Remember When: Broken Arrow and Coal City

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 reaches I-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 Pate of 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.

Water’s up!

Logan Martin to remain two feet higher in winter

For perspective, the bottom step of this dock ladder is two feet above winter pool.

Story by Carol Pappas
Submitted photos

What goes up on Logan Martin Lake this year isn’t coming down – at least not all the way. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a Record of Decision for Alabama Power’s request to permanently increase the winter pool levels at Weiss and Logan Martin lakes.

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.

It’s Electric! New biking sensation comes to Logan Martin

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Kelsey Bain

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.

Red Hill Farms

Historic legacy and new traditions all in one

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by MeghanFrondorf

Meander around the one-lane road that winds through Red Hill Farms, passing the cows, the hogs and the goats in this pastoral setting, and you can’t help but notice the water as the ideal backdrop to make the scene complete.

“We didn’t come to the river,” said Vaughan Bryant, who owns the farm with wife Christa. “The river came to us.”

But there it is, a panoramic reflection of glistening sunrises and sunsets bordering a 150-acre farm that has been in the family for three generations now.

When his grandfather bought the land in 1941, it was because the Army had decided to expand Pelham Range near Anniston, which needed the land where his Ohatchee farm stood. He found suitable land in Cropwell and while there was a stream that flowed nearby called Fountain Run, it would not be until 1965 when Logan Martin Lake was created that water would surround it.

For the Bryants, it has become the best of both worlds – lake living and farm life all rolled into one perfect package.

Most Saturday mornings, lake residents and others from around these parts have a new tradition – getting a glimpse of farm life and an unrivaled taste of it they can take home with them. That’s when they open the door of their garage to market what they’ve raised – USDA grass-fed beef and free-range pork – packaged in freezers that line the interior walls.

Vaughan Bryant shows off Red Hill’s wares.

Pull up in the driveway of their lakeside home, and you’re immediately met by the farm’s official greeters, dogs Koda and Piper. The wag of their tails is a pretty good indicator they’re glad you came. They’ll even escort you all the way into the garage for a browsing session.

Beef and pork roasts, ribs, kabobs, steaks of all descriptions – filets, strips, T-bones, flank and bone-in ribeye – await. So do liver, cubed steak and ground beef. When the pork is in, usually in the spring, look for sausage, bacon and cubed ham – ideal for any table.

The concept isn’t much different than his grandfather, James Michael Bryant, who raised cotton, honey, pork, poultry, cows and vegetables and peddled what he could on the square in Anniston. The modern-day Bryants concentrate on beef and pork. But instead of selling at market, they sell directly to the customer – they take orders online (but don’t ship), they sell by appointment and through their Saturday morning markets.

And they ensure satisfied customers by providing healthier, better tasting eating choices.

In the “About Our Farm” section of their website, redhillfarms.com, they say: “We believe that contented animals produce a superior product, so we strive for a low-stress environment emphasizing the humane treatment of our livestock.

“When you choose to eat meat from animals raised on pasture, you are improving the welfare of the animals, helping put an end to environmental degradation, helping small-scale farmers, sustaining rural communities and giving your family the healthiest food possible.”

It’s not a big money-maker, they said, but direct-to-consumer helps them capture a little bit of the market while creating a win-win situation. “It’s good for the public,” said Christa. There are no antibiotics or hormones used. “The meat is much healthier than grain-fed beef,” added Vaughan.

Noting that Red Hill’s livestock are raised in a natural, healthy and humane way, Christa pointed out that with all the preservatives used in traditional markets, “we don’t know what we’re putting in our bodies.” Customers have responded. Some even get the rest of their groceries in a regular store but opt for Red Hill Farms for their meat.

They choose their breeds wisely to produce the best possible meat. They have gone from Hereford to Black Angus to South Poll, which is a composite breed developed by Teddy Gentry, bass player of the country music group, Alabama.

Gentry’s aim – as is the Bryants – was to raise a more heat-tolerant animal with a gentle disposition to produce tender beef by feeding on grass. Their newest breed, South Poll, finishes on grass and is a cross between Red Angus, Hereford, Senepol and Barzona.

“The South Poll breed is easy to raise, has a docile temperament, slick-haired, fertile, and mama cows stay in production longer than straight-bred English cattle,” Vaughan said. “Finishing on grass, their meat can be as tender or more tender than commodity beef.”

It’s a more natural way to raise cattle. They call it, “Keeping the Creator’s design in mind.”

At home on the farm

Raising a farmer

Livestock isn’t the only thing raised on the farm. Vaughan and Christa talked of raising generations who know the value in the land and the joys of raising them to appreciate those values.

He vividly remembers one of his first chores on the family farm in Cropwell. He would dutifully gather eggs each day and make sure the chickens were watered and fed when he got home from school.

One of six children, he was second to youngest. His older brothers “saw to the cows. As time went on, I moved up to cow feeding, too,” he said. But his fledgling aspirations were a little loftier, he recalled. One day his brothers were loading hay, and he would hear them “shouting and carrying on” in what he perceived as more of a fun time than he was having rolling the bales of hay into a single line. “They wanted it in one line so they wouldn’t have to walk as far.”

He thought that would be a much easier route than rolling all those bales. An older, wiser Bryant surmised: “When you get there, you understand why they were shouting and carrying on. It’s hard work, rolling, tossing and baling hay.”

But hard work never deterred him. “I always felt like I wanted to be on the farm,” he said. “I was the only one who stayed. I always wanted to do something on the farm.” Initially, he stayed on the farm to help his father, David Bryant. The elder Bryant left a good portion of the farm to him, the younger Bryant and his wife, Christa, added to the acreage and now farm about 150 acres.

“I would like to think he’s happiest with me, but the truth is he’s happiest on the tractor outside,” Christa said with a smile. “I didn’t see it as work,” her husband added.

Christa’s no stranger to farm work herself. An educator by trade – who served as coordinator of Federal Programs and personnel director the Pell City School System before her retirement – grew up on a 10-acre farm in Coal City, she said. “But this was definitely a different life for me.”

Her father worked at Bynum, was home every day at 4, and they ate dinner together as a family. When she married Vaughan, she quickly learned that farming meant “staying until everything gets done,” so it may be well after dark before he was able to make it to the dinner table.

She was a quick learner, Vaughan noted, recalling the time she “took a trailer loaded with cattle and headed over the mountain with Daddy.”  

A solid work ethic, perseverance and dedication to the job at hand are but a few of the legacies handed down to Christa and Vauhan’s generation from life on the farm. And they, in turn, passed them on to their children – Martin and Meredith. “It taught both children good skills,” Christa said. “It built their character. It wasn’t always easy.”

