Discover The Essence of St. Clair April 2013

The Oldest Cemetery • Wine Cellar • The St. Clair SongSprings of Springville • Doll Museum • White Pelicans Arrive

The Garry House CaféHistoric home becomes newrestaurant

April - May 2013

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Features and ArticlesDiscoverThe Essence of St. Clair

April - May 2013

Alice’s WonderlAndDoll collection leads tomuseum in Ragland

Page 8

Wine cellArSafe room does doubleduty as place to store fine wine

Page 14

TrAveling The BAckroAdsRevisiting the long lost springsthat gave Springville its name

Page 20

Finding A neW direcTionJourney of faith leads coupleto take on restoration project

Page 34

Business neWs4

WhiTe’s MounTAinMusic thriving inmountside retreat

Page 48

resToring Pell ciTyThe Wright manfor the job

Page 56

WhiTe PelicAnsGiant birds are now findingtheir way to Logan Martin Lake

Page 62

sT. clAir AnTheMA county with its ownsong and musical history

Page 70

Buried secreTCounty’s oldest cemeterya little-known find

Page 74

TiMe To celeBrATeLakefest and Block Partyreturing to Pell City

Page 78

Page 28

onl ine @ www.discoverstcla ir.com

Cover and Index photos by Jerry Martin

Couple turns their historic home into

new restaurant

Garry House

Café

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

Writers AND Photographers

Samantha Corona

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

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

Carol Pappas

Tina Tidmore was the editor and pub-lisher of the Clay News newspaper for more than seven years. In 2009, she started a freelance career writing news articles, man-aging websites, writing advocacy letters, designing and giving PowerPoint presenta-tions, writing business plans and providing a variety of other communications services. She has won state writing awards for her news articles, website management and speech writing. She also has given presentations about social media management after natural disasters because of her work for the city of Clay after the Jan. 23, 2012 tornado. She is a member of the National Federation of Press Women and is serving her second term as the Alabama Media Professionals vice president of professional development.

Tina Tidmore

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

Jerry C. Smith

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

Loyd McIntosh

Jane Newton Henry is a freelance writer with an M.A. degree from The University of Alabama. She has retired from Alabama Power Co., where she worked as a writer and editor in the Public Relations Depart-ment. She was an adjunct instructor at The University of Alabama and Samford Univer-sity. Her work has appeared in publications and online. She co-authored Leeds, a pictorial history of the small Alabama city.

Jane Newton Henry

Discover The Essence of St. ClairApril - May 2013 • Vol. 11 • www.discoverstclair.com

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

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

A product of Partners by Designwww.partnersmultimedia.com

6204 Skippers CovePell City, AL 35128

205-335-0281Printed at Russell Printing, Alexander City, AL.

April - May 2013 | DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • 7

Springtime is always a special time in these parts. Almost overnight, the dull and lifeless hues of winter turn into a colorful palette of lush greens, pinks and lavenders. Even the whites look brighter.

That’s why they call the season a rebirth, where things look fresh and new and inviting.

It is the same kind of rebirth a Pell City couple has given to an historic home, breathing new life into it and turning it into a unique café for the region. It is like the transformation of a Civil-War-era home in Springville that will welcome foster children when restoration efforts are complete. And it is much like the new facades in historic downtown Pell City or the modern-day dwellings made from mill village struc-tures built decades ago.

This issue of Discover is all about rebirth, revisiting and reimagining, with a few other stories to make it complete.

You’ll find out about the American White Pelican taking a sabbatical from its journey to the coast on Logan Martin Lake and the couple who turned their safe room into an impressive wine cel-lar. And you will learn about St. Clair’s claim to fame with its own official anthem.

Just like spring flowers popping up everywhere these days, you will under-stand why you are seeing more and more round stickers popping up on businesses, bumpers and windows, proclaiming, “We’ve Been DISCOVERED.”

In each issue of our magazine, it’s our way of helping our readers discover what this special place we call home has to offer. Discover it right along with us.

Carol A. Pappas,Editor and Publisher

From the EditorSpring flowers, new discoveries

8 • DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair | April - May 2013

Story by Carolyn SternPhotos by Jerry Martin

Alice Brown of Ragland remembers the very first doll she was given. She still has it. The pert miss is dressed in a red-checked out-fit (including hat) and is as pretty as ever, she doesn’t have a name.

“I never played with her, but I don’t know why,” explains Alice, “I didn’t even give her a name.” This omission is even more puzzling considering Alice now has about 3,000 dolls, some of whom have been hugged, pampered and admired for years.

At least three of those were her childhood friends and did receive names: Kissy, Sweetie Pie and Junior. These had a lot of attention, she says, and are favorites to this day. By her teen years, she had amassed a small collection and decided to sell her least favorites.

After graduating from college and begin-ning a teaching career, Alice again found herself drawn to the little people. She en-joyed searching out all types throughout her 23-year career as a third-grade teacher. “I’ve bought dolls at flea markets, antique shops and auctions. Some are plain,” she adds, “and some are fancy.” Her designer dolls include Madame Alexander, Lee Middleton’s “Four Seasons” collection and a number of Danbury Mint, among others.

Scarlett O’Hara and other Gone With the Wind characters were found online. Contem-porary collectibles include 100 small Barbies, a Tim McGraw, Mary Kate and Ashley, Farrah Fawcett, I Dream of Jeannie, and numerous Lucy Ricardos, with and without Ricky or Ethel, among others.

Visitors are amazed at the size and diversity of the display, dolls measuring 2 inches to “life-sized” ones about as tall as a 12-year-old. Native-American examples stand side by side with dolls from Germany, Japan, France, Belgium, Hawaii, Mexico, Hungary, Holland and Vietnam.

Two dolls from Germany — a man and woman about 10 inches tall — are among the

Alice’s WonderlandMuseum display goesbeyond doll collectingfor Ragland woman

Each doll in Alice’s museum receives

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dolls


A red-coated miss heads up this Inter-national group.


Alice’s Wonderland

oldest in the collection. They’re dressed in colorful peasant costumes that include a hat for the gentleman and a scarf for the lady. Both sport dried prunes as material for legs, and the heads appear to be walnuts. These were gifts from Alice’s husband’s aunt, who now lives in Huntsville.

One of Alice’s treasures is elegantly dressed in Japanese silks. She was handmade by Alice’s cousin while her hus-band was stationed in Japan with the Air Force.

Alice quickly filled her own home and then expanded into her grandparents’ house next door. Some dolls come from collectors who are ready to let go of them and know Alice will handle them with care. Those sets are kept together and identified with the giver’s name. The care and cleaning of the collection is done at least once a year. Each doll is given a light dusting to keep from damaging the delicate cloth-ing. Some of the clothing is removed to be run through the clothes dryer (no heat).

The museum, called “Alice’s Wonderland,” is truly something to behold. One room is called the schoolroom. A variety of dolls (students) sit in old school desks that also have been rescued. Others rest in rockers, swings and rock-ing chairs. One holds her own doll, and several have caught rides on spring-powered ponies.

Michael and Alice Brown

Kissy and Sweetie Pie introduce their friend to little Junior.

Santa and Carolers always enchant.

Movie dolls

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In one of the bedrooms, dozens of dolls are spread out in a monumental sleepover. Happily, all seem to be quite satisfied with the arrangement. In the kitchen, a vintage iron stove and other furniture make for an interesting back-ground.

Alice and her husband, Michael, have been married for eight years. What does he think about sharing their home with so many dolls? “He knew what he was getting into,” Alice says.

Besides, Michael has his own collections. Motorcycle and John Deere collect-ibles top his list. The favorites of both of the Browns come together in their large kitchen, where a kid-sized Deere tractor pulling a wagon is parked. It has a dolly driver, and the wagon is filled with her friends.

Alice’s Wonderland is in a picture-book farmhouse on Main Street in Ragland next door to a home sporting a banner with a large “B” on it. There’s no charge for visitors, but Alice says coloring books, crayons or small toys might be brought to be donated to the annual “Toys for Tots” project in December.

By the way, the red-checked-clad little doll finally has a name. She’s Dolly. To schedule your visit to Wonderland, call Alice, 205-472-2255. l

Alice’s Wonderland

This cutie has been waiting for a name for a long time.


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not your typical safe room

WineCellarStory by Carol PaPPaS • PhotoS by Jerry Martin

Intricately hand-carved details of vines and grapes etched into the thick, wooden door hint that just on the other side lies a special room.

When John and Sue Pat DuBose built their new home along the shore of Logan Martin Lake, they knew winds on the open water could quickly turn into a damaging storm. So a safe room naturally was part of the blueprint.

They also knew their love of wine had to be central to the grand plan as well, so they turned their safe room into a wine cellar that even the savviest connoisseur would envy.

It is still a safe room. But it’s so much more.John got the idea from a neighbor who turned his laundry room into a

safe room. “I thought, if he can do that with a laundry room, why can’t we do a wine cellar?,” he said.

