2008-2009 edition - Sylacauga Chamber of Commerce

Transcription

2008-2009 EDITION
2
Sylacauga Magazine • 2008 - 2009
Strong...Safe...Secure...
Your Community Bank Since 1949
For over 60 years we’ve been providing financing
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DOWNTOWN SYLACAUGA
Lobby Hours:
8:30 to 5:00
Monday-Friday
Closed Saturday
126 North Norton Ave.
Tel. 245-4365
Branches in Talladega & Clanton
www.southfirst.com
Member
FDIC
Drive Thru Hours:
7:30 to 5:30
Monday-Thursday
Til 6:00 Friday
Til Noon Saturday
227097
3
Sylacauga Magazine
2008-2009
A product of the
Sylacauga Chamber of Commerce
Table of Contents
Quality of Life............................................ 6
The Chamber of Commerce..................... 16
Blue Bell corporate citizen....................... 22
Bringing tourism to town.......................... 30
Fueling economic success......................... 32
The Marble City........................................ 34
Revitalizing downtown............................. 37
Health care in Sylacauga.......................... 38
Parks: Playing in the fast lane.................. 42
The Arts: Culture and Class...................... 50
The treasure of Comer Library................. 54
On the cutting edge of education�� 56
Faith in Sylacauga..................................... 60
Recreation for all ages.............................. 63
Profiles in community spirit..................... 66
4
Staff
Editor
Carol Pappas
Design Editor
Graham Hadley
Advertising Director
Pam Adamson
Photographers
Bob Crisp, Brian
Schoenhals, Jerry Martin
Writers
Denise Sinclair,
Kendra Carter, Katherine
Poythress, Brandon
Fincher, Antrenise Cole
Published by The Daily Home
in partnership with the
Sylacauga
Chamber of Commerce
17 W. Fort Williams St,
Sylacauga, AL
256-249-0308
www.sylacaugachamber.com
Sylacauga:
What a name! What a town!
One of the South’s best kept secrets is Sylacauga, Alabama, where opportunities abound and the welcome mat is rolled out to one and all.
From its state-of-the-art medical facilities to its top-notch education systems,
from its national ranking as a top community for young people to its quality of
life, Sylacauga is indeed a special place to all who call it home.
It is said that its people are the city’s greatest asset, and in the pages that
follow, that recurring theme will be evident.
There is a community spirit that abounds here that sets the city apart. It is an
ideal place to live, work and raise a family. And it is a city full of visionaries
who see the future and embrace it with new ideas and new ways to move it
forward.
Sylacauga is truly a city on the move. Come inside this magazine and see
what we mean.
5
SYLACAUGA
Where quality of life takes center stage
The new look of Broadway
through downtown Sylacauga
Story by Kendra Carter
Photos by Bob Crisp and Brian Schoenhals
6
When the America’s Promise Alliance announced its selections for the 100 Best Communities for Young People, the City
of Sylacauga was named for the third year in a row, a distinction
only 44 other communities across the nation have earned.
“We are thrilled to be a third-time winner,” said Margaret
Morton, executive director of the Sylacauga Alliance for Family
Enhancement and chairwoman of the Sylacauga Promise
Committee. “This is a tremendous honor for our community,
and it means that other communities look to us as having solutions and to assure that all children in our community have access
to the Five Promises.”
The top 100 were selected by the alliance in recognition of the
efforts to make young people the city or town’s top priority and
keeping with the Five Promises, designed to ensure healthy, successful and productive lives for the nation’s youths.
The Five Promises for children are caring adults, safe places,
a healthy start, an effective education and opportunities to help
others.
The City of Sylacauga certainly has the opportunities and
resources, such as SAFE, the B.B. Comer Memorial Library and
the Sylacauga City School System, to provide an impressive quality of life for the community’s youth.
But don’t be fooled; the city boasts the quality of life available
for residents of all ages.
With six parks scattered across the city, lecture and story programs provided by the local library, thriving downtown shopping
and an active senior center, the city has a little
something for everyone.
Mayor Sam Wright said having good quality of life means different things for different
people.
“For me, it means that Sylacauga would
have … not the same things as others, necessarily, but have things nice,” Wright said. “We
make it to where people want to go to our
parks, walking tracks and downtown and have
people decide Sylacauga is where they want to
live and raise a family.”
Wright said factors like having a good
school system and an abundance of churches
also help the area.
“I know we don’t take a backseat to anybody
with our programs and our department heads.
You always want to have a good police department, you always want to have a good fire
department (because) that’s part of the quality
of life, too,” Wright said.
For him, living in Sylacauga is made better
by the people who live here.
“I like our citizens,” he said. “Being here as
long as I have and working here, I think overall
it’s the spirit and cooperation of our people.”
Listed below is information about people, programs and organizations that make
Sylacauga a special place to be. Look for more
throughout your copy of Sylacauga Magazine.
Alabama’s First Lady Patsy Riley
speaks when Sylacauga is
named one of the best places
in the country for young people.
SAFE is an integral part of helping children and families in the
area.
S.A.F.E.
The Sylacauga Alliance for Family
Enhancement Inc. is a community-based, nonprofit organization that aims to provide opportunities for adults and children to promote
well-being across the community.
SAFE’s mission statement is, “All families
have the right to thrive,” and the organization
meets its goals by providing community-based,
pro-family social services through community
contacts. The organization puts emphasis on
families to give children in Sylacauga the tools
and opportunities they need to succeed and
choose a healthy lifestyle.
SAFE offers classes in life skills, healthy
marriage, fatherhood and adult education, as
well as after-school programs for students and
the Home Instruction Program for Preschool
Youngsters (HIPPY).
SAFE also sponsors annual community
events like Sylacauga Promise Day, the biggest ball drop fundraiser and the community
Thanksgiving dinner.
The organization, which was officially
formed in 1997, is a member of the Alabama
Network of Family Resource Centers and is
funded through the Alabama Department
of Education, the Sylacauga City Schools,
the Talladega County Department of Human
Resources, and other organizations, as well as
through grants.
Margaret Morton is the executive director.
Continued on Page 8
7
Quality of life
Leadership Sylacauga helps
bring people together to strengthen the community here.
To learn more about SAFE or take advantage of the 23 educational opportunities it has to offer, contact SAFE’s office by
calling 256-245-4343.
Leadership Sylacauga
Leadership Sylacauga is a communitywide class designed to
educate leaders and potential leaders by increasing awareness of
current events in the area and developing leadership skills.
The goal of the class is to build and enhance leadership skills,
as well as increasing the effectiveness of leadership and influencing change in the community though volunteer work.
SAFE
Participants are selected through an application process, and
the applications are available to residents and workers in the
Sylacauga area who believe their leadership skills could benefit
from the class.
Thirty applicants are selected for each year’s class, and tuition
for the program, sponsored by the Sylacauga Chamber of
Commerce, is charged for each student.
From the kick-off retreat in September until the following
May, participants dedicate the second Thursday of each month
to the classes, each of which examines different aspects of the
community – from law and city government to health care,
media and industrial relations. Presentations from representatives in each field of study are the resources for the course’s probe
Tommy & Donna Hebson
Owners
Palace Drug Company
Established 1896
Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement
227277
78 Betsy Ross Lane / PO Box 1122
Sylacauga, Alabama 35150
visit our website at: www.safefamilyservicescenter.com
OFFICE: 256-245-4343
8
Brenda Hebson Hope
Gift Buyer
FAX: 256-245-3675
216 North Broadway
Sylacauga, AL 35150
Phone (256) 245-4381
Fax (256) 245-4383
227264
Quality of life
into the community.
In addition to attending classes, the students are
required to participate in outside activities and volunteer work.
Since the class was developed in 1991, Leadership
Sylacauga has had a total of 291 graduates.
For more information about the Leadership
Sylacauga Program, contact the Sylacauga Chamber of
Commerce by calling 256-249-0308.
Sylacauga Rotary
recently helped
promote reading
at Comer
Library.
Sylacauga City Schools
Foundation
The Sylacauga City Schools Foundation began in
1988 when a group of local citizens banded together
to offer students in the city school system the same
opportunities as students in wealthier school districts.
Local businesses, industries and individuals can
make tax-deductible donations to the IRS-approved
charitable foundation, which are invested interestgenerating accounts by the foundation’s Board of
Directors.
The goal of the 21-member board is to donate the
interest generated from those accounts to the school
system to provide programs above those funded by the
State Board of Education.
From maintaining more than $1 million in invest-
Continued on Page 10
CONNIE P. JOINER
Broker / Owner
(256) 872-6303 Cell
conniepjoiner@gmail.com
PERRY ANDREWS
Clothier &
Antiques
Realtor
214 North Broadway Avenue
Sylacauga, AL 35150
(256) 249-8550 Business
(256) 249-8390 Fax
124 North Broadway Ave.
Sylacauga, AL 35150
(256) 245-1900
228080
(256) 404-1651 Cell
prryandrews@yahoo.com
www.coldwellbankeradvanceonerealestate.com
Each office is independtly owned and operated
Serving the community for 40 years!
PLUMBING
Julius Anderson Sr.
Business Owner
cell: 256-404-8335
home: 256-249-0563
P.O. Box 1168 • 36280 U.S. Hwy. 280
Sylacauga, AL 35150
227286
Comfort-Trust-Efficiency
PUMP REPLACEMENT PARTS
ALLOY & STAINLESS CASTINGS
BILLY T. BOBBIT
President
227282
ANDERSON
SOUTHERN ALLOY
CORPORATION
Office 256-245-5237 • Fax 256-245-4992
Cell: 256-404-0409 • Home: 256-249-8696
9
Quality of life
Kiwanis is another club that makes
Sylacauga a better place to live.
ments, the foundation has been fortunate enough to provide
more than $400,000 in grants to Sylacauga city schools.
To contact the school foundation, call the Sylacauga Board
of Education at 256-245-5256.
Civic Clubs
Service clubs are vital to the quality of life of the city and
are at the heart of many good works throughout Sylacauga.
Kiwanis and Rotary are two examples of civic clubs that
make a tremendous difference in the city.
The Sylacauga Kiwanis Club meets every Tuesday evening
at 5:30 inside the Coosa Valley Medical Center conference
room, located adjacent to the Hickory Street Café.
The organization is preparing for upcoming service projects taking course over the next few months. Kiwanis members work with the Boy’s Club preparing Christmas baskets
and the Reading is Fundamental program, where club members read to children at day care centers in town to promote
reading.
Kiwanis also supports summer reading programs at the
Comer Library, as well as the Comer Museum and the Care
House.
The Sylacauga Rotary Club strives to achieve club, vocational, community and international service, in keeping with
10
the club’s motto: Service Above Self. As an international
effort, the club is now collecting used cell phones to raise
funds for a water project in Africa.
