vestavia voice may 2015

By SYDNEY CROMWELL

A new agreement with fiber optics provider Southern Light means Vestavia Hills city offi-cials will soon have faster Internet connections.

At its March 23 meeting, the City Council signed a 20-year franchise agreement allowing Mobile-based Southern Light to operate within city limits in exchange for provid-ing fi ber connections between city

buildings. Vestavia Hills will get to use these fi bers at no cost for all non-commercial, public use.

William Hanes, Southern Light’s director of public relations and communications, said this agree-ment is one of many the com-pany is making with Birmingham municipalities. Southern Light is looking to expand its services to businesses in Vestavia Hills and the

Volume 3 | Issue 1 | May 2015

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Sponsors ...............A4City .........................A5Business ...............A12Food ......................A15

Community .........A19School House .......B11 Sports ...................B17Calendar .............B21

INSIDE

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Living healthy

Rising stars

Read about what Vestavia students made for Birmingham Fashion Week’s Rising Design Star competition.

Local nonprofi t organization HEAL Alabama works to fi ght obesity in schools. Read more inside.

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Volume 3 | Issue 1 | May 2015

Rallying together

Fourth annual Wing Ding to benefi t Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

By KATIE TURPEN

Twelve-year-old Maddie Hagler has a smile that’s contagious. You can usually fi nd the Pizitz Middle School sixth-grader hanging out with friends or playing soccer. She also recently made the middle school cheerleading squad.

What many may not know is that Maddie

was born with cystic fi brosis, a life-threaten-ing disorder that causes severe damage to the lungs and digestive system. Her regular routine involves daily medications and a vest that helps with her breathing.

This month, the Vestavia Hills community has an opportunity to support Maddie and others like her in the area. The fourth annual Wing Ding, a hot wing challenge and festival,

will return to the Vestavia Hills City Center on May 30. All proceeds will benefi t the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The search for a cureMaddie’s father, Clay Hagler, is the board

president of the foundation’s Alabama chapter.

Maddie Hagler (far right) and friends dance to music by Rollin’ in the Hay during the annual Wing Ding at the Vestavia Hills City Center. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Hagler.

City buildings to receive high-speed fi ber connections

See FIBERS | page A23

Rick Moody of the Library in the Forest technology department works in the library server room. The library is one of several city buildings that will receive fi ber optic Internet as part of a city franchise agreement with Southern Light. Photo by Sydney Cromwell.

See WINGS | page A22

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A2 • May 2015 Vestavia Voice

May 2015 • A3vestaviavoice.com

As foretold by The Temp-tations in 1964, it really is all about the month of May. Now that April has served its pol-lenated purpose, drenching us along the way with down-pours that even the cutest pair of wellies can’t handle, the fourth month of the year can just peace on out of here.

Onto the home stretch of the academic year (hat tip to our teachers here, both for all you’ve done these past eight months and all that you’ll put up with as kids slowly zone out of the school mindset this month)! It’s a little bittersweet for us, inching closer to the completion of Ella’s first year of formal K-12 school (how did that happen?) and the start of Connor’s last in preschool (at what point is it no longer okay to refer to your children as “my babies?” Lucky for me I appear to not have embarrassed them with that term just yet).

Onto lake trips and beach trips and eating every single meal (a grilled meat, always) that we can on the back deck.

Onto wading without Puddle Jumper vests and passing big kid swim tests and earning water slide privileges.

Onto rehearsals and recitals and feeling misty-eyed in the audience as we watch our tiny dancer take the stage.

In our house, this month will also mark the 12th year we’ve been a family. My

sorority sister Merritt used to love teas-ing me about our newlyweddish outgoing message on the answering machine (yes, I said answering machine. This was 2003, people). Something about us referring to ourselves – then just the two of us – as “the Walden family” left her in stitches.

It never occurred to me that the word “family” had to mean offspring. What I did know was that on May 24, 2003, I had said “I will” and “I do” with the most conviction I’d ever felt about any decision in what was then my entire 25 years.

And 12 years, two houses, two dogs and two kids later, I’m even happier than

the girl who stood at the altar of Vestavia Hills United Methodist that day. He was then, just as he is today, the heart of our family.

Although for many mamas and daddies, summer is another season of work, these next 10 weeks or so are indeed an easier time to focus on family. We can’t blame carpool or packing lunches or afterschool activities – not until August, at least.

For my own little family, it’s our shared goal to bring home some of that anniver-sary week/family beach trip magic back to Birmingham with us. To remember that we can relish in later bedtimes and qua-si-laid back mornings, and to enjoy the very thing that is always in front of us but impossible to appreciate in the hustle of the school year – each other.

May this be your best May yet!

Love,

About Us

Editor’s Note By Rebecca Walden

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Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights students recently participated in Career Day.


With the end of the school year coming, I’m sure our seniors are excited about upcoming gradua-tion, and moving onto their col-lege careers. I hope they have a great summer and enjoy wonder-ful memories as they conclude their time in grade school and prepare for their next adventures.

In city news, I’d like to update you on the status of Highway 31 repaving. Presently we have work taking place on the shoulders of the roads. Residents have likely also noticed the start of milling some of the turn lanes and crossovers. While some of these areas, particularly as they tear up traffi c loops, will be inconvenient for a little while, please bear with us as we work through these improvements. I do anticipate this work being completed by the end of May. For updated project information, please see our website.

City Hall construction is right on schedule, with a completion date expected in September and an Open House in October.

Work at Patchwork Farms with the Daniel Corporation continues. By the end of May, residents should see construction underway for both the Aspire Rehab Facility and Resort Lifestyle Independent Living for Seniors. We’ve also got three offi ce buildings that will be going in that same area, and we expect

construction for those to begin this summer. We continue to work on retail across from Life-time Fitness, and will hopefully have a grocery and a couple of restaurants there. The multi-fam-ily units are still scheduled for the site behind the fi re station on Cahaba River Road.

Related to our parks and rec services, the City of Vestavia

Hills is undertaking an initiative to develop a master plan – both for the current sites and the future needs of the community. The study will be conducted by Brailsford & Dunlavey.

From a fi nancial standpoint, the City contin-ues to show progress in our top fi ve areas of fi nancial revenue: ad valorem real, ad valorem personal, sales tax, utility franchise fees, and new building construction and renovation.

Have a great summer!

Your Mayor,

Alberto C. “Butch” Zaragoza

City

For more than a decade, neighbors have complained to the city about trash and terrible odors coming from the two-story wood house at 2253 Great Rock Road.

Council orders demolition of Great Rock Road property

By KATIE TURPEN

For years, neighbors have complained to the city about trash and terrible odors coming from the two-story wood house at 2253 Great Rock Road.

During a March 23 meeting, the City Coun-cil entered into a settlement agreement and passed a resolution offi cially securing the dem-olition of the house located at 2253 Great Rock Road. Mayor Butch Zaragoza said the cost of demolition is not to exceed $14,900.

The decision comes after months of inves-tigation by the city. In July 2014, Building Offi cial Keith Blanton and Fire Marshal Greg Gilchrist verifi ed the property as a public nui-sance and that the amount of material found inside the home was a fi re hazard. On Sept. 22, attorney Ben Goldman with the law fi rm of Hand Arendall LLC presented the City Council

with photographs taken on the property and within the home.

“This is a sad situation,” Goldman said. “The scope of the work needed to repair the structure is signifi cant. The city has been attempting to work with the homeowner for years.”

Photos of the inside of the home taken by the city showed large piles of debris and gar-bage and a home in severe disrepair. Goldman said the case has gone on for years because as the city would respond to complaints, Fields would try to address them. But then the prob-lems would arise again, and the cycle would start all over.

During the September meeting, the council declared the home owned by Brenda Fields to be unsafe and ordered it demolished. However, Fields’ attorney, Frank “Trip” Galloway III, fi led an appeal of the council’s decision to Jef-ferson County Circuit Court on Oct. 2.


Mayor’s Minute By Alberto “Butch” Zaragoza

Alberto C. “Butch” Zaragoza

City developing Recreation and Athletics Master Plan

By KATIE TURPEN

There are multiple football, base-ball and softball leagues in addition to lacrosse and soccer teams com-peting for playing space in the city of Vestavia Hills. This demand is expected to increase, as the city is pro-jected to be the home of an additional 1,000 to 1,500 children over the next 10 to 15 years.

The city is looking ahead to the future of parks. In March, the City Council entered into an agreement with program management firm Brailsford & Dunlavey for the devel-opment of a Recreation and Athletics Master Plan.

In 2014, a park committee was formed of city employees and com-munity stakeholders to put a three-part plan into action for Wald Park. Phase one included investigation of the subsurface conditions. The study is currently in phase two, which involves looking at sports needs and getting feedback from the community. Phase three will involve putting a master plan in place and looking at all the financial details.

“In looking at the next 15 years of growth, we wanted to have a clear pic-ture of our future,” said Councilman Steve Ammons.

As part of phase two of the Wald Park study, a master plan is now being developed to include all the parks in the city.

“In talking to other cities where this has worked successfully, it just made sense for us to do this,” said Mayor

Butch Zaragoza.The Recreation and Athletics

Master Plan will have two phases. The first phase will include strate-gic planning, financial analysis and survey implementation. The total fee for phase one is $41,640. Phase two will include the master plan concept.

“We as the board have discussed in-depth the plan for future progress,” Parks and Recreation Board President Tommy Coggins said. “It’s the best move we can make so we’re given a competitive advantage to make all our

parks a success.” “We want to make sure we’re pro-

viding our citizens with what they want to have,” Zaragoza added.

Recent park developments include:

Altadena Valley Country ClubThe city of Vestavia Hills is cur-

rently in negotiations to turn part of Altadena Valley Country Club into a public park with athletic fields and walking trails.

City Manager Jeff Downes and Mayor Butch Zaragoza have been

working with Keith Development Company since December on a plan for the 90-acre property. David Keith, the owner of the development com-pany, wants to turn 30 acres of the country club into single-family homes and donate about 64 acres to create a park.

Downes said this potential new park would respond to resident desires for more walking and biking trails, and it would also relieve pressure on the city’s currently overcrowded athletic fields.

Sicard Hollow pedestrian tunnel During a January meeting, the City

Council passed a resolution autho-rizing the city to enter an agreement with Volkert, Inc. for consulting ser-vices for the Sicard Hollow pedestrian tunnel.

In October, the city approved an agreement with ALDOT for the construction of a tunnel to connect pedestrian routes underneath Sicard Hollow Road. The tunnel will be for both pedestrians and cyclists.

Plans are also in place for a Sicard Hollow community park, which will include an amphitheater for concerts, and 1.5 miles of a crushed stone fit-ness trail will offer residents various workout stations. Pets will be free to roam in a fenced-in dog park. Children will be able to enjoy a playground and a splash park. Additional amenities include a disc golf course and a large picnic pavilion.

McCallum Park bridge With funding help from the

Vestavia Hills Parks and Recreation Foundation, the city’s parks and rec-reation department installed a bridge in McCallum Park in January. Com-pleted in January, the 100-foot stone and wood bridge opens up between 11 and 14 additional acres to visitors.

As part of the bridge installation, parks and recreation workers also cleared away about two acres of underbrush and added some crushed stone trails to around six acres of the park.

With funding help from the Vestavia Hills Parks and Recreation Foundation, the city’s parks and recreation department installed a bridge in McCallum Park in January. Photo by Karim Shamsi-Basha.


During the Pirate Programming class at Pizitz, children are able to learn the basic concepts of computer science through drag-and-drop programming using iPads, Macs and Chromebooks. Photo by Katie Turpen.

Board approves new coding class, principal contract

By KATIE TURPEN

During a March 25 meeting, the Board of Edu-cation approved a new Pirate Programming class at Pizitz Middle School as well as a principal employ-ment contract for Dr. Tyler Burgess.

Pirate Programming is a semester/year-long class offered as an elective to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at Pizitz. Children are able to learn the basic concepts of computer science through drag-and-drop programming using iPads, Macs and Chromebooks.

The unique class, taught by Pizitz teacher Kathy Rogers, was inspired by an event held at Pizitz called Hour of Code, which is an opportunity for every student to try computer science for one hour. The class prepares students for computer classes at the high school as well as a myriad of careers that require digital literacy.

