God con-gregation since 1948.

Adams said it is a bless-ing to know he has been saved, and that he has a home in Heaven waiting

for him.“That’s the main thing,”

he said. “The Lord has blessed me for 81 years. I still have my health and strength. I may not be the strongest guy in St. Clair County, but I can hold my own.”

His favorite thing to

do in the summer is cut grass.

Adams has six children and three stepchildren. Two of his children have died.

He said he has too many grandchildren to keep up with.

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AdamsFrom Page 9A

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home

Mable Carlton started teaching in 1954, and says she wouldn’t change a thing about her life.

THE DAILY HOME, Talladega and St. Clair counties, Ala., Sunday, February 17, 2013 —11A

www.fbcspringville.com(205) 467-7979

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First Baptist Church of Springville

2700 Hardwick Rd.Pell City

(205) 338-7995www.cropwellbaptist.org

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(205) 338-2901Sunday

Small Groups 9:30 a.m. Worship Service 10:30 a.m.

WednesdayWorship Service 6:30 p.m.

Fusion Youth 6:30 p.m.Victory Kids 6:30 p.m.

www.victorychristiancenter.cc

VICTORYCHRISTIAN

CENTER

Crosspoint Church

8000 Liles Lane Trussville

205-655-0364www.crosspointchurch.info

PastorRyan F. Whitley

then

ConcordUnited Methodist

Church85 Concord Church Rd.

Talladega(256) 268-0633

PlainviewBaptist Church24343 AL Hwy. 21

Talladega

Kingdom LifeMinistries

International510 Tuskegee St.

Talladega (256) 761-9070

Central Baptist Church

P.O. Box 1085126 Spring St. N., Talladega

(256) 362-4836Pastor: Dr. Sam Tate

Sunday School - 9:45-10:45 a.m.Morning Worship - 11:00 a.m.

Discipleship Training - 5:00 p.m.Evening Worship - 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday AWANA - 6:00 p.m.Prayer Meeting - 6:30 p.m.

Adult Choir Practice - 7:15 p.m.

300 Wells Ave.Talladega (256) 362-0643

Rev. Glen HornSunday School 10:00 amSunday Morning Worship

11:00 amSunday Evening Worship

5:00 pmWednesday Bible Study 5:00 pm

BemistonUnited

MethodistChurch

IronatonBaptistChurch

5938 Ironaton Rd.Talladega (256) 480-5996

Pastor Gary PlummerSunday School 10:00 a.m.Sunday Morning Worship

11:00 a.m.Sunday Night Worship 5:00 p.m.

Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting 6:30 p.m.

Clare PurcellUnited Methodist

ChurchCorner of Nimitz & Allen St.

Talladega

Mt. Ida Baptist Church

Berney Station Rd.Talladega

Harvest Field Church

302 Chandler Cir.Talladega

(256) 315-9741

ArborBaptist Church802 Comer Ave., Pell City

(205) 338-7046Pastor Keith Ray

ArborBaptist.com

New Life Assembly of

God4615 Cogswell Ave.

Pell City (205) 338-2827

Argo Christian Fellowship 936 US Hwy 11

Trussville (205) 467-7062

Pastor Jerry Mahnerwww.argochristianfellowship.com

RaglandUnited

MethodistChurch61 Church St.

Ragland(205) 472-2401

Pastor- Ben VernonSunday School 10amSunday Worship 11amWed. 6:00 pm Dinner

Wed. 6:30 pm Bible Study UMCPastorBen@gmail.com

First Baptist Church of Talladega216 North Street East

Talladega (256) 362-8081www.fbctalladega.comPastor Dr. Dennis R. JonesSunday School 9:15 a.m.Sunday Morning Worship

10:30 a.m.Sunday Evening Worship

5:00 p.m.Wednesday Family Night Supper

5:00 p.m.Wednesday Night Service

6:00 p.m.

