Story by Carol Pappas Photos courtesy of Downtown Gadsden Inc.
Sometimes, the best laid business plans are the ones you never intended.
Just ask Kay Moore, executive director of Downtown Gadsden Inc. Fourteen years after First Friday kicked off, thousands of people from all over the Southeast now make downtown Gadsden their destination point on the first Friday of each month from April to October from 6 to 9 p.m.
Downtown blocks close on those Friday afternoons to make way for food trucks, musical entertainment, performers, cars, cars and more cars. And where those attractions set up shop – up and down Broad Street and beyond – crowds have followed. “It’s not exactly what we planned when we started it,” Moore said. “It may not be what it started out to be, but it probably is what it is supposed to be.”
It would be hard to argue with that conclusion. Six to eight thousand people from all over the Southeast head to downtown Gadsden for the car show alone. Add to that more throngs from the city and surrounding region, and what it has become is one huge success story by any measure.
The motive was to get downtown Gadsden discovered or rediscovered. Like countless other places, downtown was once the thriving heart of any city. But malls and big box stores lured shoppers and diners elsewhere, and downtowns paid the price.
Determined to bring their downtown back from the brink, a handful of visionaries in Gadsden saw the potential for a rebound and set out to make it happen.
The forerunner was Sylvia Smith, who was looking for ways to attract customers to her Stone Market on Court Street. She started having entertainment and other attractions spaced up to the 400 block, and it started spreading from there to Broad Street.
Two years later, the doll shop owner, who had friends in the car show circuit, helped introduce the car show to First Fridays, the engine that drives the successes that followed. “It has exploded since then,” Moore said. “It’s what put Gadsden on the map.”
Cars of all makes and models – old, new, vintage – line the streets. Passersby stroll through, pausing to get a better look at one that catches their eye. Food vendors handle the overflow of hungry attendees from local restaurants, cafes, bars and pizza joints. The local eateries alone can’t handle the growing crowds, so food vendors are the only non-local vendors allowed in.
There’s plenty more than cars and food. Like music? Take your pick. There’s gospel, rock, easy listening, jazz and country performers strategically placed throughout downtown. “You walk down the street, and you hear what you want to hear,” Moore said, referencing the variety.
But the centerpiece of it all is still the motive – downtown shopping and dining. “It has a huge economic impact on merchants,” she noted. “They may not ring the cash register that night, but they come back.” It is not unusual to hear merchants recount how their business increased in the days that follow. “The next Saturday, they may come from Birmingham, Huntsville or Centre. They come back because of something they saw at First Friday.”
It’s seen as a return to a time of building relationships with the people you do business with, coming back to the city’s heart and discovering its soul. It’s a return to a nostalgic, main street experience.
While it may be tempting to order online, that’s the “easy way out,” Moore explained. “We want people to remember that we’re here – check out our gift shops and restaurants.”
With a nod to Downtown Gadsden’s tag line, it’s “small town, small shops, big treasures and great tastes” all rolled into one stroll down main street. “You’ll find something you didn’t know you needed,” Moore said. “I promise you that.”
Editor’s Note:First Friday returns April 1 at 6 p.m. For more information, go to: downtowngadsden.com
Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Graham Hadley Submitted photos
What’s in a name? When it’s attached to a place, it often gives a hint of its history. Take Coal City, for example. You might think it is or was a coal-mining town. And you’d be right. Later, a guy tried to change its name to Wattsville, and there’s a story behind that. In the beginning, however, it was called Broken Arrow, after the creek by the same name. And that name recalls its Native American origins, and even connects you with Broken Arrow, Okla.
According to legend, a Native American brave shot a deer in the area and in the animal’s death throes, it broke the brave’s arrow. When he saw the broken arrow, he yelled, “Theitka,” (or Thle Teka, depending upon which source you’re reading). That meant “Broken Arrow” in his language. Thus, that area became known as Broken Arrow.
History connects Coal City, once a bustling mining town, to Broken Arrow
Actually, the area’s Native American heritage goes back a few thousand years, according to Rusty Jessup, amateur historian and mayor of nearby Riverside. “Most archeologists believe there was a very large Native American settlement in the area of Broken Arrow Creek, where it goes into the Coosa River,” Jessup says. “We think it was 1,000 to 1,200 B.C. I’ve talked to some people who say it was one of the largest settlements at that time, with as many as 10,0000 to 15,000 people who lived at that intersection over a span of 200 to 300 years.”
As far as Jessup knows, no Native American burial grounds have been discovered in the area, but there could have been some that went underwater when the Coosa River was dammed to form Logan Martin Lake in 1965. “There’s good fishing there. It always was one of the cleaner tributaries into the Coosa, but also one of the shallow ones,” he says. “You can’t navigate a long way on Broken Arrow Creek.”
Fast forward to the founding of Broken Arrow, Okla. That Tulsa suburb was established in 1902 by a Creek tribe that was moved to Oklahoma from Broken Arrow in St. Clair County, Ala.
The brave, whose cry became the name of the creek, may have been part of a mixed band of settlers and friendly Native Americans hunting on the land of the area’s first white settler. John Bolton arrived in the 1820s. According to a Feb. 21, 1974, St. Clair Observer newspaper story by Mattie Lou Teague Crow, Bolton followed an Native American trail which ran from the Creek village of Cataula (Ashville) to Cropwell.
He established a homestead at the intersection of another Native American trail running from the Coosa River to today’s Friendship community. Bolton’s log cabin was approximately where Old Coal City Road crosses Alabama Highway 144 today. The area became known as Bolton’s Crossroads. Again, the history is in the name.
In 1839, Broken Arrow Post Office was established in the home of its first postmaster, Francis Barnes Walker. Before that, area residents walked or rode over Backbone Mountain to Ashville to get their mail. Walker held his post until the Civil War began.
Long before the Civil War, though, an Englishman named William Gould discovered coal in the area. “The small amount he mined was hauled by wagon six miles to the Coosa River, and from there it was floated to Selma or Wetumpka by flatboat,” wrote Mrs. Crow in her book, History of St. Clair County. He formed Ragland Mines Company in 1854 and owned other coal lands in Shelby County.