“We decided to expand to a full-length elective because of continued conversations about coding and the large amount of student interest,” Burgess said.

The Board also approved a principal employ-ment contract for Burgess. Effective May 26, Bur-gess will become the new principal of Vestavia Hills High School.

“As we have been reorganizing, our process is to analyze what we are doing. We’ve looked at volume and demographics of our school system and made sure we chose the right person,” said Superintendent Sheila Phillips. “I feel very com-fortable with our decision.”

The Board is in the process of interviewing applicants for the next Pizitz Middle School principal.

In the other news, the Board: } Recognized the Pizitz Middle School Robotics

Team for their hard work throughout the year and success at recent competitions. The team, under the direction of coach Bill McInnish, won a design award for one of its five competition robots on March 7 at the state championships at Jacksonville State University. The team placed 12th overall in the competition, which pitted Pizitz against both middle and high school teams from Alabama. The design award gave the team an automatic berth into the world championship

meet, April 15-18 in Louisville, Kentucky. } Recognized visual arts students across the school district for excellence in the fine arts.

} Recognized members of the Vestavia Hills City Schools Foundation and their recent fundraiser, Dinner and Diamonds, which raised $74,000 for Vestavia City Schools.

} Approved an agreement with Lathan Associates Architects, P.C. in the amount of $300,000 for partial reroofing.

} Approved a contract with Johnny Hamilton Painting in the amount of $47,410 for system-wide painting. This agreement as well as the reroofing agreement with Lathan Associates will be part of summer projects throughout the school system.

} Approved members of the Textbook Committee. } Gave an update on the Strategic Planning process.


City Manager Jeff Downes and Mayor Butch Zaragoza have been working with Keith Development Company since December on a plan for the 90-acre property at Altadena Valley Country Club.

29

Acton R

d Lakeland Trail459

Cahaba River

Council moves forward with site evaluation of Altadena Valley Country Club

By KATIE TURPEN

During an April meeting, the City Council approved a series of agreements concerning design and planning services for a portion of Altadena Country Club that is being considered for recreational use by the city of Vestavia Hills.

City Manager Jeff Downes and Mayor Butch Zaragoza have been working with Keith Devel-opment Company since December on a plan for the 90-acre property at Altadena Valley Country Club. David Keith, the owner of the development company, wants to turn 30 acres of the country club into single-family homes and donate about 64 acres to create a park with athletic fi elds and walking trails.

During the meeting, the council passed the fol-lowing resolutions concerning the proposed site:

} Approved an agreement with Nall Partner-ship LTD regarding annexation. Downes said this agreement serves as the start of a 45-day inspection period that involves looking at var-ious components of the site to determine if it is suitable for the city’s needs. Following the inspection period, the city will go through the process of making sure conditions are met in order to move forward with the development of the property. The targeted closing date is Oct. 1, 2015.

} Accepted a proposal from Holcombe Norton Partners (HNP) for a site study. This proposal includes the design services for the development of an overall master plan. In addition to the Altadena site, HNP will work with the city, Goodwin Mills and Cawood, and Brailsford & Dunlavey, Inc. to assist in the development of the comprehensive recre-ational plan. The cost is not to exceed $10,500.

} Accepted a proposal from Goodwyn Mills And Cawood (GMC) for planning services for the redevelopment of the site.

GMC Director of Engineering Chris Eck-roate stated the services will include the following components: environmental investigation, traffic/transportation study, preliminary hydrologic and hydraulic study, preliminary geotechnical investigation and infrastructure/space planning. The cost is not to exceed $50,000.“Without doing these extensive studies, we

won’t know what to expect,” said Councilman George Pierce. “We want there to be no sur-prises. We want to make sure our citizens are going to get the best possible use out of this site.”

During the meeting, several residents expressed concerns about fl ooding throughout

property in addition to the amount of work needed to prepare the site for recreational use.

“Any time you make plans for a site near the Cahaba River, you have to be very serious,” Downes said. “We will be looking very closely at the multiple environment issues associated with this development.”

As the deal moves forward, Downes said there will be public meetings to discuss the impact a park would have on the Cahaba River, nearby residents and local traffi c and the ways to incor-porate solutions into the fi nal plan.

“This process is going to include public sur-veys, focus groups, etc.,” he said. “These are not going to be closed-door conversations.”

In other news, the council: } Approved an annual tax levy for proper-ties in Vestavia Hills In Jefferson County and Shelby County.

} Entered into an agreement to share respon-sibilities with Jefferson County and the city of Birmingham for road improvements to Sicard Hollow Road from Blue Lake Road to Rex Lake Road. The cost-sharing agreement would require the city to pay 15 percent of costs for the project.

} Passed a resolution to repair a collapsed drainage pipe between the baseball fi elds at Wald Park.


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Celebrating10

Chamber

By REBECCA WALDEN

While Chamber Programming Vice Chair Roger Steur acknowledged that the topic of drug and alcohol abuse is uncomfortable, he also noted the near-record attendance at the Cham-ber’s April 14 luncheon as evidence of the community’s refusal to turn a blind eye to the issue.

After introducing keynote speaker Danny Malloy of the Addiction Prevention Coalition, Steur and others listened solemnly to Malloy’s remarks, which pulled no punches on the realities of heroin addiction.

“I may not look like an addict,” Malloy began, adding that it took failed attempts at 20 rehab programs before he finally got clean in 2010.

The Boston native survived tod-dlerhood with an alcoholic father who would often disappear for days at a time, leaving Malloy to fend for him-self with no food. By age 6, he went to live with his aunt, who set him on as straight a path as she could.

By his ninth-grade year, behavioral scuffles with the nuns in his Catholic school had escalated to incidents of stealing and smoking pot. Though Malloy said pill use was scarce at his high school, access to drinking and marijuana were easy enough and contributed to him barely finishing high school. After struggling through two semesters of college, Malloy was kicked out and lived a nomadic life

Speaking out and speaking upDanny Malloy shares about drug abuse and why honesty wins

with a friend, living in a van, per-forming odd jobs here and there and picking up a distinct taste for opiate painkillers.

“It’s hard to explain to someone who cannot relate to addiction, but after I tried them I remember thinking, ‘I just found God.’ These pills gave me a purpose. They did what God is supposed to do. They filled a hole in my life.”

After two years of that lifestyle, Malloy returned to Boston, where oxycodone became his drug of choice.

To feed his habit, Malloy began selling the drug until he was busted at Dunkin’ Donuts.

“The drug made me a robot,” he said. “I could look you in the eye, steal your purse, then help you look for it and swear it was a guy down the street.”

Malloy said it wasn’t until the arresting officer had his knee on Mal-loy’s back that he began to reflect about what had gone wrong and how he had gotten to this point in life.

It was a fleeting moment, and Malloy was nowhere near earnestly quitting. He quickly escalated to heroin, which led him to wake up in a full seizure during his 15th stint in rehab.

“In the ambulance I looked up and said, ‘If you let me live, I will dedicate my life to helping people.’ But I still didn’t keep good on that promise,” he said.

It took one evening when he was at his dealer’s house, on the sofa rigged up to another man while both shot heroin, before he was jolted into a sincere desire to change.

After watching that man turn blue and almost die, and seeing how mor-ally devoid others in the house were that night, more interested in tossing the man’s body out back than to call the police and risk being arrested, Malloy decided to change for good.

Today Malloy is five years sober, four years happily married, gainfully employed as a graphic designer and social media staffer at the Addiction Prevention Coalition, and speak-ing his truth to impressionable high school students throughout greater Birmingham.

The same man who sheepishly attended his first Vestavia Chamber luncheon two years ago, donning a $30 suit he’d purchased on eBay, today commanded the respect of every single person in the room, as not only a survivor, but as a thriving commu-nity leader.

Mark your calendars for the Cham-ber’s May 12 monthly luncheon, featuring guest speaker Art Tipton, president and CEO of Southern Research Institute.

Chamber of Commerce President Karen Odle, Mayor Butch Zaragoza, Danny Malloy and Councilman George Pierce. Photo by Rebecca Walden.


NBA medical director addresses teens and parents on the dangers of drinkingBy KATIE TURPEN

Parents cannot guarantee what will happen to their children. How-ever, they can guarantee if something occurs, it happened despite all efforts of prevention.

In April, NBA medical director and Vestavia Hills resident Dr. Stephen Taylor drove this point home when he addressed a crowd of parents and teens on the dangers of drinking and how to identify signs of addiction. The Help the Hills event took place at Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church’s Tyson Hall.

For the past 19 years, Dr. Taylor has worked as a licensed child/adoles-cent and addiction psychiatrist. He is also certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine as a specialist in addiction medicine and has focused his training on specialized care of ado-lescents and young adults with drug and alcohol abuse, addiction illnesses and general psychiatric disorders.

Taylor engaged the audience throughout his presentation, asking teenagers to stand up and answer questions about the alcohol culture among today’s youth. His presenta-tion included a slideshow of statistics, which included the following:

} Teenagers who drink are seven times more likely to get into an alcohol-related car crash than teen-agers who don’t drink.

} Teenagers who start drinking at 15

years of age or younger are five times more likely to develop alco-holism than those who do not.

} Teenagers who drink are more likely to become victims of assault. Taylor revealed the three main signs

of addiction: loss of control, contin-ued use despite adverse consequences, and obsessive desire and compulsive seeking. He emphasized that these signs may not be as obvious as the more dramatic ones people are accus-tomed to recognizing.

“Teenagers who drink aren’t just drinking to have fun and relax,” he said. “They are drinking to get sloshed because someone has sold them on this myth that it is a good idea to have a substance destroy parts of their brain.”

Taylor localized the issue by shar-ing facts about teen binge drinking in Alabama. In just one year, 39 homi-cides, 15,500 rapes, robberies and assaults, and 35,000 burglaries, larce-nies and car thefts were reported to have happened in the state as a result

NBA medical director and Vestavia Hills resident Dr. Stephen Taylor addressed a crowd of parents and teens on the dangers of binge drinking during a Help the Hills event in April. Photos by Katie Turpen.


of teenage drinking.“You can’t talk about teenage

drinking without talking about teen-age deaths. The two are linked very closely and go hand in hand,” he said.

One of Taylor’s slides showed how alcohol affects the brain in a series of stages. First, there is the loss of motor coordination and decision-mak-ing skills. This stage is followed by a loss of control over emotions and increased chance of a blackout. The final stage affects heart rate, tempera-ture, appetite and consciousness. This stage can be fatal, Taylor said, sharing several stories of teenagers who died

from alcohol poisoning. Following his presentation, the

teenagers left for a breakout ses-sion. Judge Shanta Owens moderated the session led by panel of young adults: Brad Blount, Paige Castleberry and recent VHHS graduate Joe Peter-son, who lost his brother, Jake, to a drug overdose in 2011.

During this time, the parents met with Dr. Taylor for a question-and-an-swer period. Taylor shared tips with parents on how to spot signs of addiction and prevent it from hap-pening to their children.

1. Establish a trusting relationship with your child.

2. Make it easy for your teens to talk honestly with you.

3. Keep tabs on your child.4. Talk with your teens about alcohol

facts and reasons not to drink.5. Develop and enforce clear and con-

sistent rules.6. Set a good example regarding your

own alcohol use. Model more after what you do than what you say.

7. Encourage your child to develop healthy friendships and offer fun alternatives to drinking.

8. Know warning signs of

addiction and act promptly.9. Believe in your own power to help

your child avoid alcohol or drug use.

10. Help your children dissolve the myth that alcohol is a “magic potion” that will make them feel cool.

Taylor told parents that they have more influence than anyone else on their children’s behavior and left them with a final takeaway.

“There is always that possibility that they will develop an addiction. What you can guarantee is that if something happens, it happened against all of

your best efforts at prevention.”Help the Hills, an initiative of Lead-

ership Vestavia Hills, was formed in an effort to foster open dialogue with parents, educators and community leaders about drug and alcohol use among youth. The organization hopes to provide information, tips and strate-gies to help parents have mature con-versations with their children about these topics. This event was the third town hall meeting Help the Hills has presented within the past year.