Dry ValleyBaptist

1603 Dry Valley Road Lincoln

(205) 763-2800(205) 233-4311

LincolnBaptist Church

21 Chestnut St.Lincoln (205) 763-7351

www.lincolnbaptist.org

Cragdale Baptist Church

2149 Berney StationTalladega

223 Wolf Creek Rd. N.Pell City

(205) 338-7711www.edenwestside.org

PASTOR: JACKY CONNELLSunday Services

8:10 am & 11:00 am Life Discovery

9:35 am Sunday Night Worship

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EdenWestsideBaptistChurch

Our Ladyof the Lake

Catholic Church4609 Martin St. S.

Cropwell (205) 525-5161Pastor: Rev. Michael Sexton, V.C.Daily Mass: Mon., Tues., Thurs.

& Fri. at 9 a.m.Wed. Evening Mass at 7 p.m.

Saturday Mass at 6 p.m.Sunday Masses at 8:30 a.m.

& 11:15 a.m.

Harvest CenterChurch of God

3207 - 8th Ave. N.Pell City, 35125

(205) 338-2853Pastor, Paul A. Lett

Sunday Service8:15 a.m. & 10:45 a.m.

Sunday School9:45 a.m.

Sunday Service6:00 p.m.

Wednesday Youth6:45 p.m.

Wednesday Service7:00 p.m.

SEDDONBAPTIST CHURCH

1015 Hardwick Rd.Pell City

(205) 338-4285Pastor - Dale Foote

FirstUnited

Methodist(205) 338-3374

Traditional Worship 8:30 am & 10:30 am

Wide Open Contemporary Worship

10:30amSunday School 9:15am

Rev. Sam HuffstutlerRev. Arthur Harrison

Website: www.pellcityfumc.org

SylacaugaFirst Assembly

Of God560 Gantts Junction Rd.

Oak Grove (256) 249-2461Pastor Charlie Glover

SycamoreBaptist Church

118 Main StreetSycamore

(256) 249-9488

Odena BaptistChurch

115 Odena Rd. N. Sylacauga

(256) 249-3850

First Baptist Church

200 8th Ave. SWChildersburg

(256) 378-6058Sunday Service:

10:30 am & 5 pm

FirstBaptistChurch

10 Broadway Ave. S.Sylacauga

(256) 245-6301www.fbcs.tv

SERVICE TIMES 9:45 A.M. Bible study for

all ages11 a.m.- Celebration

Worship6 pm - Worship

Wednesday6:00 p.m. Mid-week

Knollwood Presbyterian Church

155 Knollwood Ln. Sylacauga (256) 249-2648knollwoodpres@bellsouth.net

Marble CityBaptistChurch

1512 Quarry Rd.Sylacauga (256) 245-6337marblecitybaptist.com

First United Methodist Church

105 E. Spring St.Sylacauga

(256) 249-0362www.fi rstmethodistchurch.com

Christ Point Church

112 Mission Center110 N Anniston Ave

(256) 249-4364

TheSanctuary46639 US Hwy 280

Sylacauga(256) 207-2464

Freddie Edwards Pastor

Mount OliveBaptist Church21 Mount Olive Circle

Talladega(256) 362-0953

Blue Eye Baptist Church

112 Church St.Lincoln

(205) 763-2322

Tinney StreetChurch of Christ

324 Tinney Street Talladega

(256) 761-1283

StemleyBaptist Church399 Rock Church Road

Talladega (256) 268-9751

Pastor – Carl Armstrong

New Life Church34950 Hwy 21 N.

Talladega(256) 362-2347

Sunday Morning Worship 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

AWANA Youth Club5:30 p.m. Sunday

Wednesday Night Bible Study6:00 p.m.

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Mt. Zion Freewill Baptist Church

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Sunday School 9:45amWorship 10:45am

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Every Sunday 5:00pmSunday Night 6:00pm

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Travis Webster

Ridgeview BaptistChurch

1711 Allison Mill Rd.Talladega

(256) 362-3971Sunday School 9:30 a.m.

Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m. Sunday Evening Worship 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday Service 6:00 p.m.