Eventually, four major mines were formed in the area: Dirty Dozen, Coal City, Broken Arrow and Marion. Mrs. Crow reports that some 600 to 700 miners worked at Coal City, often on overtime. At some point, other seams were dug at Rutille, Klondike, Cross-Eyed Seven, Glen Mines and Boozer.
After the Civil War, a gentleman named George Washington Daugdrill (one source spells it “Daughdrille”) moved his family from Demopolis. Although he had lost most of his fortune during the war, he scraped together enough cash and credit to buy land and invest in the mining business at Broken Arrow.
When the Daugdrills moved into their log cabin, they brought the rosewood and mahogany furniture they had purchased when they lived in France. Julia August Daugdrill also brought her piano and harp, entertaining settlers with Bach and Beethoven when they visited the cabin.
Pate with his prized collection of Native American artifacts
During the years that it was a rip-roaring mining town, the community had a big warehouse, barber shops, a commissary, a livery stable, a number of stores, a pool hall, a city hall and jail, and at least one hotel. An unattributed, typed paragraph with the date, March 12, 1884, appears in the Coal City vertical file at the Pell City Public Library. It states that the “Broken Arrow Hotel, (of) which Mr. John Laney is Proprietor, is second to no hotel in the county. This place (Coal City) has nine stores, two saloons, three physicians, two saw and grist mills with the best black-smith in the state.”
Apparently, the area had its bloody side, too. A Letter to the Editor of the Southern Aegis, printed July 15, 1885, bemoans the lawlessness of the area. It mentions a man killing the cook at the Broken Arrow Hotel, and says the proprietor of the place, “while drunk,” shot at another man a couple of weeks later. “It is a violation of law to sell liquor here,” the anonymous letter writer says. “Yet one John Lany openly sells it and in all above shooting scrapes, liquor was the foundation.” The writer mentions other shootings, along with gambling, and wondered why laws go unenforced in the area.
In 1883, the Daugdrill family sold its mining interest to John Postell, who built the East and West Railroad to haul the coal out. The E&W was a narrow-gauge affair that ran from Cartersville and Cedartown, Ga., to Broken Arrow. Seaboard Air Line Railroad eventually bought Postell’s rail lines as part of its new system that ran from Birmingham to Atlanta and points beyond and converted it to broad gauge tracks.
Another anonymous writer of a Southern Aegis article dated July 27, 1887, saysthat the timber around Broken Arrow was plentiful and equal to any. “Sawmills are eating their way into the forests, and St. Clair timber is transformed into handsome residences, factories, etc.,” the article states.
The Aeigis writer brags on the number of acres of timbered pine lands in the area and says there were about a dozen mills along the line of the Georgia Pacific Railroad and the E&W Railroad, within seven miles of Broken Arrow. “Their aggregate output exceeds in value of $1,000 per day, probably $1,500 per day,” he writes.
Some of the area’s timber probably went into its churches, homes and businesses, such as Harkey’s Chapel, a Methodist church that began as a log building in 1830. It was named after its first pastor, the Rev. David Harkey. Another early church was Broken Arrow Baptist, established in 1890, and Refuge Baptist, 1860.Each of those churches are still meeting today, albeit in more modern structures. The Daugdrills donated land for the Broken Arrow Cemetery, which is now across the road from the church. The first burial was their infant grandson, “Little Jim” Daugdrill.
Another major player in the coal mining industry was Watt T. Brown, who had extensive land holdings in St. Clair County. He reorganized the Ragland Coal Company in 1896.But it wasn’t until early 1929 that Brown began a series of name changes, a feat that sticks in the craws of many old-timers who live in Coal City today. He managed to get the Coal City Post Office changed to the Wattsville Post Office. Soon afterward, the Seaboard Railroad changed the name of its station, and a state geologist re-designated the coalfield as Wattsville Coal Basin.
From old newspaper clipping: Broken Arrow Mines, Coal City, Ala. The capacity of these mines is 425 tons daily. About 150 men were employed.
Nevertheless, most older residents of the area, and some younger ones, too, still cringe at the name “Wattsville.” They say the town doesn’t exist, except in the names of a post office, a volunteer fire department and a church or two. “Technically, there is no Wattsville,” says Amber Michael, office manager of the Wattsville Water Authority. “There are post office boxes, but that’s the only place you can get mail labeled Wattsville.” An internet search turns up evidence of Wattsville being a separate community from Coal City, but if they’re separate, they run together and maybe overlap at some point.
Two iron-ore mines opened in Coal City in the early 1900s, bringing more people into the area. Coke ovens were built somewhere near the Edward Layton homesite and Shiloh Baptist Church, according to Mattie Lou Teague Crow. They belched “evil-smelling, lung-choking black smoke,” she says.
Some sources say John Postell changed the town’s name from Broken Arrow to Coal City in the late 1800s, while others say it was unofficially called that as far back as the 1850s. Either way, it wasn’t until 1910 that the town, comprising a mile radius from the old Broken Arrow Bridge (St. Clair 234), was officially incorporated. Wattsville was never incorporated, and Coal City later became an unincorporated hamlet again.
The Wattsville/Coal City communities had a succession of eight schools, according to Jerry Smith in the October 2012 issue of LakeLife’s sister magazine, Discover the Essence of St. Clair. The first few met in various buildings and went by several names. The first Coal City School, built on a hilltop in 1919, taught all 12 grades. Its last graduation was held in 1929.
After that, Smith says, Coal City School, also known as Rabbit Hop, served only elementary grades until it burned in 1951. The last Coal City School building is on U.S. 231 near Shirley’s Mainline Barbecue, where it houses the St. Clair County Head Start program.
Coal City schools produced some major sportsmen, including Eddie Martin of the New York Yankees, Darrell Pratt of the Detroit Tigers, and Clyde Warren, a 1925 All-American for Auburn University.
Electricity came to Coal City/Wattsville in the 1930s, when the only fully paved roads in the entire county were U.S. 78 through Pell City and U.S. 411 through Ashville. According to one source, the mines started drying up around 1915, with the last one shutting down in 1919. But another source says that Watt T. Brown operated a coal mine on Pope’s Chapel Road in 1919 or 1920.
“All of Coal City was tar and gravel (roads) until five years ago,” says Walter Callahan, manager of the Pleasant Valley Quick Stop. “Originally they were just dirt roads. Now they’re paved with asphalt.”
