When Casey Cambron and the Five16 Foundation created a music festival three years ago, the idea was born from a desire to give back to the community.
Fast forward those three years, and Lakeside Live Music Fest has grown into a communitywide event drawing more than 6,000 people to enjoy a day of music and fun for the whole family at Pell City Lakeside Park. It’s free to the public, courtesy of the sponsors investing in the effort, and gates open at 10 a.m.
On stage are noted musical groups like the Leverton Brothers, Wingnuts, Deputy 5 and the Ryan Waters Band.
Lining one of the fields is an impressive car show. Scattered throughout the grounds are all kinds of vendors, food trucks and a host of activities for the children.
One of the main events is Battle of the Badges, a friendly but fierce competition pitting the fire department against the police department.
Nearby, you can cheer on your favorites in the corn hole tournament offering a cash prize.
Couple all those features with hourly door prizes and drawings for major prizes like a kayak, flat top grill, a youth four-wheeler and a television, and what you have is the makings of a true family event that does indeed give back to the community.
Proceeds from Lakeside Live benefits worthy causes throughout the city – police, fire, school system, children’s organizations, Museum of Pell City and Pell City Historical Society.
“Our entire goal is to support our community, to bring people into our community to see what we have to offer,” said Cambron. And he and his band of volunteers have done just that. “We couldn’t host this without our great volunteers,” he said, noting how grateful the Foundation is to have a group of people willing to roll up their sleeves and go to work to support the effort.
“Our mission is to shine a light in our community,” Cambron said. “That’s our goal.”
Pro fishing tips on Logan Martin Lake and Neely Henry Lake with Zeke Gossett
Logan Martin
Logan Martin can be a tricky lake during the months of July and August. However, these two months are still great times to fish if you know where to look.
Specifically talking about July, there are still plenty of offshore fish to be found. Fish may be in offshore brush piles or actual schools. If you find schools of fish, they tend to move around a lot this time year, so you may have to play chase with them!
You must keep an open mind and use your electronics to stay on them. The schools may move from where you previously found them, but they will usually stay within eyesight from where they were.
Once I’ve found a school, I will typically try to catch the active ones first. Usually, the biggest in the school will eat first. My first bait of choice always is a deep diving crankbait. The reason the crankbait is always a good first choice is it allows you to get back in a school more quickly if the fish choose to bite.
If the school doesn’t seem to want to bite, or maybe there’s a lack of current in the system, I will reach for either a flutter spoon or a hair jig. These two baits are a little more subtle than the crankbait and will trigger bites if the fish are not as active.
Transitioning into the month of August, for me, brush piles and docks start to play a major role in catching bass. Once the schools start to break up after being pressured all summer long from being fished on hard, these fish will usually branch off and start getting into brush more heavily.
My favorite depth to target these fish is in anywhere from 10-15 feet of water. A couple baits you might want to try are a crankbait or a finesse jig. I let the fish tell me what they want. If you have a low pressure day (during the week), usually they’ll be more in the mood to chase the crankbait down and eat.
On the other hand, the jig is a lot better option if it is slick calm, sunny and a lot of boat traffic. Give these tips a try during the hottest part of the year, and you might find the dog days of summer are not so bad after all.
Neely Henry
Neely Henry has always been a good summertime lake in years past for me. Anglers can catch fish from a foot of water all the way out to 20 feet of water.
Typically, my better than average size fish will come shallow, especially early in the morning. I will usually target the area from the Alabama Highway 77 bridge section down.
Early in the morning, I will always start with either a hollow body frog or swim jig, trying to cover as much water as possible. This allows me to pick off those active fish in the lower light. I will either look for willow grass or seawalls on the main river to start with.
Got to have the right gear
If there is plentiful cloud cover, I will stay shallow – either a lot longer or all day if the fish are still showing activity. If the sun does decide to show up, that’s when I’ll move a little deeper.
In July, there still will be schools of fish to be found. These schools can either be found on road beds, long points and ledges. My first cast in these schools – just like Logan Martin – will be a crankbait. Once the school shuts down, I will play cleanup with either a jig or a drop shot.
Once August rolls around, I still will have the same morning routine as July. The only difference is that I will start mixing in a lot more dock fishing. The reason being, much like Logan Martin, the schools are separated from either pressure or maybe even lack of oxygen out deep if there hasn’t been any rain.
I usually will keep my bait selection pretty simple. I start out with either a finesse jig or Texas-rigged senko. These two baits will get bitten no matter what the conditions might be.
I will target docks anywhere from one foot to ten feet. You have to let the fish tell you what they’re doing on any particular day. Keep an open mind on the dog days of summer on Neely Henry and let the fish tell you where you need to be.
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: zekegossettfishing.com.
The Black Jacket Symphony is again partnering with The Center for Education and Performing Arts, America’s First Federal Credit Union and the City of Pell City for the summer’s biggest lake event Sept. 2.
This year, it’s on a new night – Saturday – for the Fourth Annual Live at Logan Martin featuring a live performance of the legendary soundtrack, Saturday Night Fever.