Pastor: Bro. Joey Boyd

12A — THE DAILY HOME, Talladega and St. Clair counties, Ala., Sunday, February 17, 2013 friends & neighbors

By WILL HEATHHome staff writer

Byron Fincher tells the visitor to his home in Cropwell that his story is best told in two parts.

“I’ve traveled all over the world,” he said. “And, we’ve lived in Pell City now for over 30 years.”

Byron, 90, lives on

Cherokee Road with his wife, Barbara, who is 72. The two have shared a lifetime of service and adventure, and see an ever-changing world outside the window of the house they built together.

“When we moved here (to Pell City), we were the only full-time people on this road,” Barbara said.

“There were a couple of ‘weekenders,’ but we were the only full-time people,” he nodded.

“There are a lot more people living around here now,” he said. “When we moved here, the road was mud and there was no mail service. We got our

See Finchers, Page 13

She finished college before her husband, and was already teaching at Gantts Quarry when he graduated. He was hired by the Coosa County School System, and began his teaching career at Goodwater.

He later transferred to Comer School and was there when she became a member of the faculty.

They lived in Sylacauga all of their married life, and early on they adopted a daughter. She arrived on Carlton’s birthday. The baby was 5 months old, and they named her Becky.

Today she is the wife of Ray Clifton of Sylacauga and they live in Opelika. They have two sons, John and wife Mollie, and Kyle. Both sons live in Opelika and Kyle will be married in the spring.

What does Mable Carlton have to say about teaching? “If you don’t love it, you can’t stand it,” she said. “I just couldn’t wait to teach someone. It was a thrill to see them doing something you had taught them. Some of the students I taught have built bridg-es, helped put a man on

the moon, supervised the building of many defense programs, and engineered projects that have changed so much about the world we live in. Teachers today don’t have the opportunity to teach in the classroom like we did. They are sim-ply drowning in a sea of paper work.”

Carlton is an active member of Sylacauga’s First Baptist Church and the Silvertones (a senior choir). She also teaches in the church’s Awana Mission Program.

She is a member of the Talladega County Education Association.

“Mrs. Carlton had a way of always making you feel good about yourself, and that has not changed,” former student Pat Ivey Danford said. “Recently I went to visit her and I told her one of the things I regretted most about my years in school was that I never studied as hard as I should have. She looked at me and said, ‘If you had really applied yourself and made straight A’s, would you be happier today? Would you really want to change your life?’ What she was really saying to me

was things are just the way they should be, because she knows I’m happy and that’s what is important.”’

Former student Doug Foster, a retired physicist with the United States Government Defense Program, said, “Mrs. Carlton’s excitement and enthusiasm for the study of physics made me decide that was where I wanted to spend my life.”

Waymon Masters, another former student, said, “She always kept me excited about the subjects of physics and biology and I became so enthralled with physics, I spent my work-ing years in the country’s space program at NASA.

Former student Kay Cheshire summed up Mable Carlton’s teaching career perfectly. “Mrs. Carlton just had a way about her. She always made you feel so special. As you sat in her classroom lis-tening to her instructions, she could make you feel like she was talking just to you. She comes to our class reunions when she can, and until today, when she walks in a room, the room lights up. Mrs. Carlton’s just that way.”

Name: AMERICAN FAMILY CARE Width: 9.88 in Depth: 11 in Color: Black plus three Ad Number: 318513

CarltonFrom Page 10A

warded the information to the woman from Ohio, who called back and said they had finally figured out what they had heard tales about — granddaddy had been married before.

The Ohio family found members of the other fam-ily and met for a reunion. Granddaddy’s burial plot was discovered in Westend Cemetery.

Lavender met with the ladies from Ohio for 4 hours one Saturday and discussed things about Talladega during their grandfather’s time.

“We’re lucky to have probate minutes back to the beginning of Talladega County,” Lavender said.

A major project the Historical Association com-pleted was cataloging old records from the county’s beginning through 1952.