WineCellarJohn installed the redwood shelving himself

along the walls of the reinforced concrete. While it looks like a wine cellar, it fits all the specifi-cations of a safe room. “It’s the real deal,” said John.

He put the bracing in, building what he needed in his shop. “The rest of it was just put-ting it together. I’m a woodworker wannabe,” he joked. But his handiwork tells a different story. It is a masterful blend of shelving and accents that make it as fine and rich as a bottle of Bordeaux and as light as a Sauvignon Blanc.

He cuts and solders copper as a hobby and added his own brand of art to the décor. An impressive piece, depicting grapes dangling from a vine, is just the right touch on a rear wall of the cellar. The lighting is equally perfect — a chandelier hangs in the center; its prominent ele-ments simulating a grape vine with its bounty. A butcher-block table holding a bottle-sized wine opener centers the room underneath the chande-lier.

The only ‘mistake’ turned out to be a comple-ment to the wine collection and the couple’s circle of friends. John erred in ordering a portion of the shelves to accommodate half bottles of wine. His collection doesn’t include those, so he opted for diversity — those shelves now holding an array of beer cooled at 56 degrees. “We have a lot of friends who like beer,” Sue Pat said.

Much of their wine collection comes from trips made to the wine country in California and Washington with good friends Sandra Mullinax and Randy Royster. The foursome have quite a few tales from their treks that began in the early 1990s when Sandra was working for San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co. On her sales meeting trips, she would go on wine excursions during free time, and her discoveries eventually led to bringing her friends along for adventures in wine tasting.

“That got us started,” said John. “Sandra knew about wines. If I had gone out there, I would have been a tourist.”

As most do, they started in Napa but soon branched out to other areas, traveling further up to Sonoma, Dry Creek and Mendocino. Then it was on to Washington, where they once traveled 1,100 miles visiting vineyards “and never left the state,” Randy said.

They have stayed in every accommodation from bed and breakfast inns to larger hotels along their way. They have sampled the fruit of the Gods at vineyards large and small, getting to know the owners and always coming away with an entertaining story that inevitably begins with, ‘Remember when’ and an unmistakable smile that accompanies good memories. From left, John Sue

Pat, Sandra and Randy


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WineCellarOutside the cellar, wine themes abound at the DuBose home.

A wine cask-shaped, wire basket holds an assortment of wine corks from some of their favorite bottles. A display of wine labels from vineyards they have visited doubles as a work of art in the hallway just outside the cellar. Hanging nearby is a painting by their daughter, Suzanne Garrett, of John’s grape-vines he planted in Pell City’s Pine Harbor community.

Settling into the comfortable great room overlooking the lake once the “wine cellar tour” is complete, DuBose and friends share a bottle of wine, reminiscing about the trips they have made together, their favorite vineyards and their favorite glass of wine. For John, it is a “really good Zinfandel.” Sue Pat is partial to a pinot noir, “especially with a meal.” Sandra savors “a good red.” And Randy likes “all of it.”

They share a love of wine, memories of trips past and those yet to come. It is a bond that is easy to spot even if Sue Pat’s Tshirt didn’t give it away — “Wine & Friends,” it says. “The Older the Better.” l

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Traveling theBACKROADS

the spring in Springville

Springville Lake in the early 20th century


Story by Jerry C. SmithSubmitted photos

Water is an absolute necessity for any per-manent settlement, be it an Indian village or a major city. An area in northern St. Clair County is blessed with five springs, arranged in a circle around a sixth major spring that provided early settlers a virtually unlimited supply of pure, cold water.

In Davis & Taylor’s History of Springville, AL, Margaret Forman Windham tells of Spring-ville’s earliest days: “As the Indians had been attracted to good watering places, so were the early frontiersmen. The springs which bubble forth cold, clear water made this area a camp-ing spot for families moving westward from the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia.

“The first settlers were some of these voyag-ers who so admired the hills, streams and virgin forests that they decided this would be their home for all time. … Big Springs was the name the settlement went by prior to the establishment of the post office in 1833.”

It took little imagination for the town fathers to come up with another appropriate name — Springville. Windham relates that the first indus-try which made major use of these waters was a tannery. In no time at all, houses, churches, and businesses began to “spring” up near the basin.

Some prominent pioneer families were Thomason, Truss, King, McClendon, Woodall, Bradford, Laster, Forman, Osborn, Sprueill, Fuller and Keith. The area is still populated with their descendants.

As Springville grew, the city decided to build a lake in the center of town. Windham describes its construction: “With mules and scrapes, the area was dug out to a depth of about 3 feet, leav-ing an island on which a tree was growing in the center of the lake. About 1900, a concrete wall was built around the lake leaving openings for the five surrounding springs to empty their wa-ters into the lake.” According to Windham, Dr. James McLaughlin, owner of the property and mayor of Springville, deeded the whole thing to the city. Once completed, McLaughlin himself introduced a large species of carp into its waters, eventually adding bass, bream and trout as well.

The carp flourished and quickly grew to enor-mous size. Various stories put their length at up to 4 feet and weight as much as 20 pounds. Feed-ing these gentle giants became a favorite leisure pastime for the townsfolk and their visitors, the fishes becoming so tame they would take food right from one’s hand.

The city augmented the fishes’ feeding with corn, which enticed the huge carp and other spe-cies to root for the kernels on the lake bottom, uprooting and destroying moss which had be-come a problem. Windham’s narrative also men-tions the strange fact that all the bream stayed on one side of the lake while all the trout kept to the

Springville 1930-40


opposite side. This pleasant ritual continued for decades.

Your writer remembers feeding them in the 1950s during rest stops, as my family traveled from Birmingham to visit relatives in Etowah County. Springville native Margaret Cole remembers that, when her mother worked at Milner’s Cafe in the 1930s and 1940s, they would often give Margaret stale bread to feed the fish. Her daughter, Donna Cole Davis, also frequented the lake while her mother was at Mrs. King’s beauty parlor. Mrs. Cole also remembers baptismals in the lake, when she was 6 years old.

In earlier days, a bowling alley was built on a hill behind the lake, quickly becoming Spring-ville’s social center, hosting square dances and other community events. The bowling alley was eventually replaced with a latticed summer house.

This new structure had a bench going around all four walls inside, a favorite place for young people to gather. Like its bowling alley predeces-sor, the summer house was a favorite place for weddings, Boy Scout programs and other group functions.

Easter Sunrise services were held on the hill behind the lake. Windham describes it thusly: “...the service was carried on over a loudspeaker


Baptism, early 1900s

Snow on the lake

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which allowed the people the choice of staying in their cars or getting out. The beautiful natural setting and the op-portunity for a rather private worship gave a very special meaning to the service.” Mrs. Cole also recalls these oc-casions, and the giant cross on the hillside made of white stones which were later taken up and stored for re-use the next year.

In the 1930s, tennis courts were added, built by the city and maintained by local young folks. These courts were replaced by a municipal swimming pool in 1960. Perhaps the pool was installed to curtail swimming in the spring lake itself, as described by Windham in her treatise:

“The lake always tempted the young people to come in for a swim, but the water was so cold the swimmers seldom stayed for long. …Two young men who were stay-ing at the Herring Inn went to the lake at night for a brief swim in the nude. (Two local boys) found the secret of the bathers and decided to play a joke on them. One dressed up like a girl and after making sure the swimmers were in the water, he and the other boy strolled to the lake and took their seat on a bench close to the water.

“Being a bright moonlit night, the swimmers dared not leave the water, but soon became so cold that they called out to the couple to please leave so they could get out. The couple made no reply, and the shivering boys decided to

climb up on the island. Realizing the one tree was insuffi-cient cover, they again asked the young couple to leave.

“When nothing happened, the boys swam to the edge closest to their clothes and scrambled out. Only then did they discover it had been two boys sitting there all the time.”

Margaret Cole recalls another amusing incident, where-in a lady of her acquaintance who was a fanatic about housecleaning took umbrage when a local boy spotted some dust in her house. She chased him down the hill and threw him in the lake!

Springville installed a city water system in 1935, cap-ping two of the largest springs to ensure a never-ending water supply. However, there was little chance of a short-age. According to Windham, Alabama Power Company estimated the total natural outflow from the lake at a mil-lion and a half gallons per day, its water so pure it needed almost no chlorine or treatments.

This municipal water came directly from the springs themselves, at least for the time being, what occurred in the lake had no effect on the water supply. It’s said the lake sometimes overflowed due to heavy rains and drainage, with fish occasionally washed out onto the banks, but the water was never muddy except following an earthquake in Alaska in 1964.


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Springville Lake continued as a tourist attraction and local gathering place through the late 1960s. Mayor Pearson him-self often officiated over raffles and other social events at the lake. But time and progress change things. New industries and residents in town required that an even more abundant water supply be furnished.