Sharing the good life

Vaughan and Christa recognize their good fortune in farm life and lake life, and they share both with travelers from nearby towns and places around the world. Vaughan’s father had sold a small parcel of land to a man who wanted to build a cabin on the lake.

The cabin has a perfect setting for guests

So, he built a 400-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bath cabin. When it came time to sell, it was too small a parcel for the cabin so the land could sell, and the Bryants bought it back. “I jacked it up (the cabin) and dragged it across the pasture and set it right here,” he said, pointing to the quaint little wooden cabin nestled under a grove of trees on a bank of Rabbit Branch.It’s an ideal setting.Farmland stretches out in front, cattle grazing nearby, and the lake is its backyard. 

They have been sharing it as a rental since 1992, and it has been the setting for peaceful getaways, weddings and other gatherings.

A longtime resident there was Joey Nania, who wanted to learn to fish Logan Martin and dreamed of being the youngest Bassmaster champion. He was from Washington state, and the lake had hosted a couple of Bassmaster Classics. Nania’s father called Vaughan and asked if he could rent the cabin while learning to fish the lake.

Nania met his wife-to-be in Pell City and stayed. They held their wedding at the cabin, and Nania earned some championships along the way to becoming a noted fishing guide on Logan Martin and other Coosa River lakes.  

“Through farming and the cabin,” Christa said, “we have met some really neat people and established friendships along the way. It has really been cool.”

In the Kitchen: Deborah Mattison and Ronnie Harkins

Story Scottie Vickery
Photos by Kelsey Bain

Ten years after buying their dream house on Logan Martin Lake, Deborah Mattison and her husband, Ronnie Harkins, created an outdoor oasis that made their own piece of paradise even dreamier.

After removing the concrete slab that was their patio, the couple created a backyard haven, complete with a cozy fireplace, covered sitting and dining areas, and an outdoor kitchen that rivals many of its indoor counterparts.

Ronnie places salmon on cedar plank

“It’s like having another living space, and it’s opened up so many possibilities,” Deborah said. “This makes it so much easier to entertain.”

Like many home-renovation projects, the outdoor living area started with a small idea that took on a life of its own. “I wanted an outdoor fireplace, and it grew from there,” Ronnie said. Four years later, he and Deborah are thrilled that it did.

“I have a stressful job,” said Deborah, an attorney who represents children with disabilities in special education matters. “When I get home from work, we come out here more nights than not and just look at the lake and relax. Being on the lake is really calming.”

Dining al fresco

Although Deborah is the chief cook, Ronnie said he handles the grilling. These days, they eat a lot of fish and chicken, so both the Coyote Grill and Big Green Egg get quite a workout. The outdoor kitchen also features two burners, an infrared cooker, a mini fridge, sink and lots of storage space.

One of their favorite recipes is Cedar Plank Salmon. “For some reason, cooking salmon on a plank makes the fish incredibly tender,” Deborah said, adding that they always keep cedar planks on hand.

She often pairs the salmon with Whole Artichokes with Aioli Sauce. “Artichokes are a unique vegetable with many health benefits,” she said. “They’re low in fat and high in fiber, minerals and vitamins C and K. Most people only eat them in dips, but they are delicious whole.”

They were also part of the very first meal she made for Ronnie when they were dating. “I made him crab cakes and an artichoke. I hoped the artichoke would make me look sophisticated,” she said with a laugh.

The couple met on a dating website and got married in 2002. “He was the first person I ever met online,” she said. She was intrigued that Ronnie, who had long served as chief financial officer for Central Alabama Community College, had started law school one month shy of his 50th birthday.

That, coupled with the fact that his profile picture showed him in front of a floor-to-ceiling bookcase that held many photos of his family, sealed the deal for Deborah. “I thought Ronnie looked smart and interesting,” she said.

Ronnie, who began practicing law in Sylacauga in 2005 before retiring two years ago, remembers being fascinated by her work and some of her cases. “Early on, she had a case that went to the United States Supreme Court,” he said. “I tagged along with her, and with me attending law school, that was very interesting.”

A piece of paradise

Deborah and Ronnie

Deborah, who grew up in Michigan, lived on a lake before moving to Alabama in 1993. She didn’t want to give up the lake lifestyle, so she looked for a home on the water that wasn’t too far from her office in downtown Birmingham.

Her first home was on the Talladega side of the lake, and when they married, Ronnie sold his home in Childersburg and soon fell in love with lake living as well. They began looking for a new house and spent a lot of time on the pontoon boat searching for the perfect place and debating whether to renovate Deborah’s home, buy a new house or build. “We used to ride around all the time looking at houses and lots,” Ronnie said. “This was our dream home.”

Around that time, Ronnie’s cousin, Charlie Pepper, and his wife, Willie, moved home from California to help care for their elderly parents. They invited Ronnie and Deborah to dinner, and the couple did a double take when they arrived. “They had our house,” Deborah said.

Ronnie said the visit came at a time when they had gotten serious about finding a new home and had actually looked at six or eight houses that day. “When we got here that night to see Charlie and Willie, it emphasized our love of the house,” he said. “It has lots of windows and 14-foot ceilings in several of the rooms and an open plan.”

The Peppers knew they would eventually return to California, and “they told us they would give us the first opportunity to buy it,” Ronnie said. “We decided it was worth the wait.”

The ‘inside’ kitchen

The 4-bedroom house in Pell City is just across from Bird Island and sits on 4½ acres on the point. It boasts 800 feet of seawall and has tremendous views from every vantage point. “You can see the water from every room in the house,” Deborah said.

Making it their own

Over the years, Deborah and Ronnie have renovated parts of the home to make it a better space for entertaining. They updated the kitchen and master bathroom and transformed an office just off the foyer into a small sitting room where they spend most of their time when they’re inside.

They converted a double closet to create the room’s focal point, a beautiful bar area featuring an antique chest flanked with built-in wine racks and topped with granite. An antique mirror and shelves holding glasses and bottles rests on top. In addition, they switched their living room and dining room to create more space for a larger table, which seats 10 people.

Although they like having guests, Deborah also enjoys preparing meals for just the two of them. “I love to cook,” she said. “While I often use recipes for ideas, I typically don’t measure anything, I eyeball it – unless I’m baking, which I very seldom do. I measure then because I don’t have enough of a feel for baking to use my own judgement.”

Their bar is as fancy as their kitchen.

One thing she swears by is using fresh herbs, which she grows herself. “I grow a ton of herbs – mint, chives, rosemary, oregano, thyme,” she said. “Alabama has such a great growing season, and since these are perennial herbs, you don’t have to do anything but stick them in the pot and let them grow year-round.”

Now that Ronnie has retired, they have started gardening, too. He built some raised beds last year for tomatoes, radishes, onions, summer squash and bell peppers. They also have eight blueberry bushes. “I eat them just about every day when they are in season,” Ronnie said.