The records were stored loose in the courthouse basement, folded and

bound chronologically with pink ribbons. Lavender said volunteers worked for 10 years to complete the proj-ect and records from that era are now alphabetized.

“Working on this project was slow,” Lavender said.

The association is now selling the 50th Anniversary Edition of “Historic Tales of Talladega,” by E. Grace Jemison, edited by Lavender’s son Thomas D. Lavender Jr. and now in its fourth printing. They are offered to the public for $45.

Some of the entries included are “DeSoto’s Visit,” “The Battle of Talladega,” “Mardisville,” “Talladega is Born,” “Inventors,” and several more.

“It is filled with fascinat-ing little things,” Lavender said.

Lavender’s husband is responsible for publishing a CD that includes 22 years of association newsletters published by Vern Scott,

who was a member of the association. The CD is available to the public.

Lavender’s family has also been responsible for some of the county’s his-tory. Her great-grandfather, John Henry Pope, went to work with the county at age 15 and worked with the crew that built the county’s covered bridges.

Some of the bridges, including Kymulga, were constructed as early as 1865, Lavender said.

“Most covered bridges were built in the 1890s through 1937,” she said.

Pope was also a Baptist preacher and helped start Central Baptist Church, then a mission of First Baptist Church in Talladega.

Lavender admits there are others who know more Talladega County history than she. But, she added, “others may know more history but I probably know more about where to go when researching.”

Mark Ledbetter/The Daily Home

Judith Lavender has had a lifelong interest in history, especially Talladega County history.

HistoryFrom Page 10A

Finchers have sharedlifetime of adventure

THE DAILY HOME, Talladega and St. Clair counties, Ala., Sunday, February 17, 2013 — 13Afriends & neighbors

By MARKLEDBETTERHome staff writer

When he is not filing motions or writing briefs, Dean McConatha is writ-ing and singing songs.

The songwriting, sing-ing lawyer is a Sylacauga native who developed a passion for music as a child. He received his first set of drums when he was 9 and learned from his father to play the guitar.

Today McConatha plays a guitar, bass, drums and keyboard and it is not uncommon to find a gui-tar standing in his office.

“I love to do it, enjoy doing it,” he said.

McConatha said he had to put aside his pur-suit of songwriting while attending night school at Thomas Goode Jones School of Law.

He worked 50-hour weeks, left work and trav-eled to Montgomery to attend night school and return home to help with the children.

After graduating, McConatha returned to Sylacauga and partnered with Rubin Bell and has practiced 12 years in Sylacauga. He said the first six years he didn’t have the time he needed for music but devoted time to estab-

lishing his practice.“After five to six years,

my interest revived,” McConatha said. “The music came back; it’s a part of you; as the saying goes, ‘amuse your muse.’”

McConatha said he picked up his guitar and started writing songs again. He has written 100-150 songs.

He began to work with the Nashville Songwriters Association International and started getting serious about writing. He attend-ed workshops and began networking with other writers.

Charles Mitchell co-writes songs with McConatha.

McConatha said Mitchell works with a sub-stance abuse program and is a poet. They exchange ideas by email.

“You write what we are familiar with, and many songs are written with a recovery theme,” McConatha said.

McConatha is also a member of the Weogufka chapter of the NSAI.

“The Weogufka Songwriters adopted me as a member there,” he said.

“Part of the whole thing of being a song writer is you are always perfecting

See Music, Page 14

mail at the post office.”Byron, an electrical

engineer, began working for RCA in 1954. Asked his occupation there, he said simply, “We ran radio stations.

“We built stations every-where,” he said. “Most stuff we did with the govern-ments overseas because at that time the U.S. was the only place with privately owned radio and televi-sion.”

It was work that served him well; a native of Chattanooga, Byron helped to build radio sta-tions in places like Israel, Poland, Iran, Mexico and in Nicaragua.

“He (Byron) called me one time (from Nicaragua),” said Barbara, an executive secretary with RCA at the time. “He said, ‘There’s this group of people lead-ing some peaceful protests outside our hotel. They’re called “Sandinistas.’”