There are several other springs in the area, but the cheapest method was to simply fence in the lake to minimize surface contamination, and draw water from the lake itself as a multi-spring-fed reservoir. This move drew opposition from several prominent Springville residents, but the fence prevailed until 1972, when the State Health Department ruled that its open-air water supply was inherently unhealthy, despite the fact that other cities like Birmingham routinely use surface water sup-plies.

In a move that incensed people all over the county and beyond, the city filled in the lake with dirt, capped a couple of major springs, installed powerful pumps, and resumed draw-ing water from them just as before, except now Springville’s treasured lake was gone, never to be seen again.

Letters of protest and op-eds flew like autumn leaves, but to no avail. One such editorial was written by then-recent new-comer to St. Clair Springs, writer Carolynne Scott: “... The fact that Springville needs more water has my sympathy, but I sincerely feel burying Springville Lake is not the way to do it.

“Everywhere I go ... people are asking about the Lake, reminiscing about the days when the garden clubs beautified it, and they all drove out to have picnics around it on Sunday afternoon.”

Frank Sikora of the Birmingham News wrote: “Springville Lake was a natural park. ... You could hardly walk around the place through the crowds that came on July 4. Now it’s gone. Where the water was, there is now only red-yellow dirt ... No-body wanted it to happen, but it did.”

Today, the lake basin can be seen as a round clearing, directly behind the former House of Quilts on Main Street. A pristine, crystal-clear stream gushes out its overflow pipe, passes under US 11, thence onward to merge with effluence from other springs in Springville’s new Big Spring Park, the combined waters eventually finding their way into Canoe Creek and the Coosa River at Lake Neely Henry.

No doubt many old-timers still feel an occasional nostalgic twinge when recalling their childhood experiences of picnics, dances and watching gigantic carp take food right from their hand. Such simple pleasures are hard to come by anymore.

Lew Windham wrote some poignant verse as an epitaph for Springville lake. Here are a few stanzas:

I WILL COME BACKI will come back to step on the worn yet worthy wooden bridge,

And recall the many times we dove into the cool clear water,Plunging deeper to the bottom in hopes

Of finding handsome treasures thrust into it years before.

I will come back and sit at the picnic table under the elms,And gaze into the circular body into which pounds of bread

Feed the ever-hungry carp which crowded aboutTo gulp down any small bite.

But the path, the bridge, the spillway, the fishAnd the lake will be gone this year, and my coming back

Will only be a sad journey, I fear. l


Story by Carol PappasPhotos by Jerry Martin

Mark and Melissa Brooks drove past the old house with the “For Sale” sign on a corner of Pell City’s downtown First Av-enue a few times before they ventured inside.

They kept looking at the house with the long, covered front porch and an unmistakable character of days gone by that beck-oned them inside.

“It would make such a good café with that big veranda out front,” Melissa recalls. So they stepped inside Pell City’s sec-ond oldest home to see. “When we looked at the front room, we both looked at each other and knew we were going to buy the house.”

By Halloween 2012, the same day Mark retired from the U.S. Navy as a Captain one year before, they closed on the house and began fulfilling Melissa’s dream of one day having a café. In March, it opened as The Garry House Café, named for the family who built it in the early 1900s.

It was owned by Solomon Garry, a Lithuanian Jewish im-migrant who moved to Pell City. His son, Jake, owned a mule and cart business in the 1920s. Not much more is known about the house’s history other than it is the second oldest — behind the Riser House, they say, encouraging anyone who has more history about it to share.

Australian-born Melissa talks about the house, not as a thing, but as a person. After months-long renovation by the Brooks, their work breathed new life into it. “Now she will have been

It’s about the history; it’s about the fine food


Garry House Café

here longer than she would have been.”It began with a vision to “revive this grand old house,”

says Mark. “We wanted to bring to downtown what it doesn’t have. Then she told me she always wanted to do a café,” and that was it. The journey to restore it began. When he was commander of the jet training air wing, Mark says he and Melissa hosted “pre-Winging socials” at their quarters on the base — a similar house from the same era as their new find in Pell City. At the socials, they offered quite a fare for families of pilots about to get their gold wings to be fighter pilots. They came from around the country and throughout the world.

“Melissa is a phenomenal cook,” says Mark. “She did all the cooking. We hosted more than 2,000 people over two years.”

That culinary precursor led the couple to The Garry House, Mark says of the day they made the decision to buy the house. “Let’s do what you always wanted to do,” he told her. “So here we are.”

A row of Garry House flags, seemingly proclaiming its rebirth, line the edge of the rooftop, immediately catching the attention of passersby. A white picket fence encases the front yard and walkway to a wooden staircase that ascends to a step back in time.

Intimate, white-tablecloth seating on the covered front porch gives diners an al fresco alternative to their meals. Inside lie two large front rooms with bay win-

A hint of the fare you’ll find at Garry House.


dows, oversized artwork by Nettie Bean adorning the walls and hinting at just how special this place is. Hardwood floors, white tablecloths and high-backed, black leather chairs only add to the richness and warmth of the home.

“Toly,” a 2-foot wooden statue stationed at the top of the hallway says it all through the sign he holds: “Welcome to The Garry House.” Toly was a find from a famous restaurant in Melbourne, Australia, Tolarno’s Bistro, the first of its kind in the arts district of the city.

The Brooks are hoping to have their own “first” in Pell City, and as you make your way through, it is easy to envision it. Just down the hallway are two more dining rooms — one with more of a female style; the other a bit more masculine.

The “more girl-like room” features monthly exhibits of artwork from the Southern Cultural Arts Foundation, a side bay window ushering in plenty of light. Melissa suggests this room for ladies luncheons, afternoon teas, bridge and other special events. The “guy-like room” is dressed in black and white — from the curtains to the tables and chairs to the black and white photographs by Wallace Bromberg that line its walls. It is per-fect for lunch business meetings, she says.

While the whole café can seat 64, it can all be converted for

use as a stand-up reception.It is obvious the ideas, the planning and the vision are well

thought out from one end of the home to the other.The Garry House’s initial plans are to be open for breakfast

and lunch Monday through Friday, offering a diverse menu that is not available elsewhere in the region.

In the land of ‘meat ’n three,’ The Garry House Café offers options: “Fresh, local, nutritious, delicious” is its vision. “Ev-erything is made from scratch. No deep fried,” Melissa says. “And we are using as much local as we can. Everything is fresh, fresh.”

Homemade granola, fresh fruit, caprese salad, signature salad with a homemade honey mustard dressing are but a few of the items you will find on the menu. The Garry House Café salad dressings and granola are packaged and available for sale to take home.

“Aussie Meat Pies” are a salute to her heritage, but she “Americanizes” what is traditionally seasoned ground beef in a pastry case. She makes hers into taste-tempting treats — the filling becoming beef and mushroom, boeuf burgundy or other possibilities only limited by the chef’s imagination.

In the states, Mark explains, you might order a hotdog. In

Garry House Café

Melissa Brooks and Cathy Pow-las serve some-

thing special.


Australia, its counterpart is a meat pie. Adding a quick history lesson, Melissa says the meat pie tradition has English roots, where coal miners used them as hand warmers in their pockets and then ate them at lunch.

Breakfast pies include bacon and egg, or a zesty sausage and egg, always a favorite, or perhaps, a sausage roll.

In the future, the couple plans two special dinners per month — pre-set meals with wine pairings and tastings. “We may even have cooking classes,” she says, noting that the goal of The Garry House Café is to be more than a restaurant. It is a place for special events as well.

With Cathy Powlas assisting Melissa with the cooking, Mark handling administration and maintenance, his sister, Al-lison Middlebrook, as front manager, and a top-notch wait staff eager to serve, The Garry House has the makings of something very special for Pell City and the region.

And that is just what the Brooks intend. “Unique, dignified, relaxing,” Melissa says. Dining should be an experience — an event rather than simply a meal — and the Brooks aim to make that their daily special. l

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The veranda offers al fresco dining.


An Alabama archi-tectural historian says the style of the house in this

photo dates to 1880 or later. Yet, a St. Clair County history book says the photo is from

the mid-1870s.

Lisa and Al Rayburn are renewing their commitment

to foster parenting, which led them to purchasing the

smaller Buchanan House and renovating it.

Finding a New Direction

A “For Sale” sign remained in the lawn of a 19th century Springville house for about six years. It has been known as the “Buchanan house” and the “Cou-pland-George house,” depending on who was living in it at the time. Due to a recent change in owner-ship, its future label may be the “Rayburn house.”

In January, Al and Lisa Rayburn purchased the light gray house that faces an empty lot next to Har-rison Supply in Springville’s historic district. “I have always been a type that wanted new,” Lisa Rayburn said. “But it has so much character, like the hinges and doorknobs.”

The Rayburns searched six months for a new home while living in the tight quarters of a rela-tive’s basement, a very different experience from the four-bedroom house they sold in July 2012. Over time, the list of required features for their next house became shorter because of their eagerness for more space.