For more about Help the Hills, visit, leadershipvestaviahills.com.

Brad Blount, Joe Peterson and Paige Castleberry were a part of a young adult panel during the Help the Hills event.


}} Alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug among youth in the United States, more than tobacco and illicit drugs, and is responsible for more than 4,300 annual deaths among underage youth... }} People aged 12 to 20 years drink 11 percent of all alcohol consumed in the United States. More than 90 percent of this alcohol is consumed in the form of binge drinks.}} On average, underage drinkers consume more drinks per drinking occasion than adult drinkers.}} In 2010, there were approximately 189,000 emergency rooms visits by persons under age 21 for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol.

}} Drinking too much, including binge drinking, cost the United States $223.5 billion in 2006, or $1.90 a drink, from losses in productivity, health care, crime, and other expenses.}} Binge drinking cost federal, state, and local governments about 62 cents per drink in 2006, while federal and state income from taxes on alcohol totaled only about 12 cents per drink.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Teen drinking: The facts

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Vestavia Hills Business Happenings

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Now OpenPlanet Fitness is now open in the

Vestavia Hills City Center, 700 Montgomery Highway, Suite 138.208-0398, planetfi tness.com

Jimmy John’s is now open in the Vestavia

Hills City Center at 1919 Kentucky Ave., Suite 121, in

the former Sweet Frog Yogurt location.637-0707, jimmyjohns.com

BOMA Beautiful, a makeup and skin care boutique located at 3129 Cahaba

Heights Road, is now open. Owner Kerri Bunn hosted an open house and offi cially opened the doors for business on April 16.bomabeautiful.com

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Coming SoonShannon Waltchack and Harris Doyle Homes have announced

they will build a 5,000+ square foot garden offi ce building at 4509 Pine Tree Circle near the new Grandview Medical Center. No timeline has been set for the building to be completed.977-9797, shanwalt.com

Relocations and Renovations

Lovette Construction, a residential remodeling fi rm owned by Clint

Lovette, has relocated from Homewood to 2030 Columbiana Road. Among other things, the new offi ce includes a showroom for clients.401-2488, lovetteconstruction.com

New OwnershipAnytime Fitness, 1360 Montgomery Highway, Suite 120, has been bought

by Morgan Smith.822-5955, anytimefi tness.com

News and Accomplishments

Reliance Financial Group, 1400 Urban Center Drive, Suite 475, has

entered a partnership with Four Seasons Wealth Management, a fi rm with offi ces in Naples, Florida, and St. Louis, Missouri.397-2450, rfgadvisory.com

Griswold Home Care, 1008 Montgomery Highway, Suite 201,

is now Lipford Home Care. The agency is still owned by Dennis and Kelly Lipford, but it is now an independent agency offering home care services throughout the area.623-5700, lipfordhomecare.com

Lovette Construction, 2030 Columbiana Road, won several

awards at the 2015 Home Builders Association of Alabama AREA (Alabama Remodeling Excellence Awards) competition in April.401-2488, lovetteconstruction.com

Hirings and Promotions

Tucker Family Dentistry, 2496 Rocky Ridge Road, welcomed Dr.

Marta Poczatek to its practice in January She is now accepting new patients.822-6669, tuckerdentistry.com

Beckum Kittle, LLP, 3108 Blue Lake Drive, Suite 100, has hired

Anna Hart as an associate attorney. Her areas of practice include family law, probate law, criminal law and personal injury law.419-8068, beckumkittle.com LJ

ARC Realty, 4274 Cahaba Heights Court, Suite 200, has hired Brandi

Ard, Pierce Prescott, Cassie Moore, Marguerite Haynes, Kate O’Quinn, Charlie Graham and Lindsay Larimer as Realtors.969-8910, arcrealtyco.com

RealtySouth’s Over the Mountain Acton Offi ce, 2409 Acton Road,

Suite 137, welcomed Meg McCarthy as a new agent.978-9000, realtysouth.com

AnniversariesEye See Optical, 625 Montgomery Highway, is celebrating its 10-year

anniversary this month.822-4696

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Business

Frozen dessert shop opens in Cahaba Heights

By KATIE TURPEN

There’s a new place in town to pick up fluffy shaved ice spheres this summer.

Bahama Bucks, a business special-izing in frozen desserts, opened in Cahaba Heights in March. The Sno-2Throw party special is one of several party packs the store offers.

The Bahama Bucks concept began in Lubbock, Texas, and has since expanded across the country. The Vestavia location is the first Birming-ham location, but franchise owner Jay Yarborough is also set to open one in Pelham as well as Tuscaloosa.

“We focus on the experience,” said Yarborough. “We want customers to walk in, take a mini vacation from the real world and escape for just a moment.”

When guests walk in the store, they see the tropical theme incorpo-rated from floor to ceiling, with surf-boards and tiki hut décor attached to the walls. The theme carries over into best-selling items like the Bahama Rama Mama. They start with a scoop of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream and then add shaved ice and flavors of

customer’s choice. The whole thing is topped off with Tropic Crème. Shaved ice flavors include everything from Sugar Cookie to Coconut Crème Pie

to Cherry Colada, all of which Yarbor-ough said are well researched.

Additionally, the store also offers smoothies, fruit cups, frozen coffee

drinks, lemonades/limeades and sodas. Yarborough says he has been pleased with business. Bahama Buck’s Paradise Party Pack serves 25 and

includes everything you need to make your own snow cones.

“People still come all the way from Texas,” he said. “We see everyone from youth groups to little league teams.”

Yarborough said he wants to be an integral part of the community. Bahama Bucks will be offering spe-cials for Teacher Appreciation Week in May and also has program called BEEP (Buck’s Encouraging Education Program), which supports local stu-dents by rewarding accomplishments and developing teacher-student rap-port. Educational programs in need of sponsorship should contact the store directly, he said.

“We want to give back to the schools through fundraising,” he said. “We are proud to be a part of the Vestavia Hills community.”

A Bahama Bucks employee puts the final touches on a Tiger’s Blood shaved ice treat. Photo by Katie Turpen.


Enjoy a sweet treatRECIPE Chex Scotcharoo Haystacks

6 cups Chex cereal

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

2 cups butterscotch chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup Heath bits

Butter a large bowl, and measure 6 cups of Chex cereal. Set aside. Line a baking sheet with wax paper.

In a small saucepan, combine the corn syrup and sugar over medium heat. Stirring constantly, slowly bring to a boil. After boiling, immediately remove

By AMY JASON

Chex Scotcheroo Hay-stacks are the new favorite sweet treat at our house. If you prefer, skip the butter-scotch chips for the topping, and substitute chocolate chips. Kids can help with this recipe, it’s hard to mess it up.

Perfect for an after school snack, picnics, the lake, or the beach, this fun and fabulous dessert is fast, easy, and irre-sistible. Warning: You may even have to hide them from yourself!

Amy Jason, a Vestavia wife and mother of three, is an avid baker and cookie connoisseur. She believes that sharing “a little sacka sugar” from your heart and from your kitchen is the sweetest way to spread some smiles. She doesn’t always know what’s for dinner, but she always knows what’s for dessert! Amy can be con-tacted at [email protected].


from heat and stir in 1½ cups of peanut butter. Pour over cereal and gently stir together. Use a large cookie scoop to drop cereal onto wax paper, and use your hands to press together and form them into a “haystack.”

Using a microwave safe dish or a double boiler, melt together chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, ½ cup of peanut butter and vanilla. If microwaving, heat in 20 second intervals, stirring in

between to prevent the choc-olate from burning.

Once smooth, pour over the haystacks you have cre-ated. Sprinkle Heath bits on top, if desired.

Refrigerate until firm. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Option- if you don’t prefer butterscotch, substitute 2 additional cups of chocolate chips instead of the butter-scotch chips in the chocolate topping.

Winners will be announced in the September issue.Category 1: Any summer fun photoCategory 2: A summer fun photo displaying a copy of Vestavia Voice wherever you are

Winners will be announced in the September issue.Winners will be announced in the September issue.

Summer Summer

FUNPhoto Contest

#VestaviaSummerFun

To enter, email your photos in a jpeg format

to [email protected].

Please send high quality images and include

a caption and photo credit.

Only four photos are allowed per person.

Or

Deadline is August 9, 2015


Sail into summer reading, superhero style

By REBECCA WALDEN

Just about the time that summer’s novelty has worn off, when having nothing to do goes from thrilling to boring, never fear – the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest superhe-roes are here.

With its Summer Reading Kickoff Party Sunday, May 31 from 2 to 4 p.m., residents of all ages and reading levels are encouraged to turn up in celebration of this year’s theme – “Every Hero Has a Story.”

In true Library in the Forest fashion, Chil-dren’s Director April Moon is taking a depar-ture from the predictable, and mixing up this year’s program with not only the superheroes known to all, but also funny, made up super-heroes as well.

The Library will accept registrations for the Summer Reading Program as early as May 25, although programs and prizes will not begin until Monday, June 1, following the kickoff party. The first 500 to register at the kickoff party on May 31 will receive special goodie bags with merchant coupons.

Weekly prizes will be earned by playing games focused on library visits and program participation. Summer reading enrollees will also collect reward stickers for checking out materials during their weekly visits to the Library. Readers who turn in their stick-ers during the last week of the program will receive a special prize.

For those who wish to log in their summer reading activity online, the Library will also accommodate this through an entirely sepa-rate program, which will go live on Monday, May 25. Moon encourages interested summer readers to participate in both the in-library and online versions; there is no need to choose one or the other. More participation = more prizes!

“Any reading is good reading in the summer,” Moon said. “If kids want to revisit books they enjoyed when they were younger,

that is encouraged! The point is to keep them reading. Vestavia schools do not have an offi-cial Summer Reading list, but some teachers will send home suggested titles. We are always happy to give them recommendations.”

For parents enrolling their young ones in Summer Reading for the first time, Moon said a visit to the Beginning Reader section is sure to please.

“These books range from just beginning to recognize words to ready to move up to chapter books. Generally speaking, these are our most eager readers and parents will take stacks of these books because they read through them very quickly. I always make sure I have plenty of Super Hero books, Lego books, Disney books, Fly Guy books and Barbie books in this area.”

During this last month of the school year, Moon encouraged parents to be sure and ask their children if they’ve had any special visitors talking about Summer Reading at the Library.

“It’s the thing that gets me every year – the kids’ response to the visit I make to the schools prior to the start of Summer Reading,” she said. “Because of the tight school schedules, we don’t get to visit as often as we would like, so this is my big chance to get in the schools and see every child. I always plan something silly to promote the new theme and try to get the kids excited about coming to the library in the summer for the program. I love it when they come in after that, looking for me, and wanting to let me know they came in to sign up. They are so precious, with those ‘I remember you’ comments and ‘I’m here!’ responses. It really warms my heart.”

This year, the Library is also adding two new events as part of its Summer Reading Program.

“We are adding a Father/ Daughter Cinder-ella Tea on Saturday, June 20 and in July, a Mother/ Son Hero Games program on Satur-day, July 18,” she said. “This is the first year we are having some Saturday programming, and we hope it will be a hit.”

With its Summer Reading Kickoff Party Sunday, May 31 from 2 to 4 p.m., residents of all ages and reading levels are encouraged to turn up in celebration of this year’s theme – “Every Hero Has a Story.” Photos courtesy of Taneisha Tucker.


Local student teaching self-love through photography project

By REBECCA WALDEN

On a night when other girls her age were more likely to be surfing the Internet for One Direction gossip, Colombian-born Mariana Pimiento was watching Charlie Hebdo.

“I was in shock that I had just witnessed in 15 seconds someone’s entire life being taken away,” said Pimiento, a junior at VHHS.

She’d originally turned to the web for inspi-ration on what would become her next photog-raphy project. A year prior, Pimiento had been on the eve of launching Project Bare, a photo-graphic celebration of natural beauty, when her computer crashed, taking the entire project along with it.

It took one year and much prodding from friends and family to revive Project Bare before Pimiento was ready. But a reboot of the old idea didn’t appeal to her.