Not so long after he returned home, the Sandinistas turned vio-lent, eventually leading a government overthrow in Nicaragua.

“I accused him (Byron) of being in the CIA,” Barbara said.

He laughed.“I never worked for the

CIA,” he said. “Although there was one time …”

The stories can fill up a page — and an afternoon — in a hurry. Byron said his group built “the world’s largest AM radio station” in Villa Acuna, Mexico (now Ciudad Acuna).

“It was the largest AM station at the time,” he said.

The two came to Alabama in 1976, after years in Camden, N.J. He retired from RCA, and the two have partici-pated in various ventures

296368

FinchersFrom Page 12A

Will Heath/The Daily Home

Byron Fincher, 90, and his wife, Barbara, 72, live on Cherokee Road in Cropwell. The two have worked all across the world, and been active in the Pell City community.

— Fincher and Associates Engineering, and the design and construction of WGMZ radio, in Gadsden — since then.

“I’ve retired three dif-ferent times,” Byron said. “Now I’m completely retired.”

Moving to Alabama was hardly the end of the journey, however. After working in Birmingham, Barbara took a job as executive secretary with St. Clair Regional Hospital. She has remained active in the community as a char-ter member of the local chapter of the American Cancer Society and a member of the Pell City Library Guild.

Through the years, Byron served as part of the local American Legion post — even serving as commander for a time — and in the Pell City Rotary Club. Barbara has served as part of the local YWCA, and with the

Christian Love Pantry. The two were also active in the New London community, with the local fire, water and sewer authority.

“Home is where you live,” she said. “Being a part of organizations made me more a part of the community.”

The two were also active politically — Byron served as chairman of the local Democratic Party, while Barbara served as presi-dent of the Democratic Club. The two estimate they helped register “over 1,000” people to vote, and spearheaded the effort to elect Bill Clinton president in 1992.

They attended his inauguration the follow-ing January, where Barbara even wound up on “Good Morning America.”

“Of course, he (Byron) had been watching a dif-ferent show,” she said. “He missed the whole thing.”

The two have been

witness to a political sea change — Republicans control every major politi-cal office now, both locally and in Montgomery.

“We’re still friends with everybody,” Barbara said. “We’re not as politically involved as we used to be, but we’re still friends with all of them.”

It’s part of the overall change of the area.

“Pell City has really blos-somed out,” said Barbara. “Back then (in 1976), we had Cogswell Avenue, and that was really it.”

Not everything chang-es, however. Barbara said the two still get their mail every day in a post office box.

“I have friends from other parts of the country who ask, ‘Are y’all ever going to move out of the post office?’” she said.

For this couple, picking up the daily mail is part of the journey, as well.

Sylacaugalawyer hasa passionfor music

14A — THE DAILY HOME, Talladega and St. Clair counties, Ala., Sunday, February 17, 2013 friends & neighbors

your craft,” McConatha said. “Being out there (Weogufka Songwriters), listening to ideas, techni-cal corrections; the group critiquing makes you re-evaluate your songs to make to them better.

“There is more to it than picking a tune,” he said. “You have to adjust lyrics and the group serves as a sounding board.

“I can only speak for me, but sometimes you can become so focused on your song until you miss the obvious problems,” McConatha said. “Having others listen can tell you when you get off track.”

“In most country songs, the purpose of the song is to tell a story. As Dave Berg says, ‘in Nashville lyric is king. Daryl Hall (Hall and Oates) describes songwriting as like hav-ing a ‘conversation put to music.’”

McConatha said it isn’t easy for a songwriter to say what he or she wants to say in three and half minutes.

“Every word has to count. That’s why there’s so much focus on the lyric or the idea as opposed to just making the listener feel good musically,” he

said.McConatha stressed

that a songwriter has to love writing songs or they shouldn’t be doing it. He said everyone wants a hit song but regardless the songwriter has to keep lov-ing what is being written and try not to make it feel like work.

“Even though some-times it’s very painful,” McConatha wrote.