Their desire to move grew from Al Rayburn read-ing Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus, a book that contrasts being Jesus’ follower to being Jesus’ fan. “It was very convict-ing,” Lisa Rayburn said. “We felt like we had put a lot of identity into our things.” She said they had even lost the desire to foster children and they let their foster parent certification expire.

So they put the big house with the pool up for sale in a depressed housing market and waited to see what happened.

When an offer quickly came in close to what they were asking, they decided God was leading them to leave a materialistic life for another purpose, particu-larly fostering children again. With fewer expenses, they could do more for others, said Lisa Rayburn, a

New owners bring changes to historic Springville house

Story by Tina TidmorePhotos by Jerry Martin

New owner Lisa Ray-burn was attracted to the unusual closets that included shelves in the doors.


New Direction

The original mantel went to

the previous owner’s sister.

This mantel was built by Ronald Leopard, well-

known in Spring-ville for making

custom mantels.


Springville Middle School counselor.The Buchanan house had always intrigued Rayburn, who at

one time lived on Bruce Street in Springville. “This is the house that we would drive by and be curious as to who lives there,” Rayburn said. She was attracted to the thought of walking on the sidewalks to local stores.

The house charmed Rayburn with its historical features, including 15-foot-high ceilings. Some of the rooms do not have modern flip light switches. They have two push-buttons: one to turn it on and the other to turn it off. Some of the rooms still have one old-fashioned bare light bulb hanging down from the ceiling for illumination.

Rayburn envisioned replacing the attic with bedrooms and a bathroom for when the children — both her own and the foster children — come for visits. The rooms downstairs could be modified into a greeting-computer room, living room, dining room, master bedroom, kitchen and two bathrooms.

After some figuring, the Rayburns determined that purchas-ing and renovating the old house were within their budget. Al-though, Rayburn said that along the way they have added some “while we’re at it” changes that have increased the cost.

The couple is doing much of the work themselves during the evenings and on the weekends. Al Rayburn is an occupational therapist at HealthSouth Lakeshore Rehabilitation Hospital, but he does have some construction experience from working on rental houses he owns. The rest of the work is being contracted, including the rewiring. They expect to be finished by the end of summer.

“We want this to be a home where people come and run around,” said Rayburn, “instead of full of antiques.” However, she said she can’t resist putting in a claw-foot bathtub.

House History MysteryInvestigating the historical mysteries of early 19th century

Springville houses is like a newcomer traveling the two-lane roads of St. Clair County. Some roads lead to surprise discov-eries; some roads lead to a dead end; and sometimes a long, windy road leads to the desired destination. Occasionally, following a road because it looks familiar leads to the wrong conclusion, and sometimes the chosen road leads to confusion.

From 1944 until January 2013, the George family owned the house. Recent owner Diane George Meade decided to move

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

Lisa Rayburn talks about the pro-cess of remodeling an old home.


closer to her sister in Anniston and closer to her lake property. Although she grew up in Springville, she said she didn’t have anything to keep her there anymore.

While the George family owned the house, it expe-rienced some damage from the well-known 1969 train derailment and resulting propane gas tank explosions in Springville. Meade said she remembers the windows were blown out in one room, and one of the chimneys was badly damaged. All external evidence of the second chimney disappeared when it was covered with a new roof.

Meade recalls being told her grandmother insisted on having the large extension on the back torn down and replaced with the smaller extension the house now has. She also said her grandfather put in the only bathroom soon after World War II.

A 1944 deed shows O.J. George, Meade’s grandfather, purchased the house from Leon “Lonnie” Vann Coup-land’s heirs.

Along with his in-laws, Leon Coupland owned a dry goods store within two blocks of the Buchanan house. The book, Heritage of St. Clair County, Alabama, de-scribes the Coupland family as “known for their civic leadership, faithful religious service and fair business dealings.”

Leon Coupland’s mother was Mary Josephine Bu-chanan Coupland, and his father was Confederate veteran

New Direction

Although the sign says the Buchanan house dates

to 1870, some say the evidence shows it was

built later, and others say the evidence shows it was

built earlier.

Al Rayburn, whose day job is occupational therapy, removes boards that will be used in re-building.


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James Douglas Coupland. The 1944 deed describes Leon Coupland as Mary Josephine Coupland’s sole heir.

Meade also possesses an 1889 deed showing Mary Josephine Coupland buying out her nieces’ and neph-ews’ interest in the Buchanan house and lot. Mary Coupland’s mother, Eliza M. Buchanan, died in 1898 at age 82, although the obituary says “she had been feeble for a while.”

The Springville Preservation Society estimates the date of the house as 1885. “I think before the 1880s, the people were living on the northern end, around Forman Street,” said Millicent Yeager, society vice president.

However, Mary Josephine Coupland and her hus-band, Springville’s James Douglas Coupland, are shown in the 1880 census as living with Eliza M. Buchanan in Springville. Also in the household is their 7-year-old son, Leon. The McClendons, Formans and Hodges are their neighbors.

Between 1872 and her death, deeds show Eliza M. Buchanan selling hundreds of acres in Springville and Caldwell in St. Clair County. In the Springville area, the buyers include C.F. McClendon in 1895; H.R. Hearon in 1885; John McClendon in 1884 and E. Car-penter in 1876. But the Buchanan and Coupland family kept the house.

Sandra Tucker, also of the Springville Preservation Society, has a photo that shows the Buchanan house with a man, a child on his lap and a woman standing behind them. In The Heritage of St. Clair County, Ala-bama, the now-deceased Charlotte Claypool Duckett dates that photo to 1874 and said the man is James

New Direction

The future dining to the left and the future re-modeled kitchen will be right next to each other.

You can see the solid construc-tion in the exposed wood beams in the attic.

The old light switches are expected to remain.

This area was a later addition, replac-ing an earlier addition. The ceilings

have been opened up to replace the kitchen with a new one and put in a

bathroom that will come off the mas-ter bedroom.

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Douglas Coupland, and the child is Leon Vann Coupland. Records show Leon was born in 1873 and is the last child the couple had. The child in the photo appears to be no more than 2 years old, which would date the photo to 1875 at the latest if the child is Leon.

Another possible explanation that seems to fit the architecture of the house at the time of the photo, the child’s clothing and apparent hair bow and the apparent ages of the man and woman in the photo is that the child on James Coupland’s lap is either his granddaughter, Esther, or granddaugh-ter, Helen, Leon’s daughters. If so, that would date the photo to about 1902 at the earliest.

Robert Gamble, senior architectural historian at the Alabama Historical Commission, says the roof line, the chimney style, porch style and other features make him think the house is from the mid-1880s.

“In all honesty, I have a difficult time dating this house much if at all earlier than 1880 — and actually later — as it appears even in the old photo,” Gamble said. “Perhaps an old house was radically altered, but I could not see photographic evidence of it.”

Adding to the possibility that the house was altered, though, is that Springville’s James Douglas Coupland, who was living in Eliza M. Buchanan’s home in 1880, is listed as a carpenter in the censuses.

Meade thinks the house is older than even 1870. The 1889 deeds Meade has in her possession say the house is “known as the E.M. Buchanan house and lot and being the same owned and occupied by H.R. Buchanan at the time of his death…”

Eliza M. Buchanan’s husband, Howell R. Buchanan, died in 1869, according to a headstone marker now leaning against a wall in the former smokehouse on the property. That date for his death is confirmed through an 1869 deed showing him granting right of way to the railroad, yet Eliza M. Buchanan is in the 1870 census without him. This would mean the house dates back to at least 1869, and another deed shows Howell R. Buchanan selling property in Springville as far back as 1862.

The exact year of the Buchanan house construction remains a mystery. But the future is certain with the Ray-burns renovating it to become a lively family home. l

New Direction

Lisa Rayburn wanted a new home. But the historic charm of Springville’s Buchanan House led the cou-

ple to take on a long-term remodeling project.

A view of the hallway and the room that will

become a bedroom


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Business Briefing By Carol PappasPhotos by Jerry Martin

As executive director of St. Clair County Economic Development Council, Don Smith would like nothing better than to grab a ceremonial shovel and break ground on new industry at any point, anytime in the county. But to make that happen, you have to be ready, he warned.

While growth continues to be on an upward trend, work behind the scenes is being done parallel to that growth to ensure it keeps going nowhere but up. It would be easy to rest on laurels with 558 new jobs and $69 million in capital investment, but the EDC isn’t content to sit back and count its blessings. It is aggressively encouraging municipali-ties throughout the county to identify property that can be developed and working to get infrastructure in place for the future. Between 2012 and 2014, the EDC has as its goals: 750 new jobs, $100 million in new invest-ment and $20 million in new annual salaries.

“We are trying to identify new property all over St. Clair County,” Smith said. “Our goal is to identify 400 more additional acres of usable property.” In this sense, usable means infrastructure like sewer, water and accessibility.