The great outdoors

The addition of the kitchen and living area has extended the “outdoor season” for Deborah and Ronnie, allowing them to enjoy lake life even more. They often host football parties and dinners for family and friends, and they find themselves heading outside even during the colder months.

“We love the fireplace at night,” Deborah said, adding that it’s especially cozy when there’s a nip in the air. “I put blankets in the dryer to warm them up, and then we sit in front of the fire for quite a while. It’s like being on vacation.”

Cedar Plank Salmon

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

  • 2 salmon filets
  • 1/8 cup Garlic Expressions Vinaigrette, Dressing & Marinade (or any preferred vinaigrette dressing)
  • 1/8 cup soy sauce (optional)
  • Lemon slices
  • Capers (optional)
  • 1 cedar plank board, soaked in water for about an hour.

Directions:

Marinate the filets for about an hour in the Garlic Expressions and soy sauce. I use a plastic sandwich bag and turn it over after 30 minutes.

Drain the cedar board and place the board on a grill set at 350 degrees for 3 minutes. Turn the plank over on the grill and place the salmon on it. Cook the salmon for 8 to 15 minutes, depending on how well cooked you like your salmon.

Remove the plank from the grill and plate the salmon. Garnish with lemon and capers. We sometimes add butter and/or marinated ginger.  

Whole Artichokes with Aioli Sauce

While we like our artichokes with an aioli sauce, they pair well with many dips, such as a butter and lemon sauce or ranch dressing.

Ingredients:

  • 1 artichoke per person
  • Lemon (optional)
  • Garlic (optional)
  • Bay leaf (optional)

Directions for Cooking and Eating:

When picking an artichoke, squeeze it to make sure it is firm, and the leaves are tight.

Trim the stem and cut off the small leaves at the bottom of the artichoke. Trim the first inch off the top (the pointy ends of the leaves).

Steam the artichoke for about 30 minutes. You can also add lemon and/or garlic and/or a bay leaf to the water for added taste. An artichoke is done when you can easily pull out one of the outer leaves. Drain the artichoke.

To eat the artichoke, pull off an outer leaf and dip it into the aioli sauce. Place the tender (lighter) side of a leaf on your bottom front teeth, bite gently down and pull it through your teeth, scrapping off the tender part of the leaf. Discard the remainder of the leaf.

Continue with the remaining leaves until you reach the fuzzy part of the artichoke, called the “choke.” Scrape out the fuzzy choke and discard. The remaining part is the artichoke “heart,” and it is completely edible, using the reminder of the dip. 

Aioli Sauce

This is a very versatile sauce and can be used with fries, burgers or salmon. Consider adding any of the following: horseradish, Dijon or stone-ground mustard, pesto or basil, chives and/or chipotle.

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup of mayonnaise
  • 3 cloves of garlic, use more or less to taste
  • 1-2 tablespoons of fresh lemon sauce, to taste
  • Coarse salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:     

Mix the ingredients and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Boat parades, lights in the park and more

Holidays on display on Neely Henry and Logan Martin Lakes

Story by Katie Bohannon
Submitted photos

Over 30 years transpired before Etowah County welcomed the Christmas boat parade back on its waters, with the community collecting in droves to witness a spectacular show for the seasons. Last year’s Christmas Boat Parade – the first in decades – inspired a resurgence on the horizon, as twinkling lights illuminated the lake once again, drifting happy golden days of yore closer to home.

This year, Etowah County will have not one, but two Christmas boat parades to usher in the season. The Gadsden Boat Parade is set for Dec. 3, and the Southside-Rainbow City Christmas Boat Parade will launch on Dec. 5, a relatively new addition to Christmas festivities in Etowah.

Southside resident Randy Elrod treasures fond childhood memories of Gadsden’s Christmas Boat Parade and street parade, recalling the excitement and joy he experienced during the holiday events.

Today, Elrod owns and operates Victory Marine & Outdoor Toys, LLC, a boat and outdoor toy repair shop in Glencoe. As a board member of the Neely Henry Lake Association, Elrod understands the importance of preserving, protecting and improving the quality of life surrounding Neely Henry Lake and Etowah County’s neighboring waters.

Formed as a nonprofit environmental and recreational organization, the Neely Henry Lake Association educates the community on practices that directly affect the lake, while partnering with likeminded advocates and municipalities to host engaging activities and projects for the public.

Elrod’s affiliation with both his personal passion for lake life, his professional involvement as a business owner and his public service with the Neely Henry Lake Association coincided with his desire to revive an event unlike any other holiday gathering – the Christmas boat parade. Although the parade returned to Gadsden first, when COVID-19 cancelled the city’s events, Elrod sought other alternatives. Keen to provide the community with a safe, entertaining evening and spread some holiday cheer, he decided to move the parade to Southside and Rainbow City.

Elrod partnered with Southside Mayor Dana Snyder and Rainbow City Mayor Joe Taylor to organize the event, where boats launched from Rainbow Landing and aligned with other participants on the Coosa River above Little Bridge Marina. The parade traveled down the river past Buck’s Island and looped back. While 2020’s parade featured only seven boats, its audience surpassed all expectation.

“I was really shocked,” said Elrod, discussing the crowd that arrived. “Since it was such short notice planning), and the weather turned bad on us a couple of days prior, I expected it to be a small crowd. I was really impressed with our community turnout…it was great. It’s really overwhelming to see that many people turn out the first year in Southside and Rainbow City.”

Over 200 cars parked to witness the parade by the bridge, traveling from across Etowah County and neighboring areas, including out of state. Decorated vehicles mirrored the promenade of boats, with lawn chairs ordaining the grounds as viewers settled into their seats. Families and friends gathered along the water, with children brightening and laughing as the parade passed by.

Though the parade is not a city-sponsored event, Snyder and Taylor proved instrumental in ensuring its success. Snyder shared that while Southside only prepared for a week prior to the parade, the community’s response served as a paramount reminder of the support citizens extend to one another countywide.

“It just blew up,” said Snyder. “I think the community is starving for new things to do, and they were excited about the new administration. It was amazing to see who came from other counties and out-of-state to see this Christmas boat parade. We put the parade on within a week, then we had the lighting of the Christmas tree, with the Southside High School band playing Christmas music for our Christmas with Santa event. A lot of people turned out for that, too. Those were two different events that got people excited about what the future was going to bring.”

Taylor expressed that the parade represented more than an enjoyable evening for citizens, but a unified effort that illustrated Rainbow City and Southside collaborating as two municipalities with the betterment of their residents in mind. While Southside and Rainbow City both house populations of approximately 10,000 each, combined, the two make up a large portion of the county. As neighboring cities, the pair’s residents share multiple assets and resources – from educational systems to entertainment and businesses.