“[After watching the Charlie Hebdo video footage], this project idea came to me,” she said. “Instead of celebrating the physical beauty of people, why don’t we celebrate their entire existence?”

After researching numerous names, careful to steer away of anything clichéd, Pimiento said she came across the word “essere,” which in Italian means “to be or to exist.” And Project Essere was born.

At its core, Project Essere is an invitation to women of all ages and backgrounds to fully embrace all that they are, unconditionally.

At her website, Pimiento invites readers to submit what they vow “to be” through one of three ways — Instagram posts including the hashtag #vowtobe and submitting an individual interview, either via a contact form on the web-site or, like the 29 “Essere Girls” in her video,

through a video response to questions ranging from, “Why do you love yourself?” to “What do you think being alive means?”

Pimiento’s goal for the project is to change how normalized negative self-talk has become.

“A key point to this project is self-love,” Pimiento said. “It is the normal thing now to be self-conscious and to be negative about not only your body but about every part of you. This is appalling. It should be the normal thing to love yourself and love yourself completely. You are worthy of life, care, and most importantly your

own love.”To help spread that message, Pimiento shared

the Project Essere idea on social media, and quickly amassed a list of 45 fellow students who wanted to participate. That original list was culled down to 29, given Pimiento’s limited days to shoot.

Filming wrapped in February, and in the weeks since, Pimiento has seen Project Essere go international.

“My family has been very involved in pro-moting it back home,” she said, adding that

she’d love for it to go worldwide. “That is one of the things about this project — it can apply to anyone. No matter what your culture, religion or race, we want to celebrate you!”

And as wise beyond her years as Pimiento may seem, she readily admitted that Project Essere taught its creator more than a few lessons in the process.

“I was definitely scared of rejection from my peers,” she said, adding that of those she asked to participate (many were volunteers), she delib-erately did not ask a few for fear of being turned down. “That’s something I personally have to work on — not being afraid of rejection.”

Pimiento added that she also experienced a twinge of guilt as she came to know the women who did participate.

“I got to meet so many amazing ladies,” she said. “These are people who I’ve gone to school with my whole life and never said a word to; I am guilty of having made pre-judgements about people at school, but working on this completely changed my perspective on those people.”

As Project Essere made the rounds with other students and faculty, Pimiento said the over-whelmingly positive response taught her that it had changed the perspective of others too.

“It’s scary to release something so personal and so different and be put on the spot so that others may judge you,” she said. “I did not expect such a good response. We showed it at the school, and many people (and teachers) came up to me to express their love for the project and their gratitude. It is very rewarding when people appreciate the hard work and effort, especially in high school.”

To see the results of Project Essere and learn more, visit projectessere.com/joinessere.

Seventeen-year-old Mariana Pimiento is the creative mind behind Project Essere, a social media project and women’s empowerment movement focused on the concept of self-acceptance and love. Photo courtesy of Mariana Pimiento.

Go online for more.


CommunityLibrary in the Forest receives Gold Medal award By KATIE TURPEN

In March, representatives from the Alabama Library Association’s Standards Committee visited the Library in the Forest. After touring the facility, the committee awarded the library with the Gold Medal, the association’s highest honor given to a public library in the state.

“This was due to the hard work and commitment of the staff, along with continuous assistance and support from the community,” said Library Director Taneisha Young Tucker.

The award is given based on facility size and quality, long-range planning and provided sources

and technology. Official recogni-tion will take place in April at the ALLA Convention.

The library is making plans to add a 3-D printer for patron use and also researching the possibility of adding a maker space to the facil-ity. In December, residents received the library’s annual mailer, high-lighting why the library is the place for access and technology as well as a place to meet and study.

The addition of a 3-D printer to the library’s circulation space will be just the first of many changes the library plans to roll out throughout 2015.

For more, visit vestavialibrary.org.

Joseph Brooks DeLozier

Vestavia Hills teen earns Eagle Scout rank Joseph Brooks DeLozier, a member of Boy

Scout Troop 28 at Independent Presbyterian Church (IPC), was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout in a Court of Honor Ceremony on Sunday, March 15.

For his Eagle Scout project, DeLozier disman-tled and rebuilt a stone and concrete pathway in the Shade Garden of the Children’s Fresh Air Farm (CFAF). He also cleaned the adjoining flowerbeds, moved and reassembled a bench and planted ever-greens in on-site decorative containers. The project was particularly meaningful to DeLozier since he is a member of IPC, which owns the Farm and uses it for its Summer Learning Program. The Gardens

are used for educational and enrichment purposes for children who come from inner city, at-risk ele-mentary schools and attend the program to combat documented summer learning loss.

As a member of Troop 28, DeLozier earned 21 merit badges and served as patrol leader. He was inducted into Order of the Arrow and received the God and Country Award. He attended the National High Adventure Philmont Ranch in New Mexico, where he hiked to the summit of seven peaks, cover-ing more than 120 miles of steep terrain in 12 days.

The Vestavia Hills High School senior plays defense on the Vestavia Hills varsity lacrosse team

and will continue his lacrosse career at Birming-ham-Southern College. DeLozier serves as Director of Spirit for VHHS’s Student Government Associ-ation, is a member of the National Honor Society, sings in the Honor Choir and the a cappella group Just Singin’, and is captain of a fundraising team for Relay for Life. He serves as Acolyte captain and is a member of the Westminster Choir and youth group at IPC.

DeLozier is the son of Cathy and Barry DeLozier of Vestavia Hills. He is the grandson of Fred and Joyce DeLozier of Birmingham and Ron Weaver of Mobile.


In April, Art in the Hills was held at the Vestavia Hills City Center. A variety of vendors were present and musical entertainment was provided. Children enjoyed balloon art. Photo by Katie Turpen.

Guests enjoy Art in the Hills

One brainy day Local family’s annual fundraiser to benefit brain cancer research

By KATIE TUPREN

In November 2013, Lucy, age 10, and Ruby, age 8, lost their father, Scott Harris, to glioblastoma brain cancer. The girls never got a chance to meet their grandfather, Roland Fields, who passed away in 1994, also from brain cancer.

In May 2013, the girls held a lemonade and cookie stand to raise money for their father’s hospital at UAB. The girls raised $3,000 for Wheeling for Hope, a nonprofit organization that benefits brain cancer research and patient support services at UAB and Children’s of Alabama.

Last year, the girls expanded their lemonade stand concept into Lucy & Ruby’s Brainy Day. More than 300 people attended the event, which raised $13,000. The girls plan to hold the Brainy Day each May, which is Brain Cancer Awareness Month, as a way to keep their father’s memory alive and provide hope to others currently living with brain tumors. The event is coordinated by Lucy and Ruby’s mother, Lisa Harris, and her co-workers at o2ideas, a local branding and advertising agency.

The second annual Lucy & Ruby’s Brainy Day will be held this year on May 9 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Mountain Brook Community Church’s University Christian Fellowship House. Musician Roger Day from Nashville, Tennessee, will be performing along with The Undergrounders. The fundraiser will also feature food trucks, a silent art auction, prizes, face painting, games, cookies and lemonade.

The event is free, but donations are requested upon entry. To learn more, visit lucyandruby.com or their Facebook page at Lucy and Ruby’s Brainy Day.

The second annual Lucy & Ruby’s Brainy Day will be held this year on May 9 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Mountain Brook Community Church’s University Christian Fellowship House. Photos courtesy of Lisa Harris.


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Mr. and Mrs. Kirby Sevier of Mountain Brook are pleased to announce the engage-ment of their daughter, Jennifer Lyndal, to Mr. Daniel Hendrick Walters, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Everett Walters III of Vestavia Hills.

Miss Sevier is the granddaughter of Mrs. Landers Sevier III and the late Mr. Landers Sevier III of Birmingham, and the late Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Louis Simenson of Huntsville.

She is a graduate of Mountain Brook High School and a cum laude graduate of Auburn University, where she was a member of Kappa Delta sorority. She received a Masters in Busi-ness Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she finished in the top 5 percent of her class and was named to the UAB Chancellor’s List for students with the highest academic distinction. She was presented at the Ball of Roses, the Heritage Ball and the Redstone Ball. Miss Sevier is employed at EBSCO Creative Concepts.

The future bridegroom is the grandson of Mrs. Milton Gilmore Hauser and the late Mr. Milton Gilmore Hauser of Sherman, Texas, and the late Mr. and Mrs. Charles Everett Wal-ters Jr. of Vestavia Hills. He is a graduate of Vestavia Hills High School and the University of Alabama, where he was a member of Phi

Gamma Delta fraternity and received a bache-lor’s degree in business marketing. Mr. Walters is currently the vice president of Charles E. Walters and Company, Inc.

The wedding is planned for July 11 at Church of the Highlands Chapel in Birmingham.

Leadership Vestavia Hills honors graduates

By KATIE TURPEN

On Tuesday, April 7, Leadership Vestavia Hills (LVH) honored its 2014-2015 graduat-ing class as well as Youth Leadership Vestavia Hills participants. Jen Barnett was the guest speaker.

Members of this year’s class presented their projects, which included Swim Safety in the Hills, a community survey, community garden and youth mentoring.

LVH also honored Youth Leadership Vestavia Hills participants. Students are eli-gible to apply for membership at the end of their freshman year. Participants then attend a summer training retreat and are given opportunities to practice and perfect their leadership skills through a variety of Youth Leadership Vestavia Hills programs through-out high school. These include everything from

freshman mentoring and new student orienta-tion to various service projects and fundraisers, including Relay for Life.

Leadership Vestavia Hills is a leader-ship development program that trains citizens to become leaders enhancing economic growth and quality of life in Vestavia Hills. One of the program’s primary objectives is implementing annual class projects. Through these initiatives, individuals become aware of the social and economic changes affecting the city.

LVH meets once a month from September to April. Projects are determined and selected by the class in October. Past class projects include Youth Leadership Vestavia Hills, Wing Ding and Help the Hills.

Applications are accepted each spring. For more information, visit leadershipvestaviahills.com

Youth Leadership Vestavia Hills members were honored during an April graduation event.

Have an engagement, wedding or anniversary announcement? Email [email protected] to

have it included in an upcoming issue!

CelebrationsSevier-Walters


As he’s watched his daughter grow up, he’s been excited to see important milestones happen in research with new drugs being used to treat the disease. He said his daugh-ter has handled everything quite well, and he has been impressed with other children he’s seen fi ghting CF.

“It’s wonderful to see these children have a sense of maturity about it,” he said. “It really instills in them a sense of helping others.”

Cystic fibrosis affects approximately 30,000 children and adults in the United States. It produces a mucus that clogs the lungs and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food.

When the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was established in 1955, children with CF rarely lived long enough to attend elementary school. Today, many people with the disease can now expect to live into their 30s, 40s and beyond.

“CF patients may spend signifi cant time in the hospital, and average 30 pills a day plus two 45-minute breathing treatments as part of their daily routine,” said Jennifer McEuen, associate executive director of the founda-tion’s Alabama chapter.

The organization funds research and drug development, ensures treatment access and implements newborn screening for CF.

Hot sauce and cool musicThe Wing Ding began as a 2011 Leadership

Vestavia Hills class project. The class sought to create an event that broke age barriers and brought the entire Vestavia Hills community out to celebrate together. They chose to sup-port the fi ght against cystic fi brosis not only to raise awareness for community members suffering from the disease, but also because they felt the organization was a good steward of its funds.

“This CF event is completely communi-ty-based,” said Clay, who has participated in

4th annual Vestavia Hills Wing DingSaturday, May 30

11:30 a.m.– 2:30 p.m.

Vestavia Hills City Center

$5 for adults, free for children 8 and under

Proceeds benefi t Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Featuring: } Wing-cooking competition } Live music by Rollin’ in the Hay } Kids Zone including a moonwalk

facebook.com/VestaviaWingDing

WINGS CONTINUED from page A1


many CF events and walks through the years. “We started out raising several thousand dol-lars, and it’s just grown bigger every year. All the money goes to research.”

Event Chair Lilla Hood said they hope to eventually host the event at the new City Hall, which is expected to be complete this fall.

“We have a great community, but we don’t really have a downtown like surrounding cities,” said Hood, who was part of the 2011 class that developed Wing Ding. “So to have an event like this where everyone can come together is great. It’s a great time to visit with your neighbors.”

