Community rallies around neighbors in need

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Richard Rybka

The first visitor arrives and pulls his vehicle straight up to the lake. For the next 25 minutes, they parade in, each vehicle slowly pulling up and easing in next to the one before.

They’re here for church, but no one gets out of their vehicles. At this church, there are no pews. Members participate in church from the golf carts that brought them here. There are no walls, no building to this church. There is something more – a solidarity of spirit and community that serves as their cornerstone.

Their mission is simple: Love God and love people. Members at Lake Church at Logan Landing Cabin and RV Resort in Alpine are living out this mission in their community by staying connected and looking for ways to love their neighbors.

Faith in action

Just before Labor Day one year ago, they had the opportunity to do that in a big way. It was in the early morning, way before dawn on Sept. 3 when resident Brenda Sanders was awakened. She thought she was dreaming, but it turns out the nightmare was real. The home she shared with her husband, Newt, was on fire.

He had fallen asleep in his recliner, so she ran to wake him. Her eyes confessing the terror of that moment, she tells the story. “He told me to get my purse with the car keys so we could move the car. He said it was too late for the house. About that time, the fire came into the living room from the outside wall. We got outside, and I ran to my neighbor’s house and yelled for her to call 911.”

Meanwhile, Lake Church pastor Tommy Hebert, who lives just across the lake, also awoke unexpectedly that morning. He heard something and walked outside and along his deck. When he reached the outside corner, he saw the fire across the lake.

He called 911, then grabbed his boots and shirt and jumped in his golf cart, racing toward the burning home. Seeing the Sanders family safely outside, he and another resident, a retired firefighter from Illinois, battled the flames with hoses until the fire department arrived.

Love thy neighbor

Neighbor Bob Thornton lives next door to the Sanders. He woke up that morning to the sound of an explosion. He got outside in time to see another neighbor going into the burning structure to get the Sanders’ dog.

The 12-year-old dachshund, officially named Oreo, was an owner surrender they rescued a decade earlier. “Boss,” as they most often call him, was rescued that night for the second time.

By daybreak, the Sanders’ had lost their home and everything in it. Immediately, Newt started calling for estimates to remove the mess. “I had checked to get prices on the clean-up, and it was over $10,000. Insurance wasn’t even going to cover half of that,” Newt explained. “Before I knew it, there were people everywhere picking things up and putting them in the dumpster. They were like ants everywhere.”

Hebert, who works in construction, had called some contacts and gotten dumpsters and debris-removal equipment brought in. He and co-pastor, David Eason, rallied the neighbors. “We had probably 20-25 people out here who came to help with demo,” says Tommy. “But it wasn’t just demo labor. Lake Church members brought food and cards. They listened and prayed.”

“As soon as we got outside, we saw neighbors coming to help,” says Brenda. “They were all there for us, holding us, crying with us and praying with us.” This wasn’t the first time the church had been there to help them through tragedy. They’d just buried their grown son one week earlier.

Pastor David and his wife, Deborah, know that pain all too well. They lost their son in a car accident just over a year ago. The Lake Church covered them with meals and support. “Tommy had asked me if he could pray for us that Sunday in church. He was going up to pray, but got really quiet, then asked me to come up and lead us in prayer,” said pastor David.

“Tommy apologized for putting me on the spot, but from that point on, we got even closer. Then one day a few weeks later, Tommy told me I’d be giving the message in a few weeks. I still get pretty nervous every time. I have this cross in my pocket that I’ve almost rubbed the words off.” The two now share preaching duties.

On this Sunday, the prayer concerns take 10 minutes, as David lists out each family who has had hard times this week or continues to need prayers. “It’s not about us or anything that we’re doing,” he says. “It’s about what God can do through us.”

“The church is not about the building; it’s about the people,” echoes pastor Tommy. “Most of the people in this community are over 50 and on a fixed income. So, we just try to help people and lessen their financial burdens.” We want to be the hands and feet of God.”

The church has no staff and no bills to pay. “No one takes a dime. Every dime goes back to help people,” says Tommy. “We pay medical bills, groceries, funeral expenses, utility bills. We’ve even replaced water heaters.”