In Argo, sewer is going in. Moody is getting its industrial park up to date. Pell City is working to get infrastructure in place at properties already zoned for industrial use. Ashville’s mayor has appointed a task force to identify property in that city that has a likelihood of developing. And in western St. Clair County, county and municipal entities are work-ing together to get property ready for development.

Those are but a few examples of a flurry of activity from one end of the county to the other meant to set the tone for more growth in the years to come.

broMPton Seeing SignifiCant growthOne place seeing more than a fair share of growth is the Brompton

interchange of Interstate 20. Love’s Travel Center is locating on the south side of the exit, and

Valero’s is moving dirt on a site to the north.Ground was broken on Love’s in late February, a move being hailed as

“state-of-the-art travel stop” by Greg Love, president of Love’s Develop-ment Companies. It’s the company’s eighth location in Alabama. “We’re proud to support the local economies in the communities where we oper-ate, and we look forward to serving our new customers in the area with the ‘Clean Places, Friendly Faces’ Love’s is known for,” he said.

If the past is any indication, Moody and St. Clair County officials have reason to celebrate. Love’s location in Steele increased that city’s revenue by 50 percent. “It is a significant revenue generator. Travel centers collect wealth that is driving by St. Clair County right now,” Smith said, explain-ing that trucking companies have contracts that will have them doing business at that location.

Before, they may have traveled on to the next stop in Georgia without pausing in St. Clair County. With “nice eateries like McDonald’s and Subway,” it will attract other travelers along I-20 who will be stopping at Brompton, Smith said.

An added benefit and potential for revenue growth are nearby indus-tries that could use the facilities, like Red Diamond in Moody and the distribution center just a few hundred yards away. “It offers a lot of con-venience to existing manufacturers as well,” Smith said.

St. Clair County partnered with the City of Moody and Love’s Travel

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Construction at the Brompton exit from I-20

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Business NewsCenters on infrastructure improvements to bring the project to fruition. “We feel that the industry already on this cor-ridor coupled with Love’s investment will only continue to breed new growth and revenue opportunities for the City of Moody,” Commission Chairman Stan Batemon said.

“With two new travel centers locating at the I-20 Bromp-ton exit, I believe that we will begin to see new tax dollars this year,” wrote Moody Mayor Joe Lee in his Mayor’s Desk report to the Chamber of Commerce. “New revenues should exceed initial projections of $600,000 per year. The new businesses will be creating approximately 100 new jobs for our city.”

Love’s will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will feature a Subway and McDonald’s restaurants, gourmet coffee, a variety of fountain drinks, fresh fruit, name brand snacks, travel items and gift merchandise. It also will have parking space for professional truck drivers.

Construction is expected to begin on both travel stop sites in August with opening in early 2014.

Mini MediCal MeCCa develoPingMeanwhile, the health care landscape continues to grow

in the Pell City area. St. Vincent’s St. Clair celebrated its first anniversary in recent months, and growth there has exceeded expectations.

New specialties and services are being offered at the hos-pital and at the adjacent Physicians Plaza.

Just across the interstate, Northside Medical Associates has doubled its size, increased its specialties and services and added its own pharmacy to give it greater ability to serve the needs of the community.

The Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home welcomed its 100th veteran to this cutting-edge trend in veterans home care that is touted as a model for the nation.

And American Family Care just opened its doors on an urgent care facility just off US 231 North.

The convenience of getting quality health care at home rather than traveling to larger cities is bolstering the health care industry across the area.

“Pell City is becoming its own self sustaining medical center,” Smith said. “Instead of going west to places like Birmingham for medical services, they are staying locally. A lot more from the west are coming to the east.”

furniture Store to oPen thiS MonthWhen Badcock & More furniture store opens its doors in

Pell City April 29, it will be more than just a new store open-ing. It will complete a total makeover of a once vacant grocery store building.

Mississippi-based Second Street Plaza, which specializes in such renovation projects, developed the empty Food World on Pell City’s main thoroughfare, US 231, and has transformed it into an impressive strip mall featuring three retail stores and a medical office.

It brings the development to 100 percent occupancy, creates 35 to 45 jobs and represents a total investment of $2.8 million, said Brent Federick, a partner with Second Street.

Developers are still working on the sale of the outparcel to locate a national chain, fast food restaurant.

Badcock joins Goody’s, Burke’s Outlet, Alabama Anesthe-siology and Pain Management.

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Friends and neighbors join in the line-up at the White’s Mountain Bluegrass on the Mountain Festival and the an-nual Chimney Corner event.

White’s Mountain

MUSIC’S SPIRIT ALIVEStory by Samantha Corona

Photos by Jerry MartinSubmitted photos


White’s Mountain



White’s Mountain



Up on the mountain top in the early spring, it’s quiet. But inside the house at the bottom of White’s Moun-

tain Lane, the spirit of bluegrass music is alive and well.

Pictures cover the dining room table, and there are many more where those came from. Each snapshot bears a special memory, a familiar group of faces and a glimpse of what happens on White’s Mountain when the weather warms up and the pickers start strum-ming.

“It is definitely a love,” said Tommy White, name-sake and owner of the park called White’s Mountain.

That love White talks so passionately about is not only for a style of music, but for the weekend-long event he and his wife, Sybil, host twice a year just up the hill from their St. Clair Springs home – The White’s Mountain Festival “Bluegrass on the Mountain.”


White’s Mountain

“There is no profit, and sometimes we don’t break even,” White said. “We do it each time because we enjoy it and because there is something special about bluegrass.”

White started playing his own rendition of bluegrass music years ago after he picked up a banjo. He served as a captain in the U.S. Army and after some time, told Sybil he was going to pursue a pilot’s license.

“She said, ‘Oh no, you’re not,’” White laughed. “So, I took the money I was going to use for my license and bought a banjo. I quickly realized that I couldn’t sing and play the banjo, so I traded it in for a guitar, and the rest is history.”

Through her family, Sybil has been around the bluegrass-style music throughout her life. She picked up her bass, and together with friends, weekly jam sessions turned into play-ing shows and a $500 prize from a bluegrass band contest.

As the number of players outgrew the house, White said some friends suggested that he and Sybil make an outdoor space by opening up the cow pasture area at the top of their hill. The Whites looked into what it would take, and started to work.

“We built the entire park,” White said. “She planted every shrub and I dug every hole. We built everything up there.”

The park features a main stage that plays host to bands from surrounding cities in Alabama, as well as Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Florida.

It faces an open space that White reconstructed from a ravine into an amphitheater-style area that allows music lovers to bring their own chairs and blankets and be comfortable while enjoying the weekend entertain-ment.

Space at the very top of the moun-tain is reserved for those who want to set up campers and tents to stay through the weekend, although White said those spots are often limited.

There is also a concession area and picnic tables for guests to share snacks and conversations, and an old-time inspired General Store that houses White’s extensive antique col-

The Chimney Corner event has a little something for everyone.


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Tommy and Sibyl White’s love of blue-grass music has carried down to their granddaugh-ter, 8-year-old Clair White, who plays the fiddle.


lectables.“It is designed for people who love the old traditional music and the times when

you played with your family and friends and enjoyed the company,” White said. “Our friends and neighbors all perform, and we also enjoy meeting new people who want to be a part of it.”

Through word of mouth, the White’s Mountain Bluegrass Festival has grown from the once friends-only jam sessions to the weekend-long celebrations of music and history each June and October. White said performers often contact him and Sybil for the chance to play at the festival, and they’ve had guests visit from as far away as Europe and India.

Last year’s October festival drew 300-400 guests to the mountain, the usual atten-dance average for each event. And in recent years, it was nominated for an Alabama Tourism Award from the St. Clair County Tourism Department.

“Anything we can do to show off our home and what a great place St. Clair County is, that’s what we want to do,” White said.

In the fall, the Whites also hold an annual event called “Chimney Corner.” Fami-lies and guests are welcome to experience the fall setting on the mountain, take rides on the two-car train and get hands-on into some activities from the early days, in-cluding making maple syrup and hominy, blacksmithing, corn shelling and pumpkin picking in the White’s own pumpkin patch.

Guests can tour the old General store and see the old mailboxes from the early St. Clair Springs post office and a fully restored (and working) wood-burning stove.

White’s Mountain

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Inside the old General Store, Tommy White has collected a number of an-tiques from the early days in St. Clair Springs, including the old mailboxes from the St. Clair Springs Post Office.


BLUEGRASS ON THE MOUNTAINJune 14-15

October 18-19

Admission:Friday, 6 p.m. – 10 p.m. - $10

Saturday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. - $15Both days – $20

Children age 12 and under admitted free

Chimney Corner – October 26

For more information, visit www.kwhite75.com/websites/whitesmtn2 or contact Tommy White (205) 467-6927

The Bluegrass on the Mountain Festival was born out of jam sessions. Tommy, front far left, said the number of players quickly outgrew the house and friends suggested he open up the space at the top of their mountain.