For more about Wing Ding, visit facebook.com/VestaviaWingDing or call Lilla Hood at 585-7564.

For more about the Alabama chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, visit cff.org/Chapters/alabama/ or call 870-8565.

The Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk will be hosted at Hoover’s Veterans Park on May 16. Two of those participating are Madison Waldrop, left, and Maddie Hagler, lifelong friends from Vestavia Hills.

Vestavia girls join cystic fi brosis walk

By MARIENNE THOMAS OGLE

The Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk will be hosted at Hoover’s Veterans Park on May 16. It is expected to draw a large crowd in celebration of area fundraising for the cure and control of the disease.

Two of those participating are Madison Waldrop and Maddie Hagler, lifelong friends from Vestavia Hills.

Maddie, 12, has cystic fi brosis and Mad-ison, 11, has made it her mission to raise money to help her friend and others with the disease.

“I’ve been taking part in the walk since I was three and have had bake sales and lem-onade stands and sold duct tape bows for

fundraisers,” Madison said. “CF affects a ton of people, and the [Cystic Fibrosis] Founda-tion does a lot to help fi nd new drugs to help these people. I can’t wait to get out to the walk and see all the teams again.”

The Great Strides Walk will begin with a 9 a.m. check-in followed by the 10 a.m. walk and run, according to Jennifer McEuen, asso-ciate executive director of the Alabama chap-ter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. There will be breakfast food, children’s activities and some special guest appearances. There is no fee for the event but organizers encourage participants to make donations, McEuen said.

For more information or to sign up for the Great Strides Walk, go to cff.org/Chapters/alabama.

Birmingham metro area. Hanes said the com-pany will be able to provide up to 100 gigabytes of bandwidth to city buildings.

“The thing that really sets us apart is the mas-sive amount of capacity we’re able to provide,” Hanes said. “Activating our network in Vestavia Hills will be an economic development asset for

the city and region, as all companies now need access to high capacity fi ber.”

The fi bers will fi rst connect the new munic-ipal center, Parks and Recreation and the Civic Center on Merryvale Road, the Library in the Forest and the city shop on Highway 31. Eventu-ally, this would form the backbone of a network to other city buildings such as police and fi re stations. Southern Light will use some strands of the cables to provide Internet access to the city,

and the others will be used for corporate custom-ers such as hospitals, banks and wireless carriers.

“It increases the volume and sheer speed that we would have in direct connections,” City Council member Steve Ammons said.

First, Southern Light has to map out its net-work and get permits to lay the fi ber cables throughout the city. Cables will either be buried underground or strung from poles. Though some of the cable will be laid near roadways, Hanes

said Southern Light’s system involves “very, very minimal” disruption to traffi c or the local environment.

The franchise agreement states that the com-pany will make “its best efforts” to get the fi ber connections running by Sept. 30. However, Hanes said the project is planned to begin by the end of 2015 and he does not know the expected end date.

FIBERS CONTINUED from page A1


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SECTION BSchool House B11Sports B17Calendar B21

A healthier AlabamaLocal nonprofit organization

fighting obesity in schools

By REBECCA WALDEN

Christy Carlson had carved out an enviable life for herself in Los Angeles.

She claimed World Champion Pro-fessional Watercraft Racer titles. She also had successful turn in film and television stunt work in addition to a side gig as a media personality and magazine columnist.

A sought after athlete for several commercial endorsements, Carlson

became a go-to voice in the world of water sports, known for her outspo-ken views on jet ski related injuries, and for her volunteer work in helping the Coast Guard refine its search and rescue techniques.

But in 2002, Carlson opted to leave it all behind, relocating to Vestavia Hills after marrying Dr. Swaid N. Swaid.

Taking away the trappings of L.A. left Carlson (now Swaid) to dig her heels into her new community and all

its cultural nuances.One of the most charming, she dis-

covered, food as a means of express-ing hospitality and love, also struck her as one of the most potentially damaging.

“You can’t go to the bank without being offered a lollipop or the grocery

store without seeing free cookies,” Swaid said. “It’s a beautiful culture of love, but unchecked, it’s also one that can set these children on the path toward preventable disease.”

Combining that with the physical fitness discipline she’d mastered after years in her dedicated sport, Swaid

conceived the idea that would eventu-ally become HEAL Alabama (Healthy Eating Active Living).

The nonprofit organization pro-vides a free 20-week health curricu-lum to elementary schools for daily

Today, HEAL Alabama is serving 88 schools including almost 15,000 children. Photo courtesy of Christy Swaid.

See HEAL | page B15

Vestavia students finalists in

fashion week competition

By MADOLINE MARKHAM

Brooke Lindsey’s favorite thing to design is wedding dresses, so she incorporated those styles into a cherry blossom-inspired design for Birmingham Fashion Week.

The 16-year-old Vestavia Hills High School student is one of the 38 semi-final-ists for the Rising Design Star competition. Each contestant crafted a garment representing one of Alabama’s major industries (agriculture, livestock, transportation, technology, fishing, forestry and mining) with recycled or alternative materials such as glue, staples, tape, safety pins and paper clips. These garments were on display at the Birmingham Museum of Art through April 26.

On top of a paper mache base, Brooke created pink rosettes from packing paper and folded them to look like cherry blossoms with a pearl bead in the middle. She then used crushed green glass to create a belt and flower design for the top, and porch screen to create a lacy effect around the neck. For the skirt, she cut long strands from paint-ers plastic and pulled them apart in different styles. “It bounces when you walk in it,” she said. “It has

a little big of elegance to it and it’s a little sassy.”

The design doesn’t end there, though.

“The whole dress is covered in sparkle spray paint, so when the light hits it, it shimmers and gives a Cinderella feel-ing to it,” Brooke said.

A select number of Rising Design Star

contestants will advance to the final round of the competition to showcase their design on the Bir-mingham Fashion Week runway Thursday, May 7 and Friday, May 8. In addition to their initial runway look, the design students selected to prog-ress to the next round will also be required to create a second look from recycled Buffalo Rock Co. materials to walk the runway and compete for the sought-after title of Birmingham Fashion Week’s Rising Design Star. Semifinalists will move on to the final round of judging during the finale runway show on Saturday, May 9, with the winner will be announced that evening and awarded a $500 scholarship.

Sarah Anne Pfitzer, a 16-year-old Vestavia Hills resident, and several others were also semi-finalists for the competition. Read more about them to the right.

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More Rising Design Star Semi-Finalists

Camille CooperAge 11, Pizitz Middle School

Camille’s inspiration came from the symbol of Vestavia Hills, the dogwood tree. She looked closely at the dogwood outside her house and found photos of a pink variety online to use as the base of her design.

She cut plastic spoons to make the dogwood petals, put them in the oven to make them curl and then painted them, placing Styrofoam ball halves in the centers. Leaves she painted on top of construction paper complete the blooms. To create the trunk and branches, she painted spoon handles brown. Beneath them, she draped plastic table cloths to look like dress fabric and added a corset in the back.

Cam MiceliAge 13, Pizitz Middle School

Cam enjoys going to the lake and fishing with dad, and now her pastime has served as her fashion inspiration.

She created a flowing skirt out of layers of fish netting that she painted with an ombre affect at the bottom. To create the bodice, she used blue water bot-tles to resemble water, crafting a sweetheart neckline. Her favorite element is the thinner layer of fish net around the beck line.

Cam, who was a semifinalist in last year’s compe-tition, said she has always enjoyed fashion, picking out clothes, hairstyles and makeup.

May 2015 • B3vestaviavoice.com

Troop 1 Boy Scouts recognized in Eagle Scout Court of Honor

Five members of Boy Scout Troop 1 were honored in an Eagle Scout Court of Honor on Feb. 15. The ceremony was held in the Southminster Presbyterian Church sanctuary in Vestavia Hills.

Jake Cantavespre

Jake Cantavespre is the son of Lisa and Mark Cantavespre of Vestavia Hills. He joined Troop 1 in 2009 after earning his Arrow of Light award in Cub Scout Pack 1. He served in several positions within the troop, including assistant senior patrol leader, and also participated in BSA National Youth Leadership Training. He was a member of the troop’s contingents to Northern Tier in 2012 and Philmont in 2014. Jake earned 25 merit badges and completed his Eagle rank on January 8, 2015. Jake’s Eagle leadership project was to rebuild a section of the trail behind the Vestavia library. The trail leading from the creek to the top of a hill had become eroded due to heavy usage. Jake added steps and a handrail to this section to control erosion and allow for safer navigation. He led a crew over several weekends to prepare and install the steps. Jake is a junior at Vestavia Hills High School and is active in the school’s drama programs.

Nels Coker

Nels Coker is the son of Audra and Tim Coker of Vestavia Hills. He joined Troop 1 in 2008. He served in several positions of responsibility within the troop, including senior patrol leader. He is an Ordeal member of the Order of the Arrow and was crew leader for the troop’s contingent to Philmont in 2011. Nels earned 22 merit badges and completed his Eagle rank on September 11, 2014. Nels’ Eagle leadership project was to build a veterans memorial at Patriot Park in west Homewood. The stone plaza has a lighted flagpole and plaques commemorating contributions veterans have made in their service. Nels led a team of troop mem-bers and others over several weekends to build the plaza. Nels is a senior at Vestavia Hills High School and is active in the school’s band programs. Nels plays the violin with several local orchestras and ensembles. Nels will be attending Auburn University next fall.


John Shields is the son of Mary and Pat Shields of Vestavia Hills. He joined Troop 1 in 2009 after crossing over from Cub Scout Pack 1 where he earned his Arrow of Light award and the Light of Christ religious emblem. John served in several positions of responsi-bility within the troop including senior patrol leader and participated in BSA National Youth Leadership Training. He is a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow and was a member of the troop’s contingents to North-ern Tier in 2012 and Philmont in 2014. John earned 34 merit badges, completed his Eagle rank on June 12, 2014, and has earned the Bronze and Gold Eagle Palms. John’s Eagle leadership project was to rebuild the trail to the canoing area at Camp Winnataska. The old trail had become badly eroded and was hazardous in wet weather. John led a team of workers over several weekends to reroute the trail to make it safer and less prone to erosion. He also added handrails to better define the trail. John is a home-schooled sophomore and active in the Birmingham Swim League.

Matt Hultstrand

Matt Hultstrand is the son of Pam and Dave Hultstrand of Vestavia Hills. He joined Troop 1 in 2012 after transferring from Troop 479 in Edmond, Oklahoma. While a Cub Scout, Matt earned his Arrow of Light and the Light of Christ and Parvuli Dei religious emblems. He served in several positions of responsibility within the troop including senior patrol leader. Matt is an Ordeal member of the Order of the Arrow and was crew leader for the troop’s contingent to Philmont in 2014. He earned 28 merit badges and completed his Eagle rank on August 14, 2014. Matt’s Eagle leadership project was to build an amphitheater around Ballard’s Spring at Camp Winnataska. Matt led a team to clear underbrush and reroute the stream from the spring through a new concrete and rock bed. The project team also built five stone benches around the stream. Matt led the workers over several weekends to complete the project. Matt is a senior at Vestavia Hills High School and is a member of the school’s varsity track team. He will be attending Auburn University next fall.

Nathaniel Rubin

Nathaniel Rubin is the son of Melissa and Donald Rubin of Vestavia Hills. He joined Troop 1 in 2009. Nathaniel served in several positions of responsibility within the troop including senior patrol leader and participated in BSA National Youth Leadership Training. He is a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow and was a member of the troop’s contingents to Philmont in 2011 and Northern Tier in 2012. Nathaniel earned 27 merit badges and completed his Eagle rank on January 8, 2015. Nathaniel’s Eagle leadership proj-ect was to build six benches for the Chico cabins at Camp Winnataska. The camp needed low, wide benches to accommo-date the younger children who camp in the area. Nathaniel led a team of workers over several weekends to build the benches and install them at Winnataska. Nathaniel is a senior at Restoration Academy and is a member of the school’s varsity track and baseball teams. He is currently deciding where he will attend college next fall.