In his early years, McConatha traveled with his wife, Sara, who is the elementary department director at the Alabama School for the Deaf, and they sang at weddings, cof-fee houses, churches, and other functions.

McConatha said she usually sang harmony.

McConatha has also played in a band with his son James, and they played “Down At Your Feet.” Since then he has rewrit-ten the song with a softer sound to fit his jazzy-blues sound.

McConatha has audi-tioned and played at the Blue Bird Café in Nashville, a popular venue featuring intimate, acoustic music performed by established singers and songwriters.

“You have to audition to play at the Bluebird Café,”

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MusicFrom Page 13A

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home

The songwriting, singing Sylacauga lawyer, Dean McConatha, has written 100-150 songs. He is pictured singing “Down At Your Feet.”

he said. “And you get to travel in circles where you never know who you are going to run into or meet.

On one occasion McConatha said he met Clare Bowen, the

Australian singer/actress who stars in “Nashville” as Scarlett O’Connor.

Members of the Songwriters Association perform at the Raspberry

Bakery in Sylacauga every Friday night.

Corene Lackey is a member of the Weogufka group and is often respon-sible for scheduling places for group members to

play.“She is great at set-

ting up places to play,” McConatha said.

McConatha is scheduled to perform at Raspberry March 1 at 6 p.m.

Roben Duncan

Parks and recreation a calling for DuncanBy ELSIE HODNETTHome staff writer

For Roben Duncan, parks and recreation is not merely a job — it’s a call-ing.

“It is important to know that not everyone is destined to work in parks and recreation,” said Duncan, who is director of the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Department and current president of the Alabama Recreation and Parks Association. “As I was once told, you have to have talent. Those tal-ents are a gift and not to be taken lightly. God gives us all talents, and for those of us in parks and rec, this is part of ours.”

Duncan said parks and recreation is not a chosen job for her, but a career choice because of her love for it.

“I don’t dread getting up every day and coming to my office, park or center,” she said. “No matter if you are a doctor, teacher, CEO of a large company, stay-at-home mom, construction worker, waitress or what-ever profession, if you don’t like what you do, it’s a job. If you love it — it’s a career choice.”

Duncan said for some people, parks and recre-ation chooses them.

“It chose me in the beginning,” she said. “I began my career in parks and recreation essentially in 1989, when I worked with Kitty Perkins Kidgym gymnastics at the J. Craig Smith Community Center in Sylacauga.”

Duncan said from gym-nastics, she went to work at B.B. Comer Elementary School as the kindergar-ten and first-grade reading computer lab instructor.

“During the summer-time, I like to stay busy, so I began my time at the Sylacauga Municipal Pool as the assistant manager in 1992 up until 1995 when I was hired on as program and senior director.”

Duncan said due to eco-nomic cutbacks, she made the switch to Lincoln in February 2009 as the ath-letic/program director and was appointed director in September of that year. The city had just completed a multi-million dollar sports complex, Lincoln Park, and created a Lincoln Parks and Recreation Department managed by the city.

“We started a num-ber of new programs, including Senior Days, Taste of Lincoln, Spring and Christmas parades, Haunted Trail Ride/Haunting of Lincoln High, Trunk or Treat, Trade Days/Yard Sale Indoor, Easter Egg Hunt, Breakfast with Santa, archery classes and archery team, Arthritis

Exercise Class, Dale Serrano Dance classes and more,” she said.

Duncan said she worked to obtain grants to improve the parks and recreation program.

“Grants we have received included an Alabama Department of Transportation sidewalk grant in 2009, Archery Supply Grant (NASP) in 2010, Community Archery

Park Grant in 2011 and Home Depot Grant in 2012 for renovations to the Lincoln City Center,” she said.

Duncan said Lincoln has also hosted numerous events and tournaments.