Callahan, 70, remembers swimming in the Mining Hole, a seemingly bottomless pit that filled with water over the years after the mines closed. It was located off Highway 144, one block north of Broken Arrow Creek. “As kids we’d jump into the Hole with a big rock to see how far down we could sink,” he says. “But we never got past 17 feet before dropping the rocks. It was ice cold at that depth, even in the heat of summer.”
The Mining Hole has been on private property for several years, according to Callahan. He says when the hole was being drained so it could be filled in, several old cars were found at the bottom. Folks figured they had been stolen, stripped and dumped into the hole.
On a recent tour of the area, Callahan, whose family settled there in 1827, pointed out various places of interest. “My grandad, Alma Reid Alverson, farmed 20 acres just across the street from the Quick Stop, and my Uncle Tom Barber had 50 acres on the hill just before you get to Broken Arrow Church. Much of it was planted in watermelons that he gave away. Folks would stop and ask whether they could pick a few melons, and he’d say, ‘Sure, just don’t crush any.’”
Callahan motions toward the former home of Roy and Helen Pope, still in the Pope family, on Depot Street. “They had cows and everybody got their milk from them in the 1940s, 1950s and into the 1960s,” he says. He stops at a little hole in the ground called Arnold Springs. He says it’s one of two springs in the area that have never run dry. “People brought their water jugs and filled them here,” he says. “Lots of watercress grew around it.”
Pleasant Grove Baptist Church (formerly Possum Trot Baptist, which is what many old-timers still call it), also on Depot Street, is bordered on one side by Police Camp Road. “It used to end at a police shooting range,” Callahan explains. “It’s on private property now.” He remembers traveling down nearby Sugar Farms Road about a mile, then having to cross through a swamp. “There was no bridge, you literally drove through a swamp,” he says.
The concrete bridge crossing Broken Arrow Creek on Refuge Road (St. Clair 234), just off Center Star Road (St. Clair 45), is still known as Broken Arrow Bridge. Before it was paved, it was made of railroad cross ties. “There was a big hole on one side, and you had to drive right through the center to keep your tires out of it,” Callahan says. “When I was six or seven, my mom took me fishing right beside that bridge. I remember she caught a nice mud catfish that she cooked for dinner.”
On Old Coal City Road, about half a mile before it reachesI-20, are the remains of the original Coal City Water Works. All that’s left are a small, red building that looks like a backyard shed, a small pond and some pipes. Across the road is Florida Street, named after Stovall Florida, who had a sawmill there in the 1940s. “His was the only business in the area during the Depression,” Callahan says.
There was an area bootlegger in Callahan’s younger days, when St. Clair was still a dry county. He lived on what is now Stone Road, which turns off U.S. 231 South across from the present Wattsville Free Will Baptist Church and meanders behind C & R Feed & Supply. “As long as you could drive a car to his place, you could get a six-pack of beer for $3.50,” Callahan says. “He’d meet you at your car, then walk back and hand it to you. He also had moonshine.”
And what of Broken Arrow Creek? Although no one seems to know where this five-mile-long stream begins, it ends at the Coosa River, next door to and just below where Broken Arrow Creek Road dead ends. Russell and Shane Locklear are building their parents a house on that promontory and can point out the creek’s mouth from their yard.
“There used to be a restaurant down there by the mouth of the creek, but it has been turned into a lake home,” Russell says. His friend, John Barry, says the restaurant was known as The Cafe, and operated in the 1950s and 1960s. “It was at the end of River Ranch Road,” Barry says.
Locklear says the fishing is good on Broken Arrow Creek. “It has been listed among the top ten crappie-fishing places for last 10 years,” he says.
Bass fishing is good there, too, says Zeke Gossett, a rookie pro B.A.S.S tour member and a fishing guide. “Broken Arrow Creek, located just above historic Lock 4, is filled with stump flats and shoreline grass during summer pool,” he says. “It provides both deep and shallow water for fish to live in. It generally holds fish year ‘round but my best experiences in Broken Arrow have come in late summer/early fall.” He says the back portion of the creek water usually stays a little cooler in the late summer months, which attracts baitfish along with the bass as well.
Arrowhead searching used to be profitable along the Coosa near the mouth of Broken Arrow Creek, according to collector Roger Pateof Pell City.
“I moved here in 1970 and started hunting the creek, walking the riverbank and creek bank and crappie fishing,” says Pate. “Native Americans in summertime used to come off the hills and places and would live on the river because it was a good food source. They ate the mussels, and you could sometimes find piles of the shells. Sometimes you could find some artifacts, too.”
Pate says he doesn’t see the mussel shells or arrowheads much anymore, though. “You have to wait until wintertime when they let the water down,” he says. “When it rains and gets real cold, ice forms and rain washes the ice and dirt away. But you’re now walking in other people’s footprints, so hunting isn’t as good as it used to be.”
The coal mines may be gone, the train depot demolished, the arrowhead hunting just a memory. But Broken Arrow Creek is still fishable, and Coal City isn’t going away. It’s worth the time to drive some back roads and try to picture how things used to be.
That means that when Logan Martin Lake begins its seasonal rise in April from winter level to summer pool of 465 feet, it won’t return to its traditional winter level of 460 feet come December. Instead, the lake will remain at 462 feet during the winter from now on, giving residents and lake enthusiasts two extra feet and in a number of cases, year-round access to the lake.
Lisa Martindale, Reservoir Management manager at Alabama the decision means that residents who spend time on those lakes will enjoy higher water levels beginning in winter 2022-2023.
That’s welcome news to residents like John Junkins of Pell City, whose boatlift is a few inches shy of enabling him to launch his boat from December to early April. “I can’t wait,” he said. “You know how the weather is in Alabama. We could wear shorts on Christmas Day, and it would have been awesome to be able to take a pontoon cruise. We are ecstatic about this decision.”
So is Eric Mackey of Mackey Docks. “I will love a higher level of water as it will make the lake more usable for more people with shallow water. I wished they kept it full pool nine months and drained it to winter level three months, but that is my opinion.”
For his pier-building business, it means “we will be able to access more sites with a barge now with higher water levels.”
And then, there’s the aesthetics of it all. “The lake will even look better than when it’s low and you can only see dry lake beds,” Mackey said.