The Rotary Club meets Tuesday at noon inside the conference room at CVMC.
Both civic groups sponsor their high school equivalent
organizations through the city and county schools in the
area. Rotary Club sponsors Interact Club at Sylacauga High
School, while the Kiwanis Club sponsors Key Club at both
Comer High School and SHS, as well as the Builder’s Club at
Nichols-Lawson Middle School
Habitat for Humanity
The Sylacauga Area Habitat for Humanity dedicated its
ninth house in August 2008.
The volunteer-based organization was incorporated in
1996 and became affiliated with Habitat for Humanity
International in 1997. The group built and dedicated its first
house in 1998.
Applications for the 2009 home were submitted in
September, and the organization’s selection committee will
choose the recipient of this year’s home based on those appli-
For over 50 years the Sylacauga Utilities Board has
been providing electric, natural gas, water and
sanitary sewer services to our community. In 1999,
we added high speed and wireless internet
access to that list. We are proud to be your locally
owned and operated utility.
If you have any questions about our services,
please give us a call.
Billing Office: 256-249-8501
Operations Center: 256-249-0372
Email comments and questions to:
sub@sylacauga.net
UTILITIES BOARD
CITY OF SYLACAUGA
301 North Elm Avenue • Sylacauga, AL 35150
11
Quality of life
Habitat for Humanity has
dedicated nine houses in
the Sylacauga area.
cations.
When the family is selected, Habitat board members will reach
out to the community for volunteers, both skilled and unskilled,
to begin work on the home.
In addition to building volunteers, the organization has 14
board members and nine committees, each dealing with different aspects of building the home, such as fundraising, volunteer
coordination and site selection.
So far, the property for each of the nine houses has been
donated to the organization.
For more information about Habitat or to volunteer, call 256245-3000 and leave a message.
Library
The B.B. Comer Memorial Library is a rich resource for all
Sylacauga residents and has earned regional, state and national
Curtis and Son
Funeral Homes
BLUE HORIZON
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Priscilla Cleveland
Owner
Sylacauga • Childersburg
(256) 245-7900
1-888-868-8661
Fax: (256) 245-4115
Barry Curtis
12
Email: bluehorizontravel@mysylacauga.com
227285
Serving the area for over 35 years
227152
(256)245-4361
601 South Norton Ave.
P.O. Box 1303
Sylacauga, AL 35150
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Serving South Talladega County For Over 40 Years
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EQUAL HOUSING
OPPORTUNITY
535 NORTH BROADWAY, SYLACAUGA, AL 35150
PHONE (256) 245-6782 (256) 245-3273
June L. Atkinson, Broker/Owner-Cell 205-369-1420
Greg Atkinson, Assoc. Broker
Cell 205-369-7769
Jimmie Hammons
M.G. Atkinson, Assoc. Broker
Cell 256-208-8023
Jim Bailey
Ruth E. Berry, Assoc. Broker
Cell 256-208-8431
William F. Killough
Janice Menzies
Cell 256-249-7575
Jerry Hicks
Joan Williams
Cell 256-872-2264
Daphne Gardner
Jennie Nicholson
Cell 256-872-2487
Beverly Murphy
Cell 256-510-6378
Cell 256-872-2042
Cell 205-966-9918
Cell 256-404-5050
Cell 256-510-2619
Cell 256-404-7754
VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.atkinsonrealestate.com • SHOP FOR YOUR DREAM HOME!!
MEMBER, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS • ALABAMA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
TALLADEGA COUNTY BOARD OF REALTORS • SYLACAUGA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE • TALLADEGA MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE
227248
13
Quality of life
Funding education projects is
the core mission of the Sylacauga
City Schools Foundation.
acclaim for its ‘cradle-to-grave’ programs.
A multitude of books, reference texts, books on tape, public
computers and back issues of local newspapers are just few of
the materials on hand for community benefit. The facility is
also home to a genealogy resource room, meeting rooms and
a copy service.
The library, located downtown, offers entertaining and
informative programs like the “Brown Bag Lunch” series and
summer reading program throughout the year for both children and adults.
The Community Links program, a weekly medical presentation sponsored by Coosa Valley Medical Center, also takes
place at the library.
The library is home to the Donna Dickey Bookstore, which
sells used, donated books. The proceeds from the bookstore are
used to purchase new children’s books.
Funding for the library comes from both the City of
Sylacauga, donations through the Library Foundation and
other avenues. The library is open weekdays from 9 a.m. until
5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and from 9 a.m. until
7:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday. The library is open during
the weekends on Saturday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and Sunday
14
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information about the Comer Memorial Library,
contact library director Dr. Shirley Spears or any of the library
staff by calling 256-249-0961.
Senior Citizen Center
The Maxye Veazey Senior Center is a home-base for activities older residents of Sylacauga can enjoy, including cards,
games, crafts and scrapbooking. Seniors can stop in almost any
day of the week and find games of rook, bingo, checkers or
dominoes going on.
Different activities at the center vary from month to month.
The center is also a meeting place for clubs like Golden Keys,
Friendship Club and the Coosa Valley Quilters.
The center is also headquarters for the senior nutrition program, which provides lunchtime meals at the center and also
caters to homebound Sylacauga residents.
The Maxye Veazey Center is open Monday through Thursday
from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., and Friday from 8 a.m. until
5 p.m. For more information on programs at the senior center,
call Sherry Vickers, senior adult director, at 256-249-2346.
Quality of life
The senior
center
provides
a gathering
place and
recreational activities
for senior
citizens.
Think of those friends you’ve had since
you were a kid...
The ones you’ve always counted on in good times and bad.
You rely on their advice because you know they have your
best interest at heart. You value their opinions because
they’ve earned your trust. You have confidence in them
because they’ve always been honest with you, even when
it hurt. They’ve been there for the biggest and the smallest
events in your life.
We’re kind of like that.
Come to Coosa Pines Federal Credit Union and join over 18,000 of your friends and
neighbors who have gotten together for more than half a century to build a successful
financial cooperative. As members we enjoy a full line of products and services; our
deposits are federally insured; we typically pay fewer and lower fees, save more on
loans, and earn more on savings. We would love to have you join us!
Childersburg
17591 Plant Road
1-800-237-9789
(256)378-5559
Sylacauga
255 James Payton
Boulevard
(256)245-7110
Chelsea
190 Chelsea Corners
Shopping Center
(205)678-3600
Pell City
2708 Stemley
Bridge Road
(205)338-5401
www.coosapinesfcu.org
Federally Insured by NCUA
227095
15
Perfect Partnership
Chamber and businesses working together
Sylacauga Chamber staff
Story by Katherine Poythress
The City of Sylacauga has a thriving business
community, thanks in large part to an active
Chamber of Commerce.
Its mission involves providing leadership, stimulating the business community, and promoting
economic advancement and excellent quality of
life for not only the city, but also its surrounding areas, according to Executive Director Joe
Richardson.
It does this through a number of programs
and services offered to the community, including
health insurance programs for members, job fairs,
newsletters, networking opportunities, and a Web
site with community information and links to
area businesses.
One of the most successful Chamber programs
16
is Leadership Sylacauga, an educational course
offered through the Chamber designed to encourage active community participation in Sylacauga
leaders from all walks of life.
Richardson said one of the most important
roles of the Chamber is to serve as a business advocate and assist businesses with both their start-up
and promotion. Budsy’s Steakhouse and Zaxby’s
are only two examples of the Chamber’s success in
assisting with business start-up. Richardson helps
business owners with everything from picking a
good location to understanding all the necessary
forms to file. In the case of Zaxby’s, the Chamber
even allowed owner Steve Taylor to conduct inter-
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www.cvhealth.net
SYLACAUGA, ALABAMA
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Labor and Delivery
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Outpatient Services
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Laboratory/Pathology Services
Ultrasound/Digital Mammography/
Nuclear Medicine
64-Slice CT Scanner with
Cardiac Imaging
MRI and CT Scanning
Pain Management
Pastoral Care
Home Care Services
Case Management Services
Transitional Care Unit
Long-Term Nursing Care
Sports Medicine
Senior Behavorial Health Center
Sleep Disorders Center
Ophthalmology Services
Hospice Care
17
Perfect Partnership
Sylacauga’s business community is thriving thanks in part to the dedication of the
Chamber of Commerce, its members and staff.
views for his employees at the Chamber office.
“We will go to just about any lengths to help our business
community be successful,” Richardson said. “We’re promoting Sylacauga, but we’re also promoting Sylacauga businesses.
There are good job opportunities here, there are good retail
businesses here, and this is a community that is flourishing.”
The Chamber even develops leaders among the young people, offering them the Chamber Ambassadors program, which
allows young men and women in high school the opportunity
to serve as escorts and hosts at many Chamber functions.
“There is a real strong educational component to what the
Chamber does,” said community liaison Ted Spears.
The organization also works closely with the public schools
to promote their technical and vocational courses that help
students determine where their career interests lie. In addition,
the Chamber coordinates opportunities for students to volunteer with local companies.
“It gives them a wonderful opportunity to view the kinds
of jobs that are available in Sylacauga so they will have a firm
understanding of what the City of Sylacauga is all about,”
DIA
DICKSON INSURANCE AGENCY
www.superiorbank.com
18
228086
BUSINESS
Member FDIC
•LIABLITY
•WORK COMP
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TERESA GRUBBS teresa@dicksonllc.net
TRIPP DICKSON tripp@dicksonllc.net
PERSONAL
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•MOTORCYCLE
227279
Sylacauga
126 N. Broadway Ave.
256-245-2281
400 Ft. Williams St. W., Sylacauga, AL 35150
Phone 256-249-3288
Fax 256-249-3289
Toll Free 888-884-3330
1215 Fayetteville Road
Sylacauga, Al. 35151
(256 )249-3871
19
Perfect Partnership
The Chamber helps organize
Sylacauga’s Fourth of July celebration.
Spears said.
The diversity of activities keeps Chamber
employees multi-tasking, said administrative
assistant Pat Lindley, who has even delivered
popcorn to all the chamber’s member businesses.
Each year the gym at J. Craig Smith is used
by the Sylacauga Chamber of Commerce to
hold its annual dinner meeting. The meeting is
held in October, and more than 400 attend this
festive event that features well-known entertainment from across the Southeast and serves as a
time to honor individuals, businesses and industries for their contributions to the city.
With the help of these programs to improve
local business and quality of life, the future
looks bright for Sylacauga.
20
1301 Gene Stewart Blvd. • Sylacauga, AL
256/249-4901
21
Blue Bell Creameries
An exemplary corporate citizen for Sylacauga
Employees at Blue Bell
fill tubs of ice cream to be
shipped to customers across
the Southeast.