John Shields


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On a recent mission, Dr. Delbert Hahn and his wife, Peg, took 8-eight-year-old Levi E. to St. Louis to receive medical care at Shriner’s Hospital there. Pictured left to right are Levi’s mother Bonnie, Dr. Delbert Hahn and Peg Hahn, with Levi in the front. Photo courtesy of Nanci Schwartz.

Pilot pays it forward through ‘Mercy Flights’

By REBECCA WALDEN

One glance at the ad, “Learn to fly for $5!” and Vestavia radiologist Del-bert Hahn, then a cash-strapped pre-med student at Marquette University, was immediately transported back to his childhood in Milwaukee.

At a time when other 4-year-olds were riding bicycles, Delbert was riding high above them, soaring through the skies in a DC-3 operated by his father, a bomber pilot in World War II.

Though he’d hardly given the hobby much thought since then, that ad was all the prompting Delbert needed to fall in love with aviation all over again.

One lesson in, and he was hooked.The hobby cost him more than a

few girlfriends, who were quick to make their disdain for his passion known.

But then, along came Peg.“Most girls would take one look at

the plane and say, ‘I’m not getting in that thing!’” said Delbert. “But Peg was so curious. She wanted to know all about stalls, and spins, and after I did these maneuvers in the plane, she shocked me by saying, ‘Do it again!’ I thought to myself, I better keep this one.”

Indeed, he eventually proposed to Peg, asking her, “Will you be my copilot?”

For most of their marriage, and a healthy portion of Del’s almost 7,000

service hours, she’s been exactly that.When the couple’s three children

were young, flying was for leisure. These days, Peg is most likely sit-

ting in the cabin of their Mitsubishi MU-2, where she tends to any number of individuals who connect with the Hahns through their affiliation with Mercy Flight Southeast.

Mercy Flight Southeast is a

nonprofit volunteer pilot organization that provides free air transportation by private aircraft to distant medical facilities. Since the early 1990s, the Hahns have donated their plane, their time and their financial resources to the purpose.

“It isn’t cheap, but God always provides,” said Delbert, adding that the endeavor is an act of service both

he and Peg feel called to do. “Many people reach a point in life when you give thanks to God for what you’ve been given. Everybody, every person, has different gifts. I’m not a teacher. I cannot cook. Habitat for Humanity would not want me to show up and try to build a house. But I can fly air-planes. I can use that to give back to God and be of service to others.”

Peg, a Milwaukee native, shares in his gratitude.

“We love the Southern people,” said Peg. “Northerners don’t talk about religion. Your religion is your business. But here, I can say that God has given us many blessings, and no one judges me for saying that.”

On an average of one to two times per month, they participate in Mercy Flight runs. Often, the runs are to medical facilities like MD Anderson. Other times, they are to places of peace for the passengers.

On one such occasion, the Hahns were visiting their daughter in Chi-cago when they received a flight request for nonstop travel from Chi-cago to Miami. The patient was a 13-year-old dying of ovarian cancer.

“That flight was unlike anything we’ve ever encountered,” said Peg, recalling the heartbreak with which the patient’s mother and grandmother tried to settle her into the cabin. “Though she’d been dealing with ter-rible nausea and vomiting pre-flight, about a half hour into the flight, she settled in and fell asleep. About an hour later, so did her mother and grandmother. The atmosphere in the cabin was so beautiful and so peace-ful. We felt this was something very extraordinary we were doing. Her wish was to be at her grandmother’s Miami home when she died, and indeed, she passed away the very next day.”


VHEW takes part in Kids Mercedes Marathon

Vestavia Hills Elementary West was well represented in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama Kids Mercedes Marathon, which took place Saturday, Feb. 21 at Linn Park. More than just a one-day event, the Kids Mercedes Marathon is a five-month endurance-building running/walking program designed for kinder-garteners through fifth-graders. All students at VHEW began logging their miles soon after school began in August, taking part in “Monday Run Day” each week during their P.E. classes.

Many chose to run the last mile by partici-pating in the marathon. Each student complet-ing the final mile received a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama Kids Mercedes Mar-athon Finisher’s Medal, a miniature version of the Mercedes Marathon finisher’s medal. There to meet each VHEW runner crossing the finish line were Principal Kim Hauser, Assis-tant Principal Alicia Hunsberger, counselor Dawn Norris and many other VHEW teachers who spent that Saturday morning handing out medals and cheering on their students.

VHEW second-graders recently participated in the Kids Mercedes Marathon. Photo courtesy of Alice Elmore.

VHHS Principal Tim Loveless, Vestavia City Schools Secondary Teacher of the Year Jennifer Brown and Superintendent Sheila Phillips. Photo courtesy of Whit McGhee.

VHHS teacher named Alabama Teacher of the Year Final Four finalist

By KATIE TURPEN

VHHS teacher Jennifer Brown has been named one of the Final Four for Alabama’s 2015-2016 Teacher of the Year.

“The final four candidates are innovative and enthusiastic educators who are committed to cultivating life-long learners and helping students achieve success in the classroom and beyond,” said State Superintendent of Educa-tion Dr. Tommy Bice. “They offer to our stu-dents the best of what quality instruction can give.”

The next step for the final four is an exten-sive interview with the state judging com-mittee. The 2015-2016 Teacher of the Year

will be announced at a ceremony hosted by the Alabama State Board of Education and the Alabama State Department of Education. The event will take place on Wednesday, May 13 at 6 p.m. at the RSA Plaza Terrace in Montgomery.

Alabama’s Teacher of the Year spends the majority of the school year serving as a full-time ambassador for education and the teaching profession as well as presenting workshops to various groups.

In March, Brown, who teaches physical sci-ence, was announced as Vestavia City Schools Secondary Teacher of the Year. She is a grad-uate of the University of Alabama at Birming-ham and the University of Montevallo.


School House

Fourteen Liberty Park Middle School sixth-graders were chosen as state semifi-nalists as part of the Letters About Litera-ture Contest. Letters About Literature is a reading and writing contest for students in grades 4-12. Students are asked to read a book, poem or speech and write to that author (living or dead) about how the book affected them personally. The letters are judged on state and national levels. Tens of thousands of students from across the country enter this contest each year.

The LPMS students are Audrey Bayne, Victoria Bentley, Matt Coleman, Julie Dixon, Harrison Downes, Eigen Escario, Lexi Green, Anne Claire Miller, Kayla Miller, Kellyn

Murch, Leighton Reese, Ella Russell, Rachel Simms and Emily Teel. The students have been invited to attend an awards ceremony at The University of Alabama. Their letters will go through another round of judging and a first-, second- and third-place winner will be named at the state level. The first-place state winner’s letter will then be entered in the national competition. This contest is spon-sored by Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and Affiliate State Center for the Book organizations.

Fourteen Liberty Park Middle School sixth-graders were chosen as state semi-finalists as part of the Letters

About Literature Contest.

LPMS students named semi-finalists in literature contest

Liberty Park Middle School recently held the 2014-2015 third nine weeks Lancer Court of Honor. Two boys and two girls are selected each nine weeks from each grade level. This is the highest honor that a student can receive at LPMS and students are selected by their teachers based on leadership, citizenship and conduct. Eighth grade students who were selected were: Tess Dauphin, Andrea Rodriquez, John David Hill and Wade Kozler. The seventh grade nominees were Madison Mills, Alex Ricketts, Jake Eggleston and Ryan Eshleman. The sixth grade nominees were Gwynnie Hornibrooke, McKenna Pate, Jacob Malone and Micah Roberson.

Danny Haralson, founder of Run Univer-sity, was the keynote speaker. Run University is a training program for people who want

to learn how to run marathons. He spoke about being successful and reaching goals. He talked to the students about slow mir-acles and explained that sometimes it can take time to reach goals, but to never give up and always keep trying. He added that “hard work” doesn’t mean being the hardest worker. It means completing the goal you set for yourself. Your goal may be very different then someone else’s. At the end, he shared his top three thoughts about dreams 1. Don’t dream small, dream big. 2. Have patience with your dream. 3. Dreams are made of small bricks. He added that dreams don’t just happen. You have to believe you can do it and then be willing to put in the work and dedication.

Families in Vestavia Hills City Schools will use a new online system to register students for the 2015-16 school year.

The new system, powered by InfoSnap, Inc., will allow parents to register their chil-dren from the VHCS website between July 30 and August 13, 2015. Parents who need in-person assistance or do not have web access will be able to register on July 30 or August 4 at the Board of Education building.

At the end of the 2014-15 school year, parents will receive a “Snap Code” which functions as the login ID for each student in the registration system. Families will be able to use these codes to “snap” data onto

the online forms, streamlining the regis-tration process.

The system will accept payments by e-check and debit or credit cards; parents who pay by cash will be able to sched-ule a visit with their school’s bookkeeper from the registration website. Following completion of the registration process, the new system will provide students with their class schedules, locker assignments, and parking space assignments.

More details about the new registration system will be emailed to parents before the system goes live in July. For more, visit vestavia.k12.al.us

VHCS unveils online registration system ahead of 2015-16 school year

LPMS holds Lancer Court of Honor


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Author Gordon Korman recently visited and spoke to the students at Liberty Park Middle School, Pizitz Middle School, Liberty Park Elementary and Vestavia Hills Elementary Central.

Author Gordon Korman visits VHCS

Author Gordon Korman recently spoke to students at Liberty Park Middle School, Pizitz Middle School, Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park and Vestavia Hills Elementary Central. Korman wrote his first book in sev-enth grade, titled This Can’t Be Happening at McDonald Hall. Korman encouraged young writers to write about things they loved. Korman loves old movies, and this helped him write the book Swindle.

After he spoke, he took the time to autograph students’ books and lead an adventure writing workshop at Liberty Park Middle School. The following LPMS students participated in the

workshop: Sixth-graders Jonathan Blazer, Mat-thew Coleman, Eigen Escario, Braeley Got-tier, Bailey Hutchinson, Mary Margaret Ivey, Olivia McKean, Leighton Reese, Katherine Rohner, Rachel Simms and Sam Smith. Sev-enth-graders Cat Grace Dini, Adam Duckett, Sara Guven, Diana Harper, Conner Knighten, Blanca Parga, Robert Laughlin, Shane Mackey, Madison Mills and Alex Ricketts. Eighth-grad-ers McKenzie Abts, Nikki Coalburn, Suha Mohuiddin, Nicholas Muscolino, Kate Redden, Emma Robertson, Sarah Douglas Thompson and Tristan Waldrop.

VHEE selling commemorative bricks for new turf

In 2014, under the leadership of Jenny Waters, all fundraising dollars raised by the Vestavia Hills Elementary East PTO went toward a new turf for the school’s back play-ground. In an effort to spruce up the new area, the PTO decided to sell commemorative bricks/pavers to be placed leading to the new turf. Once the bricks sold, PTO leaders real-ized the scale of the project was slightly over budget. The principal, Dr. Mark Richardson, took the PTO’s safety concerns to the Board of Education, and Superintendent Sheila Phillips approved the remaining funds needed to pave the area all the way from the second-grade steps to the turf. This portion of the project was made possible by a grant from Paul DeMarco to the Board of Education.

The PTO is currently in the process of a

second push to sell more bricks as they pave the way to the future at East. Bricks can be pur-chased for $100 made payable to the Vestavia East PTO and can have up to three lines with 15 characters each. They make great gradua-tion or birthday gifts. Families might also want to honor a teacher at the end of the year. There is even a brick in memory of a class guinea pig that recently passed away. Forms can be found in the front office.

In the next installation, a brick with Paul DeMarco’s name will be added as a small token of the PTO’s appreciation for his helping make this project possible. Feel free to stop by and take a look at the project. The goal is that the children will enjoy these improvements for many years to come.

-Submitted by Betts Johnson

Rachel Jordan (VHEE partner in education rep), Dr. Mark Richardson (VHEE principal), Paul DeMarco, Melissa McMurray (PTO president), Betts Johnson (Paving the Future for East; chair) and Cindy Echols (assistant principal).