It’s welcome news for residents up and down the lake who had been lobbying for it for years. During the Coosa relicensing process, there were overwhelming requests by stakeholders to increase the winter pool levels at Weiss, Neely Henry, and Logan Martin for recreational purposes. Alabama Power worked with the FERC and the US Army Corp of Engineers to incorporate these requests, a spokesman for the company said.
Through engineering studies, Alabama Power made the determination that with operational changes, the lakes could be operated at the higher winter pool elevations, and the US Army Corp of Engineers agreed.
Neely Henry is a bit different. It has had a higher level for years. Neely Henry once had a three-foot fluctuation from summer to winter pool, but studies showed that with operational changes, the lake could be operated at the higher winter pool elevation and the US Army Corp of Engineers agreed.
Neely Henry operated under a variance with the USACE for many years allowing for a 1-foot fluctuation between summer and winter and during the USACE Water Control Manual Updates in 2015, the rule curve with the 1-foot fluctuation between summer and winter pool for Neely Henry was incorporated.
The months of March and April can be the most fun months of the year on Logan Martin. Fish are on the move, staging and getting ready to spawn or they are already spawning.
Fishing staging areas for bass on Logan Martin this time of year are the keys to success. These areas include points leading into spawning flats, shallow brush and docks. These are all great places to start your search.
I keep my approach simple when targeting these areas. My main three baits are a jig, a jerk bait and bladed jig. If the water is still on the cooler (50 to 60 degrees) side, I will target points with a jerk bait and a bladed jig. These two baits allow me to cover water until I find some active fish.
Once I feel like I’m around some active fish, I will usually reach for the jig in order to pick up a couple more bites I might have missed with the other two baits.
If the water is on the warmer side (60 to 70 degrees), I will start fishing into pockets with shallow docks and brush with the jig.
Most of the time these fish are getting ready to go on the bed and are feeding up. Fishing the conditions are important for these two months.
If you are not getting bites, keep moving!
Neely Henry
My approach to Neely Henry will differ a little from Logan Martin this time of year. My main three baits will stay the same, but I will add a swim jig to the mix during March and April.
I will still target points leading into pockets and fishing docks. I fish these docks with the bladed jig and jig. When targeting points, I will fish these with a jerk bait.
Where I bring the swim into play is in the grass that lines the banks of Neely Henry. The grass usually starts growing again around the end of March.
If the water is on a warming trend (60 to 70 degrees), I will fish the grass, targeting those fish getting ready to spawn with a swim jig.
Again, fish the conditions, and you will have success on Neely Henry during these two months.
Editor’s Note: Zeke Gossett of Zeke Gossett Fishing grew up on the Coosa River and Logan Martin Lake. He is a former collegiate champion and is now a professional angler on the B.A.S.S. tour circuit and is a fishing guide.Learn more about Zeke at: zekegossettfising.com
Body low, head down, eyes ahead. You see the hill approaching fast. Downshifting, you begin your ascent and keep pumping. Halfway up the hill, calves, quads, hamstrings and glutes burning, you hit the button once, then twice. Immediately, the bike takes over and the pedals cease their attack on your muscles. You ascend the hill with only as much effort as you want to put into it. Welcome to the world of electric biking!
Electric bicycles are being spotted all around Logan Martin, echoing the explosion of sales around the country. The growth has been fueled, at least in part, by the pandemic, as people shy away from mass transportation and find alternatives for getting around. According to market researcher NPD Group, eBike sales shot up 240% in the 12 months leading up to July 2021. Industry experts predict that upward trend to hold as people continue to spend more time outdoors.
Around the lake, it’s all about having something else fun to do outdoors. Darrell Spears pledges to emphasize the fun in all aspects of electric biking, including the purchasing process.
Electric bikes have come to Logan Martin Lake.
The owner of Logan Martin Electrek, he hopes to help people navigate the world of electric bikes and build the eBike community on Logan Martin Lake. After retiring from the Army, he began looking into purchasing an electric bike to get outside and enjoy areas around Logan Martin.
“Doing research, I went down quite a few rabbit holes,” Spears explains. “There’s a lot to sift through, tons of information and choices to make.” He ended up buying online and making what he describes as “not the best decision for me.
“It’s such a weird business model,” says Spears. “When I went to a regular bike shop, I realized their focus is on selling the bikes they have. I don’t have a storefront, so I find out what’s the best fit for the rider to help them buy the bike that’s most suited to them and what they want to do with it.”
He does this by offering an eBike consulting service. The customer contacts Logan Martin Electrek and fills out a survey to describe their wants and needs. Spears meets the customer in the location where they would be riding the bike and finds out more specific needs and preferences.
At that time, the customer has a chance to try out several test bikes. The consultation and ride are included in the $100 fee, which ends with the customer receiving an emailed consultation report outlining Spears’ recommendations. The fee is applied to the price of a bike, if the customer decides to purchase through Spears.
“I include a lot in the consultation and test ride,” says Spears. “So, it is well worth the money. If I had done this before buying my first bike, I would have made a much better choice.” He insists that it’s fine if you don’t buy from him. You can use the information to purchase elsewhere or online or not buy at all. He just wants to be sure if you do buy, you get the bike that best fits you and your needs.
Spears describes the variables in the eBike buying process. The questions begin with where you want to ride an electric bike and how experienced you are with biking. Then there’s the shape and style you might be interested in.
Do you like a cruiser style or a mountain bike style? Do you prefer a step-over or step-through frame? Are you an upright rider or more aggressive? Are you looking for a hub-drive a mid-drive? And that’s just the beginning. “There are so many variables, but if we get the right fit, it’s more likely that the rider will use the bike and enjoy the experience,” assures Spears, emphasizing the value of his business model.
Martha Davenport and her partner, John Moberg, recently went through the buying process, guided by Spears. An avid cyclist, Martha began having trouble with one of her knees to the extent that she was no longer able to ride her bicycle.
Moberg pushed to investigate the electric bike option for her. “John’s wanted an electric bike and has been researching them for years. Darrell made the process simple,” says Davenport. “He even came over the second day after we got the bikes and showed us several additional features, like how to operate the pedal assist, which is so great!”