Story by Denise Sinclair
A tourist destination point not only in Alabama but
around the country, is Sylacauga’s own Blue Bell Creameries
located on Norton Avenue.
Visitors learn how the best ice cream in the state and
perhaps the nation is made right here in Sylacauga. Once
you’ve learned how ice cream is made, you can stop by the
Blue Bell Ice Cream parlor for a scoop of your favorite
treat. Then you can step next door into the Country Store
22
and purchase a souvenir for a family member, friend or
yourself.
Blue Bell is ranked as one of the top three best-selling
ice creams in the country. Millions of gallons of what many
say is the best ice cream in the country are made each year
in the Sylacauga plant.
23
Blue Bell
Blue Bell purchased the Flav-ORich facility in 1996 and began
production in 1997.
Blue Bell products are sold in Alabama, Arizona,
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and
Texas. No matter how the market has grown, the
quality standards of Blue Blue ice cream remains the
same, company officials say.
Blue Blue Creameries purchased the former FlavO-Rich manufacturing plant in 1996 and started
24
production of its ice cream here in 1997. Soon after
production started, the Country Store and Ice Cream
Parlor were opened.
These two very popular aspects of Blue Bell
Creameries along with the educational tours given
to visitors of the manufacturing facility bring more
than 27,000 visitors each year to the plant, said Susan
Fairmont Realty Company
fairmont@mysylacauga.com
www.fairmont-realty.com
Sylacauga’s Professional Realtors For 50 Years!
208 North Broadway Avenue • Sylacauga, AL 35150
Office (256) 249-8574 • Facsimile (256) 249-0169
EQUAL HOUSING
OPPORTUNITY
REAL
ESTATE
• Residential
• Commercial
• Industrial
• Land
GREGG TUBBS – Owner/Broker
Cell - 256-872-4662
Home - 256-245-8832
STEVIE WYATT
Realtor
Cell - 256-872-4806
ROBIN BROOKS – Realtor
Cell - 256-334-1221
Home - 256-377-1221
PHOTO
NOT
AVAILABLE
KIMBERLY WILLIAMS
Realtor
Cell - 256-510-4628
RICHARD BOWEN
Realtor
Cell - 256-267-0307
TARUS TWYMAN
Realtor
Cell - 205-965-2600
MARY BENNETT
Realtor
Cell - 256-267-6885
227142
Find Your Dream Home on line at www.fairmont-realty.com
25
Blue Bell
Thanks to Blue Bell, other sponsors and patrons, Sylacauga
has this pavilion in the park
downtown used by the
entire community.
Odom, office and country store manager.
While Blue Bell has only been part of the Sylacauga community 12 years, its history in Brenham, Texas, dates back
more than a century.
Blue Bell Creameries, based in Brenham, opened its doors
in 1907. According to the ice cream maker’s history, it all
started on a hot summer day when local farmers decided
to establish Brenham Creamery Company and make butter
from excess cream brought in by area farmers. A few years
later, the creamery began making ice cream and delivering it
Comer Library...
to neighbors by horse and wagon.
It was in 1930 when the company changed its name to Blue
Bell Creameries after the native Texas bluebell wildflower.
A lot has changed since those early days. Horse-drawn
buggies have been traded in for refrigerated trucks, and the
creamery no longer produces butter.
Today, Blue Bell produces around 50 ice cream flavors,
including the number-one seller, Homemade
A beacon of light in the greater
Sylacauga community.
JUST TAKE A LOOK B.B. Comer Memorial Library is central to this
city on the move, providing services from the
AT THE NUMBERS:
cradle to the grave.
•90,000 books available
for check-out
•30,000 registered borrowers
•73,000 library visits last
year
•170,000 check-outs
•15,000 program
attendance visits
244063
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THESE PROGRAMS:
•Online services •Public use computers •Wireless access
•Lecture series by noted authors and historians •Story time for children
•Highlights for Seniors •Better Beginnings for babies
•Story-Time-To-Go for Child Care Centers
And there’s so much more...
•Genealogy databases and programs
Visit us today!
26
Sylacauga
~~~
What a Name,
What a Town!
You are
invited
to our
Marble
Festival and
Exposition
during April
& May 2009
The Mayor and
City Council of Sylacauga
Welcome You
to the Marble City
(L-R) Back Row: Doug Murphree, Ken Horn, Mayor Sam Wright
(L-R) Front Row: Jim Heigl, Manuell Smith III, Walter Jacobson
227927
27
Blue Bell
The ice cream manufacturer
also has a country store and ice
cream parlor that attract people
to Sylacauga from all over.
Vanilla, numerous frozen snack items and a no-sugaradded and light line of ice cream.
So if you’re looking for a fun place to visit while
in Sylacauga or you live in the community and just
want to see how ice cream is made, touring Blue Bell
is a must.
The tour is open to vacationing families, groups,
school children and individuals.
28
Tours are by appointment only and are from 9 a.m.
to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The guided tour includes a short video and walking
tour to allow visitors an opportunity to see the manufacturing process at Blue Bell Creameries. Tours last
30 to 45 minutes and accommodate up to 45 people
MONEY-SAVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY TIP No. 23
INSULATE YOURSELF
FROM RISING
ENERGY COSTS.
By David S. Stewart
Alabama Power Company
Wish it weren’t true, but energy prices are on the rise. The good news is, there’s plenty
we can all do to offset these increases, like making sure your home is properly insulated.
A properly
Your insulation should be
8 or more inches.
Start with the walls adjacent to
insulated home
unheated spaces, such as garages. The
can save you up
structural elements in this part of your
to 30% on heating
home are probably exposed, so measuring
and cooling costs.
your insulation here should be easy.
So, grab a
Finally, measure the insulation in your
ruler and let’s
basement (finished or unfinished). Check
head to the attic
the ceilings, walls, crawl space, etc.
to measure your insulation. Should be 8 or
What is
an R-Value?
If you’re finding your home is coming
more inches. Make sure you measure in a
up short on insulation, it’s time to add
couple of different places. Insulation can
more. Most of it you can do yourself. We’ve
sometimes be spotty.
got all this laid out in a nice format on our
After checking the attic, take a look at
Web site, along with detailed explanations
the rest of the house. Hopefully, you’ve got
of everything you’ll need to seal in that hot
plenty of insulation in the walls.
or cold air.
For more tips on insulation, visit AlabamaPower.com/tips.
An R-Value is a number that
indicates how well a material
resists heat. A high R-Value
will help keep those power
bills down, whereas a lower
R-Value will not. I’ve posted
an easy-to-follow R-Value
calculator up on our Web site.
©2008 Alabama Power Company
29
The Comer Museum has
a section dedicated to
local actor Jim Nabors.
Ice cream giant not only thing
bringing tourism to town
Story by Carol Pappas
Photo by Brian Schoenhals
Dr. Ted Spears knows a lot about how attractive Sylacauga
can be to the outside world. After all, he is a transplant himself. He moved from his native Alexander City with his wife,
Shirley Spears, 25 years ago for his career and has never regretted it. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” he said.
He is the perfect ambassador for Sylacauga, ready to promote its strengths, its opportunities and its people.
Spears heads the Tourism Committee of the city’s Chamber
of Commerce, and he is quick to tout what Sylacauga has to
offer newcomers.
For three years running, it has been named to the national
“100 Best Communities for Young People.”
The churches are welcoming. In civic clubs, there is plenty
of opportunity to meet people and to work for the community. The offerings of the museum, library, and parks and
recreation are comprehensive.
And the people, Spears said, are its best asset. “The people
are readily accepting of someone new.”
It is all those things rolled up into one special city that
“attracted us and kept us here,” said Spears.
Overseeing the Tourism Committee, he wants to make sure
that other newcomers have that same kind of experience he
had two and a half decades ago.
The committee is aggressive in its recruitment of newcomers and works hard to make sure that the city is more accessible
to tourists.
That’s why the Chamber of Commerce is open on
30
Saturdays, ensuring that those passing through town have
access to the information they need when they need it. Heavy
traffic areas like the CVS drugstore and Blue Bell Creameries,
where 25,000 people tour each year, are well stocked with
Sylacauga Magazine, maps, retiree brochures and travel brochures from south Talladega County.
“Both stay empty all the time, and we have to go back
and refill them, which is a good thing,” Spears said. It means
people want to know more about Sylacauga.
But the committee doesn’t stop there. Members are planning
a conference inviting Sylacaugans who are 50 and older. They
want to ask questions like, “Why did you choose Sylacauga?”
and “Did you really find what you were looking for?”
Word of mouth from friends and family about a particular
area is a traditional route to attracting newcomers. “People
listen to their friends who have moved to a place,” Spears said,
so the committee is looking for input about the city and developing a network to attract new residents in a non-traditional
way. It is the kind of innovative thinking that sets Sylacauga
apart. The Chamber’s Web site, for instance, is a marketing
resource others want to emulate. It forms partnerships like the
one with hotels and motels in the area, which help distribute
brochures. They, in turn, are included on the Web site, where
room discounts to encourage visitors are offered.
They see an opportunity, and they make the most of it. And
that’s what draws new residents each year.
Sylacauga, he said, is truly a city on the move, always looking for new ways to serve its citizens. It is what attracted Spears
to Sylacauga, and it is the same drawing card he uses to attract
more people Sylacauga’s way.
Blue Bell
Students unload from a bus
for a special tour of Blue Bell.
at a time.
After the tour, visitors are
treated with a sample of
their favorite ice cream.
While on the tour, visitors
see how their favorite frozen
treat is made. They get to
see cookies, peaches, pecans,
strawberries and more added
to these favorite flavors that
eventually makes their way
to their supermarket.
The manufacturing plant
makes a variety of flavors in
cups, pints, quarts, half gallons, 3 gallons and ice cream
novelties.
The Country Store and
Ice Cream Parlor are open
to walk-ins Monday through
Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tours are by appointment. To schedule a tour
call 256-249-6100 or 256249-6112.
The country store features mostly Blue Bell logo
merchandise from T-shirts
to cups and mugs.
31
Fueling economic success
New industries building on foundation of original businesses
Retail business growth has
exploded along U.S. 280
where it passes through Sylacauga
With more than 200 employees, Blue Bell Creameries’
production and distribution plant is just one of Sylacauga’s
economic success stories.
When the company, headquartered in Brenham, Texas, was
looking to expand east in the late 1980s and early 1990s, plant
manager Kevin Wood said, the ice cream makers weren’t looking specifically at Sylacauga. But when an already-in-place ice
cream plant location was pitched to the company by the city’s
leaders, it was an offer the company didn’t refuse.
Wood said that, when the Flav-O-Rich ice cream was planning to close, officials at the plant, along with the Sylacauga
City Council, solicited companies to purchase the building.