Fostering fellowship

They like to have fun together, too. The board plans activities outside of Sunday morning church to help build relationships within the community. They do barbeques, potlucks, holiday gatherings and dinners at local restaurants.

Church services are held every other Sunday at Lake Church. Many residents are members of other churches, many a fair distance away. Newt and Brenda Sanders drive 37 miles to Newsite Baptist Church in Stewartville on the Sundays that Lake Church is not open.

Sandra and Mike Dupree moved here four months ago. They are members of a church in Sycamore, but love going to Lake Church in their golf cart.

Mike and Brenda Gardner are seasonal residents and live in Trussville when not on the lake. “We’re out on the lake pretty much the whole summer, and we didn’t have a church out here,” says Brenda. “I was excited when they started having services out here. It’s so nice to be able to come as you are. You don’t have to be fancy or look a certain way. We’re all on the same level. It’s more of a family.”

“We just love people where they’re at,” emphasizes pastor Tommy. “Life is just messy.” He admits his own path to the pulpit took a rocky route.

Having given his life to Christ at seven years old, he says life’s challenges led him to run from God when he was 26. He moved to Florida and fully embraced the surfer life, referring to himself as a “real beach dude, complete with earrings and ankle bracelet.”

When he came back to Alabama, he met pastor Danny Duvall at Christian Life Church and rededicated his life. Danny mentored him then and continues to encourage him today.

“They’ve just shared the teaching and the leadership in such a humble way,” says pastor Danny. “It’s not about personality or brand building. It’s about the Lord and the community. It’s a model that I wish most churches could see.”

Having church within a residential community is a different model, explains Tommy. “We live with our congregation. We don’t go home from our church. We live it. But we get blessed more than we bless others.”

Tommy and David hope to inspire other lakeside communities to start their own lake churches. “There are groups of people out at the lake enjoying it and partying pretty hard. Maybe they don’t have a church,” said Tommy. “Many times, people are at the lake on the weekends in the summer and miss church,” adds David. “They could get together and worship in their own community.”

The Lake Church family has continued to lift up and help the Sanders family in their rebuilding efforts. They don’t have an answer to what started the fire, but Newt was able to purchase a new cabin and have it moved to the old home’s location.

Final work on the deck and interior painting has just been completed. Newt still has the invoice he received after the demolition was completed. Eyes welling up with tears, he proudly recites it from memory. “Paid in full by God.”

Cooking with the Hartleys on Logan Martin Lake

Story by Scottie Vickery
Photos by Kelsey Bain

A sign at the water’s edge of Donna and Lee Hartley’s Logan Martin Lake home offers a greeting to visitors, as well as the couple’s only rules. “Welcome to our Cottage,” the sign reads. “Relax, Unwind, Enjoy.”

It’s a simple philosophy, but it’s one that the Hartleys have embraced in the four years they’ve lived in the cozy three-story retreat. They’ve renovated the home and created an outdoor wonderland where the retirees enjoy the peace and quiet, in addition to their brand-new hobbies. “It’s perfect for us,” said Donna, who has taken up gardening while Lee has become an avid kayaker. “It’s so peaceful, and we love just being still and being appreciative.”

The Hartleys, who were high school sweethearts in Mobile and dated for a decade, have been married for 38 years. They lived in Moody for most of that time and had their eye on the Clear Creek home for years before making it their own. They first discovered it during the 15 years they had a camper at Powell’s Hideaway before deciding to downsize and make lake life a permanent state of mind during retirement.

“We rode all through these sloughs,” Donna said. “I kept telling Lee, ‘I want that house.’ ” Lee promised to make it a reality. “I kept telling her, ‘One of these days, I’m going to knock on their door, and I’m going to buy that house for you,’” he said.

When they finally got serious about looking, the house had come on the market, and he took her there one day. This time, however, they went by car, so Donna didn’t realize where they were. “Go down to the water,” Lee told her, and that’s when the realization that they were at her dream home finally dawned.

Reflecting their style

Although she’d loved the house from afar for years, Donna and Lee both realized some changes were in store. “The inside was set up like a lodge, and I told Lee, “We’ve bought a Holiday Inn,’” Donna said with a laugh. “Everything was very vanilla, but we’d redone two houses and knew we could eventually make it ours.”