She, Moberg and her dog, Gizmo, live at Logan’s Landing Campground and love to take their eBikes out around the lake every day it’s not raining. (Most models are safe to operate in the rain, although models with a built-in charger are not.) They’ve recently purchased a bike rack for John’s car so they can take the bikes to different locations.
“With my knee injury, I never thought I’d be able to ride a bike again,” adds Davenport. “Having an electric bike has really made a difference for me. I love being able to ride again.”
Pell City Parks and Recreation maintenance crewmember John Richardson, and his wife, Melissa, have had two eBikes for about a year. His wife also has issues with her knees. “We like them because they’re easy. If you want to pedal, you can. If you don’t, you don’t have to,” says Richardson. “We use them camping and when we go to the beach. They’re great!” While they bought before Spears opened his business, Richardson was happy to hear about it for others in the market.
Even if you’re an avid standard cyclist, there are benefits to electric bicycles. “The frequently used metric is ‘2x you’ and ‘4x you,’ meaning they can put out two to four times the normal power a rider will put into a bike for a distance of 20 to 80 miles, based on terrain, user input, motor size and battery,” Spears explains.
So, if you want to get more distance with less effort, eBikes may be a good option. And, for those wanting more exercise, industry leaders say most people ride farther because it’s easier, and they end up getting as much or more exercise than they did riding a non-motorized bicycle.
Electric Bike controls and dashboard
Electric bicycles are, clearly, a major purchase, starting north of $1,000 and up to $10,000, depending on models and options. Most eBikes come with a battery warranty of between two and five years. The charge typically lasts about 40 miles, depending on how much use the motor gets during the ride. It usually takes about six hours to charge using 120 volts.
How fast you can go depends on the class. Electric bikes are divided into Class 1, up to 20 mph with no throttle and motor kicks in when the rider is pedaling; Class 2, up to 20 mph with throttle and can be used when rider is not pedaling; and Class 3, up to 28 mph with or without throttle and requires the rider to pedal.
That price may sting a bit less if President Joe Biden’s $1.75-million Build Back Better bill passes. The bill includes a 30% tax incentive on the purchase of eBikes with price tags under $4,000, with the goal of helping to reduce carbon emissions by replacing gasoline-powered cars with electric options, including electric bikes.
A desire to encourage environmental responsibility and the ability to ride bikes again after a physical injury or limitation top the list of reasons for getting an electric bike.
But the number one reason, according to Spears, is fun, adding, “It lets you be 15 again!” As he nears his 50th birthday, Spears even traded his plans for a motorcycle cross-country trip in favor of a coast-to-coast eBike ride. In late spring or early fall, he plans to fly out to California and ride an electric bike from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast.
Spears loves the Logan Martin Lake community. He retired in Alabama to be near his two boys, Jonathan, now at the University of Alabama, and Chase, who’s at Jacksonville State University.
He tells the story of when he was looking for a house to buy a few years ago and drove around the lake constantly on the search. One day he drove down a long driveway, thinking it was a road and had to pull off when a car approached coming the other way.
“I talked to this guy for a long time about the area. He was super nice and even invited me to the Rotary Club. He was just about as gracious a person as I have ever met.” Turns out the friendly fellow was Elmer Harris, former CEO of Alabama Power, the company that created Logan Martin.
Spears has started an electric biking group to help build the eBiking community. The group gets together the last Sunday of each month. Their last ride was Bull’s Gap trail in the Talladega National Forest, but he’s always checking out other trip options.
Editor’s Note:For more information on the biking group or to book an eBike consultation, check out their Logan Martin Electrek Facebook page or go to www.lmelectrek.com.
When Brenda Reaves and her daughter set out to compile a cookbook for a family reunion in 2008, they asked everyone to contribute some of their tried-and-true recipes. They wanted a variety of dishes – everything from meats and vegetables to casseroles and desserts – and only one rule applied: “We said don’t give us the recipe you wish you could cook, give us the recipe you always cook,” Brenda said.
The result is a mouth-watering collection of offerings including sausage balls, biscuits, chicken and dressing, red velvet cake, squash casserole and macaroni and cheese. “We do country cooking,” Brenda said. “I like to cook like my grandmother and mother cooked.”
These days, Brenda does her cooking from the kitchen of the family’s Neely Henry Lake home, where they have lived for seven years. “We originally thought it would be just a weekend place, but the more we were here, the more we didn’t want to be anywhere else,” she said. “It just seems like being on vacation all the time.”
As a result, the focus is always on good food and great fun. Brenda and her husband, Tony, love spending time with family, neighbors and friends at the home they’ve dubbed the Coosa Loosa Lodge and Marina. “We’re kind of known for a having a lot of people over,” Brenda said. “We can cook for a crowd easier than we can cook for two.”
Home cooking
Brenda’s love for good home cooking can be traced back to visits with her grandparents, Rosetta and Bud Wood, affectionately known as Mama Bill and Uncle Bud. “Mama Bill served three meals a day most days,” Brenda wrote in the forward of the Wood Family Cookbook. “Chicken and dumplins were one of my favorites and still are. Fried potatoes, sliced not diced, with lots of black pepper were on the menu quite often. If you were lucky, you were there when there was a peach, apple or blackberry cobbler.”
Many years ago, the family started hosting a reunion in October to celebrate Mama Bill’s mother’s birthday and “since that time, every year on the second Saturday in October, we honor Mama Bill and Uncle Bud’s memory by getting together as a family and visiting and eating,” Brenda wrote. “What could be more appropriate?”
Brenda’s daughter, Beth Reaves, had the idea to compile a family cookbook, and many of the recipes were Mama Bill’s. In addition to her chicken and dumplings recipe, there’s her lemon pound cake, a pecan pie recipe she passed down to her daughters, and Mama Bill’s 15-Day Dill Pickles, which indeed take more than two weeks to prepare.
Brenda contributed a number of her family’s favorites, including chicken and dressing, carrot cake, and meatloaf. Her broccoli and cauliflower salad recipe, which includes a notation that “Tony Reaves is the best chopper in the world,” offers some insight into how the family eats so well all of the time. When it comes to cooking, they subscribe to “the more the merrier” philosophy rather than the idea that “too many cooks spoil the broth.”
“It’s kind of like divide and conquer,” said Beth, who along with her husband, Corey King, moved into the Reaves’ renovated basement last November. “Someone’s putting a salad together, someone else is chopping something, and in 30 minutes, you’ve got a meal.”