According to Wood, the City of Sylacauga fit well with the
32
company’s image.
“It’s a small-town environment,” Wood said. “Our company started based on small-town roots, and we have the image
of being a small-town company and the country-style image
we like to present to our customers.”
He said the move also made sense from a logistical standpoint because the central location allows the company to break
into fast-growing markets.
Blue Bell purchased its facility in 1996, and after some
renovations, it opened and began producing in 1997. Now
the plant produces the company’s top flavors for distribution
in eight states.
“We moved here, and it’s been very successful,” Wood said
of the company’s 12 years in the city.
“Turnover (rates) are low, the tax
base is good, cost of living is reasonable, and we’ve had good cooperation with the city and the Chamber
of Commerce.”
The Sylacauga area has many
benefits to offer, including access
to U.S. 280 as a main transportation corridor and a quality school
system.
Both Wood and Calvin Miller,
executive director of the Talladega
County Economic Development
Authority, said the workforce is a
draw for the area.
“We have a workforce that’s very
trainable and that’s been proven
several different times with different
projects,” Miller said.
In the 18 years he’s been director,
Miller said, he has seen the city grow
and develop economically.
“It’s had a constant growth, but
we’ve also had some setbacks at the
same time,” Miller said.
For years, the leading industry
in Sylacauga was Avondale Mills.
Founded by Braxton Bragg Comer,
Avondale began operations in
Nemak employes around
700 people at its
facility here.
33
Economic success
Why they call it the Marble City
Marble is still an
important part of
the local economy.
Sylacauga isn’t called the Marble City just because
it’s a good nickname.
The city is built upon a solid bed — one that’s
about one and a half miles wide, 32 miles long and
400 feet deep — of hard, white marble.
Though Sylacauga was settled by Creek Indians
in the 1500s through the explorations of Hernando
DeSoto, it would be more than 300 years before
the first recorded discovery of the underlying white
marble would be made.
Physician Dr. Edward Gantt recorded his discovery
in 1820, and Gantt’s Quarry was born.
By the time Gantt’s Quarry was purchased in
1906, marble was being shipped to different parts
of the state to be used in the structural and steel
industries
Uses for calcium carbonate, made from crushed
marble, kept expanding, and by the 1940s, it was
used in industries from paints to agriculture.
Today, Sylacauga has quarries still extracting
Sylacauga in 1906. The textile company closed its doors in
Sylacauga after a train carrying chlorine gas derailed on January
6, 2005, near Avondale’s Graniteville, S.C., plant, killing six
employees, three citizens and damaging millions of dollars of
equipment. Though the company worked to keep operations
going, officials at the textile company decided to close the
Sylacauga and Pell City plants in summer 2006. He said the
34
marble and creating calcium for use in everyday consumer products, like chewing gum, cosmetics, plastics
and insulations.
The marble is also used as an art canvass for
sculptures.
The Isabel Anderson Comer Museum has a permanent exhibit of marble sculptures on display and
the piece displayed outside in front of the museum is
made of marble.
Next year will mark the 175th anniversary of the
marble industry in the city of Sylacauga, and a
celebration of the industry will be held in May-June
2009.
Plans for the marble celebration are slated to
include a marble exposition showcase, displaying
different marble products and styles produced by
Sylacauga quarries. This would include a walking
tour of local buildings, like City Hall, the Comer
Memorial Library and the Chamber of Commerce
office, where marble is used as part of the interior or
exterior design. Other buildings could have pieces of
marble or marble creations on display.
city purchased some of the Avondale property for future industrial development and a new speculative building.
Since Avondale closed, Miller said the types of industries
moving to the area have shifted from textile production to
automotive-related manufacturing companies to keep pace
with the state’s growing automobile industry.
The Sylacauga plant of Fleetwood Metal Industries, a
Economic success
Nemak makes
cylinder heads,
transmission
parts and engine
blocks.
company that produces various parts
and assemblies for automotive production, is one of the company’s four plants
and the only one located in the United
States. According the company’s corporate Web site, the company is investing
heavily in both labor and equipment at
its Sylacauga plant and plans to expand
its product lines as it becomes more
prominent in the auto market.
Nemak, a automotive industry that
specializes in the production of aluminum cylinder heads, transmission parts
and engine blocks, services customers
across the country with facilities in 13
countries and employs approximately
15,000 people worldwide. Around 700
of those employees are at the Nemak
Alabama plant.
Miller said Coosa Valley Medical
Center is also important for the city by
providing a service industry and employing doctors, nurses and other hospital
staff.
The Marble City’ grandfather industry
is providing positive economic promise
in calcium carbonate, made from ground
marble, at plants like Imerys.
OXFORD REALTY
1102 West Ft. Williams St.
Sylacauga, AL 35150
Office Phone: 256-249-ERA7
Fax: 256-249-9007
Bill Pharr - Broker - 256-872-6208 Tim Pearce - Associate Broker - 256-872-3274
Rockey Pittman 256-404-7014
Robby Mckemie 256-510-2564
Amy Watkins 256-404-4777
Brad Chappell 256-391-2139
Kenneth Murphy 256-404-2168
Carol Bates 256-872-0395
Mary Harvard 256-404-0859
227107
35
Economic success
“It’s an additive in a lot of different
things, like paint,” Miller said. “It’s an
additive in plastics, and it’s even the powder on a stick of chewing gum.”
Because of shipping expenses for the
materials are high and the city has access to
the raw material, it creates an opportunity
for the area.
“Because we have a lot of the raw material, it provides an opportunity for us to try
to attract those companies who use it.”
Miller said one of the best examples is
Heritage Plastics, located in the industrial
park, which uses the carbonate as filler in
its products.
As for the city’s future for growth, the
city has opportunities to build on the
industries already growing in the area.
“I think we’ll be able to attract people
who use calcium carbonate because the
raw material is very unique to this area,”
Miller said. “Also, I think we’ll be able
to work toward increasing the number of
automobile suppliers. Right now there’s a
downturn in the auto industry, but that
will come back. There’s a new assembly facility that’s going to be located in
Chattanooga (Tenn.) for Volkswagen, and
we’re going to try to attract some of its
suppliers.”
Fleetwood Metals is just one
of the automotive-related
industries to locate in the area.
ALLEN
COMPANIES
•Exxon, Pure & Phillips 66 Gasoline & Diesel Fuel
•Unocal, Fina & Primrose Lubricants
•76 High Performance Racing Gasoline & Lubricants
Wholesale Distributor
Serving Alabama
Phone 256-245-4578
36
227119
1251 Old Birmingham Hwy., Sylacauga, AL 35150
A family enjoys a meal at the new
outdoor section of the Marble City
Grill in downtown Sylacauga.
Downtown
Sylacauga
A new face for historic
When you pass through downtown
Sylacauga, you know you have arrived in a
special place.
When other downtown areas across the
nation have lost their luster, Sylacauga’s
downtown is thriving. That’s because city
leaders have invested in the heart of their
city, putting in new sidewalks and street
lights and developing a downtown park with
a pavilion.
The city’s Commercial Development
Authority has actively recruited businesses
specially suited for the downtown area, like
specialty shops and restaurants, and it has
offered incentives for businesses to dress up
their facades.
It all adds up to a downtown that is inviting, welcoming and yes, open for business.
New lighting, sidewalks, crosswalks and plants were part of the
revitalization process.
37
LivingHealthy
Meeting the medical needs of a growing community
Coosa Valley Medical Center
recently completed construction on
its new facility that serves
Sylacauga and surrounding areas.
Story by Antrenise Cole
In this progressive city, the quality of health care
continues to improve with the range of health care
offerings in Sylacauga bringing it comparable to those
found in bigger cities.
Coosa Valley Medical Center, originally called
Sylacauga Hospital, opened on April 1, 1945, and had
the distinction of being the only non-military hospital
built in the United States during World War II.
Today, the hospital continues to move into the
future by continuing to add new services.
Coosa Valley Medical Center unveiled a new hospi-
38
tal wing in early summer 2007.
“The new hospital was really the culmination of
our hopes and plans to address what the community needs,” said Glenn Sisk, chief executive officer of
CVMC. “It’s a privilege to be a part of something like
this because there are not many new hospitals opening
these days.”
Coosa Valley Medical Center services include 24hour emergency services, cardio/pulmonary rehab,
surgical services, labor and delivery, outpatient services, respiratory care, laboratory/pathology services,
ultrasound/digital mammography/nuclear
medicine, 64-slice CT Scanner with cardiac
imaging, MRI scanning, pain management,
pastoral care, home care services, case management, transitional care unit, long-term
nursing care, sports medicine, fitness and
wellness center, sleep disorders center, ophthalmology services and more.
The hospital recently opened a Senior
Behavioral Health Center, which is managed
through a partnership with Horizon Health
Behavioral Health Services.
The center, located in the 3 West area of
the hospital, is designed for individuals 65
years or older who are experiencing serious
emotional difficulties.
The center is for short-term stay, with the
average patient staying one to two weeks.
The center was renovated and has 15 private
rooms, an activity room for therapy and recreational activities, a dining room, and living
area.
Team members include a psychiatrist,
nurses, social workers, therapists and mental
health technicians.
“I think this center will be big in reducing
the stigma of mental illness that exists in the
community and let them know that this is a
normal process that we all go through from
time to time,” said Carmen Knox, program
CVMC has a trained
surgical staff on site.
SHOP ‘N’ FILL
WEST PARK ST.
FT. WILLIAMS
CORPORATE OFFICE
HWY. 280
BROADWAY AVE.
BOWDEN OIL COMPANY, INC.
www.bowdenoil.com
Hwy. 280 West, Sylacauga, AL 35150
256-245-5611
Proudly serving Talladega, Tallapoosa, Coosa, Chilton, Shelby & St. Clair Counties
since 1955 with quality ChevonTexaco gasoline and products.
227116
B
39
Living Healthy
Craddock Health
Center is another
option for residents
seeking medical
attention.
director of the center. “Mental illness will affect someone in all
families, and now, we can provide a service to meet the geriatric patient, as well as the family’s needs.”
For more information about the services at Coosa Valley
Medical Center, visit www.cvhealth.net or call 256-249-5000.
Primary care available at Craddock Health Center
Residents in Sylacauga and the surrounding areas can also
visit Craddock Health Center for health care needs.
Craddock Health Center was founded by Dr. F. Hood
Craddock and his son in 1912. The physicians at Craddock provide primary care and other
services, including breath alcohol testing, drug screening,
40
diabetic education classes, infectious disease control, vascular
imaging, EKGs, cardiac event monitoring, hearing tests, vaccinations, laboratory testing, company physicals, pulmonary
function testing, ultrasounds, X-rays, workman’s compensation claims, and screenings for hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, thyroid disorders, obesity, osteoporosis and cancer.