One major focus was the kitchen. “It had to go,” said Lee, who is the cook in the family. “I like Cajun food the best. I love to cook it, and I love to eat it. One of my favorite dishes is to put crawfish etouffee over a grilled steak.”

He comes by it honestly. Lee, who followed in his father’s footsteps, worked offshore as chief engineer on supply boats and as a commercial fisherman for most of his career. As a result, “I lived in Louisiana off and on for most of my life. Dad worked over there, and we moved there during the summer to be closer to him. I learned to cook when I was 13,” he said.

In order to work his magic, “the whole kitchen had to be reconfigured,” Lee said. The original design had a small peninsula with the sink under the kitchen window. “You couldn’t open the cabinets in the peninsula unless the oven door was open,” he said.

Now, the peninsula is gone, making way for a table that Donna loves to set with china that’s been handed down in Lee’s family for generations. The sink is in a large island, and the cabinets across the back of the kitchen have been extended. A quartz countertop and a subway tile backsplash have been added, and the result is a cheery, sunny space that’s perfect for gatherings.

“It’s more convenient now and much more usable now,” Lee said. The only thing missing is about 40 cabinets. “We had 60 cabinets in the kitchen in our old home, and we’re down to about 20,” said Donna, adding that the home where they raised their daughter, Victoria, was about 3,700 square feet while this house is about 1,800. “When I say we downsized, I mean we downsized.”

Even their furniture was larger at their previous home – too large, in fact, to fit in their new space. “This house has all 8-foot ceilings and our other house had 10-foot ceilings,” Donna said. “We couldn’t even get some of my armoires in the house because the doors were so small. We had to enlarge the door just to get the appliances in.”

One thing they made sure they had room for was a collection of old mirrors that hold sentimental value for the couple. “Between his family and mine, we had a lot,” she said. “I just love old mirrors.” Their daughter gave the collection new life with chalk paint and wax, and Donna said the result is an even better reflection of their more casual, relaxed lifestyle.

Although the cottage has three floors, the lower level is home for Lee’s 98-year-old mother. His parents moved in with the Hartleys about 18 years ago, and Lee’s father passed away three years ago at 95. “Dad lived offshore all those years. He never lived on the water and always wanted to,” Lee said. “He enjoyed it a year or so before he passed away.” Now, the arrangement gives Lee’s mom her privacy, a separate patio and a beautiful view of the lake.

The great outdoors

The view is something they never get tired of, Donna said. While the water is the main attraction, the outdoor oasis the Hartleys have created has taken things to a whole new level.

“When I retired, I took on planting flowers,” said Donna, who worked for AT&T for 30 years before leaving the corporate world a year and a half ago. “I’d never planted anything before, but Lee bought me two landscaping books.” Donna loves color, and she has since created beautiful beds filled with lantana, dwarf crape myrtles, Mexican heather, daylilies and other flowering plants.

Lee set the stage for her gardens with all the yard work he did the first year they were in the home. He leveled the yard, laid sod and removed bushes that were hiding the house. “He dug up 28 holly bushes,” Donna said. “You couldn’t even see the bottom porch or the railing.

Although the yard is a focal point, there’s one feature in the water that catches the attention of boaters, especially boats filled with children. A whimsical cement dragon, which has been in the water for decades, came with the house and has become a favorite of the Hartleys. “I bet it weights three tons,” Lee said. A neighbor, who is an artist, is going to paint the dragon when the water level is lowered this fall, he said.

Now that the hard work of creating their own little piece of paradise is done, the Hartleys are able to enjoy what they’ve created together. “We love to sit on the porch, even when it’s raining, and we eat dinner out here a lot,” Donna said.

They’ve also recently created an outdoor living room under the carport, complete with comfortable seating and a fountain, which Lee’s mother particularly enjoys. They’re planning on adding a television and creating a fun ceiling from either tin or old, colorful shutters, Donna said.