This disco dance party will be held at the Pell City Sports Complex on Lake Logan Martin. The event site will open at 5:30 p.m., and the concert begins at 7:30 p.m. A rain date is set for the following evening, Sunday, Sept. 3.
“We are thrilled to once again be the presenting sponsor of this wonderful event. AmFirst is proud to support Live at Logan Martin and help bring this event to the community,” said Phil Boozer, SVP-Chief Sales Officer, Marketing for America’s First Federal Credit Union.
VIP squares and general admission tickets are on sale now at liveatloganmartin.com or pellcitycepa.com/tickets. VIP squares accommodate up to four individuals. Fans are allowed and encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs for seating. Table seating is available to sponsors only.
On-site parking will be free but limited. All attendees are encouraged to carpool. Due to the generosity of sponsors, the event is free to boats and will feature large video screens for optimum viewing.
Per regulations from the State of Alabama, bringing alcohol onto the event site is not permitted. Beverages will be available for sale at the event.
“I can’t thank the community enough for the support they’ve given this event over the past four years,” said Jeff Thompson, CEPA Executive Director. “What began as a means to bring joy to our community during the COVID-19 pandemic has grown in an unimaginable way, and we’re so grateful to AmFirst, the City of Pell City and The Black Jacket Symphony for another incredible show.”
Proceeds benefit CEPA Management Corp. and its efforts to increase access to the performing arts in St. Clair County, including live music performances at CEPA in Pell City, and the Spotlight Drama Education and Outreach Program, which helped St. Clair students and community members produce 12 different plays in 2022.
Sponsorship packages are available at Gold, Silver, and Supporter Levels. For more information on sponsoring this one-of-a-kind event in St. Clair County, please email Jeff Thompson at director@pellcitycepa.com.
In the Kitchen and by the Lake with Pam Beals and Misty Thomas
Story by Scottie Vickery Photos by Richard Rybka
For the past 18 years, sisters-in-law Pam Beals and Misty Thomas have been in a weekly cooking school of sorts. They’re the teachers as well as the students, and most often they’re the only participants. As a result, though, their culinary skills have grown, their bond has deepened, and their binder of “keeper” recipes has continued to expand.
“We’ve pretty much had dinner together every Saturday night since 2005,” Pam said of the gatherings at her Neely Henry Lake home. “We call it our Saturday Night Supper Club.” Sometimes it’s just Pam and her husband, Tom, along with Misty, and her husband, Shane, who is Pam’s brother. Other times, the number grows to six, ten or even more.
The cottage on Neely Henry’s Palmetto Creek
The one constant, however, is that they prepare the meals together. “We have the most fun when we open a bottle of wine or bubbly, turn on the music and start cooking,” Pam said. “Sometimes I have to step in if there’s a little too much bubbly,” Tom joked.
Although Pam and Misty weren’t novices in the kitchen before they started their weekly get-togethers, they’ve both come a long way, as far as skill, confidence and mindset go. “Now I cook because I want to, not because I have to,” Pam said.
Misty and Pam have always been close, despite the 10-year age difference between them. They just haven’t always lived near each other. Pam and Shane were raised in Ashville, and Misty grew up in Steele but went to Ashville High School. By the time Misty and Shane met in the ninth grade, Pam was out of college and working.
In fact, she and Tom were living in Atlanta for the first three years of their Saturday Night Supper Club, but they all met on weekends at Pam and Shane’s mother’s cabin on Neely Henry. “In 2007, my brother and husband went to an Alabama Power auction ‘just to see how an auction works,’” Pam said with a laugh. “They both came back with property.”
Misty and Shane realized they prefer hills and farmland, so they sold their lake lot and bought a home nearby with 40 acres. They are in the process of turning it into a working farm, Moonlight Farm, where they plan to raise cattle. Pam and Tom built a 3-bedroom, 2 ½ bath cottage on their lake property lot and used it as a weekend home from 2008 until 2020 when COVID-19 hit, and they moved there permanently. “I was ready,” she said.
The cottage, which is on Neely Henry’s Palmetto Creek, was built from a Southern Living house plan. “I’ve always had a soft spot for Southern Living and all things Southern, really,” Pam said and grinned. “Anybody can copy out of Southern Living magazine.”
Dynamic duo
The magazine had a big influence on their Saturday night dinners as well. That’s where they found almost all of the recipes they tried when they first started their weekly gathering. “Southern Living got us started on this journey,” Pam said. “At first, we were intimidated by some recipes, and we didn’t even know what some of the spices were. We’d have to go buy every spice and every tool.”
It got easier, though, and they got better one dish at time. “We just got in the kitchen and started teaching ourselves,” Misty said. “Now we have all the right appliances and gadgets.”
For the most part, the meals have been successful, although there have been some bumps along the way. “We learned to read the recipe all the way through,” Pam said. “We’d get halfway through one and realize we were supposed to refrigerate it overnight. We’ve only had a catastrophe once or twice where we say, ‘I hope (the restaurant) Local Joe’s is still open.’”