“Having a facility like this for people who are sick or need
treatment is important,” said Donna Hernandez, Craddock’s
office manager. “As long as you have a local place where the
doctors are dedicated to providing good service to the patients,
people don’t have to go out of town to get the treatment they
can get here. I think it’s important to have that in a community.”
Living Healthy
For more information visit Craddock’s Web
site at www.craddockhealthcenter.com or call
256-245-5241.
Dialysis services provided
No longer do patients have to travel to larger
cities to get the care they need. Such services as
those provided at DaVita Sylacauga Dialysis are
right here in the city’s own back yard.
DaVita trains patients to do dialysis treatments
at home. The staff trains patients to perform both
peritoneal dialysis, which uses a thin membrane
for dialysis treatments, and home hemodialysis,
which uses a dialysis machine to clean the blood.
“A large majority of our patients have diabetes
and high blood pressure,” said Jamie HortonMauldin, the facility administrator for DaVita
Sylacauga Dialysis. “Diabetes and high blood
pressure are the No. 1 cause of chronic kidney
disease. Diabetes is rampant in our area.”
The dialysis center is located at 331 James
Payton Blvd.
Labor and delivery is another of the services offered by
Coosa Valley Medical Center. Residents in Sylacauga can
have nearly all of their health care needs met without ever
leaving town.
Medical needs fulfilled
Sylacauga also has a wide range of specialists
who have offices around town, including chiropractors; optometrists; general practice physicians; gastroenterologists; ear, nose and throat
doctors; radiologists; podiatrists; dermatologists;
and more.
F O O T EF U RBN R
O
T
H
E
R
S
ITURE
KING HICKORY • CLAYTON-MARCUS
LA-Z-BOY • BRADINGTON-YOUNG
SPRING AIR • TEMPUR-PEDIC
BARCALOUNGER • RIVERSIDE
SAMUEL LAWRENCE
HOOKER • EKORNES
227162
Downtown Sylacauga ~ 11 8 We s t 3 r d S t . ~ 1 - 8 8 8 - 2 2 9 - 8 4 8 0
w w w. f o o t e b r o s . c o m
• CELEBRATING 61 YEARS OF SERVICE TO YOUR HOME DECORATING NEEDS •
41
42
Playing on the fast track
Sylacauga’s parks are beyond something special
They say that mothers know best.
And it seems that’s certainly true for the parks in
Sylacauga.
In 2003, a group of women decided they wanted to
see improvements made to the local parks and arranged a
meeting with Jim Armstrong, director of the city’s Parks
and Recreation Department.
Members of the Mothers In Action Committee,
which is now an eight-member, 501(c)3 non-profit
organization formed by those women, launched a letterwriting campaign to inform the community of its desire
to improve the parks.
The community responded by sending contributions,
and Armstrong said the group raised approximately
$90,000 with its tireless effort.
“The community response was so positive,” said
Anna Proctor, past president and former member of the
Mothers In Action committee. She said all the group’s
fundraising efforts were done in conjunction with the
Parks and Recreation Department, and no decision was
made without consulting Armstrong.
The City of Sylacauga also received a $125,000 grant
from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which the
city matched with its funds, bringing the park improvement budget to between $340,000 and $350,000.
43
On the fast track
This skateboarder drops off
the backside of one of the
ramps at Sylacauga’s skate
park in Noble Park.
44
On the fast track
Grinding on the
rails is a popular
trick for bicyclists
and skateboarders
alike.
Using that money, the Parks and Recreation
Department updated each of the city parks this
past year, making them each handicapped accessible. Today, citizens of all ages enjoy walking
tracks at Fairmont and Noble parks, and the
skate park at Noble draws a younger generation
from near and far.
“I think it’s wonderful that the city and the
Parks and Recreation Department has continued
this and that people use them,” Proctor said. “It’s
exciting to drive by and see school buses parked
and see kids playing.”
In April, the Parks and Recreation Department
added Central Park to its growing list of community parks in the city. With the addition, the
city now has six located conveniently around the
city — the new Central Park; Beth Wallace Yates
Park, home to the tennis center and volleyball
pit; Noble Park, the largest of the six, which is
home to the skate park and a new BMX bicycle
track; Fairmont and South Highland parks, two
smaller parks with basketball courts and playground equipment; and the park area at Lake
Howard.
Joe Richardson, executive director of the
Sylacauga Chamber of Commerce, said the
parks showcase the city.
“(Our parks) are definitely something we at
45
On the fast track
Noble Park also boasts
new playground equipment
for younger children.
The BMX track
is already bringing
racers of all ages
to Sylacauga
46
the Chamber of Commerce use to promote Sylacauga as
a way to show people who want to retire or move here,”
Richardson said.
“Our parks really are an indication of the overall quality
of life in Sylacauga. We have activities for each age group.
There’s something for all ages. They’re great parks with
first-class amenities.”
Margaret Morton, director of the Sylacauga Alliance
for Family Enhancement, said she thinks the parks contributed to Sylacauga being chosen three years running as
one of the top 100 communities in the nation for young
people. Sylacauga is one of only 40 cities to be named in
the top 100 list for three consecutive years.
Scores of community events, like the SAFE-sponsored
Sylacauga Promise Day, have been held at the parks, providing gathering places for family and friends.
But Mothers In Action is not content to let the
momentum subside. Mothers In Action is kicking off
another letter campaign to solicit donations for even more
park additions and improvements.
South Highland Park is targeted for the majority of
improvements this year, including a new fence and renovations to the restrooms and the pavilion.
If enough money is raised, Armstrong plans to do some
landscape work at each of the parks and add metal roofs
to each of the park pavilions in the future.
And there is plenty more on the horizon. A major
park project is under way with a new 15-mile hiking
and mountain bike trail running through the Talladega
On the fast track
The skate
park is
also ideal
for tricks
on scooters.
SYLACAUGA HOUSING AUTHORITY
Established In 1941
415 West 8th Street • Sylacauga • (256) 249-0381
“Serving Sylacauga’s Affordable
Housing Needs For 67 Years”
228090
47
On the fast track
The city covered the pool
with a dome to allow
its use in a variety of
weather and seasons.
48
On the fast track
National Forest being built at Lake
Howard.
In early September, a groundbreaking ceremony for the new bike
and hiking trail was held at Lake
Howard.
The trail begins at the park’s small
pavilion and winds its way into the
Talladega National Forest.
The trail was expected to be completed this month.
Members of the Cyclists of Greater
Sylacauga bike club will work to keep
up the trail as well as improve it.
“Ultimately, the big job is to keep
the trail open and work with the erosion,” said Tim Presley with COGS.
“We’ll use (the Forest Service’s) procedures and methods to take care of
the trail.”
The group also plans to build
some auxiliary trails that lead to views
of the lake and other landmarks that
could double the trail mileage, but
that could take two years.
“The more we do,” Armstrong
said, “just gives more recreation
opportunities for the citizens in
Sylacauga.”
The walking track at
Pinecrest Park is another
outdoor option for residents.
209 West Spring Street, Suite 200
Sylacauga, Alabama 35150
Craddock Health Center physicians have a proud
heritage of medical care dating back to 1912
Appointments: (256) 249-1100
Diseases We Treat
*Diabetes *High Blood Pressure *Cholesterol *Heart Disease
*Vascular Disease *Liver, Stomach & Colon Disease
*Arthritis *Osteoporosis *Menopause * Prostate Disease
*Memory Disorders *Headaches
Radney-Smith is Coosa Valley’s
hometown funeral home that
brought lower prices to this area.
RADNEY-SMITH
FUNERAL HOME
227256
Caring People Caring For People
Services We Provide
*Breath Alcohol Testing *Drug Screening *D.O.T.s *Diabetic
Education Classes * Infectious Disease Control *Weight Loss
Clinic *Vascular Imaging *EKGs *Cardiac Event Monitoring
*Hearing Tests *Vaccinations *Laboratory Testing *Company
Physicals *Pulmonary Function Testing *Ultrasounds
* X-Rays *Workman’s Compensation Claims *Screenings for
Hypertension, Diabetes, Cholesterol, Thyroid Disorders, Obesity,
Osteoporosis, Cancer and others
We accept most insurances
Visit our web-site at www.craddockhealthcenter.com
277266
320 North Elm Ave. • Sylacauga, AL
For more information, call 256-245-1616
We honor all burial insurance and pre-need contracts.
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49
Culture and class
Arts are alive and well in Sylacauga
Assistant museum director Linda Hatchett
and director Donna Rentfrow show
off some of the work on display at the
Comer Museum.
50
Photos by Bob Crisp
and Brian Schoenhals
The City of Sylacauga has two vital
groups bringing arts and culture to
the residents of the Marble City: the
Sylacauga Area Council on Arts and
Humanities and the volunteers at the
Isabel Anderson Comer Museum and
Arts Center.
The museum displays a gamut of
paintings, drawings, photographs and
sculptures, in addition to historical
displays. Some are on permanent display, like the memorabilia of Sylacauga
native Jim Nabors who rose to fame as
television’s Gomer Pyle and through
his music.
Others displays are changed from
month to month. “So if you don’t
like it one month, you’ll like it the
next,” said museum director Donna
Rentfrow.
In November, the museum will
display a local artist exhibit. The
museum staff hosts an opening reception monthly to welcome each new
exhibit, where people can mingle and
hear live entertainment.
The museum is also involved with
The Comer Museum
is non profit and
relies on support from
the community.
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51
Culture and class
The Arts Council still aims to
bring performing arts to children from across the area.
both the area high schools. In April, the museum will feature
art created by students at Sylacauga High School, and student
work from B.B. Comer High will be displayed the entire
month of May.
“It’s been proven that art curriculum in schools makes a better student,” Rentfrow said. “They’re able to think outside the
box and be more creative in their problem solving.”
Rather than just displaying art and history, the museum
provides a learning opportunity and creative outlet by providing art classes.
“We’re unique because we’re a museum and an art center,”
she added.
The museum offers classes for both children and adults and
serves as the host classroom for the ARC of South Talladega
County.
The museum is a non-profit organization that relies on
community support to maintain.
“The museum here is for everyone,” Rentfrow said. It was
a community effort to start the museum, and it will be a com-
52
munity effort to keep the museum going.”
She said the museum belongs to the entire community, and
they should take advantage of what it has to offer.
The museum charges no admission and is open Tuesday
through Friday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and other times by
appointment. To arrange an appointment or to get involved in
classes, call 256-245-4016.
Council on Arts
Sylacauga Area Council on Arts and Humanities, created in
the 1970s, began primarily as a way to bring music enrichment
to the community.
After becoming a formal entity 35 years ago, the Arts
Council still aims to bring performing arts to children living
throughout the area.