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Auction raises funds for VHEW

On Friday, Feb. 6, Vestavia Hills Elementary West hosted its 10th annual auction fundraiser. Bids & Bites drew a record crowd ready to bid on more than 225 items, including vacations, fur-niture, jewelry, and artwork at the annual live

and silent auction.“This was such a fun evening for our parents

and faculty to fellowship, buy some awesome items, and continue to support the learning of our students,” said Kim Hauser, VHEW principal.

The event took place at the former Cokes-bury location. While bidders browsed, they also enjoyed live music by Sam Shober of Meteorite and complimentary food from IZ Catering. More than $20,000 was raised for the school, and the

funds will go toward professional development opportunities for teachers, a new sound system for the gym, and a new Chrome Book laptop cart.

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implementation during P.E. As of May 2015, the program is in 88 of Alabama’s 750 ele-mentary schools, with funding provided by BlueCross Blue Shield of Alabama, Alabama Power and the Alabama State Department of Education. As collaborative partners, UAB’s Department of Medicine and Department of Education give the program its heft by provid-ing measurable outcome data related to HEAL Alabama’s curriculum effectiveness.

Though still in its infancy (established 2007), HEAL Alabama has already caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Education. As interest in HEAL Alabama’s mission grows, Swaid said she’s focused most on expanding

the program across the state, and operating out of a real office.

“We’re very lean in our overhead,” she quipped, noting that when large trucks began delivering pallets of HEAL Alabama material at the Swaid residence, her husband hinted that it might be time to open an official headquarters.

For her part, Swaid couldn’t be more thrilled.“If we stay consistent and effective at the

ground level, we can change the demographic of the state of Alabama,” she said. “If every elementary school in Alabama could begin doing the HEAL program, we could turn around our state’s health demographic. That means our children will have a greater chance to succeed academically and to thrive socially. Ultimately, that can have a profound effect on Alabama’s healthcare system, and its future economy.”

HEALCONTINUED from page B1

Six selected from VHHS as Presidential Scholars Program candidates

Six students from Vestavia Hills High School have been named as candidates in the 2015 United States Presidential Scholars Program, the most of any school in Alabama.

The students, Philip Wang, Spencer Haynes, Lynn Han, Shirley Zhang, Luke Hogewood, and Sam Tindall — are now in the running for one of the highest academic honors in the nation. No more than 141 students are named as Presidential Scholars each year.

“We are very proud of these students for earning the honor of being Presidential Scholar candidates,” VHHS Principal Tim Loveless said. “These students are leaders in and out of the classroom, and we look forward to seeing

them recognized on a national level for their achievements.”

According to the U.S. Department of Edu-cation, the Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 by former President Lyndon Johnson to recognize distinguished high school seniors who excel in academics or the arts. Application is by invitation only.

The finalists will be chosen in early May, according to the Department of Education. Finalists will be flown to Washington, D.C. over the summer to meet the President and receive the U.S. Presidential Scholars medal-lion in a special ceremony at the White House.

VHHS students Philip Wang, Spencer Haynes, Lynn Han, Shirley Zhang, Luke Hogewood and Sam Tindall are now in the running for one of the highest academic honors in the nation.

LPMS students participates in Pennies for Patients

Liberty Park Middle School participated in the Pennies for Patients program. Since 1994, millions of dollars have been raised in pennies and other spare change for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). LPMS’s charity fundraiser was sponsored by the Friends of Rachel Club and led by counselors Tre Munger and Stephanie Holcomb.

The F.O.R. Club led a competition between

the three grade levels at LPMS in order to help this cause. The seventh grade class won the competition and was treated to an ice cream treat and a party. Along with being able to bring in spare change to donate, parents were able to donate money online. After a week of fund-raising, the total amount collected for the Leu-kemia and Lymphoma Society was $2,129.04.

Liberty Park Middle School participated in the Pennies for Patients program. Photo courtesy of Linda Rummell.


Planting the seeds

Little Shades Creek restoration efforts underway

By REBECCA WALDEN

Take a trip to Little Shades Creek and the sight of 400 tree seedlings awaits you.

Over two dedicated planting days in late March, Francesca Gross, urban conservation associate with the Ala-bama fi eld offi ce of The Nature Con-servancy, led the volunteer effort, organized to provide a natural anchor along the banks of Little Shades Creek.

The planting days brought out more than two dozen volunteers, who rolled up their sleeves and drove down their shovels in an effort to stabilize the

erosion that has plagued the area since the early 2000s.

“I am grateful for the efforts by the homeowners to pull together the team that made this project happen,” said Vestavia Hills City Engineer Chris-topher Brady. “These efforts have afforded us an opportunity to make a positive environmental impact on a situation that often goes overlooked and neglected, or one that no one really wants to step up and say, ‘Let’s fi x it.’”

Back in 2007, members of the Ashley Wood Homeowner’s Associ-ation reported erosion issues in their backyards, including the exposure of

a Jefferson County sewer pipe. Com-plicating matters was the fact that the area is private property owned in part by the homeowner’s association. While the city of Vestavia sympa-thized with their situation, there was little it could do to help.

With the help of Kellie Johnston, executive director of Cawaco RC&D, whose group had overseen a stream restoration project in Jasper, the Little Shades Creek Restoration Team was formed.

Through the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the group obtained funding, which was matched by The Nature Conservancy.

“We had many partners who helped us in kind with that effort, which took a year and a half to complete,” Johnston said. “But then we did it. It looked awesome and it solved the problem.”

Until the fl ood of April 2014, which tore right back into the stream bank.

“We’ve essentially just completed a really robust repair through the cooperative efforts of many selfl ess people,” Johnston said, cautioning that this won’t be the last time the area requires such attention.

“Any time you change the hydrol-ogy of the stream, which is what’s happened here, with the development

around Rocky Ridge and the surround-ing areas, you will have impacts on the water. Any time we change the land-scape, these natural areas will always require some type of maintenance.”

This latest effort should yield a lush landscape along the banks of Little Shades Creek, now populated with cherry bark oak and willow trees donated by the Alabama Forestry Commission.

For more information about the Little Shades Creek Restoration Proj-ect, contact Kellie Johnston at [email protected] or Francesca Gross at [email protected].

Councilman Jim Sharp speaks with members of the Nature Conservancy of Alabama. Photo courtesy of the Nature Conservancy of Alabama.


Sports

The 2014-15 fourth-grade Vestavia Rebels won the North Shelby Basketball Association Championship in February. They knocked off the previously undefeated Oak Mountain Eagles in the semifinals and the undefeated Mountain Brook Bolts in the championship and finished the season with an overall 10-1 record.

The team is coached by Scott Sheumaker. Assistant coaches are Jeff Wheeler and David Owen.

The Vestavia Hills Soccer Club boys teams won big at the prestigious Red Diamond Vulcan Cup Soccer Tournament in Birmingham. The Red Diamond Vulcan Cup is one of the Southeast’s premier soccer tourna-ments, hosting 261 teams from nine different states around the country. Two teams from the club won division championships, and two teams were declared division finalists.

The Vestavia Hills Soccer Club Steamers 05 Black, coached by Jeremy McLane and managed by Tram Dennie, were finalists in the U10 Gold bracket.

The Steamers 04 Black, coached by Pete Lianos and managed by Kristen Rowland, were champions in the U11 Boys Gold bracket. The Steamers 03 Black, coached by Jeremy McLane and managed by Nicole Warren, were finalists in the U12 Boys 11x11 Gold I bracket. The Steamers 01 Black, coached by Luke Whittle and managed by Nadine Friedman, were champions in the U14 Boys Gold division bracket.

For more information about the Red Diamond Vulcan Cup and to see full winner’s list, visit reddiamondvulca-ncup.com.

The fourth grade Vestavia Rebels won the North Shelby Basketball Association Championship in February.

Fourth-grade Rebels win championship

Vestavia Hills Soccer Club boys teams win big

RosterPaul WheelerPierce DuttonChristopher JohnstonWill CoxThomas SheumakerHouston OwenAiden BlackJackson Harris-Submitted by Jen Cox.


In April, the Steamers 04 Black team competed in and won the U11 Gold division of the 2015 Open Cup. The team has won three tournaments this Spring. Photo courtesy of Vestavia Hills Soccer Club.

Steamers 04 Black named champions

Hammers ready to pound out their spot in pro soccer

By DAVID KNOX

There’s a grassroots movement growing underfoot: soccer.

Let’s be specific. It’s professional soccer in the Birmingham area, and it’s located right now on the fields at the Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex in Vestavia Hills.

That’s where the Birmingham Hammers are nailing down final preparations for an exhibition season this summer as they lay the foundation for a move into, they hope, a soccer league next year.

Hammers President and co-founder Morgan Copes said his goal is to move the Hammers into the National Pre-mier Soccer League.

“That league is mainly designed for college players to play during the summer so they can maintain their amateur status,” Copes said. “In a few years hopefully we’ll be jumping to a full professional — not necessarily the MLS, but maybe the NASL or the USL. We’ve been contacted by both of those leagues. They both want us, it’s just an issue of raising capital. That’s what we’re looking for.”

The USL is the United Soccer League. The NASL is the North American Soccer League. These are pro leagues a tier or two down from Major League Soccer, the big-leagues of pro soccer in the U.S.

Copes equates them roughly to what a Double-A or Triple-A league in baseball would be.

It all started over a couple of beers.

Copes and John Killian, who became friends at the University of Mobile, hatched the idea of the Hammers a couple of years ago.

“We were kind of sitting around just chit-chatting and idea came to me, hey do you think Birmingham would sup-port a professional soccer team? And

John is a native of Birmingham, and though I’m a transplant, I’ve fallen in love with it in the three years I’ve been here. And we felt this is a great market for a professional soccer team.

“Birmingham is the largest TV market in the country without a top-tier professional sports team.”

Killian is vice-president and co-founder. Other members of the board are CFO Evon Noyes, Chief Marketing Officer Eric Lopez and Wade Honeycutt, chief business development officer.

This year the Hammers are not rec-ognized as being officially in a league

by the United States Soccer Federa-tion, hence the full exhibition season. They’ll be playing teams that play in the NPSL, the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League, the Vestavia Hills Soccer Club team and a team from Mississippi that’s in the same start-up situation as the


Hammers coach Joel Person, right, directs his players during practice. Photos by John Perry.

The Birmingham Hammers are in the early stages of trying to make inroads as a pro team.

But can soccer really make it?According to a study just re-

leased by American City Business Journals, Major League Soccer is the best hope for Birmingham to land a major professional sports franchise. Ty West reported this in the Birmingham Business Journal.

“I agree with Mr. West when he says that Birmingham’s best chance at a pro sports franchise is the MLS,” said Hammers Pres-ident/GM/Co-Founder Morgan Copes. “The overall TPI of Bir-mingham fits for MLS, better facil-ities are on the way with the new BBVA-sponsored soccer stadium on UAB’s campus with a project-ed capacity of about 2,500-3,500, and the Birmingham Hammers continue their grassroots efforts to bring professional soccer to the Magic City.

“Other leagues such as the NASL and USL offer professional

soccer and leagues that could be stepping stones to the MLS. In 2014 the average attendance for USL was about 3,000 per match, which is certainly something we can obtain. Major League Soccer is still a long way off but it may not

be as far off as some may think.”The study said the MLS is ac-

tually not the only professional league metro area has the buying power to support.

Research found that Birming-ham is one of several metro mar-kets considered “underextend-ed” when it comes to pro sports teams. Birmingham had a perfect 100 percent capacity score for the MLS, NBA, NHL and NFL.

Total personal income for the Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega combined statistical area was used to calculate the area’s capac-ity. That statistical area includes Cullman, but not Tuscaloosa.

The study said Birmingham’s $54 billion in-total personal in-come is sufficient for an MLS team ($14 billion), NFL ($48 bil-lion), NBA ($45 billion) or NHL team ($50 billion). A Major League Baseball team, on the other hand, is well out of reach with a required $104 billion.

-David Knox

Hammers.Soccer has a culture all its own. Part of the

lesser-known culture to outsiders is the scarves. Yes, scarves. They double as apparel and, for lack of a better term, spirit towels.

The first fundraising activity for the Hammers was selling scarves.

“We had this idea that to kind of get somewhat of an idea as to how successful we might be, we purchased scarves from Ruffneck Scarves

(which is the official scarf of the MLS) and we sold out — 100 in two months. All our money has been raised organically so far … but we’re getting to the levels where we’re going to have to invest financially personally.”