Pam and Tom
Through the years they’ve tried hundreds of recipes they’ve gathered from magazines, Pinterest, and cookbooks. The first time, they follow the recipe exactly, and for some dishes, they think of how to make it better. “We’ll say, ‘Next time, let’s add this,’” Misty said.
They started keeping their favorites in a binder, which is now nearly four inches thick. “That’s where all of the ‘keepers’ go,” Pam said. “And a recipe doesn’t make the book just because we made it. Everyone has to agree that it’s a keeper.”
The fact that they try to use local ingredients whenever possible has helped the binder grow. The short ribs they use in their Short Rib Lasagna recipe, which was featured on The Today Show and grabbed Pam’s attention, come from Earnest Roots Farm in Ashville. They get tomatoes grown on Chandler Mountain from Smith Tomato in Steele to make their own tomato sauce, which they sometimes substitute for the marinara listed in the recipe.
“Every time we prepare this, we get more compliments on it,” Misty said of the Short Rib Lasagna, which has become a favorite. “You would think we’d have a lot of leftovers because it makes a lot, but there’s never anything left.”
Pam and Misty have learned over the years that their cooking styles are different. “If it’s a dessert, we’re handing that to Misty because she’s very precise,” Pam said. “I’m more of a follow the directions kind of cook and she’ll get in there and do her own thing.”
Misty agreed, adding that when she cooks on her own, “I very rarely follow a recipe. Pam will ask me what I did, and I’ll say, ‘I don’t know.’ My grandmother was an amazing cook, and that’s what she used to do, too. Pam gets mad at me, and I used to get mad at my grandmother.”
Although they are most often the ones in the kitchen, Pam and Misty sometimes turn things over to the guys. They’re in charge of the grilling, as well as low country boils, which they all love. “We do those a lot,” Misty said. “We prepare everything and hand it off to them. It’s always delicious.”
The folks enjoying the meals sometimes change as well. They are often joined by Tom’s brother, Joe, and his wife, Kathy, who live nearby on the lake. Other friends have joined in the fun, but one thing never changes. They always gather at Pam and Tom’s house to enjoy the glorious view of Neely Henry.
View for rent
When Pam and Tom built their home, they planned for it to be a peaceful weekend retreat from their busy lives in Atlanta, where they lived at the time. They were both working in the vending industry, although Tom has since retired, and were on the go a lot.
While they hired professionals to lay the foundation and handle the electricity, plumbing, framing and roofing, they did everything else themselves. The details that that make the house a home are all theirs. Tom put up the pine tongue and groove walls in the master bedroom and adjoining sun porch, and he and his brother, Mike, laid the oak tongue and groove floors throughout the home.
His brother, Joe, helped hang the kitchen cabinets while Pam handled the painting and decorating. She went to great lengths to get everything right. “We were in Destin, and I saw a house that was under construction and was painted the exact color I wanted,” she said. “No one was there so I climbed into the dumpster and found an old can of the paint. I took it to Sherwin Williams, and they matched it. It’s a dill green, and we just love it.”
After COVID hit, Pam and Tom moved in full-time. Although she continues to work from home, traveling a lot for her job with Flowers Baking Company, she started to think about what’s next. Tom retired and has begun dabbling in real estate, and Misty just retired after teaching 25 years at Albertville High School. Shane still works with Birmingham Pistol Wholesale, but he and Misty recently opened The Gun Exchange in Ashville. They also are busy working on the farm.
“Over the years, we all had conversations about what we’re going to do in retirement,” Pam said. “I decided I might give Airbnb a try. At the time, there were no Airbnbs in Ashville, so I got on the website and started playing around with a listing. I accidentally posted it, though, and the next day I woke up to a booking. I had to get myself together really quickly.”
Waterfront outdoor chess setup
Even though the house is their full-time home, they’ve rented it out many times since. They have an RV, and “as soon as someone books the house, we book a camping trip,” she said. “We didn’t have this in mind when we built, but it’s really turned out perfectly.”
Guests love fishing off the dock, drinking coffee on the wraparound porch, playing with the giant lawn chess set and watching outdoor movies on the screen and projector she provides. “We’ve really got it set up like a model home,” Pam said. “We pretty much just use the kitchen, master bedroom and the sunporch, and we live out of three closets” that they lock when guests come. The rest of the house is ready all the time, so they only have to get three rooms ready before guests arrive, and they head for the woods.
After traveling her whole career, she had lots of ideas about what guests need and want. All of her jobs have developed her customer service skills, and her attention to detail and love for hosting makes it the perfect fit. “It’s like I’ve been training for this my whole life,” she said.
She and Tom also own a commercial building in Gadsden and Airbnb the loft above it. They bought the lot next door to their lake cottage, and Pam said she would love to one day build another home there. “I have to keep reminding myself that I ‘m trying to retire, not build an empire,” Pam said.
Although all the changes – the cottage bookings and Misty and Shane’s work at the farm – cut into their Saturday Night Supper Club schedule, they know they’ll continue to find a way to make it work. N future recipes, they’ll soon be able to use beef raised at Moonlight Farm and vegetables from the garden Misty plans to plant.