Dr. Ted Spears, current president of the Arts Council,
said the organization used to provide entertainment for both
adults and children, but in the past five years, the council has
changed exclusively to children’s programming.
Culture and class
The museum serves as a host
classroom for the ARC.
The council has sponsored performances from the Birmingham Children’s Theatre
for each of the local schools and has also
sponsored trips to hear the Birmingham
Symphony perform a special program for
children’s groups.
“The age group we’re serving loves live
entertainment,” Spears said. “They just
respond to it.”
The council also provides some monetary support of art programs in the local
schools and programs provided by SAFE.
For the talent winner of the Miss Sylacauga
Pageant, a preliminary of Miss Alabama,
the council also offers a scholarship named
for Beth Wallace Yates, who was instrumental in the council’s creation.
“It’s a service to the community we provide,” Spears said. “Our idea is to enrich
the lives of children.”
The Arts Council meets at noon on the
last Monday of the month at the chamber
of commerce office. The council is strictly
a volunteer-based organization with 25-30
people serving on the council board.
Those interested in joining the arts
council should contact Ted Spears at the
Sylacauga Chamber of Commerce by calling 256-249-0308.
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53
Literary treasure trove
B.B. Comer Memorial Library is Sylacauga’s
Kiwanians and Rotarians are just
two of the local organizations
that help support the library.
It grew out of a desire in the post-Depression
era to provide something better for the City of
Sylacauga. And today, the B.B. Comer Library
is considered a beacon of light in the community.
Created in 1936 with the Sylacauga Rotary
Club taking the lead, the library consisted of
250 books in the back room of a local bank.
It has evolved into a 39,000-square-foot
facility on the edge of downtown, welcoming
more than 73,000 visits from library patrons
through its doors last year.
The centerpiece of the library is its “cradle
54
-to-grave” concept that offers programs – literally – from the cradle to the grave. In addition to its traditional library services, such
as the more than 90,000 books available
for check-out, in-house reference collection,
magazines and newspapers, Comer Library
offers electronic services, special programs and
outreach.
Computers for public use, genealogy databases and wireless access are among its many
bridges across the digital divide.
Summer enrichment programs for children, the Brown Bag Lecture Series for adults
and after-school programs
as well as programs for ARC
regularly draw more and
more inside the library.
Under the leadership of
Executive Director Shirley
Spears, Comer Library has
long been the epitome of
partnerships, joining forces
with more than 30 businesses and civic organizations to
ensure that it continues to
move forward in service to
the community year after
year.
And its reputation
extends well beyond the city
limits.
It is a shining star in
the state and won national recognition in 2000 as
one of only four libraries
in the country to earn the
National Award for Library
Service, which was given for
extraordinary service to the
community.
B.B. Comer Memorial
Library is at the very heart
of Sylacauga’s standing as ‘a
city on the move,’ enhancing the quality of life for
all who are so ably served
by it.
Under Executive Director
Shirley Spears, Comer
Library has flourished near
downtown Sylacauga.
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On the cutting edge of
EDUCATION
Area schools are working
to keep pace with
technology demands in
the classroom.
With four city schools, two county schools, a private school
and a nearby community college, the educational opportunities for students in Sylacauga are boundless.
The Sylacauga City School System is divided into four
schools that serve students in pre-kindergarten through 12thgrade, plus one school dedicated to providing an alternativeschool environment for at-risk students.
For the 2008-2009 academic year, as of September 19,
2008, enrollment in the city school system totaled 2,409
students.
56
Sylacauga
schools
superintendent
Dr. Jane
Cobia.
Special programs offered to students
in the city system include intervention
classes in reading and math for students in grades K-12, credit recovery
programs, foreign languages, visual
and performing arts, as well as classes
in enrichment, workforce development, health and advanced placement
and dual-enrollment opportunities.
“The mission of the school system
is to produce graduates who can perform to their fullest potential,” said
Dr. Jane Cobia, superintendent of
Sylacauga City Schools.
At a September meeting, the Board
of Education approved the system’s
$18,704,739 budget for the 2009 fiscal year.
Indian Valley Elementary hosts two
classes of pre-kindergarten students
with 15 students in each class.
The program for 4-year-olds utilizes both the same reading and math
programs the students in kindergarten through fifth-grade at Sylacauga
elementary schools use.
“We have found (with) students
who come to our programs, the transition period is almost non-existent,”
Cobia said. “I believe it’s a huge benefit for the children.”
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57
The cutting edge
The new Nichols-Lawson
Middle School opened in
2004.
Knollwood
Christian
School
The elementary school also serves students in kindergarten through second-grade and has an enrollment of 570
students.
Indian Valley was chosen this year to participate in the
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s fresh fruits and vegetables
program, in which the department reimburses the school for
58
County school B.B. Comer sits in the
heart of Sylacauga.
fresh produce purchased during the school year to be served
to students as a snack, helping them learn about the value in
a balanced diet.
Pinecrest Elementary School, located on the southwest
side of Sylacauga, is home to the system’s students in grades
three through five. Current enrollment is 576 students.
The cutting edge
Pinecrest became a third- though-fifth-grade school during the 2006-2007 academic year as Indian Valley became
pre-kindergarten through second-grade. The campus is
home to the baseball field used by both the high school softball team and Sylacauga Little League.
The school, originally built in 1961, underwent a round
of renovations last year, which added six classrooms and
expanded the lunchroom.
Nichols-Lawson is the newest building in the school
system. This impressive facility opened in 2004 after
two schools, Montainview and East Highland, closed in
December 2003.
Nichols-Lawson has an enrollment of 564 and serves the
system’s students in sixth- through eighth-grade. The school
is sectioned into pods, one for each individual grade.
While the school system did meet its Annual Yearly
Progress goals for the year, Nichols-Lawson excelled, reaching 100 percent of its goals.
C-STARS, the alternative-school environment, which
has an enrollment of 25, is housed in the old East Highland
building, now called the Phoenix Center.
“C-STARS is an alternative environment, basically for
credit recovery and the passage of the Alabama High School
Graduation Exam,” Cobia said.
Sylacauga High School, located just north of downtown
Sylacauga, offers specialized electives in addition to its core
curriculum, such as career tech, machining and health,
advanced placement, distance learning, and dual-enrollment
with Central Alabama Community College.
SHS also offers its current 674 students options for earn-
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ing their diplomas. Students can earn Carnegie credits for a
regular, advanced, career tech or occupational diploma, or
a certificate of graduation. The 82 SHS students who took
the ACT this year scored above state average in all categories,
and the graduation rate at SHS is 82 percent.
Two Talladega County Schools, B.B. Comer Memorial
High School and B.B. Comer Memorial Elementary,
which serve students from grades K-12, are also located in
Sylacauga.
For private school options in the area, Sylacauga is home
to the Knollwood Christian School, a non-denominational
Covenant Christian School.
Larry Jones, headmaster at Knollwood, said the main
requirement for admission is at least one of the parents or
guardians is a Christian.
Current enrollment at Knollwood, for students in Keighth, is 68 students. Tuition costs range from $210 to
$325 per month, depending on the child’s age and grade.
“We do administer the SAT, DIEBELS and STAR tests to
make sure we’re teaching the right things and so the students
have a track record of standardized testing,” Jones said.
He said most students who attend Knollwood enter the
Sylacauga city system upon graduation, but some enroll at
Cornerstone Christian School in Columbiana or Briarwood
in Birmingham.
The Childersburg campus of Central Alabama Community
College is located approximately 10 miles from the Marble
City. The school offers courses of study in fields such as
nursing, truck driving and computer science, as well as other
core and technical courses.
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Care House provides
people in the community
with basic food needs.
FAITH
First Baptist Church
The cornerstone of the
Sylacauga community
Story by Katherine Poythress
Faith plays a vital role in holding together the City of
Sylacauga, because many people who attend church together in
Sylacauga also work and play together. They actively serve their
community as both individuals and congregations, participating
in church outreach activities and volunteering with other charitable organizations, many of them faith-based.
60
Churches
There are 76 churches of 20 denominations in the Sylacauga
area listed with the Chamber of Commerce, all of which play a
vital part in the community.
Jim Stanford, president of the Ministerial Association and pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Sylacauga, said he considers
Sylacauga a strong, faith-based community with church members
and entire congregations actively involved in making the city a
better place to live.
Sylacauga’s faith community is extraordinary, he said, because
of the regular cooperation among churches.
“We try to do things together, and each church has its own
congregation as well,” Stanford said.
Such teamwork in the faith-based community is indeed rare,
according to Adam Castleberry, associate pastor of Eastside
Baptist Church.
“I have been all across the United States, and you don’t find
First United Methodist Church
churches that are willing to work together very often,”
said associate pastor Adam Castleberry of Eastside
Baptist Church. Castleberry is thankful for the churches in Sylacauga that work together to better serve their
members and the community.
Such collaboration results in things like a joint communion service held among several church congregations to celebrate World Communion Sunday together
or a short flagpole service for the community on the
National Day of Prayer. Castleberry said Eastside
Baptist Church invites churches to share its venue for
big events like Vacation Bible School and traveling
gospel singing groups.
The Ministerial Association facilitates this cooperative attitude by serving as a nexus of churches so pastors
can share news and ideas and alert one another to concerns and any service or care needs in the community.
The Association spearheads projects like the provision
of Bibles to high school graduates, keeping a schedule
of pastors to lead devotions on the local WYEA Radio
station and delegating congregations to volunteer for
one-week periods at Care House, which provides food
and other help to local residents in need.
Many churches also of their own volition donate
the food necessary to keep organizations like Care
House operating. Two churches, Russell Chapel Baptist
Church and Tallasahatchie First Baptist Church, serve
as Angel Food Ministries host sites, providing food to
those in need in the Sylacauga area.
Other churches contribute to the city’s quality
of life by doing things like offering their facilities as
venues to hold support group sessions, transporting
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61
FAITH
local prisoners to services and church suppers, hosting breakfasts
for football players and cheerleaders, supplying a respite service
for parents of children with special needs, and providing gifts to
underprivileged children during the holidays.
Many churches also host community outreach activities like
fall festivals, and they provide support for their own members
through small groups.
Individual church members get involved in their own ways by
leading initiatives to provide supplies to fire victims, build ramps
for the elderly and shut-ins, travel for disaster relief, collect pop
tops for the Rondald McDonald House, host exchange students,
care for neighbors and provide a plethora of other services.
The projects are virtually as diverse as the people offering
them.
Stanford’s church recently conducted a survey that asked members what they are doing for their community. Results showed
that FBC’s 170 members, not all of whom took the survey, are
involved in 74 separate community-service organizations, from
Boy Scouts and Habitat for Humanity to Kiwanis and Rotary
clubs.