Connecting communities

“The river is our connective tissue,” said Taylor. “It’s the muscle strand between our areas that we understand. We’ve called each other our sister city. Our governments (Rainbow City and Southside) work together and we do very well. Southside has a great mayor and council and we’ve been able to do some collective work.

“We’re continuously flowing back and forth in our education, and we just felt if we could do that in entertainment, we could move up and begin to share business and residential opportunities. I think that’s one of the things people want to see – that we’re going to come together and not be the city on the other side of the river.”

Taylor hopes the parade serves as only the beginning for a stronger partnership between Southside and Rainbow City, as both strive to enhance their riverfronts and the quality of life for their citizens. With so many shared areas, from Little Bridge Marina to boat ramps, Taylor and Snyder welcome a positive relationship that benefits both cities, willing to assist one another to achieve success.

Elrod commended the Neely Henry Lake Association, Snyder and Taylor for their contributions to the parade, expressing his gratitude for their efforts. Following the success of last year, preparation for the 2021 Christmas Boat Parade began the moment the boaters returned to dry land. Plans for this year’s parade include 45 minutes to an hour of dazzling boats, garnering a greater quantity than 2020. Elrod anticipates a larger crowd than before, hoping to increase every year.

“It’s a great season to do things that bring the community together,” said Snyder, inviting the community to attend. “I think with COVID going on for these past two years, this will give them something to do outside that they feel safe. Bring your lawn chairs, visit with each other, enjoy the lights and the season.”

Gadsden boat parade returns

In addition to Southside and Rainbow City, a second boat parade is scheduled for Gadsden on Friday, December 3. Gadsden’s boat parade marks its first since COVID-19 cancellations occurred.

“Residents of Gadsden and Etowah County enjoy the Coosa River every day of the year, and the annual boat parade is an opportunity to add some Christmas spirit,” said Gadsden Public Affairs Coordinator Michael Rodgers. “Many cities would love to have a river flowing through downtown, so it’s great that the community is able to capitalize on our special situation with a special event.”

Those interested in joining the parades are encouraged to contact Randy Elrod at 256-490-5959. No entry fee is required – participants just bring their boats, light them up and enjoy the ride.

“We all love a parade, but this offers (the community) something totally different,” said Taylor. “To find out there are people getting out and decorating a boat, requiring lighting and generators, I think it’s one of those things that makes people laugh and smile and have a moment out. It’s kind of small (and we’d like for it to get bigger), but it’s meaningful. It’ll make for a really good evening – it gives us an opportunity to show our hospitality.” “I think the boat parade offers the community a chance to come together and participate in something other than a stand-on-the-street Christmas parade,” said Elrod. “I do it because of the children – seeing them light up when the lights come by…I enjoyed it then like these kids enjoy it now. We are a lake community, so it’s the perfect opportunity for the community to come out and support something on the lake.”

Christmas at the Falls a spectacular light show

Ready to be dazzled for the holidays? Head to Christmas at the Falls as Noccalula Falls and the City of Gadsden team up to provide millions of lights throughout the park. Take in the view from paved walking trails or ride the park’s train.

Christmas at the Falls is slated for Nov. 25 – Dec. 23 and Dec. 26 – Jan. 1 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. each day.

Santa will be appearing in the post office and general store and due to COVID-19 concerns, he’ll be able to talk to the kids from a safe distance.

Weather conditions may cause closure at certain times, and the train will not be running in inclement weather.

Tickets are available online only: noccalulafallspark.com.

Lights in the Park

Story by Scottie Vickery
Photos by Graham Hadley

Looking for a way to make sure your holidays are merry and bright? Make plans to visit Lights in the Park, the Pell City Parks and Recreation Department’s annual gift to the community. The drive-through lights display at Lakeside Park has become a beloved tradition, and it’s one that keeps getting better.

“It’s gotten a little bigger each year,” said Valerie Painter, who is manager of the Pell City Civic Center and oversees the yearly event. “People really look forward to it.”

The tradition started more than 20 years ago, and the event was designed to give local businesses, churches, organizations or individuals an opportunity to spread some holiday cheer and get free advertising in the process. Participating groups can include signs with their displays, and anything goes for the decorations – as long as the display is lighted, holiday-themed and family-friendly.

“It’s a great way for businesses, especially small businesses to get their name out there,” Painter said. In keeping with the spirit of the holidays, there’s no charge for the organizations or the community members who come to enjoy the displays. “This is just a fun way for the city to give back to the community,” she said. “The park is such a beautiful venue, even in the fall and winter.”

Thousands of people drive through Lights in the Park each year, scheduled this holiday season from Dec. 1 through Jan. 2.

It’s gotten so popular, in fact, that the number of cars has more than doubled over the past three years. In 2020, more than 9,300 cars drove through the light display, up from just over 7,300 the year before and 4,070 in 2018. “We have some people who come through two and three times a week,” Painter said.

Each year, there are spots for 55 to 60 displays, depending on size, and they go fast. “It’s first come, first serve, and the businesses start calling months in advance,” said Painter, who got her first call in April this year. “We hate to turn anyone away, but we only have so much electricity,” she said.

In addition to decorations, various churches have provided live nativity scenes on certain nights. Last year, visitors could sync their drive with holiday music from a local radio station, and that will be the case again this season. Vignettes from past years have ranged from Santa and his reindeer to toy soldiers, Christmas trains and a candy shop.

“Everyone has really come a long way in recent years and stepped up with their displays,” Painter said, adding that a little healthy competition has made the event even more special. “A lot of the businesses will add something each year because they see that everyone else’s is getting bigger and better. They want their display to be the one that everyone’s talking about.”

Building beautiful boats

Charlie Ard’s custom
watercraft are works of art

Story and photos by Graham Hadley
Additional photos courtesy of Charles Ard

Most people looking for a new boat to take out on the Coosa buy one from dealers along the lakes.

Pell City’s Charlie Ard, on the other hand, simply builds one from scratch – sometimes in as little as four days.

Moored to the dock at his girlfriend’s house is one such shining example: A 24-foot, center-console mahogany boat that is truly a work of art named the Corabell. And not only is she a thing of beauty, but the all-wood boat is fast, too, powered by a big inboard V8 engine.

“I built her from the ground up in 2009, starting with just a pile of lumber,” he said.

“I built my first boat when I was 12. It was based on a boat in the Pogo comic strips. I had always admired that little boat. Now this was my 10th boat built since then.”

Charlie’s father was an engineer, and he grew up around his father’s shop, so taking on the complicated process of building wood boats was almost second nature to him. Originally, Charlie’s wood shop was in Birmingham, but the retired HVAC technician moved the entire operation to his shop attached to his house in Cropwell years ago. Like his boats, Charlie designed and built both his house and shop – and much of the furnishings, tables and storage cabinets there as well.