“We sit out here in the mornings,” she said. “I’ve got my Diet Coke, and he’s out here with his coffee.” Although they toyed with the idea of turning the space into an outdoor kitchen, they quickly decided they’d enjoy the extra living area more. “We didn’t want to have another kitchen to clean,” Donna said.

That’s not to say they don’t enjoy cooking out; Lee grills three or four times a week, cooking everything from steaks to marinated chicken or pork chops. “I grill a lot of vegetables,” he said, adding that he loves a good charcoal fire. “There’s more flavor when you use charcoal.”

Although they enjoy their outdoor living spaces, some of their favorite times are down by the water. Lee used to love fly fishing, but now he’s spending much more time on his new hobby: kayaking. “I’m in the water at 5:30 every morning,” he said. “I’ve been from here to the dam and back,” a total of about 8 miles.

Donna, especially, loves listening to the birds – a sound she compares to a symphony. “It’s just delightful to sit out early in the morning before anyone is up and outside,” she said. “The water is so still and peaceful, and you can sit and listen to the birds and appreciate the be beautiful work of God. We feel so blessed and thankful.”

Crawfish Etouffee

• 3 pounds crawfish tail, peeled
• 2 bell peppers, chopped
• ½ cup crawfish fat
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 bunch of celery, chopped
• 2 cups green onion, chopped
• 1 cup flour
• 3 tbsp roasted mashed garlic
• 1 cup oil
• Cajun seasoning to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp paprika
• Water, as needed

Slowly stirring flour and oil over a medium flame, make a light, golden-brown roux. Add all of the chopped onion, garlic, peppers, celery and parsley; cook until onions are tender. Add crawfish and fat. Cook for 20 minutes. Add very little water, stirring slowly and adding just a little at a time. Etouffee should begin to thicken up. Once it’s thick, add salt, pepper, paprika and seasoning to taste. Serve over white rice and garnish with green onions. NOTE: Shrimp, lump crab or chicken can be used as a substitute for crawfish tails and fat.

From Chef Jeff Warner, St. Francisville, La.

Cajun Seafood Gumbo

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup oil
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2 large bell peppers, chopped
• 1 bunch of celery, chopped
• 1 pound pork tasso
• Mashed roasted garlic
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced
• 15 cloves
• ½ gallon water
• Cayenne pepper and salt to taste
• 1 cup dried shrimp
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• Louisiana hot sauce to taste
• ½ cup chopped parsley
• 2 pounds small shrimp
• 1 pound lump crab meat
• 1 pound crawfish tails
• Cajun seasoning to taste

In a gumbo pot, mix oil and flour on high to medium heat to make a chocolate-colored roux. Add onions, peppers, celery and garlic and sauté well. Stir in tasso and cook for 2 minutes, then add water. Stir well and cook for 1 hour, seasoning occasionally to taste. Add parsley and dried shrimp during this procedure as well. Add shrimp after gumbo cooks for an hour, then cook an additional 20 minutes. Add crawfish tails and lump crabmeat. Cook for an additional 30 minutes. Add green onions, season, and serve over fluffy, white rice.

From Susan Clark, New Iberia, La.

The Readmon
luxury community to give new life
to old name, lakefront site

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos submitted

Its name may have historic roots, but The Readmon condominium development coming to Riverside is a brand-new concept for lake living on Logan Martin.

This cutting-edge development of luxury condominiums featuring the latest in amenities sets a new standard for the lake, similar to communities usually found along the Gulf Coast.

It derives its name from the original Riverside, Readmon, which was established in 1882. In 1886, it was renamed and incorporated as Riverside and was St. Clair County’s largest industrial center at the time.

Jones Development, owned by Jeff Jones, hopes to reinvigorate the once thriving area with a development that will attract residents and investors to the Logan Martin shoreline.

Located on the property once occupied by Riverside Marina, The Readmon is a 52-unit community with three complexes of two and three-bedroom luxury condominiums, offering varying designs with standard to wraparound balconies overlooking the water. Ten-foot ceilings and eight-foot doors complement the look and feel of these condominiums, ranging from 1,400 square feet to 1,750 square feet.

The six-acre site includes an outdoor pool, 55 aluminum floating boat slips, electric vehicle charging stations and lakefront gazebo.