Faith-based organizations
Sylacauga is home to a number of faith-based organizations,
many of them operated by the active church members in the
community.
An anchor in the City of Sylacauga since its establishment in
1972, Care House provides community members in need with
basic food supplies.
The Presbyterian Transitional Center in Sylacauga, established
in 1987, is an offshoot of the Presbyterian Home for Children
located in Talladega and helps children make the transition from
a crisis situation into foster placement or reunification with their
families.
Sylacauga also claims local chapters of United Way, the national organization focused on increasing the capacity of people to
care for one another and their community, and the American Red
Cross, the nation’s premier emergency response organization.
Several Sylacaugans are deeply involved with the Talladega
County parish nurses program. A parish nurse is a licensed registered nurse who has completed a basic parish nurse preparation
course and is working in his or her church as a leader in areas of
health advocacy, teaching and counseling.
Coosa Valley Resources for Women is another growing nonprofit Christian ministry, affiliated with Sav-A-Life and CareNet, devoted to helping women in crisis situations, especially
unplanned pregnancies.
Sylacauga Habitat for Humanity devotes itself to raising housing standards in the area, and in September 2008, volunteers
from the city dedicated their ninth Habitat house. Habitat for
Church of Christ
St. Jude
Catholic Church
Humanity helps families afford better housing through donations
of services and materials. They then sell the family the house at no
profit with an affordable mortgage, only asking in return for the
family’s assistance in building their own and others’ houses.
First United Methodist Church’s mission statement summarizes the active leadership and involvement in Sylacauga’s faith-based
community, which truly does its utmost to “bring people, build
believers and bless the world.”
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62
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Recreation!
J. Craig Smith Community Center
For residents of all ages
Photos by Bob Crisp
and Brian Schoenhals
Sylacauga’s Parks and Recreation Department is like
two ends of the spectrum and everything in between.
From a new BMX bicycle track for the young and the
Maxye Veazey Senior Activities Center for its older population to a vast array of programs and activities to match
citizen interest, the Parks and Recreation Department
offers it.
The department has been part of Sylacauga since it was
established in 1938 to have authority to develop parks,
playgrounds, swimming pools and other recreational
facilities for the citizens of Sylacauga.
It has done just that and continues to find ways to meet
the needs of citizens and visitors to the city.
In 1938, recreational functions were held in churches,
at the Masonic Hall and school auditoriums. The first
recreational center was built in 1943 during World War II
by the federal government for the ammunitions plant in
Childersburg. Three of these centers were built in Talladega
County - Sylacauga, Childersburg and Talladega.
The Parks and Recreation Department was given
$16,000 by the federal government and $4,000 by the city
and Avondale Mills to run this department.
Today, the department has a budget of more than $1
million.
Parks and Recreation Department director Jim
Armstrong leads that full service department. “We try
to have something for everyone. We have line dancing,
ballroom dancing, guitar lessons, cheerleading, football,
soccer, a weight room, adult bingo, swimming lessons,
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Recreation!
water aerobics, gymnastics, karate, piano lessons, tennis lessons
and more. If we don’t have it, we try to get it,” he said.
Monday through Friday each week, an estimated 500 to 600
people pass through the community center’s doors en route to one
of its many programs.
Maxye Veazey Senior Center
Through the perseverance of city and community leaders, the
Maxye Veazey Senior Center was born.
The center houses the senior nutrition program for Sylacauga,
where more than 70 seniors are fed a nutritious meal at lunch.
This includes both seniors who come to the center and homebound individuals. Sherry Vickers is senior adult director of the
Maxye Veazey Center, and she notes the variety of programs
offered to seniors throughout the city.
Seniors on the go
The center has an activity schedule that varies each month.
There are trips outside the city for seniors to such locations as
Senior Day in Oxford, where they enjoy a day of musical entertainment, door prizes and more.
The costs are kept as minimal as possible for the seniors.
Up ahead are plans for a trip to Nashville with a stay at the
Opryland Hotel.
These trips are part of the center’s Travel Club, which meets the
first Monday of each month at 10 a.m. in the General Assembly
Room. There are dues of $15 per person for new members and
$5 per year dues after that.
Staying fit, active
The senior center features wellness and exercise programs available to seniors on a regular basis.
Other activities include bingo, crafts, ceramics, Movie Monday,
Looney Painters, the Friendship Club and Golden Keys.
Also Scrappy Seniors meets Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
for scrapbooking and painting pecan resin and ceramic figurines.
The Coosa Valley Quilters Guild meets at Maxye Veazey
Center the second Tuesday of each month from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
in the General Assembly Room.
Looney Painters meet each Tuesday from 8 a.m. until in the
activity room. Several downtown businesses have art created by a
few of the Looney Painters. This group is seriously talented artists,
who use a variety of mediums. This is not a teaching class. Those
interested in joining the group must be experienced artists and
have their own supplies.
The Friendship Club meets every Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 2
p.m. in the activity room. There is a $5 per year membership.
The Golden Keys meets the first Thursday after the third of
each month, starting at 9 a.m. in the activity room.
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64
Children’s Day Camp
J. Craig Smith Community Center offers a day camp for
children, ages 5 to 10, in the fall, winter, spring and summer. To
find out the dates of the camp, contact J. Craig Smith at 256249-8561 or fax, 256-249-8563. You may also go by the center
at 2 W. 8th St., in Sylacauga or visit the center’s Web site at www.
sylacauga.net.
The fee for day camp is $15 per day or half a day at $8. There
is a discount for two or more campers. Campers are involved in a
variety of activities, including crafts, playing indoor and outdoor
games.
Municipal Pool
The Recreation Department’s municipal pool is open yearround and covered in early fall with the air dome. This allows
for winter swim programs. The pool is heated during the winter
months to provide comfortable, yearlong use.
The local Civitan Club is trying to raise funds for a handicapped accessible ramp for the pool, which will benefit physically
challenged users and the local Arc of South Talladega County,
whose clients use the pool on a regular basis for swimming.
There is public swim six days a week, and season passes are
available.
Adult swim is Monday through Friday.
Pool parties can be held Monday through Sunday at various
times for a fee of $150. Water aerobics is taught Monday through
Thursday at various times, and fees apply.
Learn to swim lessons are taught Tuesdays and Thursdays from
3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at a fee of $40 a month.
Swim team is available to the public. This is a Competitive
USA Swim Team Program and is held Sept. 1 through Dec. 31,
with different swim levels.
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Seniors interested in cards and games can participate in
Tuesday and Thursday afternoon games. These afternoon gamers
meet from noon until. They play rook, dominos, Chinese checkers or regular checkers. You name it and this group plays it.
Wednesday afternoon is for bridge. Players meet from noon to
4 p.m., primarily for bridge.
Game-A-Rama is held every Friday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. for
rook and canasta. Senior players bring a snack to share. Some of
these card players have been playing cards at the recreation center
for 40 years.
The Maxye Veazey Center is open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays. For
more information on programs at the senior center call Sherry
Vickers at 256-249-2346; fax, 256-249-2063. The nutrition
room telephone number is 256-249-8659. Sherry Vickers may be
emailed at svickers@mysylacauga.com.
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875 Old Birmingham Hwy. • Sylacauga
(256) 245-5055 • (800) 489-9093 • Fax (256) 245-1931
cgrier.griercomm@mysylacauga.com
277160
Recreation!
Classes and Programs
KidGym gymnastics and all-star cheer is for girls and boys.
Children starting at age 3 up to the seventh -grade can participate. These classes are held on Mondays only and are taught by
Tanya Ingram.
Karate classes are Mondays and Wednesdays at J. Craig Smith.
Instructor is Wanda McElrath-Frazier, who has 30 years of experience – 18 of which have been in service at J. Craig Smith.
Those interested in piano lessons may take them from instructor Robin Waldrop Mondays and Wednesdays. There is a registration fee and a monthly fee. For information on these lessons,
contact Waldrop at 256-404-3480.
Dancing with local stars
Ballroom dancing class is held Tuesdays of each month with
class times starting at 7 p.m. All ages are welcome. Learn the
Waltz, Foxtrot, East Coast Swing, Rumba, Cha-cha and more.
Syble and Jimmy Johnson are the instructors.
Country line dance is taught by Shelia Berry. Call J. Craig
Smith for times and days. There is no charge for this class.
Shannon Darby is the instructor for dancing stars. Call for
class times and fees to the center.
Much, much more
Michael Shaw teaches guitar lessons Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday and Friday. There are one-hour individual classes at a
cost of $30 per class.
Tennis lessons are available from instructor Randy Carter. For
more information or to set up a lesson, contact him at 256-2492465. In addition there is youth football, soccer and cheerleader
programs and the Cal Ripken Baseball League.
At Verlie B. Collins Community Center, the public is invited
use the weight room, play adult bingo and more. The center also
houses a gym. The weight room is open from 8 a.m. until the
center closes. The fee is $2 per visit or $10 per month. Seniors 55
and older pay only $5 per month.
Adult bingo is every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. for a small fee.
The Verlie Collins Center has rooms and a gym to rent for
meetings, singings, luncheons, dances and other events. For information about renting a room or to find out what is going on at
the center, contact Mike Williams, 256-249-2546.
Parks at a glance
In 2007, the Parks and Recreation Department upgraded four
city parks and all are now handicapped accessible.
Noble Park is the largest park, and there are age appropriate
play structures, a pavilion available for rental, a skate park and
BMX track. This park also has a quarter-mile walking track made
of concrete.
BMX Track
The Marble City BMX Track opened in the winter in
Noble Park at E. 9th St. The track hosted the American Bicycle
Association’s Alabama state championship in September and
offers racing the first and third Saturday of the month.
For more information call 256-872-4672 or email marblecitybmx@charter.net.
Lake Howard
This fall, construction of a 14-mile mountain bike and hiking trail began at Lake Howard. The trail will run through the
Talladega National Forest.
There are plans under way for a 100-mile race in November,
starting on Cheaha Mountain and ending at Legion Stadium at
Sylacauga High School.
Participants from 13 states have signed up so far for the race.
Anyone interested in the race, may contact Armstrong at J. Craig
Smith Community Center or mountcheaha50K@charter.net.
Lake Howard is also open to fishing, boating and has pavilions
for picnics. “We try to build facilities and get programs people
want to do. Our community is very supportive of our programs
and pro-recreation. We have so many opportunities for citizens to
enjoy through our Parks and Recreation Department,” Armstrong
said. The center has a kitchen that may be rented and has a list of
caterers groups may use at the facility, Armstrong said.
Armstrong has been director of Parks and Recreaton for five
years. He said, “I feel we have made a lot of progress. We still
have things to do. This department has a good mayor and City
Council to work, who have been supportive of the things we are
doing.”