Charlie explaining his hull build

The Corabell’s distinctive mahogany build gives the boat that classic antique look, but Charlie chose that wood for more than its looks.

“Mahogany is durable, as durable as fiberglass,” he said. “And it does not take much maintenance. The urethane I use is good. The Corabell has had one coat in the past 12 years. … The mahogany is actually lighter than fiberglass and does not soak up water like other woods.”

He is quick to point out the mahogany he uses is plantation grown, so his boats don’t contribute to over logging or damage the environment.

Charlie credits not only his father, who was also an amateur woodcarver, with inspiring him, but also a host of other people in his life. “I learned a lot from the woodcarvers guild. I am actually the past president of the Alabama Woodworkers Guild.”

Add to that training natural inborn talent for his craft (lots of natural talent), and the end result is a boat builder who can create remarkable and unique watercraft and do it in a surprisingly short period of time.

Boat hulls are complicated creations – because all of the curves and structural strength needed to make a seaworthy vessel, the individual strips of wood are almost abstract creations. The flat piece of wood bears little resemblance to the way it looks on the completed boat.

Charlie says he uses standard measurements for his hull designs, but there is still a large portion of the design that is all his.

Working from a large drafting table outfitted with a rare left-handed drafting machine, Charlie (who claims lefties are more creative) draws out full-size blueprints for his boats. He then takes those designs to his workshop, where he lays them out on a table and builds the boat over them, projecting right from his original drawings.

Despite the complexity and the attention to detail – there are more than 4,000 screws holding the hull of the Corabell together – Charlie builds his works of art in record time.

“The Corabell only took a few months to build,” he said. His shortest time for a build is four days – a beautiful rowboat he put together between Christmas and New Years shortly after his father passed away in 2008.

That rowboat sits in his boat shed on his Cropwell property, complete with the oars he made especially for it.

“I built this in honor of my Daddy. Dad rowed recreationally. I think he did that to irritate me. I like big V8s, but he said, ‘I don’t need a motor, I will just row.’”

Like most of his builds, the rowboat is mahogany, and Charlie said it is the perfect boat for some of the lakes in the national forest where motors are not allowed.

Charlie also honored his father with some of the design elements on the Corabell.

The rowboat and oars Charlie built in memory of his father

“My father made dulcimers – like the Appalachian musical instrument, so I made a finial based on that design on the bow,” he said.

Though the Corabell is not his biggest build – there is a 30-foot twin screw that he put together but no longer owns that is used as a fishing boat in the Gulf Stream out of Bimini – she is one of his favorites.

“She has turned out to be a good boat, no vices, an all-around successful project,” he said.

From bow to stern, the Corabell is full of custom designs, and Charlie’s attention to detail is evident in every piece of work. The top is even made out of canvas stretched over laminated wood bracings.

One of the most impressive features is the center console, which folds forward to expose the engine. The boat has a modified V-shaped hull, with a “good bit of keel,” and between the hull design and the engine, the Corabell will flat-out go.

“This boat will do 40 mph. I have never skied behind it – my only motorboat I have not done that on,” he said. Even though the boat is all wood, it only weighs about as much as a Ski Natique.

Charlie drafts full-size blueprints and then bulds the boat hull right over the drawings. This is his rowboat he built in four days.

Despite its speed, Charlie prefers to cruise around Logan Martin Lake at a more leisurely pace.

“I like to get up, get my morning coffee, and cruise around the lake at about 10 mph,” he said.

The Corabell is moored to a dock at Charlie’s girlfriend’s house. He built the dock with her blessing – and a covered area for her boat, so he would have a place to tie up on Logan Martin.

Parked up on a trailer on the same property is another Charlie Ard creation – the flat-bottomed boat, Cooney Bonet.

His boat names all have special personal meaning – the Corabell is named after a favorite teacher who made a huge difference in her students’ lives, “mine included” – and the Cooney Bonet is no exception.

“He waded ashore at Omaha Beach in World War II. He was a great American,” Charlie said.

The 16-foot, again mahogany, flat-bottom boat was built for getting around all parts of the lake.

“It will float in 3 inches of water, and with the motor up, you can pole it along. It was not intended for speed, just kvetching about, to have fun in,” he said. While speed was not the original intent, “I designed it for a 10-horsepower motor. Then I got this 18-horsepower motor. This thing will fly.”

Charlie’s love of the water is apparent. The walls of his shop are lined with charts of coastal regions, lakes and rivers, fishing gear and other memorabilia. Equally apparent is his love of woodworking. If you look among the decorations, you can find an award he received for one of his work benches and cabinets he designed and built.

Like so many of Charlie Ard’s creations, it is both functional and a work of art. It sits among his other hand-made cabinets and benches in his shop awaiting his next project.

Remember When – Pine Harbor

In its heyday, Pine Harbor played
central role in lake community

Story by Leigh Pritchett
Photos courtesy of Sue Pat DuBose, Mr. and Mrs. Roy H. Holladay II, Chris Spivey, St. ClairNews-Aegis (1977), St. Clair Observer (1975)

Growing up in the 1940s and ’50s, Dr. Thomas Ingram Jr. walked through neighbors’ fields near the Coosa River, enjoying those pastures and woods for what they were.

In the 1960s, Thomas Casady and H.G. Fraim looked at the fields and saw potential … lots of it.

Casady envisioned a complex that would include an 18-hole golf course, hotel, restaurant, lounge, pro shop, marina, country club, swimming pools, tennis courts and a chapel.

Fraim, known as “Bookie,” saw a vibrant neighborhood springing up around the complex.

Both visions came to fruition.

Locals knew Casady’s complex as Pine Harbor Marina, Pine Harbor Country Club and, in its final years, Pine Harbor Golf & Racquet Club.

Not only did this golf course entertain celebrities, but it and the rest of the complex also bonded the neighborhood it produced.

“We just had our own wonderful world out here,” said Deanna Lawley. For 50 years, she has been a resident of Pine Harbor, the neighborhood Bookie envisioned.

Casady built his complex in 1964, according to a May 29, 1975, article in the St. Clair Observer, a weekly newspaper at the time.

Casady, a seasoned businessman and a veteran of the Army Air Corps, rising to brigadier general and serving as national CAP commander, put his knowledge and experience to work for his vision. He was president of ElCasa Enterprises Inc., director of Union State Bank in Pell City, vice president of V.J. Elmore Stores in Birmingham, and a founding member of Canterbury Methodist Church in Birmingham, according to Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters in Montgomery at the time of his death in 2010. He also was inducted into the CAP Hall of Honor and Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame.

Mrs. Lawley credited Fraim with the foresight to develop two residential communities nearby along Logan Martin Lake – Riviere Estates and Skyline.