The vision for it has been years in the making thanks in part to a vision his father, Chip Jones, developed – Paradise Isle condominiums – located next door to The Readmon. “I’ve always admired my father,” Jones said. He was a building science major at Auburn University, and he moved ahead with his vision despite people telling him “it wouldn’t work.”

“I always thought this site was spectacular,” the younger Jones said of his own vision for the family-owned property. “It’s the best place on the lake. My goal was to find as good a project as I could for the site.”

Describing it as a “massive puzzle,” Jones fine-tuned the vision over the years, making it over legal, business and permitting hurdles en route to moving The Readmon from drawing board to reality. Pre-sales have started, and building is expected to begin in August or September by one of the largest general contractors in the state with extensive experience in multi-family developments. Completion is planned for the summer of 2024.

When developing the concept, Jones noted that habits and trends were changing during the COVID-19 pandemic. People wanted to live in a safe environment with a good quality of life. “I can’t think of anything much better than sitting at the lake and looking at the lake,” he said.

Couple enhanced quality of life offerings with the shortage of housing units for sale on the lake, and The Readmon answers the call, in essence creating 52 new waterfront homes.

Jones noted that it is situated on property that was once used for something else – a marina – and could be repurposed to meet the needs of today – kind of like its namesake.

There are certain properties along the lake that are ideal for transforming into new concepts to satisfy new trends and growing demands. “And this is one of them,” he said. “I couldn’t be more excited.”

Its proximity within a few hundred yards of  I-20 and U.S. 78 and situated between major metropolitan areas like Birmingham and Atlanta add to its allure. And it offers an opportunity for people to downsize and still live on the lake.

“St. Clair County continues to be one of the fastest-growing communities in the state where young families, retirees and professionals are choosing to call home,” said Don Smith, executive director of the St. Clair County Economic Development Council. “For multiple reasons, homebuilders are struggling to keep up with this desire to live in our communities. This is seen increasing in the City of Riverside and our other lake communities. These areas have great schools, great leadership and so many quality-of-life offerings for the residents to enjoy.”

Jones is no stranger to developing communities in the area. Easonville, Hayden’s Reserve and Images townhomes at Logan Martin are among his company’s projects.

Nicole Anderson of Lake Homes Realty is exclusive agent for The Readmon, and Jones’ son, Coleman Jones, is development coordinator.

From Prohibition to Pandemic,
Still Going Strong

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Graham Hadley
Submittted photos

If you’re not from around here, the sign wouldn’t draw you in, and the name wouldn’t make sense. The building is not an imposing brown boat, nor is it floating in water. The Coosa River is an important part of the story, though. The history is as fascinating as the food is good.

It’s a story that began in 1930 when E.O. “Red” Thompson decided to play a game of cat and mouse with the local authorities. After a decade of Prohibition, he hatched a plan to open a bar and restaurant.

His first step was to buy and refurbish an old dredging barge and park it 30 feet off the banks of the Coosa River. He outfitted it with a kitchen and tables and chairs and called it “The Ark.” He sold beer for 15 cents a can. Sixty cents would get you all the catfish and hushpuppies you could eat.

Customers to this floating speakeasy could either walk in on the gangplank or tie off by boat. Since the Coosa divided the counties of St. Clair and Talladega, The Ark was not in the jurisdiction of either county.

Local legend tells that if the Talladega authorities were on the way, he’d move to the St. Clair side of the water. If the authorities from St. Clair were on the way, he’d move to the Talladega side.

It was a dance that lasted for the next three years until the 21^st Amendment ended Prohibition. The barge eventually burned and sank, and Thompson built a log building on land and reopened the restaurant and bar. When that location also burned, he built the current building in Riverside just south of the Coosa River bridge on U.S. 78.

Bought in the late 70s by retired newspaper editor and publisher Bob and Sylvia Cornett, the new owners operated the restaurant with more emphasis on developing recipes and relationships than on evading the law. They kept catfish as their primary draw but gave the place a more family-friendly feel.