“I’ve never had a major garden before,” Misty said, and she’s dreaming big. She plans to plant tomatoes, squash, corn, okra, beans, carrots, a variety of lettuces and strawberries. “As a child, I used to love to go out in my grandmother’s garden and pick strawberries.”
One thing is for certain, there’s still lots of cooking and Saturday night gatherings in their future. No matter what changes come, they’ll continue to do what they’ve been doing for nearly two decades. “We’ll all get in the kitchen and see how it turns out,” Pam said.
Short Rib Lasagna
Recipe of Giada de Laurentiis, shared on The Today Show
Ingredients:
Ribs
2 tablespoons olive oil
2½ pounds beef short ribs
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
1 onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 4-inch sprigs fresh rosemary
2 cups red wine, such as Pinot Noir
2 cups beef broth
Filling Mixture
1½ cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1½ cups grated Pecorino Romano cheese (6 ounces)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 ounces)
1 small bunch Tuscan kale, ribs removed and chopped
¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
Additional Ingredients
12 uncooked lasagna noodles (about 10 ounces)
Butter for greasing the baking dish
1 25-ounce jar marinara sauce
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil for drizzling
Directions:
Cook the ribs: In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed stock pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Season the ribs with salt and pepper. Add the ribs to the pan and cook for about 4 minutes each side until brown. Remove the ribs and set aside. Add the onion, garlic and rosemary. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cook for 5 minutes until the onions are translucent and soft. Increase the heat to high. Add the wine and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the beef broth and ribs to the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan and cook for 2½ to 3 hours until the meat is very tender. Remove the ribs and set aside until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes. Discard the bones and cooking liquid. Using two forks, shred the meat into 2-inch-long pieces (to yield approximately 2¼ cups shredded meat).
Make the filling: In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the milk and cream to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low. Add the cheeses and whisk until melted, and the sauce is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the kale, basil and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Assemble: Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400°. Butter a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Spread 1 cup of the marinara sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Lay 3 noodles over the marinara. Spread 1/3 of the Filling Mixture evenly over the noodles. Sprinkle with a 1/3 of the shredded short ribs. Repeat with the remaining noodles and filling, making three layers of filling and ending with pasta. Spoon the remaining marinara sauce on top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and bake until the lasagna is heated through and the cheese is beginning to brown, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving.
Easy Skillet Apple Pie
From Southern Living
Ingredients:
2 pounds Granny Smith apples
2 pounds Braeburn apples
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 (14.1-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts
1 egg white
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Butter-pecan ice cream (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Peel apples and cut into ½-inch-thick wedges. Toss apples with cinnamon and ¾ cup granulated sugar. Melt butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat; add brown sugar and cook, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and place 1 piecrust in skillet over brown sugar mixture. Spoon apple mixture over piecrust; top with remaining piecrust. Whisk egg white until foamy. Brush top of piecrust with egg white; sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar. Cut 4 or 5 slits in top for steam to escape.Bake at 350ºF for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Use aluminum foil to shield for last 10 minutes to prevent excessive browning, if necessary. Cool on a wire rack 30 minutes before serving. Serve with butter-pecan ice cream, if desired.
Katheryne Anna Tucker, known better around these parts as “Kat,” was more than a business owner serving up a tasty breakfast at her restaurant, The Kitchen. She and her Kitchen became iconic, a tradition that lasted 23 years.
She passed away in May, and The Kitchen is now dark.
Kat had nurtured it into a neighborhood gathering place where she knew your name – and your order – when you walked in the door. Walk through that door once, and you were no longer a stranger, only a friend she added to her ever-growing list.
At community steak dinner night
“She made people feel like they belonged, and everyone who ate at The Kitchen was treated like family,” her memoriam stated. “She remembered everything about everyone, who their family was, what they did for a living, birthdays, anniversaries and of course, what everyone liked to eat.”
I will miss my own Sunday morning Eggs Benedict, home fries and sliced tomatoes that seemed to taste like “summer tomatoes” year-round. All I had to do was call, and she would answer the phone with “Eggs Benedict, Miss Carol?”
I, like so many others, felt special because it was important to her to remember what we liked. She always had candy for the kids and treats for the dogs and tips for stories for me. It was not unusual to see her head out from the grill for a moment, walk outside to a truck to serve a four-legged friend a side of bacon while he waited on his owner to return. She was like that. All had a special place in her heart.
Regulars even had their own personalized coffee cups hanging in a place of honor. Just like their own kitchen, they would grab ‘their’ cup and ready it for a pour of Kat’s savory coffee.
Regulars always had a place to discuss issues of the day
Her giving ways went well beyond the doors of the kitchen. Charities, church activities, school functions, Animal Savers, Lions Club, Civitans, Fishes and Loaves Ministries and Scrollworks Music School, where her daughter taught, all were on the receiving end of Kat’s generosity.
Her work ethic was unparalleled. She was the ultimate multi-tasker. One only had to observe a typical breakfast rush to see evidence of that.
A veteran, she served in the U.S. Army. Sometimes, she would display that toughness no doubt learned from that military background, but that tough exterior never could disguise the big heart that resided within.