Golf course

The golf course was the second phase of Casady’s development, said Jo Ann Winnette, Fraim’s sister.

Recollections of those interviewed indicated that the golf course was likely the facet with the most impact on the community. “Golf and grandchildren” brought Roy Dye and wife Joanne to the Pine Harbor neighborhood from Washington state. “When we found Pine Harbor, we said, ‘This is where we want to be,’” explained Dye, who served as treasurer during the golf course’s later years.

Aerial view of Pine Harbor restaurant, tennis court, golf course from Chris Spivey Jr.
and Bob Spivey

Winnette, who lives in Riviere Estates, said part of the land on which the golf course was built was donated by her mother, Robbie Sue Fraim. Additional property was acquired from J.A. Masters, according to Winnette, and a 2002 worship service program from the campus’ outdoor, lakeside church, Chapel in the Pines.

Winnette said her brother had a real sense of what Casady’s Pine Harbor could be. He believed it could attract Birmingham people to the area to play golf, get away for the weekend and enjoy the lake. He promoted Pine Harbor, creating Riviere Estates from lots from their mother’s farmland.

During its peak, Pine Harbor’s golf membership exceeded 400, sources said.

The golf course “was a point in the community, a hub in this community for a long time,” said Chris Spivey, state amateur golf champ and national senior amateur champ, who has lived in Pine Harbor since 1974.

“Probably a lot of business got done on the golf course or in the clubhouse,” said Jud Alverson, president of the Pell City Council and former president of Pine Harbor Golf & Racquet Club.

The golf course and Pine Harbor complex were assets in recruiting industry to Pell City, noted Ron Helms, Pine Harbor resident and former president of the club. “It was a very good addition to the city.”

Having noted golf instructor Jimmy Ballard on staff did not hurt either. Ballard was nationally known for the very specific technique he taught.

“There were quite a few professional golfers who came there to take lessons from him,” said Reed Alexander, who served on the board of directors. J.C. Snead, Leonard Thompson, Curtis Strange, Fuzzy Zoeller and Jim Colbert were among the pro golfers who reportedly received instruction from Ballard at Pine Harbor.

Plus, touring pro Mac McLendon made Pine Harbor his home course while he was on the PGA Tour in the 1970s, Mrs. Lawley said.

Encounters with the famous were not uncommon.

Mrs. Lawley and husband Barnett played tennis doubles with Mr. and Mrs. Zoeller. Alverson and a group of guys shot impromptu rounds with pro golfer Boo Weekley. Blind golf champ Charley Boswell was a regular.

Long-time Pine Harbor resident Sylvia Martin said she got to meet former NBA star Charles Barkley there. Florida State University’s noted football coach Bobby Bowden and University of Alabama coaching legend, Paul “Bear” Bryant, played the course, too, said Roy H. Holladay II, who lives in Pine Harbor.

The golf course was an outlet for different ages and abilities.

Cole Giddens of Cropwell was able to fulfill his wish of golfing every day in retirement and even managed the course and clubhouse for a decade.

Alverson was playing at Pine Harbor before he was old enough to rent a golf cart. He was club champ as a teen.

Kim Wilcox of Moody was Pine Harbor’s golf pro and course manager in the 1990s, and her son, Will Wilcox, played the course as a youth. He went on to the PGA and Korn Ferry tours, according to Kim, who became executive director of Birmingham Golf Association and women’s golf coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Sue Pat DuBose’s son, Brent, played in amputee tournaments at the course. “We had people to come all the way from London, England, to those tournaments.”

Spivey (“Chris Jr.”) saw golf and Pine Harbor’s course transform her mother, “Chris Sr.”

This started in the late 1970s. Chris Sr. was completely uninterested in golf. Chris Jr. got her mother to caddy for her in a Mississippi tournament. Chris Jr. finished with a national ranking, and “Mom went absolutely bonkers over golf.”

Chris Sr. learned to play golf. After her husband, Bob, became president of Pine Harbor Golf & Racquet Club, Chris Sr. managed the golf course. Chris Jr. said the course did well in the 1980s under her mother’s care.

Until Chris Sr.’s death in 1986, Mr. and Mrs. Spivey ran the golf course seven days a week almost by themselves, said Chris Jr., who was the weekend cart person.

Leading up to Chris Sr.’s management, the course sat unused for a time because of an ownership change, according to Mrs. Lawley.

To get the golf course reopened, Pine Harbor residents did what Pine Harbor residents do when situations arise: they banded together and took action, said Chris Jr.

“Everybody got on their lawn mowers and went over there and cut the fairways and cut the greens. Mother redid every single one of the sand traps herself … before they put the sand in them. Ruined my grandfather’s tiller (in the process),” Chris Jr. said with a laugh.

Hotel, restaurant and marina

The hotel, restaurant and marina were part of the first phase of development, said Winnette. The marina also featured covered and dry storage.

The hotel and restaurant sat side by side. A lounge, pro shop and swimming pool finished out that portion of the complex.

Mrs. Lawley said actress Sally Field and her family stayed at the hotel in 1975 during filming of the movie, Stay Hungry, in Birmingham.

Barnett Lawley and Field’s husband played tennis together during that time, and the Lawleys’ son, Cannon, swam with Fields’ children in the Lawleys’ pool. The Lawleys entertained Field and her family in their home, and the two families became friends.

The marina when it opened

One particular day, news spread quickly around the neighborhood about Field’s degree of undress while sunbathing at one of Pine Harbor’s pool, the Lawleys said.

The restaurant’s formal dining area could accommodate about a hundred patrons, Mrs. Lawley continued. That was in addition to the downstairs and outdoor dining areas.

The restaurant’s large windows offered an unhindered view of the marina, brilliant sunsets, and sailboats and other vessels bobbing up and down in the multitude of slips.

Bear Bryant tried to dine at the restaurant one time but drew such a crowd that he could not eat his meal, said Winnette.

At Casady’s request during Bryant’s visit, Fraim very secretively took the coach and Mrs. Bryant for an evening boat ride on Logan Martin Lake. Winnette said Bryant sent her brother a letter, thanking him for the excursion.

Mrs. Lawley noted that Casady began developing the Pine Harbor complex before Logan Martin Dam went into operation, which created Logan Martin Lake.

“(He) set piers (for the marina) before there was a drop of water,” Mrs. Lawley said.

For years, Maurice “Pops” Wyatt managed the marina, hotel and other aspects of the complex, said Holladay. The Wyatt family lived in a house on the premises.

Pops believed in giving patrons exceptional service, Holladay noted. For example, Pops made certain that people who spent weekends at Pine Harbor found their boat fueled and waiting in the water when they arrived.

At the height of the complex’s popularity, all of the slips in the marina were occupied, with a waiting list, said Barnett Lawley.