Brenda said teamwork is the key. “I wouldn’t cook like I do if they didn’t enjoy eating it and they didn’t pitch in,” she said. “We have some of our best times when we’re cooking. We put music on and make it fun.”
All in the family
Just as Brenda learned her secrets by being in the kitchen with her grandmother and mother, her children and grandchildren are pretty accomplished cooks, as well. “When she was cooking, I was in there talking to her and you just pick it up,” said Beth, who was preparing meals like roast and vegetables for the family by the time she was 10 or 12. Her son, Blake, now a college student, “was chopping onions and okra when he was 4,” Beth said.
The screened porch at the “Coosa Loosa Lodge”
The Reaves’ son, Bret, is a master griller, and he often can be found helping to man the Big Green Egg, the smoker, barbecue grill or flat-top grill, all of which get quite a workout. “We’ve got it all covered,” Tony said of their assortment of outdoor cookers. “On the Fourth of July, we did breakfast for 25 and cooked everything out here,” Brenda added.
Veggies are a big draw for the family, as well. “When my kids were growing up, their favorite food was broccoli,” Brenda said, adding that Blake and her granddaughter, 17-year-old Bella, love turnip greens and asparagus. She and Beth buy their produce from nearby farms and farmer’s markets and get plenty of extra for later.
“It takes a lot of time in the summer to put up the green beans and corn and strawberries, but in the winter it sure is nice to get those fresh veggies from the freezer, Beth said.
A slower pace
Although the family has always loved getting together, the gatherings have become even more fun since Brenda and Tony bought their lake home. “We wanted to have a place for our kids and grandkids to be,” said Brenda, who has wonderful memories of summer days at her parents’ lake cabin. “That’s where my love for the water came from.”
They bought the house in 2014 and spent about a year remodeling it, doing most of the work themselves. Since then, the house has undergone two additional renovations, including changes made a after a 2017 tornado.
The living room now has vaulted ceilings, the swimming pool has been filled in to make a spot for a fire pit and chairs, and a screened porch was added. The deck below is home to all the outdoor cookers, and a wooden walkway connects it to the top deck of the boat house. “We built a bridge so we can get our wheelchairs out there,” Brenda joked.
Some of that work, and the most recent kitchen renovation, was completed after a tree fell through the middle of the house on New Year’s Eve 2019. Beth and Corey were sitting at the table working a puzzle when they heard a loud noise. “We thought someone was just getting an early start with the fireworks,” Beth recalled.
Not ones to let a little thing like a fallen tree and heavily damaged home get in the way of some good food, they took time to eat the New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp that was cooking at the time. “We took it out of the oven and ate it in the carport,” Beth said. “We’re not going to miss a meal,” Tony added with a laugh.
They did miss a few, though, in the more than 20 years that Brenda and Tony operated the Anniston Memorial Funeral Home and Anniston Memorial Gardens before retiring in 2018. The hours were crazy and there was no such thing as a day off. “Even during Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner, usually someone would have to leave to go to work,” Tony said.
That’s why they cherish family time even more. “We have enjoyed so much being able to live a slower life,” Brenda said. “This is a life I never could have imagined. If I could have dreamed it, I could not have dreamed it better.”
Mama Bill’s Chicken and Dumplin’s
1 whole chicken or chicken parts
2 tsp. salt
1 stick butter
Dumplins:
3 cups Bisquick
1 can cream of chicken soup
Flour
Cook chicken in enough water to cover and salt. Remove the chicken and add the stick of butter to the broth.
Prepare 3 cups of Bisquick, mixing as directed. Roll flat, to about ¼ inch, on well-floured surface. Use a floured knife to cut dough into 2-inch squares. Roll each piece of dough in a small amount of flour.
Drop squares into boiling broth and push it down into the broth. After dropping all dough, reduce heat and cover. Cook for 10-15 minutes and then stir in soup. Cook 10 more minutes and add the chicken pulled from the bone.
*Although Mama Bill used homemade biscuit dough, the taste is very similar.
Carrot Cake
2 cups plain or cake flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups sugar
½ cup chopped nuts
3 cups carrots, grated
1 cup Wesson oil
4 eggs
Frosting:
1 box confectioner’s sugar
1 stick margarine
2 tsp. vanilla
1 8-ounce cream cheese, softened
½ cup chopped nuts
Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda and sugar together three times. Put Wesson oil and eggs in mixer; beat until fluffy. Add grated carrots, then blend in dry ingredients; add nuts.
Pour batter into three 9-inch pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
Frosting: Combine sugar, cream cheese and margarine. Add vanilla and nuts. Frost each layer completely.
When innovative indoor climbing “microgym” GadRock made its debut in 2018, The City of Champions added another trophy to its display case. Located on Rainbow Drive overlooking serene Lake Gadsden, adventure awaits all seeking to explore something new in Etowah County, with GadRock proving the perfect escape on the water.
GadRock co-owners and friends Carrie Machen and Kate Wilson coined the term “microgym” as a nod to their past. The pair initially sparked a friendship while working at local microbrewery Back Forty Beer Company in downtown Gadsden, where a meager chat prompted the duo to dive into a massive venture. Both avid outdoorswomen and fitness enthusiasts, Machen and Wilson juggled the idea of a space where rock climbers – such as Machen’s son – could train indoors. Wilson’s solution was a concept already brewing in Machen’s mind: a gym.
She first familiarized herself with indoor rock-climbing facilities at YoungLife Camp Windy Gap neighboring Asheville, N.C. While she was an efficient recreational outdoor rock climber, the immersive world of artificial rope walls and bouldering areas intrigued Machen. Her family had joined gyms across the country, as they traveled from state to state with her husband’s military career. Drawing from these previous experiences, she and Wilson began the extensive search for the perfect location for GadRock, settling on a vacant lot at 1403 Rainbow Drive, which was full of potential.
Massachusetts-centered design company, Rockwerx, Inc., Chase Building Group and CDP Design, LLC conjured GadRock’s concept into a tangible footprint, constructing 4,500 square feet of climbing space. Courses vary in difficulty between both the rope climbing area and bouldering area, with one of the gym’s feature walls towering 40 feet high. Unobstructed, captivating views of the lake dazzle climbers, who peer down at the glistening water via garage-style doors that lift when the weather permits.