It is with much sadness to see The Kitchen’s empty restaurant and parking lot these days. It is a reminder of the loss for our community, not just in terms of a neighborhood restaurant we’d grown to love but because in so many ways the center of it made us all feel special.
The Kitchen may have gone dark, but the memory of Kat behind the grill, carrying on multiple conversations with customers while turning out one perfect breakfast after another is a light that won’t soon be dimmed.
Local artist adds splash of color to Coosa River Community
Story by Roxann Edsall Photos by Richard Rybka
It’s not unusual to see postage stamps celebrating art and history, but the city of Riverside has taken the celebration to a new level. Even their post office building is a piece of art, one that invites visitors to picture themselves enjoying what the city has to offer.
As the first hints of summer weather invited visitors to the lake, local artist Penny Arnold put the finishing touches on a mural that welcomes both visitors and residents to the sleepy town on the banks of Logan Martin Lake. On Highway 57, just past the fire station and City Hall, you’ll see the 40-foot mural covering the exterior side wall of the post office.
The building, which used to be a grocery store, has served as the post office since the impounding of the lake in 1964. Originally owned by former mayor W.A. “Bill” Coleman, the largely brick structure also houses Local Sister, a home décor store operated by his great granddaughter, Maddie Cochran.
Coleman’s daughter and Maddie’s grandmother, Cynthia Coleman Cochran, now owns the building and approves of the facelift the historic building has received. “I was worried at first about the bright colors,” said Cochran. “But I really like it. I think it gives us something else interesting in Riverside. And it’s fun for people to take pictures by it.”
Penny shows off an osprey in the mural
The distinctive railroad truss bridge is the crown jewel of the panorama adorning the building’s facade. The iconic bridge was built in 1927 and was modified to accommodate the creation of the lake. It is a central part of the history of Riverside, a community that needed the railroad to support the sawmill and logging industry that drove the town’s economy in its early days.
Celebrating that landmark and the surrounding beauty of the lake is central to the goals established by the Riverside Beautification Organization (RBO), which commissioned the mural. The RBO funded the project with grant money from a local business, Charity Steel, which gives a percentage of their profits each year to a local 501(c)3 organization.
RBO President Julie Pounders says the mural is part of their mission to spruce up the city. “We’ve wanted to do a mural for a long time,” she says, adding that she is already looking for a location to add another one in the future.
This one was over seven months in the making from start date to completion. Since paint doesn’t dry well in cold weather, Arnold wasn’t able to do much in the colder months. She says the cumulative time spent on the project was about four weeks.
Arnold is a former English teacher turned art teacher, who now teaches art part time at Duran Junior High School. She has worked with stained glass, mosaic, drawing and sculpture, primarily, but had not done a mural before. She had already been refining her skills in painting by taking classes by noted local artist Nettie Bean. When she was offered the chance to paint the mural, she jumped at it. Her first step was researching the kind of paint to use on the primarily brick façade.
Acrylic masonry paint was the medium she settled on. Application was by paintbrushes and bunched up plastic bags for texture. She added a paint sprayer to her tool belt to blend the sky colors. Safety tools included a stepladder for the higher reaches and an umbrella for sun protection.
“Painting is so many layers,” Arnold explained. “We wanted it to be bold, bright and colorful. When we started, it was just swaths of color and people wondered what we were doing. As it started coming together, people began stopping to tell me how much they loved it.
Riverside’s iconic railroad bridge
“Do you know how tough it is to paint straight lines on brick?,” Arnold added. “It was a challenge in painting the railroad bridge because bricks are not a flat surface.”
In addition to the railroad bridge, the landscape art includes fishermen and kayakers, a nod to the leisure activities and tournaments popular in the area. Large, white American Lotus flowers, native to the ponds in nearby Riverside Park, are also featured in the painting. Arnold included sunset colors in the sky to capture the beauty of evening on the lake. She admits to having a bit of trouble with the osprey. “At first, it didn’t look quite right,” she said. “Julie, the RBO president, knows a lot about birds and was able to give me suggestions that helped bring it around.”
Arnold had some friends help, too. When she was initially covering the building with large areas of color, she invited friends from her church, Pell City First United Methodist, whom she called the “Joy and Color Brigade,” to come and paint the base layers.
The colorful mural has certainly given Riverside residents another reason to be proud of their city. According to Riverside Post Office employee Honey Waters, people come to her window frequently to give compliments about it. “A lot of people seem to like it. In fact,” she added, “just a couple of days ago, I watched a group of people stop and take their picture by it.”
Arnold hopes she will be able to do more murals in and around the area. “It’s given me so much joy to see the happiness it brings people in the community when they drive by. Every community deserves to have something that encourages pride in their city.” The artist has certainly delivered that.
What could be nicer than a leisurely stroll on a sandy beach, with water gently lapping at the shoreline and sea birds noisily going about their various life tasks? Now imagine this scene, not in Florida or Lower Alabama, but on a sandy swimming area at a man-made lake, more than 300 miles from the nearest saltwater.
