Bringing hope and comfort to veterans

Story by Paul South
Submitted Photos

This is a story of war and love, heartbreak and hope.

It’s a tale of an earthly hell and two parents’ dream of an earthly heaven for  broken veterans and their families and a town that answered the call of duty.

And it’s the story of Daniel Centilli, a Marine’s Marine.

All are  part of the story of Dovetail Landing, Pat and Alana  Centilli’s  mission to honor their fallen son.

First, the Marine.

Hell in Helmand Province

Lance Cpl. Daniel Centilli was a typical American kid. He loved Thanksgiving and  fishing and football. A defensive lineman, he was part of Pell City High School’s “Thousand Pound Club,” with membership reserved for the school’s strongest athletes.

Girls loved him. And as it always seems with kids who leave us too soon, Daniel “lit up a room,” his mother, Alana Centilli, remembered.

“He never did anything 50 percent,” she recalled. “He loved hard.”

A few years after graduation, he joined the Marines. Within months in 2011, he was a machine gunner in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

One soldier who served in the province described it to  The Washington Examiner this way:

“It felt like we were  on the moon. No trees. No plants. Just gravel.”

It was a hell on earth, where Daniel and his comrades were exposed, sitting ducks for Taliban fighters. An expert marksman, Centilli was in the lead vehicle in a coalition convoy.

As if that wasn’t dangerous enough, Daniel witnessed the murder of his sergeant by an Afghan interpreter.

And at Daniel’s December 2019 funeral, attended by his brothers in arms, one comrade recounted a time when the unit was under attack.

“We saw the red dust flying,” he said, “and I knew Daniel was coming.”

On May 10, 2012, Daniel’s Humvee was hit, and he suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, along with PTSD, the result of the “big blast.”

In 2014, after suffering numbness in his arm, he was taken to Duke University Medical Center where doctors discovered a brain tumor they believed related to the blast.

Then came the long road – hallucinations, where he believed their were aliens coming out of his phone. Another time he was unresponsive shortly after being found walking down a road in his underwear. He told Marines he was “walking with Jesus back to Alabama.”

He was later transferred to a hospital in Portsmouth, Va., and remained there until 2016 when he returned home to Alabama.

The next three years were a journey of psychiatric wards, hallucinations and wandering as far away as Arkansas. At one point near the end, he was placed in a medically induced coma, in hopes that his body would reset.

“This became normal life for us,” his mom said. “When he came out of that coma, he was about 15 mentally. It totally changed everything.”

In December, after a three-month stay in a Florida neurological hospital, he returned home. It was two days before Christmas 2019.

That night, he died in his sleep, not on the battlefield, but in his own bed, yet another casualty in the War on Terror.

“Daniel was just the sweetest soul,” Alana said as she wept. “He loved hard. He loved his family and God, he loved the Marine Corps.”

He was 30 years old.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBoAxHk-xck

The Parents and Their Dream

For two years after Daniel’s death, it seemed the oxygen was sucked from the earth for Pat and Alana Centilli. He was always present – in pictures, in the flag that draped his coffin, or in his crisp dress blues that hung in his closet.

But the Centillis are “fixers,” Alana said. The couple wanted to do something to free themselves from the shackles of grief and to honor their son. It was “their own personal therapy.”

“That’s the only way we could get out of it,” she said. “A part of it is selfish, never wanting anyone to forget Daniel and what he went through. Any of that.”

From tears that rest just under the surface and flow easily came the idea for Dovetail Landing, a place to provide food and shelter – 30 tiny homes and at least 25 family homes – mental health counseling and job training and other resources for vets, their families and caregivers.

The project – on 57 acres donated by the City of Lincoln – is a place of peace, far from the pain of war. Work began in January 2022.

Billed as “A Veteran Transitioning and Wellness Community,” Dovetail will also help residents navigate the snarl of government red tape to obtain veterans’ benefits, Social Security and other services. At an estimated cost of $40 million, Dovetail will be a “one-stop shop” for all matters affecting vets.

Private citizens and organizations – like the World Games and Lakeshore Foundation – are getting involved, Alana said.

“This is going to help so many people. This is going to help veterans like Daniel. This is going to help people not go through what he had to go through. This is going to help families not go through what we had to go through. This is our push.”

She sees Dovetail Landing as a “transformational project” that in the years and decades ahead will positively impact generations.

“I think of the veterans and their families. We’re going to change their lives. It just gives me chills,” she said, adding, “To be able to do that is so healing for me.”

Lincoln and a military Mom answer the call

Alana and Pat Centilli aren’t the kind to take “No” for an answer.

After two years of hard grief, they set about the business of making Dovetail Landing a reality.  Land was the first priority.

In the hunt for land, Alana reached out to an uncle, Darrell Ingram, on the Talladega County Commission, who in turn connected her with longtime Lincoln Mayor Lew Watson and the Lincoln City Council.

Watson, a Vietnam veteran in 1966-67, served in country as the American buildup began. Duty took him from the Mekong Delta to the DMZ, two of the hot zones of the Vietnam War.