Chapel in the Pines

Part of Casady’s plan was for the people of Pine Harbor to be able to worship together. Casady built Chapel in the Pines for that reason, notes a 2002 chapel service program quoting the June 3, 1965, St. Clair News-Aegis. The first service at the outdoor chapel was June 6, 1965. First United Methodist Church in Pell City was sponsor of the services and a different pastor preached each week.

On Sunday mornings during summer months, families came to the chapel on foot, by car or boat to what became known as the “come as you are” church.

“We really enjoyed that,” said Mrs. DuBose, who with husband John had only to walk across the street.

Following the worship service, many would eat breakfast together at Pine Harbor’s restaurant, said Martin.

The residents gave much support to the chapel, she continued. Before the first service each summer, they came with brooms and rakes to clean around the pews and podium. That little lakeside chapel tucked among the pines was also the site of many weddings, Martin said. The receptions often were at the country club.

Clubhouse

In its lifetime, Pine Harbor had two different clubhouses.

The first one was across Pine Harbor Road from the hotel and restaurant.

Themed parties, fashion shows, galas, Christmas festivities, the Chevy 6 band, and dances featuring Dale Serrano and the music of Bob Cain and the Cane Breakers filled the schedule. The clubhouse had a pool, too.

In 1984, the DuBoses purchased the property from Ballard and lived there until 2010.

Ballard went to the exclusive Doral Golf and Country Club in Miami, Mrs. Lawley said.

Mrs. DuBose, a golfer, loved that her home was right next to the course. The tile in the bathrooms bore scuffs from golf-shoe traffic during the country club years. Though the DuBoses remodeled the home, they left the scuffed tile in one bathroom, just for nostalgia.

On occasion, the DuBoses had unexpected visitors – with golf clubs in hand – who thought the home was still the clubhouse.

The final Pine Harbor clubhouse was a smaller house near the golf course. It was where Wyatt’s family had lived when Pops was manager at the complex, said Holladay.

Changing times

Through the years, ownership of the Pine Harbor complex changed several times.

Sometimes, the efforts of a new owner were successful and, sometimes, they were not.

“It really had its highs and its lows,” said Barnett Lawley, former commissioner of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

In the 1970s, Lawley, Ballard, Billy Church and Eddie Lawrence formed a partnership to rescue the Pine Harbor complex from receivership, where it had gone under the previous owner, Mrs. Lawley said. As owners, the four partners worked to attract celebrity golfers and name-brand entertainment, demonstrating the value of Pine Harbor to the area. Club membership soared to its highest and Pine Harbor enjoyed its greatest popularity.

“And it stayed that way a long time,” Mrs. Lawley said.

The final owner in Pine Harbor’s history gave Pine Harbor Golf & Racquet Club (an association consisting of the membership) a long-term lease on the golf course and tennis courts.

Yet, circumstances eventually took their toll. First, an economic downturn in 2008 significantly reduced the number of golf memberships. Then, the lease expired. The City of Pell City’s efforts to negotiate a lease agreement with the owner failed.

Years earlier, the owner had razed the hotel and restaurant and filled in the nearby swimming pool. Subsequently, the second clubhouse was demolished too.

Chapel in the Pines moved to a spot in Pell City’s Lakeside Park, and the marina is home to University Marine at Pine Harbor Marina.

Now, remnants of the greens and fairways sit as quiet reminders of what used to be.

Recalling Pine Harbor’s glory days, Chris Jr. said, “The complex was fantastic, just a little ahead of its time. … We were so blessed to have that in our community for so long.”

Additional assistance with this article provided by Roger Pate and Savannah Pritchett, MS, RD, LD.

Clubhouse 1987

Memories of Pine Harbor

            Just the mention of Pine Harbor’s golf course and the rest of the complex brings to people’s minds the memories of milestones they achieved, the special times they experienced and the funny things that happened there.

Rita Engelbrecht, Chris Spivey, Jo Jolly & Sue Pat DuBose at Pine Harbor

Here are but a few:

  • “The only two holes-in-one I’ve had in my life were (at Pine Harbor and) on the same hole – No. 5,” said Jud Alverson.
  • Robin Glenn of Cropwell admits she knew nothing about golf when she went to work at the clubhouse in 2009. One day, a lady golfer ordered a sandwich to take on the course with her. Glenn prepared and gave the sandwich to the woman. Later, when the golfer returned to the clubhouse, she told Glenn that someone might find a sand wedge on the 18th hole. Curious as to why the woman had tossed the sandwich, Glenn asked, “You didn’t eat it?”
  • Chris Spivey Sr. was resourceful during her years of managing Pine Harbor’s golf course. Wanting to make the course’s grass lush, she enlisted a chicken farmer’s help to put manure on the fairways. “It did a good job,” chuckled her daughter, Chris Spivey Jr., in telling the story. “But you couldn’t go to the golf course for a week because of the smell.”
  • In the 1980s, some bigger courses limited weekend playing time for women. Chris Spivey Jr. believed women should be able to play any time and be accepted into men’s tournaments. Her parents – Chris Sr. and Bob Spivey – instituted both of Chris Jr.’s suggestions while they ran Pine Harbor’s golf course.
  • Chris Spivey Sr. was instrumental in starting Pine Harbor’s bridge club, even though she knew nothing about the game. “She loved every minute of it,” Chris Spivey Jr. said.
  • Pops Wyatt’s daughter, Cathy, ran a concession stand while her dad was manager of the marina and other parts of the Pine Harbor complex. Roy H. Holladay II met Cathy through her work … and married her.
Christmas party for ladies at Pine Harbor

Alabama 650 Paddle Race

Breaks records and delights followers

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Meghan Frondorf
and Wallace Bromberg Jr.
Submitted photos

Twenty of the fiercest, most elite paddlers in the world battled stormy elements at the start but finished strong in record time in the third edition of the Great Alabama 650, the world’s longest annual paddle race.

In late September, paddlers muscled their way through the 650-mile course from Weiss Lake in the north to Fort Morgan in the south, which covered the stretches of Neely Henry and Logan Martin lakes in between.   

The statewide race has all the components of a great adventure – whitewater, tidewater currents, hikes around nearly a dozen dams – en route to a finish line 650 miles from the start.

Top finishers were:

  • Joe Mann and Paul Cox – 4 days, 17 hours, 2 minutes 
  • Salli O’Donnell – 4 days, 22 hours, 39 minutes
  • West Hansen, 5 days, 19 hours, 9 minutes

The Alabama 650 website featured a live map throughout the race with up-to-the-minute updates on each of the boats’ locations. Facebook and Instagram posts from the field and countless photos, videos and updates came from novice spectators and volunteers along the route during its duration. Hashtag was #AL650.