Almost from the day it was fully impounded in the early 1960s, Logan Martin Lake has hosted ever-increasing numbers of birds more commonly found near oceans. Among them are many varieties of sea gulls and pelicans, along with eagles, ospreys and other fish-loving species.
They frequent every part of the lake, in harmonious company with other inland water birds such as cormorants, green herons, great blue herons, great white herons, cattle egrets and every kind of goose and duck imaginable, of both local and migratory species.
Great egret
Canada geese, mallards and wood ducks all share the abundance of minnows and other aquatic life around the banks and mud flats, while ospreys and eagles dive-bomb larger fish over deep water and around the spillways at the dam.
Stealthy green herons are occasionally seen working their way along bank undercuts and riprap. They’re easy to identify because their heads and beaks seem to belong to much bigger birds.
Ospreys love to build big nests from sticks and small tree limbs atop the numerous floodlight platforms and high-tension power lines around the lake. They’re powerful predators, with large beaks and long talons. When hunting, they tend to hover about 50-100 feet above the water, then dive-bomb their prey, often going completely underwater.
Ospreys can sometimes be seen flying home with a fish weighing several pounds clutched in their claws, always with the fish’s head pointed forward so that it streamlines into the air.
According to Wikipedia, they are a singular species of bird. If you’ve seen one osprey, you’ve seen them all. They mate for life, breed in early to late spring and may or may not migrate.
Bald eagles have made their home here as well. They have been seen arguing with ospreys over nest sites, although the eagles merely use them for comfortable perches atop high structures, such as power line towers. Eagles build their own nests that are much larger than the osprey nests, often weighing hundreds of pounds. They usually breed in December and January in our area.
White and brown pelicans may be seen floating together in large groups on some isolated backwater, or even in the middle of the lake, sometimes accompanied by flocks of seagulls.
The many varieties of gulls seen around Logan Martin behave pretty much as their littoral counterparts. They are amazing flyers, with wings evolved for speed and agility. Our gulls sometimes leave the lake to descend on local big-box parking lots, scavenging scraps of food waste discarded by environmentally unconcerned humans.
Logan Martin is a birdwatcher’s paradise, also hosting hordes of non-aquatic varieties. Its diverse environment has become home to several species of owls, woodpeckers and songbirds, most of which have little fear of humans. Most of the heron family is well-represented here, including the yellow crowned and black crowned variety. Several sites are especially good for watching.
Local photographer Mary Cason, who frequently walks at Lakeside Park, contributed photos for this story. She says, “You never know what’s going to be around the next bend or over the next hill.” Her photo files are chockfull of her favorite subjects – aquatic fowl. She’s experienced lots of Kodak moments at the park and its environs.
Lakeside Park is a natural sanctuary because of an abundance of foodstuffs, both natural and from folks feeding the various rodents that congregate in such places. In turn, raptors such as owls and hawks, tend to hunt them and keep their population at a reasonable level.
The Coosa Island area is especially rich in pelicans, cormorants and other fish-eaters, but one should respect the privacy of those living there by observing wildlife far away from residences.
Osprey with nest stick
There is a nice little park and nature trail at the east end of Logan Martin Dam, appropriately named Logan Martin Dam Park. It’s more secluded and far less crowded than other nature sites, so it’s probably best to visit there in the company of a friend or two. There’s plenty of information online about this and other sites around the lake.
Logan Martin is an ideal, safe area for introducing youngsters to aquatic wildlife, but please don’t feed water birds around public beaches because, as they congregate for feeding, they tend to contaminate the water and make it unsuitable for swimming.
There is a short boardwalk near the Lakeside Park roadway that is perfect for observing, or simply quiet contemplation. The boat launch area has a fishing pier as well as a walking bridge that crosses the slough into the sports fields. Both are excellent birding sites, as are the spacious grounds of the park itself.
Its walking trail is about 1.2 miles long. The main part makes a big loop around the whole park, with an asphalt walkway that passes the native flower garden and mud flats boardwalk, thence uphill while skirting dense forest, backwaters and ending up near the boat launch.
There is another, lesser known woodland section of Lakeside called the Rosa Lorene Morton Nature Trail, accessed just after you enter the park from a small parking lot near the Metro Bank gazebo. It’s purely natural and mostly unimproved, so boots and a walking stick are in order. l
This time of year, I think a lot about my dad. He loved coming to our lake place and this time of year, you’d find him parked squarely on a chair on the pier, fishing for bream and crappie and whatever else might come his way.
I used to joke that the fish had to be fast to keep up with his hook. He was a bit on the impatient side. But he was patient enough to teach me how to put a worm or a minnow on a hook, despite my reluctant squeals. And he taught me how to slow down and savor the tranquility of the water.
Carol A. Pappas, Editor and Publisher
One of his greatest legacies to me was a passion for the water. A Greek immigrant who came over at age 13, he never forgot his roots – a village called Kastoria in northern Greece – built on a lake.
It seemed my fate that I, too, would wind up here on a lake myself. Paradise found … at last.