GadRock offers options for climbers of all levels of expertise and comfort. The microgym’s welcoming staff eliminates the intimidation that sometimes hinders new visitors, demonstrating necessary rope skills and the correct way to climb and belay during classes. Guests can choose from lead climbing or top roping. They are common forms of indoor climbing that incorporate harnesses and rope anchored from above and belayed from the ground, or bouldering, which features no harness or rope, just a crash pad to catch any who fall. Bouldering climbers seldom ascend higher than 20 feet as they deduce solutions to the “problems” appearing in boulder routes to reach their destinations.
On land and water
While GadRock nurtures the climbing community that circulates throughout Etowah County, its prime accessibility to Lake Gadsden unlocks another realm of opportunity for visitors to enjoy: paddleboarding. Machen and Wilson began paddling classes before climbing ever became available at GadRock, both earning their coaching certification the summer they started construction of the microgym.
Though some gym-goers flock to GadRock for just climbing or only paddling, gym members have access to both sports. The gym provides everything climbers or paddlers need concerning equipment, from harnesses and chalk to boards.
“Paddleboarding is another sense of community out there on the water,” said Machen. “It’s very peaceful out there on Lake Gadsden, with lots of wildlife that is fun to see. During the summer, a lot of people will come in here for a climbing session because it’s cool inside, then get out on the water and paddle and swim.”
Five classes cater to paddleboarders of all stages: SUP Intro Tour, SUP Fitness Tour, SUP Eco Tour, SUP Yoga Tour or a SUP & SIP Tour. Designed for beginners, the Intro Tour reigns true to its name, introducing beginners to the basics of paddleboarding. Machen shared that by the end of the Intro Tour, most people are standing up and paddling without a hitch.
A history of Lake Gadsden alongside the Coosa River, native wildlife spotting and exploration of the area characterize the Eco Tour, with the Yoga Tour emerging as a peaceful relaxation time on the water. Wilson leads the Fitness Tour, which incorporates a HIIT-style workout with aggressive paddling for 45 minutes to an hour of efficient exercise.
The SUP & SIP Tour, which Machen describes as the most popular and leisurely tour, is pure fun. A group gathers to explore tributary creeks, circling back to GadRock’s dock to enjoy a drink while watching the sunset.
“Stand-up paddling for this area is very new. So is indoor climbing,” said Machen. “With GadRock, we were introducing these new sports to people. I believe people might see our guests paddling and think that it looks hard and intimidating, but it absolutely isn’t – same with climbing. If you look at how tall the walls are, that might look overwhelming for some people. We try to take that intimidation factor out by having clinics and classes for paddling.”
Machen noted that in both climbing and paddling, GadRock transforms exercise from traditional techniques people sometimes dread, into unique, fun and interactive activities that generate excitement. Complimentary cross-training sports, both paddling and climbing are full-body workouts, using the same muscles.
After tearing her ACL climbing, paddling became a form of rehabilitation for Machen, aiding in her regaining her strength. Machen shared that not only does paddling and climbing minister to an individual’s physical wellness, but both contribute to improving one’s mental health.
“I love to get out on the water,” said Machen, who gains her greatest ideas while paddling by herself (or with her dog, who she often takes with her). “Sometimes, I’ll just stop and listen to the sounds around me and just let my mind drift and think. I’m more reflective when I’m out on the water.”
While paddling proves restorative and contemplative, climbing exercises a person’s mind in an alternate way. Machen noted that climbing is full of mistakes, but the sport teaches that to fail does not make a person a failure – it just gives him or her another opportunity to stand up and try again.
“When I’m climbing, I’m thinking about the next move, or what I’m doing right then in the moment, how to accomplish my goals on the wall,” said Machen. “I like that, because you’re not thinking about everything else in your life or in the world. You can take some time climbing and reflect on the present.”
Machen furthered paddling’s link to climbing, emphasizing that the Coosa River runs through all her favorite outdoor spots. From Southeastern Climbers Coalition’s Hospital Boulders on Lookout Mountain to Chandler Mountain’s Horse Pens 40, to Cherokee Rock Village and Moss Rock Preserve, a stone’s throw in Hoover, Etowah County and surrounding communities provide residents with countless remarkable chances for adventure. As climbing generates a deeper sense of understanding concerning nature, paddling parallels that appreciation, with Machen and other paddlers involved in efforts to protect the natural resources at their fingertips.
“The paddling and climbing communities are amazing,” said Machen. “They’re the people who are out there on the rocks and on the water. If you’re never on the water, you may never appreciate it as much as someone who is using it. We (these communities) are the people most invested in protecting those assets, concerned with water quality and access points. Even if you never get out on the water, if you just sit beside the lake and see the visual beauty … we should all look around and appreciate what (these resources) bring to our community.” As a child growing up in Gadsden, Machen often trekked through the little wooded areas of Clubview, excavating the pliable earth in creek beds and overturning rocks to uncover arrowheads. While Machen surmised that she probably found them all, cradling those arrowheads in her palms, her ears filled with the tranquil burble of water foreshadowed a future intwined with conservation and community.
If you’re a ‘LakeLifer’ like me, this time of year holds great expectations — anticipation of good things to come. It’s almost spring, but not quite. Warm days are more frequent, but not quite enough. Nevertheless, you feel good times await just around the bend.
And you’d be right.
Carol A. Pappas, Editor and Publisher
On Logan Martin, it means the water’s about to rise toward its seasonal high, which generally translates into getting outside, hopping on the boat and heading no place in particular, just knowing that pure enjoyment is involved.
This year on Logan Martin, expectations are even greater. The water will not fluctuate as much as in years past when fall returns. LakeLifers get to keep an extra two feet from now on, a move touted for so long but finally coming to fruition in 2022.
For LakeLifers on Neely Henry, they may not understand the excitement building on their Coosa River sister lake. After all, they’ve been lucky enough to have more stable water depths for years, only fluctuating a foot.
The great expectations are equally as high there, though. Temperatures are rising, and that means all kinds of outdoor activities on and around the lake.
First Friday kicks off in Gadsden April 1, drawing thousands to an inviting downtown just a stone’s throw from ‘the river.’ Classic cars, great food, shopping and an all-around good time for the entire family await.