The White’s have been playing in their own blue-grass band - Stoney Road - since the late 1980s. Sibyl, second from right, plays bass and Tommy,

third from right, plays guitar and sings.


White has put together a collection that takes you back in time to see everything from oil lanterns to separators that di-vided cream from milk, the first churners, coffee grinders, flour sifters and even gourd spoons that helped in gathering water from the wells and streams.

“In those days, there was no Wal-Mart on every corner or open around the clock. If you didn’t make it, then you didn’t have it. This was a means of survival for many people,” White said. “We try to keep some of those processes visible because a lot of people have never seen how some of these things were done.”

Tommy and Sybil are definitely proud of that history and en-joy being able to share it with others through their knowledge, their mementos and the music they believe is the soundtrack to it all.

“There’s definitely a spirit about it. Something about when you get with friends and play, and it all turns out right. You feel like you’re doing something that your ancestors did,” White said.

“You tell me that there is nothing spiritual about that.” l

White’s Mountain

White’s Mountain Bluegrass on the Mountain Festival happens twice a year in June and Octo-ber and welcomes 300+ guests at each event.


Story by Loyd McIntoshPhotos by Jerry Martin

Today’s Pell City may be on the verge of becoming the next middle-class suburb of Birmingham – or An-niston — depending on your perspective. But this town built on the backs of hardscrabble cotton mill workers has a history more in line with a Eudora Welty short sto-ry or William Faulkner novel. The Pell City that erected itself on the banks of the Coosa River more than 120 years ago, in practical terms, bears little resemblance to the thriving town of today.

In recent years Pell City gained a new hospital, a veterans home, a Chik-Fil- A and a Publix – as sure a

sign of “progress” as any — while the property that was once the historic heartbeat of the city, the Avondale Mills plant, is gone for good. Built in 1903, the cotton mill was the primary source of employment in town for generations before it closed. Then, it went up in flames due to an accidental fire in 2008. It was an inglorious end to a structure that stood for more than a century, a fate the surrounding neighborhoods — known as the mill village – and parts of downtown Pell City could easily have followed without some help. But historical restoration can be a tricky business. Fortunately, home-builder and restoration expert Andrew Wright is not only knowledgeable about Pell City’s history, he’s practically lived it.

Wright, now 67, was born in Pell City in the mid-

The Wright man for the Job

RESTORING PELL CITY

Wright restored the facades in a portion of historic downtown Pell City.


Wright’s new pas-sion still working with his hands.


1940s, a time when he remembers the local doctor still made house calls by horse and buggy. Interstate 20 was not yet even a glint in Eisenhower’s eye, and the cotton mill provided suste-nance to the city’s population with few choices. “If you didn’t work in the cotton mill, you starved,” says Wright.

Wright’s parents and grandfathers all worked at the mill, and he recalls vividly being called ‘linthead,’ a derogatory term often used to describe people dependent upon the mill. Essen-tially segregated from the rest of town, the cotton mill, Wright says, was a presence that loomed large over every corner.

While chatting in the kitchen of his home today on Hard-wick Lane, Wright is surrounded by historic photos from his childhood and salvaged items from mill village houses all over town. Like Pell City, the mill is a large part of who he is, even though he was able to escape a life of toiling in the factory. After high school, Wright joined the Navy before setting out on a varied career path, such as running a landscaping company, a teacher and, eventually principal of Iola Roberts Elementary – the first school, as a child, he attended with non-lintheads. In the early years as a teacher, Wright worked as a homebuilder during the summer to earn extra cash. He eventually answered the call to build full-time with a special place in his heart for restoring mill village homes.

“The mill made them to accommodate the people who worked in the mill and they weren’t particularly concerned about how well treated those people were,” Wright says. “Each house was given a pecan tree or two, all of them had out houses, there was no indoor plumbing. I remodeled a lot of those just to keep them from being torn down.”

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Each house in the mill village was either three or four rooms and had a coal-burning stove for heating. They were simple wood structures that didn’t even have insulation. “They must have backed up and said, ‘That looks good to me,’ because the houses were never square,” Wright says. While most of the houses he re-modeled over the years still sit on their original plot of land, Wright and a business partner rescued seven mill village homes, originally located near Pell City High School, that were scheduled for demolition.

“I went over there and looked at them and said, ‘I’ll give you $300 each for them.’ They were going to burn them. I said, ‘No, let’s don’t do that,’ because there were people that I had actually known who lived in them and had grown up in them,” Wright explains. “I paid the school system $300 each as a donation.” Today, those structures are modern, single-family homes located just off Hardwick Road. They stand as preserved pieces of Pell City history, evidenced through Wright’s ‘discoveries’ during the renovation process.

“We found old coins, old Army cards and letters that had been sent home to their families from World War I. Most of them were found behind the mantles. There was a lot of history there, and I learned a lot from it,” Wright says. “I’d literally call any family members still around and tell them, ‘I found your granddaddy’s old draft card’ and stuff like that. We’d find as many people as we could.”

RESTORING PELL CITY


It was Wright’s interest in and knowledge in historic pres-ervation that caught the attention of Kate DeGaris, a longtime friend and owner of several buildings in Pell City’s downtown. After receiving some funding to help with the renovation of the downtown district, DeGaris contacted Wright about doing the work on five of her buildings on Cogswell Avenue. Wright was already highly regarded in historic renovation circles and was a building inspector in Talladega during that city’s period of restoration. Still, he was surprised at what he found during the project.

“The buildings in Pell City are actually built out of what’s called slave bricks,” Wright explains. “That doesn’t mean that a bunch of slaves made the bricks, that’s just the name of the bricks because they’re all handmade. Out of 10 million bricks down there, no two are identical.” Wright says he gave this method of brick making a try, realizing just how much time and effort it took to construct downtown Pell City. “They would take the clay, pat it and round it out, knock it into the frames, then pat it with their hands and let it dry, and take it out of the wood frame, ” he says. “I actually tried this myself, and it just took a long time.”

On the interior of many of the downtown buildings, Wright noticed some other interesting construction features, including timbers made out of entire trees used as trusses which, after over 100 years in use, have done their jobs superbly. Built in or around 1903, the buildings he renovated in downtown were erected with whatever materials the original builders had on hand. With no sheet rock available, many of the builders looked to their farms and barns for materials.

“They took clay and mixed it with animal hair and smeared it on the inside of the walls in all those buildings. You can still see the animal hair. If you look at it closely you’ll see that it’s dried clay and animal hair with paint on it,” Wright says. “It was an effective technique because they’re everywhere down-town and been there for 100 years. You couldn’t get away with that now.”

Now semi-retired, Wright and his wife, Trish, live in an older home overlooking a small pond that they open up to the neighborhood to fish whenever the mood hits. Wright, for the most part, spends much of his time working in his pottery stu-dio behind his house or entertaining his grandchildren. While talking about all he has built – literally and figuratively — in and for his hometown, he says, “Downtown and the old houses were my favorite thing to do. I like building new houses, but I’m just a history guy.” l


White Pelicans

CoMINg to LogaN MartINStory by Carol PappasPhotos by Laurie Masseyand Cynthia WilliamsonContributed Photos

Chances are if you ven-tured out onto Logan Martin Lake or have a particularly good vantage point of the main channel lately, you have seen something rarely spotted in these parts until now.

At first glance, it may look like an egret or some other large white bird, but a closer look reveals the distinctive bill and huge wingspan of a pelican — an American White Pelican to be exact. Pelecanus erythrorhynchos to be precise.

Residents up and down the lake are doing a double take of late, noticing huge flocks of one of North America’s largest birds.

“We have had quite a few reports of White Pelicans in that area this year,” said Marc Devokaitis, a public information specialist with Cornell Lab of Ornithol-ogy. “We really don’t know whether the population is expanding or if the birds are just shifting their pre-ferred winter habitat a bit further away from the coast. Though, actually, the range maps I’m looking at have the winter range clearly into central Alabama and Missis-sippi.”

Audubon.org calls the species “distinctive” because of its “nine-foot wingspan, black wing tips and trailing edges. Despite their size, the pelicans are graceful fliers, with flocks soaring high in the air and wheeling in


White Pelicans

unison.”“This year is the first time I have ever

seen them,” said former Pell City Coun-cilman Gaston Williamson. From his home, he spotted them initially in De-cember on a point south of the ball fields behind the Pell City Civic Center.

He has seen as many as 200 or 300 on a sandbar near where old US 231 ran before the lake was created. Part of that roadbed still lies beneath the water.

By mid-March, the numbers dwindled, he said, and he spotted about 20 flying in V formation heading north. “They may have started their migration,” he rea-soned.

According to Audubon, the birds have colonies from western Manitoba

Williamson captures big birds in flight.