I think that’s what I love best about producing this magazine – being able to share the stories and photographs of paradise. Whether it’s Logan Martin or Neely Henry, it’s paradise just the same when you love the water.
Take the Beals, for instance. This Neely Henry couple loves their corner of paradise so much, they share it with those from near and far, opening their home as an Airbnb.
Of course, they enjoy it themselves, too, with Saturday Night Supper Clubs featuring cooking by Pam Beals and sister Misty Thomas.
Or Zeke Gossett, who’s been fishing since he could hold a rod. A national collegiate champion in fishing, he now is making a name for himself on the BASS pro circuit. In his spare time, he is a fishing guide and offers tips on where, when and with what to fish on Logan Martin and Neely Henry in each issue of LakeLife 24/7 Magazine®.
In Riverside, they love their little paradise so much, they want all who pass by to know they’re welcome. Artist Penny Arnold has added her colorful, masterful touch to create a mural on the exterior wall of the town’s post office.
Meanwhile in Lincoln, plans are continuing for Dovetail Landing, where they are building a paradise for veterans to help them transition from battlefield to home front. It is a transitioning and wellness community for returning veterans, giving them the resources they need to adjust to life after the military.
There’s plenty more examples of paradises found in this issue of LakeLife 24/7 Magazine®. Turn the page and discover them all with us.
Cooking on Logan Martin Lake with Robert and Ava Ballard
Story by Scottie Vickery Photos by Graham Hadley and Robert Ballard
When Robert and Ava Ballard couldn’t find exactly what they were looking for in a house on Logan Martin Lake, they decided to go back to the drawing board. After all, the empty nesters had already changed plans once. They originally thought that, after living in the hustle and bustle of a Birmingham suburb for years, they wanted a house in the country.
Then Ava decided that the only thing better than a view of the land was a view of the water. Their excitement turned to disappointment, however, when they couldn’t find a lake house for sale that met their needs. So, Robert, who has worked in the paper and packaging industry his whole career, took pen to paper and drew one himself.
The deck is the perfect place for grilling
“We couldn’t find a floor plan we liked, so I just started scratching one out,” he said. Their builder brought the drawings to life and four years later, the Ballards are still counting their blessings. “I never dreamed I would have that in my backyard,” Ava said, pointing out the window to the water glistening in the sunlight.
The heart of the home
Most of the “must-haves” on the couple’s list centered around the kitchen area. They’d always had a galley kitchen, so this time around they wanted an open concept so no one missed out on the fun when family and friends visited. Ava wanted granite countertops, something she’d never had, and they wanted the laundry room on the main floor, which they placed just outside the master bedroom. Factor in the view of the water and they got the kitchen of their dreams.
“We cook together a lot, and during the holidays, everyone is hanging out here,” Ava said of the large island where they love to spread an assortment of dips for their young nieces and nephews. “I love trying out new international dishes and looking for creative, flavorful recipes.”
They especially love it when their daughter, Jessica, comes home from New York City, where she is a researcher. “She likes to experiment with different recipes, too,” Ava said. “We love to pour a glass of wine, put on some music and all cook together.”
The Ballards estimate they cook dinner 70 to 80 percent of the time, enjoying leftovers and a dinner out the other evenings. “Robert leans more toward seafood, and I lean more toward red meat,” Ava said. “Growing up, we didn’t have steak a lot, and I’ve developed an intense love of steak.”
Robert loves shrimp dishes and grilled salmon, and they both love a good smoked Boston Butt. They’ve also been known to make a meal from a cheese tray or charcuterie board while enjoying the view from their deck with their dogs, Niko, a 15-year-old black Lab, and Sophie, a 10-year-old Chihuahua. “We sit on the deck almost every evening and just unwind,” Robert said. “There is nothing more relaxing.”
Peaceful, easy feeling
Although they love living on the lake, it was never really on their radar when they started thinking about making a change. They knew they wanted to get closer to family – Ava grew up in Talladega, while Robert is from Sylacauga – and after fighting traffic for years, they were looking for something more peaceful. “We talked about finding 15 or so acres in the country and just getting out,” Ava said.
One of her sisters, who has a lot of land, reminded them that there’s a lot of work involved with acreage, and that’s when Ava started thinking about Plan B. “I grew up coming to this lake,” she said. “We had an aunt who brought us up here fishing all the time. The idea just popped into my head one day, and I mentioned it to Robert.”
He was intrigued, but he said he never really considered that lake life could be a possibility for them. After finding a lot in the Fish Trap area of the lake, though, things fell in place fairly quickly. “Never once have I regretted it,” Ava said. “We’ve been here four years, and we still love everything about it.”
Family ties
Their view wasn’t the only thing that changed when they moved to the lake. Robert, who works in sales, travels some and works mostly at home when he’s in town. Ava, however, worked as a special education paraprofessional in a Shelby County school for 15 years. She didn’t want to commute, so she found a new job that’s close to her heart, as well as their new home.
Ava shows off a piece of hand-painted wood valance from her mother’s kitchen
Raised by deaf parents, Ava works at Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB), the alma mater of her parents, an aunt and a cousin. She currently serves as the administrative assistance for the vice president of instructional programs. “Sign language was her first language,” Robert said of his wife of 34 years.