The map helped spur the interest of spectators all along the course to get a firsthand look at the paddlers coming by. According to Alabama 650 officials, spectators cheered for racers on river banks in Gadsden, Pell City, Wetumpka, Montgomery, Selma, Fairhope and dozens of other points along the way.

The racecourse is the core section of the Alabama Scenic River Trail, a 6,000-plus mile, mapped river trail system. The 650 miles at the core of the river trails extends from the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Northeast Alabama through alligator country to the Gulf of Mexico.

Racers had up to 10 days to finish the race to compete for the top spot in three divisions – Male Solo, Female Solo and Two Person Team.

Portages, where paddlers and their crews put in and take out their boats, were nine dams on the Coosa and Alabama rivers.

Volunteers, along with paddlers’ crews, were stationed at portages, helping with logistics of getting the paddlers through each point.

Logan Martin’s Max Jolley served as portage chief at Logan Martin Dam, coordinating volunteers and keeping the pace moving as paddlers came in throughout a 24-hour period in days 2 and 3 of the race.

The first arrivals were about 6 a.m. on Sunday and the last of the paddlers came in between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Monday. He said he was amazed at the speed of this year’s race. “They were two to three hours ahead of last year.”

Jolley, who has been kayaking himself for 30 years, (but not on that level, he is quick to point out) has been involved since the inception of the race. “When I saw it, I wanted to get involved.” Now, he’s hooked. “One of the best things is you get to talk to the crew and the paddlers” on everything from weather to boat traffic. “They like coming down Logan Martin,” where people “greet, wave and clap as they go by.”

A view of paddlers from above

O’Donnell, the female solo winner, is a Logan Martin favorite. She has even joined a Facebook group locally, where she talks to fans, and they wish her well or congratulate her. In one post, she talked of stopping a bit for some sleep at the new Lincoln’s Landing.

In an interview with Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Outdoor Alabama, Cox, a member of the winning team estimated he and partner Mann managed an hour of sleep at Wetumpka, two at Selma and two as they neared Fort Morgan for the finish.

“That’s what you have to do to be fast,” Cox recounted to Outdoor Alabama. “Sometimes you have to fight off the sleep monsters. There were definitely moments when I wasn’t paddling well. I was trying to stay upright, splashing myself with water. You have to talk to each other and tell stories. My partner, Joe, is a great storyteller, but he finally told me no more stories. That’s when I knew we needed to pull over and get some sleep.”

O’Donnell, now a member of Love Logan Martin Facebook group, posted her report of the race – a lengthy, detailed account – three weeks later on the group’s page:

This is what she had to say about Logan Martin:

“That stretch is one of my favorite sections along the course because not only is it beautiful but normally there is a lot of boat traffic to keep me entertained. This year was totally different, the lake was practically empty due to the weather. I recall 3 or 4 boats on the whole stretch and the skies remained low, gray and wet. Most of all, I missed bantering with the locals, aka the Logan Martians, although a few brave souls hung out on their docks to cheer us on as we passed by!”

She was paddling alongside Hansen as they came into Logan Martin, and they paddled together to the dam. “West and I reached the Logan Martin Dam portage around 10:15 on Sunday morning and after our 45-minute mandatory hold, off we went towards Lay Dam.”

Heading into Fort Morgan two days later, she wrote, “As I approached CheckPoint 3, I began to have issues with my back-up GPS (remember I lost my primary GPS on the morning of Day 2 / Logan Martin Lake). Water spots under the screen appeared and grew until I couldn’t see anything at all. Fortunately, it was during the daylight and I was familiar with the area.

“Unfortunately, I had no watch and without my GPS I had no idea what time it was or how far I had traveled. I rounded the checkpoint and headed west towards a point of land that I eventually passed and then I headed southwest down into the cove thinking I was on the approach to Fort Morgan. The waves were stern quartering and with my surf rudder I was having fun riding across the backs of waves to keep me high in the cove or running with the waves when it was time to dip down towards Fort Morgan.

“I was having a blast until I finally realized I had headed down one cove too early and had to climb back out (later I would realize it was a 5-mile climb) northwesterly to round the real final point of land before turning southwest for the final 5 miles to Fort Morgan.

West Hansen, winner men’s solo, sets new record

“Once I got around that point of land, I took a short break to adjust myself in my boat and get a quick bite to eat. When I looked up, I saw Rod and Bobby about one hundred yards from me! They took off and again I watched them turn into a dot, only a little more than 5 miles to the finish and they beat me by 16 minutes. Dang it, Bobby!!”

O’Donnell’s post gives ‘Logan Martians’ and the rest a first-person glimpse of what it was like on Logan Martin that Sunday – early in the race – and later legs of the journey toward a record finish: 4 days, 22 hours, 39 minutes.

Her physical condition? She wrote:

“Weight loss of less than 1 pound

Blisters on hands but none that opened

No skin rubs

No skin rashes

No aching muscles

Approximately a total of 13 hours of sleep

Tired but content!”

Jennifer Fratzke’s impressions were a little more succinct: “It’s the funnest, coolest, hardest, most awesome race ever.”

Editor’s Note: Next year’s Great Alabama 650 is scheduled for Oct. 1-11. Registration opens Jan. 1 at noon CST.

About the Alabama Scenic River Trail

The Alabama Scenic River Trail is the longest river trail in the United States.

When it was established in 2008, the river trail was comprised of just one 650-mile stretch of contiguous waterways. It extended from Weiss Lake in Northeast Alabama through the Mobile Bay, a waterway so biologically diverse, it is called “America’s Amazon.”

Today, the river trail includes more than 6,000 miles of mapped river trail and 60 boat rental shops exist on its banks to help paddlers tour the state’s vast aquatic resources.

You may learn more at AlabamaScenicRiverTrail.com.

Lakeside Live debuts Nov. 13

Lakeside Park is the place to be Nov. 13 as Lakeside Live takes center stage for central Alabama’s brand-new music festival, car show, motorcycle poker run and Battle of the Badges.

This mammoth event, featuring live bands from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. with hit musical artists, “Disciple,” headlining a host of other bands and musical groups, including Tristen Gressett, Cory Jr. and Company, Fuzz Huzzi, Kudzu and Echoes of the Abyss.

Gates open at 10 a.m., and it is free to the public. Proceeds from the event will benefit Pell City’s police and fire departments.

The car show is slated from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. A motorcycle poker run is planned, and Battle of the Badges from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. is sure to entertain. It pits the Pell City Police Department against the Pell City Fire Department in tug of war, 3-legged race, doughnut eating contest and more. The winner will receive a “Championship” style belt to compete for every year. The belt will have winners engraved on it every year.

Vendors of all descriptions will fill the park, and organizers plan a day and evening fun for the whole family.