Copes is adamant that a solid foundation is important. “We do not want to grow too fast. We believe if you have a solid foundation you’ll have something to come back to. But if you build too quickly, you’re probably going to fail. Kind of

like the house built on sand and the house built on stone foundation.”

Joel Person is the Hammers’ head coach.“He has the highest licensing you can get in

the United States and he’s a great coach,” Copes said. “I know he’s going to do an excellent job.”

He will be assisted by Luke Whittle.“Luke’s been in the area for 15 years, and it’s

important to have someone who’s been here for a long time who has connections and knows the

players who are here and maybe have left and come back,” Copes said.

The first exhibition is in Nashville on May 9 against the Nashville Football Club. The first home match is May 29 at 7 p.m. versus Nash-ville. Home games are at Sicard Hollow. Tickets are $7 per game, but a season pass is available for $25 for five home matches.

For more, visit birminghamhammers.com.

Can the area really support an MLS team?


Hammers player Nick DiReinzo participates in drills at practice.

Hammers Co-Founder and Co-Owner Morgan Copes

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Calendar

Vestavia EventsMay 1: First Friday Recep-tion. 5:30-8:30 p.m. Artists Incorporated, 3365 Morgan Drive. Visit business.vestaviahills.org.

May 7: Social Security Educational Workshop. 5:45-7:30 p.m. The New Merkle House, 4405 Dolly Ridge Road. Visit business.vestaviahills.org.

May 9: Lucy and Ruby’s Brainy Day. 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Mountain Brook Community Church. Food trucks, silent auction, games, prizes, cookies and lemonade. Visit lucyandruby.com.

May 14: Fifth-grade Variety Show. 8:15 a.m. Vestavia Hills Central Elementary School. Visit vestavia.k12.al.us.

May 15: May Play Day. Vestavia Hills Elementary West. Visit vestavia.k12.al.us.

May 18: May Play Day. Vestavia Hills Elementary East. Visit vestavia.k12.al.us.

May 18: Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights Awards Day. 8:30 a.m. Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights. Visit vestavia.k12.al.us.

May 19: Vestavia Hills High School Graduation. 7-10 p.m. Samford University.

May 20: May Play Day. Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park. Visit vestavia.k12.al.us.

May 30: Wing Ding 2015. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Vestavia City Center. Chicken wings, refreshments, live entertainment, children’s activities and more will be available. $5 per adult. Children 12 and under free. Visit vestaviawingding.com.

Vestavia Hills City Council EventsMay 11: City Council Meeting. 5 p.m. Vestavia Hills Municipal Center, 513 Montgomery Highway. Visit vhal.org.

May 14: Planning and Zoning Commission. 6-7 p.m. Vestavia Hills Municipal Center, 513 Montgomery Highway. Visit vhal.org.

May 21: Board of Zoning Adjustment Meeting. 6-7 p.m. Vestavia Hills Municipal Center, 513 Montgomery Highway. Visit vhal.org.

May 25: City Council Meeting. 5 p.m. Vestavia Hills Municipal Center, 513 Montgomery Highway. Visit vhal.org.

Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce Events1975 Merryvale Road

May 12: Chamber of Commerce Luncheon. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Vestavia Country Club. Reserve space by Friday before the luncheon. $18, late reservations $25. Visit business.vestaviahills.org.

May 13: ROI Professional Networking. 7:30-8:30 a.m. Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce. Visit business.vestaviahills.org.

May 19: Business Development Committee Meeting. 8-9 a.m. Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce. Visit business.vestaviahills.org.


Calendar

KidsMondays: Maker Mondays. 6:30 p.m. Children’s Program Room. Opportunities for children to learn and create.

Wednesdays: Story Friends (5 and under). 10:30 a.m. Children’s Program Room.

May 4, 11: Tween-Scene. 3:30 p.m. Crafts, activities and volunteer opportunities.

May 5, 12: Together with Twos (24-36 mos.). 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Community Room. Storytime for toddlers and caregivers.

May 5, 12 : PJ Storytime. 6:30 p.m. Childrens Program Room.

May 6, 13: Skit-torytime! for school-age kids. 3:30 p.m. Children’s Program Room. Snacks provided.

May 7, 14: L.I.F.T. Library in the Forest Time. 9:30 a.m. Children’s Program Room. Play for preschoolers and caregivers.

May 7, 14: Book Babies (Birth-12 mos.). 9:30 a.m. Treehouse. Storytime for babies and caregivers.

May 7, 14: Book Babies (13-18 mos.). 10:30 a.m. Treehouse. Storytime for babies and caregivers.

May 15: Family Outdoor Concert. 6:30 p.m.

May 23: Lego Wars. 11 a.m. Children’s Program Room. Children first grade and up create legos.

May 31: Summer Reading Kickoff Event. 2 p.m.

TeensFridays: Open Gaming. 4 p.m. Community Room. Play Wii, WiiU, and Xbox 360 with other teens.

May 5: Critiquing Anime and Manga 101. 4 p.m.

May 6: Film-making in the Forest. 4:30 p.m. Historical Room. Teens create short films for national competitions.

May 12: Spectacular Superhero Shows. 4 p.m. We are showing your favorite TV shows based on comic books.

May 13: Teen Writing Group. 4 p.m. Historical Room. Build writing skills and provide feedback to other teen writers.

May 16: Minecraft in the Forest. 1 p.m. Historical Room. To register call Daniel at 978-3683.

May 27: Teen Writing Group. 4 p.m. Historical Room. Build writing skills and receive feedback on work.

May 26: Anime Movie Night. 4 p.m. Community Room.

May 29: Super Smash Bros. Tournament. 4 p.m.

AdultsMay 12: Ms Olivia’s Evening Reads. 6 p.m. Historical Room.

May 14: OLLI Presents: NYT Bestselling Author Patti Callahan Henry. 3 p.m.

May 28: Friends of the Library Presents. 10 a.m. Community Room.

Vestavia Library Events Area EventsApril 30-May 3: Alabama International Auto Show. April 30 Noon-9 p.m., May 1-2 10 a.m.-9 p.m., May 3 10 a.m.-6 p.m. BJCC. $12 adults, $6 children 6-11, children 5 and under free.

May 1-3: Celebrating Spring with Dance. May 1-2 7:30-9:30 p.m. and May 3 2:30-4:30 p.m. Alabama School of Fine Arts. $10 for adults, $5 students. Visit asfa.k12.al.us.

May 1-3: Wings Over Oak Mountain. Oak Mountain State Park. Special programming, exciting birding excursions, interaction with live raptors and the beauty of Oak Mountain State Park. $75 each, $125 per couple. Visit awrc.org.

May 2: Here’s to Forty: A Celebration of Children’s Dance Foundation. 7:30 p.m. The Alabama Theatre. Visit childrensdancefoundation.org.

May 2: Tumor Trooper 5K Run/Walk. 7:45 a.m.-10:45 a.m. Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park. Registration through April 24 is $20, April 25-race day

is $25. Call (404) 252-4107.

May 2: SLIPKNOT. 8 p.m. Oak Mountain Amphitheatre. Tickets $34-$87.50, available through Ticketmaster/Live Nation.

May 3: Mother’s Day Brunch. 1 p.m. Clubhouse on Highland. Catered brunch by Ashley Mac’s, a silent auction and more will benefit Sav A Life Vestavia. Open to the public. $50. Visit savalife.instagift.com.

May 3: Shen Yun. 4 p.m. BJCC Concert Hall. Tickets available through Ticketmaster and the BJCC Central Ticket Office, open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Visit bjcc.org.

May 4: 23rd Annual Ireland Legacy Tournament. 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Old Overton Club. $2,750 for a team of four, $700 individual. Many sponsorship opportunities are available. Call 795-3251.

May 6: Hozier. 8-11 p.m. Alabama Theatre. Purchase tickets at Ticketmaster, $27.50-$47.50. Call 1-800-745-3000.


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Calendar

Area Events(continued)

May 7: Birmingham Art Crawl. 5-9 p.m. Birmingham Historic Loft District. Free admission. Visit birminghamartcrawl.com.

May 7: Eat UP: A Taste of Uptown. 5:30-8:30 p.m. Uptown Entertainment District. Food samples will be provided by Uptown’s seven restaurants. $25. Visit ticketmaster.com.

May 7: An Evening with David Phelps. 5:30 p.m. Wright Center, Samford University. Phelps is a member of the Gaither Vocal Band. $135 per person. Visit samford.edu/legacyleague.

May 7: ArtPlay Parlor Series: Julia Bullock. 7 p.m. Alys Stephens Center. $37.50. Visit alysstephens.org.

May 9: Crawfish and Cornhole. 2-7 p.m. Avondale Brewing Company. $20 admission includes a beer, all-you-can-eat crawfish and live music benefiting Make-A-Wish Alabama. Call 440-1933.

May 9: Motherwalk 5K and 1-Mile Fun Run. 8 a.m.-noon. Homewood Central Park. Benefiting ovarian cancer research through the Norma Livingston Ovarian Cancer Foundation. Call 276-1696.

May 9: ASO Youth Orchestra Spring Concert. 3 p.m. Alys Stephens Center. Call 975-2787.

May 9: Girls on the Run 5K. 8 a.m. Veterans Park. Registration is $28 until race week. Visit girlsontherunbham.org.

May 11: Collat Jewish Family Services Hands Up Together Event. 7 p.m. Alabama School of Fine Arts Dorothy Jemison Day Theatre. Visit cjfsbham.org or call 879-3438.

May 15: Black Jacket Symphony Presents “Nevermind” and “Ten.” 7 p.m. Iron City. $25. Call 202-5483.

May 16: Birmingham Crawl for Cancer. 1-6 p.m. Lakeview District. 10-12 people per team. After-party at Side Bar. $40 per person. Register at crawlforcancer.org, go to “cities” and click on “Birmingham.”

May 16: Do Dah Day. 11 a.m. Caldwell Park. Free admission for spectators and festival attendees. $5 per walker for fun walker. $10 animal prize per animal per category. $10 teams per person. $10 teams with car per person plus $15 per car. $15 cars. $10 motorcycles. $20 floats. Political team/car/float $50 per candidate. Visit dodahday.org.

May 16-17: Great Southern Gun and Knife Show. Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. BJCC Exhibition Halls. Adults $9 and children 6-11 $2. Call (865) 458-0051.

May 16-17: Tannehill Trade Days. 8 a.m.-4

p.m. Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park. $4 12 years and older, $3 seniors, $2 ages 6-11, and free ages 5 and younger. Call 477-5711.

May 20: Birmingham Franchise Expo. 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., 1:30-4:30 p.m. Cahaba Grand Conference Center. Over 20 successful and proven franchise companies will speak. Free. Reservations encouraged. Visit alabamafranchiseexpo.com.

May 20-24: Disney on Ice: Frozen. Various times. Legacy Arena, BJCC. Tickets available through

Ticketmaster and the BJCC Central Ticket Office, open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Visit bjcc.org.

May 30: Sixth Annual Bob Sykes Barbecue and Blues Festival. Noon-7 p.m. DeBardeleben Park, Bessemer. Call 426-1400 or visit bobsykesblues.com.

May 30: Florida Georgia Line Anything Goes Tour. 7:30 p.m. Oak Mountain Amphitheatre. Tickets start at $40.50. Call 1-800-745-3000.

Guests explore restaurants and shops at last year’s Eat UP: A Taste of Uptown. Photo courtesy of Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex.


POWER TO HOME

© 2015 Alabam

a Power Company

Safe, affordable, reliable electricity is one form of power we provide, but not the only one. Meet Rita Burns. She recently built her first home, and with the help of Alabama Power, was able to make sure it was as comfortable and efficient as she imagined it could be. With a simple call to Alabama Power for advice and direction, Rita now has a comfortable place that her whole family can enjoy. That’s power to turn a house into a home.That’s Power to Alabama.

Watch Rita’s story of comfort at AlabamaPowerRealTalk.com.

recently built her first home, and with the help of Alabama Power, was able to make sure it was as comfortable

vestavia voice may 2015

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