Although Ava’s mother passed away before they moved to the lake, the Ballards enjoyed being closer to her father during his final years. Robert’s father has passed away, as well, but his mother and brother still live in the area, and his sister is in Chattanooga. They also enjoy spending time with Ava’s sisters, Molly and Kim, who live nearby, and their families.
Traces of family can be found all over the Ballards’ home. Robert cherishes the hall tree that belonged to his grandparents, and reminders of Ava’s mom are evident all around the kitchen, especially in the old rolling pin that rests on top of the stove.
“She used it when she made chicken and dumplings, which was one of the best things she ever made,” Ava said. “I have very vivid memories of watching my mother cook. Nobody can fry chicken like my mother could.”
Ava also has her mom’s old flour sifter on a nearby side table, a candy dish that sits on the kitchen island, and a special memento from her parents’ kitchen hanging on the wall. Ava’s cousin, Jana Hadley, had painted dogwood flowers on her parents’ kitchen cabinets, as well as the wooden valance that was over the kitchen sink. When they passed away, Ava and her sisters had the valance cut into thirds, and each kept a piece.
“Family is really important to both of us,” she said, adding that many of their memories and best times are centered around food. “My parents grew up in a mill town in South Carolina, and a lot of times you had nothing to offer a friend or a visitor except a meal,” Robert added.
That’s what they continue to offer friends and family, along with a beautiful view. “We love to watch the hummingbirds, and we’ve seen two litters of squirrels get raised” in a tree that was near their deck, Robert said. “Even if it’s raining, and we can see a storm moving across the lake, it’s beautiful. The view never gets old.”
Black Bean and Corn Salad
(from allrecipes.com)
Blackened Shrimp & Black Bean and Corn Salad
Blackened Shrimp
(from amandascookin.com)
1 pound extra large grilling shrimp peeled and deveined, tails on
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 Tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (optional)
Directions:
Rinse shrimp and pat dry with paper towels. Combine all seasoning ingredients and whisk together. Toss shrimp in seasoning ingredients to coat well. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Cook shrimp for 3 minutes per side. Be careful not to crowd shrimp in the pan. Serve over a bed of yellow rice.
½ cup olive oil
⅓ cup fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1½ cups frozen corn kernels
1 avocado – peeled, pitted and diced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
6 green onions, thinly sliced
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
Place olive oil, lime juice, garlic, salt and cayenne pepper in a small jar. Close the lid tightly and shake until dressing is well combined. Combine beans, corn, avocado, bell pepper, tomatoes, green onions and cilantro in a salad bowl. Shake dressing again, pour over salad and toss to coat.
Beef Stir Fry with Vegetables
(From rachelcooks.com)
Sauce
¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
¼ cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Stir Fry
1 pound flank or flat iron steak, cut into very thin slices against the grain
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 small red onion, sliced vertically, or about 1 cup
2 cups broccoli florets
1 ½ cups sugar snap or snow peas
4 cups cooked rice
2 or 3 green onions, thinly sliced
Directions:
Prepare sauce and set aside.
Combine cornstarch with salt and pepper. Toss sliced beef with cornstarch mixture and set aside.
Heat oil in a wok or large pan over high heat. Tilt pan and swirl to coat the sides. Add the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until desired doneness is achieved. Remove beef from pan and place on a plate. Return pan to high heat and add the onions and carrots; stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the broccoli; stir fry for 3 more minutes. Stir in sauce mixture (stir sauce mixture well before adding), beef and any accumulated juices and snow peas; cook for another 1 to 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened and peas are cooked to desired doneness. Serve over rice and garnish with sliced green onions.
Whopper of a success at Gadsden’s Venue at Coosa Landing
You can imagine an ear-to-ear smile as Shelia Bunch recounts by telephone her first ever Alabama Fishing Show & Expo.
Held in March at The Venue at Coosa Landing, the show brought in vendors from across the Southeast with wares ranging from rods and reels to lures and lines to boats and everything else perfect for the water.
Bunch is a veteran of these shows, having presented the East Tennessee Fishing Show for the past 30 years. But the Alabama one was new.
In its Gadsden debut, it drew more than 100 vendors and a crowd attendance of over 6,500. “We ran out of space” for vendors before the show even began, which required “thinking outside the box,” she said. Tents were installed outside, making room for even more products.
“Everybody really worked together,” she said, noting that the city, her team and even the vendors joined the effort to make the inaugural show a success.
When a major storm threatened one day, vendors shared or gave away space to accommodate the move inside. “It was wonderful.”
The question she got most often throughout the weekend confirmed a success story in the making: “Are you coming back next year?” Of course, her answer was a quick, “yes.”
“It ended up being a really good thing. I was about as perfect as it possibly could go this year,” she said. “It ended up being great.”
As for next year, additional features are already under discussion, including Crappie vendors, a kids’ fishing tournament and more food vendors.
“We’re going to make it an even better event for next year for everybody,” she said. Save the date – March 8-10, 2024.