The opening of the Talladega Super Speedway in 1969 gave them a whole new clientele and they began to see NASCAR drivers like Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt on a regular basis. Autographed pictures of famous drivers and politicians grace the walls, giving a nod to the global appeal of a great plate of catfish. Recently, comedian Darren Knight was a guest.

Current owner Shirley Abts says they still get some business around race weekends, but it’s not what it used to be a decade ago. “Most of the drivers have their food catered now,” she said. “They just stay in their trailers and have the food come to them.”

Shirley and her (now deceased) husband, Richard, bought The Ark in 2013. They already had the Cropwell restaurant Even Odds when they were approached by Sylvia Cornett. “Sylvia came to me and asked me to buy it. They were struggling, and she said she was going to lose it if I didn’t buy it, so I did,” said Abts. “I had been coming here to The Ark for 30 years, and I didn’t want to see it close.”

Diverse chapters comprise Ark story

The restaurant was used as a movie set in 2019. The producers of the Netflix original, The Devil All the Time, starring Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgard and Sebastian Stan transformed The Ark into a 1960s diner, even replacing the sign with one calling it White Cow Diner, undoubtedly confusing passersby.

Antique cars lined the parking lot. “They came in and put up the sign and took out the air conditioners, fans and light fixtures,” Abts explained. “Then they put up curtains and a lot of 60s décor. Before they left, they put it ‘mostly’ back together,” she adds, with a chuckle. They did pay well enough, according to Abts, to pay the entire staff for several days they were not able to work due to the closure for filming.

2019 was a tough year for Abts, though, with the death of her husband early in the year, followed by a triple bypass surgery for her before the year ended. Then, just weeks after getting out of the hospital, she was told she had to close the restaurant when the pandemic halted in-person dining.

She acknowledges the community as being the blessing that came from that experience. “People supported us through that. People lined up outside for takeout orders seven days a week. And they tipped well to take care of our wait staff,” said Abts. “That was before delivery services like Door Dash and Jack Rabbit. It was so busy that we had to have a waitress go car to car taking orders because our phone was too busy that people couldn’t get through.”

The ’regulars’ and an icon

They have many loyal customers, including some who come every single day. Don’t ask for table six at 11:00; it’s reserved for Joey. He and his wife come in every day, from their jobs at a local auction house.

It’s the loyal customers that keep Sheerie Smith working there. She’s been a waitress at The Ark for over 20 years, starting when she was just 15. Her mom, aunt and grandmother also worked there, so the job has truly been a family affair. “We have a lot of the same customers that we’ve had for so many years,” says Smith. “These people have watched me grow up here. They ask about my kids. They’re family.”

As soon as she bought it, Abts found people who knew the original recipes that the previous owners had gotten away from. Then she rehired people who knew how to make those recipes.

She only buys U.S. farm-raised catfish and slices her produce fresh each day. “The former owners had been using frozen onions and when we went back to fresh cut, we could barely keep up with all the onion rings people wanted,” said Abts proudly. “Fresh makes a big difference in the taste.”

The difference is clearly a good one, as their catfish is listed on the Alabama Tourism Department’s 100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die. They were also a finalist in Bama’s Best Catfish Restaurant competition by the Alabama Catfish Producers and the Catfish Institute’s Top Ten Restaurants in America to Eat Catfish.

They’ve recently added a new “Remix” sandwich that features catfish and shrimp with a rémoulade sauce, topped with lettuce and tomato. While catfish is their signature dish, the fish and shrimp combo is what they sell most. “We don’t play when it comes to shrimp,” adds Abts. “We have really big shrimp!” They’ve also added desserts to the menu, currently featuring a homemade cheesecake by local baker Barbara Miller. On occasion, they also have buttermilk pie.

As with any business operating post pandemic, she struggles to keep fully staffed. There are signs at each booth asking people to be patient regarding wait times. It’s worth the wait, adds Abts. “We use fresh food. We don’t precook anything. It’s made to order. That’s why it takes a little while to get your food.”

The tiny sign outside says, “The Ark Family Restaurant.” It’s a family restaurant with a small sign, an unremarkable building, a storied past, but touting a big flavor, seasoned with staff dedicated to keeping it firmly in place in the landscape of their community.