When seeking information on the Sylacauga Parks and
Recreation Department, simply call J. Craig Smith Community
Center at 256-249-8561; fax, 256-249-8563; or visit the Web site
at www.sylacauga.net.
Sylacauga Health and Rehab is now part of the Noland
Health Services Family of Senior Living Communities.
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2071 Sylacauga-Fayetteville Hwy. • Sylacauga, AL
Tel. (256) 245-1777 • Fax (802) 776-8266
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(256) 245-7402
Visit us on the web: www.sylacauga.nolandhealth.com
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Beth Wallace Yates Park is the location of the city’s tennis center as well as a pavilion for rental, age appropriate play structures,
and a sand pit for volleyball.
There are two smaller community parks at Fairmont and
South Highland. Both parks have basketball courts, play equipment and small pavilions. Just added in 2008 is Central Park in
downtown Sylacauga across from Blue Bell Creameries. This is a
passive recreation area with a large pavilion and restrooms.
Veterans Park is located in the Pinecrest community, featuring
a walking track and a memorial to area veterans who served their
country.
The Donald Comer Complex is used for many different programs. Cal Ripken baseball is played in the spring, and in the fall,
the fields are converted for soccer and football leagues.
65
Profiles in community spirit
Morton at heart
of good works
for families
Photo by Jerry Martin
Margaret Morton is a community activist whose work
shows that once she gets involved, good things will follow.
Her activism goes beyond just battling for funding for
children and at-risk programs. It also leads her to fight for programs for the elderly, including finding ways to provide health
care and prescription drugs to needy seniors.
For some 10 years, Morton has been part of a grassroots effort that formed the Sylacauga Alliance for Family
Enhancement in the community.
She and other leaders saw the need for a whole-family
approach to make the community a better place to serve children. And out of a conversation and movement of stakeholders in the community, including Morton, came the birth of
SAFE.
Today, SAFE offers a comprehensive family resource center that others are working to emulate.
Through Morton’s efforts as Sylacauga Promise chairwoman,
Sylacauga received its third selection as “100 Best Communities
for Young People” by America’s Promise.
Morton believes Sylacauga is a community that can come
together to develop solutions to problems it encounters.
She and other volunteers work tirelessly to provide a meal
on Thanksgiving Day to those in need, not just in Sylacauga,
but all over Talladega County.
Whether it is after-school programs for children, parenting
instruction, healthy marriages, medication assistance or public
transportation, Morton and SAFE are there to lend a helping
hand.
She knows the needs of children in the community, and she
works to fill them.
Thanks to people like Morton, the quality of life in
Margaret Morton
Sylacauga is improved immensely on a daily basis.
She is dedicated to making life easier for young and old
alike. She strives to make partnerships work to achieve the
goals necessary to do this.
Morton knows how to pull leaders together and truly make
a difference in the lives of others.
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66
Pastor and
councilman
helps improve
Sylacauga
Story Brandon Fincher
Photo by Bob Crisp
It is not easy to have a job in the world of religion and the
world of politics, but Henry Looney pulled it off wonderfully.
Looney, who has served on the Sylacauga City Council for
four years, was a key part in getting some of Sylacauga’s recent
improvements, including new parks, the BMX bicycle track
and Lake Howard.
“I think the Council and the government have been more
receptive to and able to hear from the public,” Looney said.
“In our city forums, people can share their opinions with the
Council, and I hope we can continue that to keep our involvement in the community high.”
Also during Looney’s time on the Council, the downtown
paving projects greatly improved the appearance of Sylacauga
and the construction of a senior center will benefit many area
senior citizens for years to come.
Besides his City Council duties, Looney has been involved
with the Sylacauga Promise Committee which has helped
Sylacauga be named by the America’s Promise Alliance as
one of the “100 Best Communities in the Nation for Young
People.”
“We’re one of only about 40 cities to have been named in
the top 100 for three years in a row,” Looney said.
He’s also on the board of the Sylacauga Alliance for Family
Enhancement.
Besides all of those duties, Looney pastors at Reaching the
Word Bible Church, which is involved in helping the com-
munity in several ways, perhaps most notably with its annual
community Thanksgiving dinner, which served more than
1,000 meals last Thanksgiving. The church partners with Care
House to have a food drive every fourth Sunday, as well.
Looney’s civic service in several areas makes him a credit to
Sylacauga and a profile in community spirit.
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67
Spears among
city’s top movers
and shakers
Failure isn’t a word in Dr. Shirley Spears’ vocabulary.
Give her a project to do, and she gets it done – from almost
doubling the size of B.B. Comer Memorial Library to starting the Leadership Sylacauga program for the Chamber of
Commerce.
Spears knows how to get the job done and uses her talent to
make her town a better place to live and work.
Whether its beautification efforts, bringing arts, storytellers,
historians or political giants to the community, Spears manages
to simply “just do it.”
Spears, director of Comer Library, has spent 25 years bringing state and national acclaim to the library.
In 2000, under Spears’ leadership, the library received
the National Award for Library Service from the Institute of
Museum & Library Services. This was one of four given in the
nation that year.
Spears was named Eminent Librarian of the Year by the
Library Association in 2001 and was chosen “Citizen of the
Year” by the Sylacauga Beautification Council in 2007.
Spears has been at the forefront of beautification, arts and
library service for decades in Sylacauga.
She has also served as president of the Chamber of
Commerce.
A graduate of Fayetteville High School, Spears graduated
from Auburn University. She served as school librarian for
12 years at Benjamin Russell High School in Alexander City
before returning home to Sylacauga to direct Comer Library.
Spears often points out Comer Library helps all ages, from
the “cradle to the grave.”
She takes great pride in the library and its staff, working
tirelessly to bring Comer to the place it is today.
Dr. Shirley Spears
Charles Sims of the Sylacauga Beautification Council, when
making the presentation to Spears as Citizen of the Year, best
described the community leader as capturing the spirit of a
Rotarian, although she isn’t a Rotary Club member, she lives
the motto, ‘Service Above Self.’
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Volunteerism defines bank marketer
Chris Kramer
Story Brandon Fincher
Photo by Brian Schoenhals
Chris Kramer keeps several irons in the fire when it comes
to helping his community.
It is just part of what makes him who he is after growing
up in a family involved in helping the community.
“I’m just into helping people. I get a great satisfaction out
of doing it,” Kramer said. “I think everybody should find a
community group they like and be a part of something like
that.”
In the past few years, he has served two terms as president
of the auxiliary at Coosa Valley Medical Center. The auxiliary
has raised many thousands of dollars for the hospital through
fund raising projects such as the Holiday Tree of Love.
BART CROWE
General Manager
89 Gene Stewart Boulevard
Sylacauga, AL
256-245-4141
Fax
256-245-4144
Toll Free
Reservations
1-800-JAMESON
227270
Kramer has been a past president of a Leadership Sylacauga
class, which spearheaded the sidewalk project at Central Park
near Blue Bell Creameries.
He has been involved with the Chamber of Commerce by
volunteering in several capacities.
Additionally, Kramer stays busy serving his church, Wesley
Chapel United Methodist, by working with the kitchen crew,
which plans and serves meals at the church as well as serving
on other committees.
This is all in addition to his job at SouthFirst Bank, where
he is in charge of public relations and marketing – a career
that goes hand in hand with community involvement and
helping make Sylacauga a better place.
Kramer rarely gets to slow down, but with all he does, neither he nor Sylacauga would want him to do so.
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227229
69
Yates set standard for recreation
Beth Wallace Yates is synonymous with recreation in Sylacauga.
Guiding the fledgling Parks and Recreation
Department for three and a half decades, much of
today’s offerings resulted from her leadership.
She is one of the typical movers and shakers in
Sylacauga – those devoted to community to make it
a better place to live, work and, in this case, play.
The department created eight playgrounds, three
recreation centers, two pools and multiple tennis
and basketball courts during her years as director.
She was a pioneer, noted for the policies she
implemented, organizations she created and the
good she has done throughout the community. So
it should have come as no surprise that those who
followed after decided to name one of the city’s six
community parks in her honor.
“She started many programs we still have here
today,” said Roben Duncan, assistant director of the
Parks and Recreation Department. “She has been
a great asset to the community as a whole, so we
named the park after her.”
She was a teacher, a mentor and a trailblazer.
After graduating from the University of Montevallo,
the Columbiana native moved to Sylacauga, where
she taught at Main Avenue Elementary and B.B.
Comer Elementary School.
In 1954, she served as president for the Alabama
Parks and Recreation Association.
In 1972, she was a guiding force behind developing the Sylacauga Arts Council, fostering art enrichment in the area through various programs, and
she served on its board for a number of years. She
helped found the annual Chalaka Arts and Crafts
Festival, which became a regional attraction, and she
served as a member of the Sylacauga Beautification
Council.
She served on the boards of several organizations,
including the Sylacauga Chamber of Commerce,
the Talladega Department of Human Resources, the
Sylacauga Housing Authority and the Red Cross.
She also served at one time on the White House’s
Conference on Aging.
The City of Sylacauga honored her in 1974 by
declaring Beth Wallace Yates Day, and the Arts
Council still provides a scholarship in her name to
the winner of the Miss Sylacauga Pageant.
In 1997, she recieved the Cottaquilla Council
of Girl Scouts’ Women Committed to Excellence
Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2006, she
was named the first recipient of the Sylacauga
Beautification Council’s Nanellen Lane Citizen of
the Year Award.
If Sylacauga’s richness is in its people, Beth
Wallace Yates is one of its gold mines.
70
Beth Wallace
Yates
Central Alabama Community College
WWW.CACC.EDU • TOLL FREE 1-800/643-2657
ALEXANDER CITY
256/234-6346
CHILDERSBURG
256/378-5576
TALLADEGA
256/480-2066
71
The Sylacauga Industrial Development
Board together with the Talladega County
Economic Development Authority assists
our existing industry as well as recruits
new industry to the area to create jobs for
our citizens.
Results:
•Workforce has increased by
4,000 people.
•Unemployment rate has fallen
to 4.5% annual rate.
•Per capita income has increased
at a 7.4% annual rate over the
last seven years (highest
percentage increase in the state).
•Talladega County has risen to
13th highest of 67 counties in
per capita income, up from 53rd.
Be a part of this success! Call today
for information about opportunities in
Sylacauga and Talladega County.
TALLADEGA
COUNTY
HERITAGE PLASTICS
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OMYA ALABAMA, INC.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY
Calvin Miller, Executive Director
P.O. Box 867, Sylacauga, AL 35150
256-245-8332 fax 256-245-8336
www.tceda.com
SPECULATIVE BUILDING AT AIRPORT 227278

2008-2009 edition - Sylacauga Chamber of Commerce

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