The popularity of fly fishing in Black Creek at Noccalula Falls and around the lake and river will continue to climb. So will those who visit GadRock, an indoor rock-climbing facility that overlooks the lake in Gadsden. And don’t forget their paddle boards just outside their door, ready to take you on a tour you won’t soon forget.
Around Logan Martin, a new sensation is taking hold — electric bicycles from Logan Martin Electrek. It’s a pedaling/motorized adventure all rolled into one.
Fishing is a year-round affair in these parts on both lakes, but there’s something about early spring that really brings out the anglers — pros and novices alike. Rookie pro angler Zeke Gossett will guide you through not only what’s biting on both lakes, but what they’re biting in his Catching the Coosa, a favorite among those wanting to try their luck.
All these great expectations are a part of this edition of LakeLife 24/7 Magazine®, but as always, there is plenty more. We’ll take you inside the kitchen of some great Southern cooks in Southside on Neely Henry and back in time on Logan Martin’s Broken Arrow Creek, where Native Americans once roamed. You can still find their arrowheads today.
But for now, we will be savoring good times ahead and in our memories. That’s what being a ‘LakeLifer’ is all about. So, here’s to great expectations. Turn the page and discover them all with us!
Gadsden’s Black Creek becoming a fly-fishing hotbed for rainbow trout
Story by Paul South Photos by Mackenzie Free Sumitted photos
Frank Roden, it seems, always has a ripping good fish tale. Roden, an expert fly angler and Rainbow City antique dealer known as “the guy with the tie” on the trout streams of St. Clair and Etowah counties, has a great story that illustrates how fly angling has taken off in the area, particularly in the Black Creek Gorge and the streams near Noccalula Falls.
A fly-fishing instructor endorsed by the iconic outdoor brand, Orvis, Roden has seen folks from multiple states fly fish, thanks in part to the City of Gadsden’s restocking efforts, now in its third year on Black Creek.
“There was a man from Hattiesburg, Miss., who was coming to the area and stopped to fly fish one day and once he fly fished it, he we went back home and returned a week later with his family of four in an RV, rented space in a local campground and stayed for a week with his family to fly fish and to visit the Greater Gadsden area,” Roden says.
While the man fished, his family shopped on Broad Street in downtown Gadsden, along with buying the basics – food and fuel.
“He said he would definitely be back to visit because of the things that he saw and the things he and his family were able to get involved with while he was here,” Roden says.
Frank Roden stocking the creek near Noccalula Falls
He’s heard a creel full of stories like that, of anglers coming from the Gulf Coast and southern Florida to fly fish. No longer would they have to travel to the Appalachian waters of Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.
“They said (Gadsden) puts them four hours closer to trout than they were before, Roden says.
The Mississippi fish tale is poetry to government and tourism officials in Gadsden like Hugh Stump, executive director of Greater Gadsden Tourism. For the past three years in November and May, Gadsden has restocked Black Creek with rainbow trout, an iconic North American game fish prized by fly anglers around the world.
Most recently, the city put 1,000 10 to 14-inch rainbows into Black Creek, where the trout season runs from Nov. 15 to May 31. According to an independent economic impact study commissioned by the Greater Gadsden Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, overnight visitors who come to the area to fly fish spend an average of $110.72 per person, while day-trippers spend $50.52 per person. The city realizes more than $6.50 return on investment for every dollar spent promoting fly fishing.
The annual stocking and promotion efforts benefit anglers from Etowah, St. Clair, Jefferson and other nearby counties, who now have fly fishing close to home.
“The idea behind the stocking was to create another amenity for people who are visiting the area,” Stump says. “But it’s also an amenity for people who live here. The (local) Rainbow City Fly Fishing Club has a lot of members, and they don’t have to drive to Georgia or North Carolina anymore to fly fish, so it’s in their backyard.”
The Rainbow City club returns the favor by assisting the restocking effort on a volunteer basis.
Another economic aspect, according to the study, is that 49% of respondents who fly fished Black Creek have a household income of $100,000 or more. And environmental tourism gives Gadsden another lure in its economic development tackle box.
“Ecotourism, like wineries, breweries, fly fishing, that kind of stuff is sustainable. It’s natural,” Stump says. “You don’t have to build a building … It’s there. It’s natural. And we’re just amplifying it for people to enjoy it. That’s what we’re trying to do here in Gadsden.”
He added, “We’re not trying to do just ecotourism. It’s just one facet.”
Gadsden City Councilman Kent Back says the effort has boosted the economy, not just by fishing, but in the city’s revitalized downtown district. While anglers fish, their spouses and children browse in local shops and dine in local eateries.
“We know that’s happening,” Back says.
The city also built cabins near Noccalula Falls that Back says are “really, really nice and moderately priced.
“When you’re in those cabins, you think you’re in Gatlinburg,” Back says.
Child fishing for trout
While a trout permit and an Alabama fishing license are required to fly fish for trout in Black Creek Gorge, anglers will also be able to fish for other species as they always have.
“Technically, fishing of any sort is not allowed in the gorge,” Stump says. “The only way you can fish in the gorge is with a City of Gadsden trout permit and a State of Alabama fishing license. But we’re not busting people’s chops if they’re just fishing for their dinner, because we don’t have any way to really maintain and police that.”
Black Creek offers unique challenges for fly anglers, Roden says. A small stream, the waters are canopied by trees along its banks. Reading the currents can offer a fun puzzle for anglers to solve. And the area is slowly becoming a hotbed for fly fishing. Along with Black Creek, the nearby Sipsey River – Alabama’s only year-round trout fishery – are increasingly popular.
“The interest is building daily,” Roden says.
Roden would like to see the Alabama tourism officials take a page from one of its past efforts, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. A fly-fishing trail would also boost the economies of Alabama’s smaller towns.
“I would like to see a fly-fishing trail developed in Alabama, much the same as the golf trail,” he says.
Roden is one of the area’s most fervent fishing evangelists. “Fly fishing is more than about fishing,” Roden says. “It’s a way of life.”
And along with the economic and environmental benefits, fly fishing Black Creek catches another intangible – joy.
And the colorful catch brings more than just a trophy fish. “Everybody who catches a rainbow has a smile on their face,” Roden says.