Safe Haven for Children… 20 Years and CountingSt. Clair Children's Advocacy Center is celebratingtwo decades of service to children and families of St. Clair County by providing a safe haven for childabuse victims and offering a caring, compassionatehand in helping them navigate the judicial system.

Come celebrate with us at The Annual Children's Place Luncheon Tuesday, April 23, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pell City First Baptist Church.

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Entertainment: First Baptist Church KindergartenAmy DrinkwaterCoosa Valley Choir and Violin Ensemble Pell City High School Showstoppers

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The American White Pelican can have a wingspan of up to 9 feet.


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White Pelicans

in Canada and Minnesota and Northern California. They winter along the coasts of California, Mexico, Gulf Coast and Florida. “Migrating flocks of pelicans rest on lakes and rivers along the way.”

Laurie Massey, who lives upstream on Logan Mar-tin, several miles from Williamson’s home, said they are “amazing to watch. They are so big. When I first saw them, I thought, are they some kind of domestic geese?” She grabbed her binoculars to confirm and soon concluded they were pelicans.

Like Williamson, she is studying about them, too. “All I know is what I read in the Audubon Bird Handbook. I was surprised to see them. Those great big, giant wings are a sight to behold.”

According to Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the American White Pelican:• Can weigh as much as 30 pounds

with a wingspan of 8 to 9 feet.• Inflight,italternatelysoarsand

flapswithflocksflyinginV-forma-tion with its neck bent and head close to the body.

• Has a large, yellow or orange bill with an extensible pouch.

• Has short legs, webbed feet, and both sexes look alike.

• During breeding season develops a short, yellowish crest on the back of its head and a horny ridge plate on the upper mandible.

For more:You can hear how they sound at

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_White_Pelican/sounds

You can take a look at White Pelican sightings and other population data by usingebird.org/content/ebird.

Click on the Explore Data tab. Go to Range and Point Maps. Set species to American White Pelican and the loca-tion to Logan Martin Lake.

Pelecanus erythrorhynchos(American White Pelican)


White Pelicans

One morning on her way to work, she noticed them circling over Interstate 20. “There was a great big swarm of them just circling. That was pretty neat, too.”

There are 180,000 of the species globally, according to Audubon, and they were considered threatened until the 1960s when they began making a comeback. They were endangered by changing water levels, contaminants and the disturbance of humans, including shooting them for sport or protecting fishing. Since that time, Audubon reports, legislation protecting them helped reverse the decline in numbers.

They weigh about 16.4 pounds and are more than 5 feet long. They differ from brown pelicans usually seen at

the beach because they do not dive-catch their prey. They swim on the surface of the water, dipping their bills to scoop prey into expandable pouches.

They are noted by Audubon for what is called “coop-erative foraging — coordinated flocks of swimming birds encircle fish or drive them into the shallows where they become concentrated and are more easily caught.”

Intrigued by the newfound species on Logan Martin, Williamson said, “I never thought I was going to become a bird watcher.”

But he has, and he is learning what he can about the pelicans — just like all the other lake-side residents doing a double take this year. l

Massey catches the landing.


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The St. Clair AnthemNot every countyhas its own songStory by Jane Newton HenryPhotos by Jerry Martin

Lou Betts Bevill, who was born and raised in the Acmar area, may be best remembered in St. Clair County as the wife of the late Congressman Tom Bevill. But to former members of the Pell City Civic Chorus and a few other old timers, she is known for com-posing the county’s official anthem.

An accomplished musician, she wrote “St. Clair Song” in 1976 at the request of Harold King, who was president of Peoples Bank, now BB&T, in Pell City and a board member of the local Chamber of Commerce.

The first verse of this pastoral ode to the county sets the tone for the rest of the song, as it evokes the natural beauty of the area and the perseverance of its early settlers:

“Ye St. Clair sons and daughters arise,

join in our song.As our forefathers before us, God’s grace

will guide us long.These wooded hills, these lakes and rills

bespeak the beauty of our landSo may we go forth, remembering we are in

our God’s strong hand.”

She presented the song to the Pell City Chamber of Commerce at a news conference after composing it specifically for the newly formed Pell City Civic Chorus.

George Williams

Lou Betts Bevill presents “St. Clair Song” (From left) Harold King, George Williams, Lou Betts Bevill and Ron Partain. Lou Betts Bevill receives resolu-

tion from Shirley Satterfield.


George Williams, a retired Alabama Power manager in Pell City, re-called the evening that the chorus was first discussed.

“It was in December 1975, and the Chamber of Commerce was having a dinner meeting,” Williams said. “When the chamber’s president, Bill Gossett, realized that the speaker hadn’t shown up for the meeting, he asked me for suggestions about what to do. We opened up the meeting for general discussion, and the idea of having a civic chorus came up.”

The chorus was officially formed on Dec. 18, 1975. Williams, who was named organizing chairman of the chorus, soon began soliciting members from the Pell City area, including towns such as Ragland and Lincoln.

“We had some fantastic talent,” he said. “A lot of the members came from church choirs, and a lot of us joined just because we enjoyed sing-ing.”

Pell City resident June Brascho came to the chorus from the choir of the First United Methodist Church of Pell City. A founding member of the chorus who served as its president, she estimates that the group per-formed for about 15 years.

With more than 100 voices, the chorus performed about three concerts a year, presented Broadway musicals in the summers, and once sang the national anthem at an Atlanta Braves baseball game.

Ron Partain, the first director of the chorus, said he was grateful to have served in that position. “It was a unique time in the life of the city,” he said. “Members of the chorus made a big commitment of their time and talent.”

Partain called the song “an outstanding piece of work by a gracious lady.” He described it as “hymn style with the first verse in unison. The second verse is a four-part harmony, and the chorus is obligato with a full voice ending.”

At his invitation, Bevill returned to Pell City and conducted the chorus when it performed her composition at its first concert on May 1, 1976, at

The St. Clair Anthem

Top and Facing Page: Pell City Civic Chorus in concert

Below: Program cover for the first concert of the Pell City Civic Chorus


Iola Roberts Elementary School. The concert began on a patriotic note as the group sang “The Star Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful” before debuting “St. Clair Song.”

The anthem’s chorus reflects the love she felt for her native St. Clair County:

“O St. Clair, O St. Clair Our heritage is trueFrom forest fields, from vales and hills,We sing our love to you.”

At the close of the concert, Shirley Satterfield, then chairman of the St. Clair County Commission, presented Bevill with a framed copy of a proclamation that ad-opted “St. Clair Song” as the county’s official anthem. St. Clair is believed to be the only county in Alabama that holds the distinction of having its very own anthem.

A News Aegis editorial at the time called it “fitting during the nation’s Bicentennial year in that it honors the men and women who ‘toiled and tilled these fields so rich in lore.’ The song pays tribute to St. Clair County’s forefathers and the tradition of liberty they have passed on to succeeding generations.” l


Buried Secret

County’s oldest cemetery a little-known find


Story and photos by Jerry Smith

Most of Pell City’s departed are nicely memorialized in several spacious, well-known cemeteries; among them Oak Ridge, the largest; Valley Hill (which lies neither in a valley nor on a hill); New Hope (Truitt); and Mt. Zion. But the city’s original burial ground lies sequestered on an overgrown hillside at the edge of town, known only to a few family members and the historically inquisitive. It seems even the cus-tomary cemetery mockingbirds have deserted it.

Donated to the city around 1900 by Pell City’s co-founder, Lydia DeGaris Cogswell, this property provided final repose for a host of Pell Citians during its brief service before the city’s main cemetery was established at Oak Ridge in 1940.

First known as Pell City Cemetery, it was eventually called Avondale Mill Cemetery and the Company Cemetery because so many cotton mill workers were buried there. The Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance lists it as Avon-dale Cemetery aka Village Cemetery. The latest marked burial, William R. Green, was in 1935, although other unmarked graves may have been added since. Oddly, it’s once again called Pell City Cemetery in Mr. Green’s Pell City News obituary.

Over the last few decades the grounds have gradually slipped into a rather gloomy state of upkeep, and thus it remains today. Causey family member Donna Baker says, “... my Father told me the last burial was 1945. He said he used to go with my Grandmother and a lot of other rela-tives to clean the cemetery every year. He said the last time it was cleaned was in the 1970s.”

It’s hardly recognizable as sacred ground anymore unless one accidentally stumbles over one of the few formal tombstones still standing there. The plot was partly a potter’s field, hosting the remains of an estimated 50 or more local decedents, most of whose survivors could not af-ford more than a simple fieldstone or diminutive fragment of plain marble to mark their final rests

Unlike other local cemeteries, there’s only a few simple, early-20th-century tombstones with badly eroded lettering and a couple of crude stone surrounds. The only visually imposing grave marker belongs to Dock Causey, placed by Woodmen of the World in 1928.