“We hosted the 2009 Dixie Youth Baseball 12-under State Tournament, 2010 ARPA District V Basketball and Soccer Tournament; 2012 Cal

Ripken State T-Ball Tournament, 2013 Cal Ripken State 10-under Baseball Tournament, as well as being the home of numerous ASA Softball, USSSA Baseball and Grand Slam Baseball tourna-ments,” she said.

In January, Duncan was inducted as president of ARPA for 2013.

“During my time as president this year, I plan

to go and speak with dif-ferent mayors and councils who may be considering starting a parks and recre-ation program,” she said. “Hopefully I can share some of the things I learned bringing the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Program to the point it is. And hope-fully we can built a good networking association that will benefit everyone in parks and rec.”

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City ‘fortunate’ Taylor animal control officer

By JUNE WINTERSHome staff writer

Michelle Taylor has only been on the job as Sylacauga’s Animal Control officer for eight months, and she’s already convinced she’s found a great home.

She said Police Chief Chris Carden and other members of the police force have made her feel welcome and “they’ve all been ready to help me in any way they can,” she said.

Taylor came to Sylacauga from Montgomery, where she had served seven years as an animal control offi-cer. In fact, her entire life had been lived in the capital city. She was born and raised there by her parents, Harry and Alline Lucy. She was one of five children.

When Taylor was 6 years old, she realized how much she loved animals and was quite a horse lover.

She got a pony that year, and later graduated to quarter horses. She had two — Buck and Cody.

“Until I was old enough to drive while pulling a horse trailer, my mother hauled me and the horses around, and I participated in open horse shows. I did barrel racing and other timed events”

After she graduated from high school, Taylor was able to take the horses by herself and she con-tinued to participate in shows for a while.

Her first job was in Millbrook, just out-side Montgomery. She groomed dogs.

It wasn’t long before Taylor went from groom-ing dogs to working in the office at the Montgomery Veterinarian Association.

In 2005, she left the association and took a job with the Montgomery Police Department’s Animal Control Bureau. She worked there for seven years before coming to Sylacauga.

She credits her husband, Steve Taylor of Rockford, for her being here.

“I’ve always been an avid deer hunter,” Taylor said, “and I belonged to the Buck Masters Hunting Club in Montgomery. We came down to Coosa

County to hunt, and that’s where I met Steve. When we married there was no question about where we would live. I had not only fallen in love with Steve, but I also loved the quiet country life he lived.”

Steve Taylor works for the Alabama Department of Corrections in a pro-gram designed to instruct and assist parolees who are trying to get back into society and make a place for themselves. He helps them get a sponsor who will assist them in finding a job, and helps in other situations related to the release program.

The couple still enjoy hunting together, and this year, she killed an eight-point buck and one doe. Her husband’s bounty included two eight-point bucks and three does. They have the meat pro-cessed, and both love reci-pes using the wild game.

They also enjoy the turkey hunting season, and look forward to opening day March 15.

Taylor patrols the city limits of Sylacauga, pick-ing up stray animals. She is also on call for the citi-zens of the city.

One thing she feels strongly about is the fact that so many people in the area are not properly informed about the local animal control shelter. “They need more edu-cation and information about the function of the shelter. When I pick up a dog or cat, that’s where it goes. The shelter holds the animal for seven days to give owners time to come for them. After seven days the animals become the property of the animal shelter and are evaluated for adoption.”

Taylor encourages any-one who is missing their

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home

Michelle Taylor has been animal control officer in Sylacauga for eight months, and she says she’s convinced she’s found a great home.

animal to call the shelter first before looking else-where. She also encour-ages the spaying and neu-tering of pets.

“We’ve always filled the animal control officer’s position with someone

who was simply waiting to get on the police force,” Carden said. “I have always wanted someone who real-ly knew what the job was all about and had a desire to serve in that position. We have found all of that in Michelle. She comes to

us from Montgomery with a wealth of knowledge and experience in dealing with problems of animal control and the concerns it brings to our commu-nity. She’s very capable and dedicated and we feel fortunate to have her.”

16A — THE DAILY HOME, Talladega and St. Clair counties, Ala., Sunday, February 17, 2013

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