Sunken graves appear randomly through-out the property. Those who visit here must be careful of tripping over small fieldstone markers hidden under inches of fallen leaves, which leads us to wonder how many others are interred here with no markers at all.

In Pell City’s early days, diseases unfamiliar to most people today took many young lives. In fact, three of the 10 scripted gravestones are for infants of less than one year of age. This is true of most other urban cemeteries of that era, but here we could probably assume that, for every marked infant’s grave, there’s likely to be


many more whose parents could not afford a proper stone.

In a St. Clair Times story by Rob Strickland, lo-cal historian Kate DeGaris said, “It’s very old and, as I understand it, both black and white people are buried there. The relatively large number of chil-drens’ graves ... can be attributed to health condi-tions of the early 1900s”.

Mrs. DeGaris continues, “It is known that, peri-odically, epidemics would come through the area, such as diphtheria, smallpox and typhoid, so I’m not surprised that a lot of children are buried there. ...” The sadness deepens as one reads their bit-tersweet epitaphs, such as: Our Darling Has Gone To Be An Angel or Budded On Earth To Bloom In Heaven.

Indeed, even Nature seems to contribute to the mournful ambience by littering the grounds with fallen cedars and oak limbs whose fibrous cores have eroded over several decades to resemble gaunt, bleached bones.

If ever a local site deserved restoration, this one surely does. Long tree trunks lie across stone walls, some having barely missed tombstones as they fell. Other jagged logs have been pulverized into coarse

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sawdust and chips by insects, birds and decay. Briers, saplings, even young trees encroach upon almost every marker.

Although a state-required access path has been cleared on the western side of the property, visitors quickly encounter a hazardous maze of prickly Southern foliage and sunken pits. Boots and a walking stick are a must, especially during warmer months when snakes are an assumed peril in such terrain.

To access the site, drive southward from Cogswell on 19th Street to 10th Avenue South. Turn right, then an immediate left onto 18th Place South. Drive to the end of the road and look for a wide path into the woods on your left.

There are “No Trespassing” signs which you should respect unless you have a valid reason for going there. Once onsite, be very careful of rocks, concealed sinks and clinging foliage. Please disturb nothing, take only photos and notes, and leave behind nothing but footprints.

Treat this place as you would the final repose of your own kin. Who knows? Perhaps they are. l

Joe Whitten, the Grim Reader

To learn more about St. Clair’s vintage deceased, try Wedding Bells & Funeral Knells and By Murder, Accident & Natural Causes. Both books, compiled by Odenville historian Joe Whitten, are available in most local libraries, and currently sold at Oden-ville’s Fortson Museum as a fundraiser.

In these two works, Whitten has put together a bewildering array of obituaries, announcements and other personally newsworthy items from local newspapers, including some obituaries for burials at this cemetery.

Most are at least a hundred years old. Some items are highly amusing. All were penned in the enchanting form of prose used by yesterday’s writ-ers. The reader learns at least a hundred inspired ways to say someone has died.

In addition to valuable historic and genealogic data, these books provide a warm and fuzzy glimpse inside the lifestyles, tribulations and simple triumphs of early St. Clair folks. It’s down-to-earth reality in a newspaper clipping format.

Animal bone found in cem-etery, probably from nearby

slaughterhouse

This beautifully restored Chris Craft is one of many boats that were on

display at Lakefest last year.


Story by Carol PappasPhotos by Jerry MartinSubmitted photos

It began as an opportunity to show off what Logan Martin Lake has to offer, and today, it is the South’s largest in-water boat show and one of the most popular outdoor festivals around.

Logan Martin Lakefest 2013 is set for May 17-19 at Horizons on Logan Martin Lake, an upscale residential development with room enough for vendors, food and entertainment along its shoreline and boardwalk. It attracts thousands of people out for a weekend on the lake, listening to bands play music, browsing vendor booths, watching the fireworks show and perhaps taking a boat on a test drive.

“It all started when Bill Hereford was running for may-or,” said Jerry Wood, owner of Wood’s Surfside Marine. He and Tradesman dock building company owner Fred Casey began discussing with Hereford ways to feature Logan Mar-tin Lake and Pell City.

The conversation expanded to include Mike Riley, president of Logan Martin Lake Protection Association, and he suggested an event that centered on promoting lake lifestyle businesses. “The true intent was to promote Logan Martin Lakes as the jewel of Pell City and draw people to it,” Wood said.

In its four-year history, it has seen crowds of up to 5,000 come from all over to see what the lake and its businesses have to offer along with fireworks and musical entertain-ment. And it operates as a philanthropic event, raising funds for use in worthy causes.

Logan Martin Lake Protection Association is a recipient of funds generated through the festival, and Riley calls it the organizers’ way of “giving back. That’s what they try to do.”

He should know. In the first year, LMLPA was on the receiving end of $7,500. Other beneficiaries have been the Pell City Civitans’ Christmas for Children, Pell City Police’s DARE program, a sprinkler system for the baseball field and Military Assistance Personal Support, a not-for-profit outreach also known as MAPS.

On the commercial side, it enables businesses like boat dealers, car dealers, dock builders, Realtors and a host of others to present their line of products or give greater expo-sure to what they can do. “It brings in a lot of people in who wouldn’t ordinarily come,” Wood said. “It has escalated and taken on a life of its own.”

In addition to row after row of vendor booths, major sponsors are:

America’s First Credit Union, Town and Country Ford, Skier’s Marine, Wood’s Surfside Marina, Tradesman, Re-alty Executives, Caribe, Bennington and Sylacauga Marine

Entertaining St. Clairlakefest and Block party set to draw huge crowds


Families can enjoy everything from children’s rides to live music at Pell City’s famous Block Party.


and ATV. Pepsi and Interstate Battery are also sponsors, and Golden Rule Barbecue is the major food vendor for the week-end.

This year’s festivities kick off on Friday afternoon and run into the evening hours, capped by the “Fire Up Summer Fireworks Show” on the water. Promoters say, “Come early and grab a good seat. Lawn chairs and blankets are permitted. Coolers are not.”

Saturday’s events run all day to dark, and activities resume again on Sunday afternoon.

Gates open at 3 p.m. on Friday, and the music will start at 5:30 p.m. with fireworks at 9. Special VIP guests will be a group of veterans from the new Col. Robert L. Howard Veter-ans Home.

The headlining band will be ChaseNtheDragons, which has an impressive history. Chase Davidson is on lead vocals. He has played and toured with some of the largest alternative bands in the nation, like Tonic, Stained and Tantric. His band, Red Halo, was featured on FOX’s Next Great American Band, where it finished a strong second. Bass guitarist Matt Ross tours with American Idol’s Bo Bice. Drummer Scott Col-liar was with Brother Cane on the Virgin Records label. Lead guitarist is Jason Marchant, who was with Red Halo, Vergos Merlot, Mars Electric, and he signed with Atlantic Records. Marchant has played with and opened for bands like Lynard Skynard, Creed, Kid Rock and many more.

On Saturday, the entertainment kicks off again at noon with the Pell City Line Dancers. At 1 p.m., Starrz Performing Arts dance class takes the stage, and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Nash-ville Bound will be the headliner. Nashville Bound was created in 2012 for youth to have an opportunity to play country music.

Organizers say Nashville Bound has a wealth of talent

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and predict members will be seen on the “big stage” soon. Most of them have already played with legends like Marty Stewart, Martina McBride and have been on stage at the Grand Ole Opry.

“We would like to see it continue to grow,” Wood said of the weekend full of events. “We have reached out to more lake vendors. We think it’s great for the Logan Martin Lake area, and it’s good for the people. I make my living on this lake, and it behooves me to do something and do it right.”

Block Party tops 13,000 in crowd drawIn 2001, Leadership Pell City was looking for a class project. They found two.

One was a welcome sign erected at the entrance to Pell City on US 231 near I-20. The other was a community event meant to bring people together for fun and fellowship.

That community event has now grown into Hometown Block Party, and each year it seems to grow larger, attracting thousands of people from throughout the region.

On the first Friday in June, this outdoor musical festival features all kinds of music — from rock and roll to gospel to rhythm and blues to country and just about any genre music fans want. And it’s free.

Hosted by the Pell City Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by area busi-nesses, stages are set up strategically around the courthouse square with various kinds of entertainment on each.

Vendor booths — peddling wares, serving up all types of food and introduc-ing festival goers to what businesses and organizations have to offer — surround the blocks around the courthouse. And music — plenty of it — fills the air.

A children’s play area with rides is a highlight as are the myriad activities and games that all are a part of Hometown Block Party, an evening of fun for the whole family.

Each year, it is Pell City’s chance to roll out the welcome mat, and it grew to more than 13,000 in 2012. l

Entertaining St. Clair

This pontoon boat shows that you do

not have to sacrifice speed for luxury and on-the-water enter-

tainment.

Vendors and music stages line the streets during the Block Party.

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Discover The Essence of St. Clair April 2013

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