He’d seen two of his fellow servicemen take their own lives in Vietnam. And later in Lincoln, he counseled a troubled vet who also committed suicide.

After Alana’s pitch, Lincoln city leaders readily embraced the project.

“The reason why was the purpose,”  Watson said. “We heard the story that Alana told us. I had seen a story on TV about veterans committing suicide, but I didn’t really get into it too deep, because it didn’t appear anything personal. But after listening to her talk, recognized hey, this is a real need. And if we’ve got the ability to do something about it, by gosh, let’s do something about it.”

The council’s  decision to help Dovetail has been warmly received. Watson recounted a call he received from a veteran in Birmingham after the panel’s action.

“This is a good thing y’all are doing,” the man told Watson. “I came back  (after serving), and I was totally worthless. My marriage was going to hell in a handbasket. I couldn’t stay off drugs and alcohol.”

The tormented veteran’s wife told him of a facility in Texas that might help. He went.

“I’m here to tell you,” the man told Watson.” It saved my life. It saved my marriage. It saved me.”

The man told the mayor he’s ready to volunteer at Dovetail Landing.

Closer to home,  Michelle Tumlin is also on board. She lost her son Houston, a member of  the Army’s iconic 101^st Airborne, to suicide after his battle against PTSD and CTE related in part to his military service.

Houston Project, a store in downtown Pell City owned by the Tumlin family, donates all proceeds of its sales to help meet the needs of veterans and their families.

Houston Project funded the first tiny house at Dovetail Landing. The house fulfills her son Houston’s dream of helping veterans – a sentiment he expressed a year before his death

“Dovetail Landing is going to be a great thing,” she said. “The main reason I wanted to volunteer aside from the fact that it will help so many veterans, Houston wanted to help veterans process out of the military to give them therapy they needed, a place to live, job training. He wanted to help them be able to re-enter civilian life.”

She added, “The minute I found out about Dovetail Landing, I got chill bumps all over my body.”

Epilogue

While many – individuals, the City of Lincoln, corporations, churches, businesses and groups like Alabama Veteran are joining the Dovetail Landing effort, the Centillis believe something larger is at work in a national effort.

“There’s a greater good out there that’s got control of this,” Alana said.” I think Daniel’s looking out for us a little bit. And I believe we’re going to get it done. I’m not going to stop until it’s done.

“It’s going to take Moms and Dads and sisters and brothers and friends stepping up and doing things like this, because (veterans) fought for all of us.”

At its core, this story that began in the heartache of war, grief and loss, is fueled by something  higher.

“There’s so much love and sheer determination that’s going into getting this place built, Alana said. “It will help so many people. It’s a heart project for me.”

Reminders of Daniel are never far away. On Memorial Day, she received a text from one of her son’s Marine brothers.

“Dan was the best Marine I ever had the pleasure to lead … [K]now that he’s never forgotten by the guys he fought with … You gave us a warrior and a lifelong friend.”

Editor’s Note: For more information about Dovetail Landing, check out YouTube, Facebook or by emailing info@dovetaillanding.org.

Rodeo event returns to Pell City

For two nights in July, you might hear the roar of the crowd at Pell City’s lakeside Sports Complex, but it won’t be the familiar cheers as runners round the base or when a baseball heads skyward for a homerun.

On these two nights in July, the complex transforms into an arena with broncos, bulls and plenty of cowboys vying for top spots in the rodeo circuit.

It’s time for Bulls on the Lake – two nights of rodeo entertainment that attracted more than 3,000 people to its stands in 2022. And organizers predict this year’s rodeo presented by 5L Rodeo Company will be even bigger.

These are sanctioned events with the youth rodeo on Friday night and the pro rodeo on Saturday. The youth rodeo is for members of International Miniature Rodeo Association, ages 5-18. You must be a member to compete. There will be bulls, bareback and barrels.

On Saturday, pros are in the spotlight with bulls and broncs.

Gates open at 5 both nights with the Friday night event starting at 7 and the Saturday night rodeo at 8. Tickets for Friday are $10 and for Saturday, general tickets are $15, and kids under 12 cost $10.

Proceeds benefit the Pell City Future Farmers of America Alumni, which helps sponsor the Pell City FFA Chapter.

The offerings both nights are expanding with more vendors being booked, including Carpenetti’s Pizza, Taco Tuesday, Papa Queso, Southern Sno Shaved Ice, D & W Kettle Corn and Royal Slush. Four western boutiques will be offering their wares as well.

Title sponsors for the events are Tri Green Equipment, Smith & Sons Construction and AmFirst.

Tickets will be sold through the Pell City Civic Center and at the gate.

Music, cars, kids’ events and more

When Casey Cambron and the Five16 Foundation created a music festival three years ago, the idea was born from a desire to give back to the community.

Fast forward those three years, and Lakeside Live Music Fest has grown into a communitywide event drawing more than 6,000 people to enjoy a day of music and fun for the whole family at Pell City Lakeside Park. It’s free to the public, courtesy of the sponsors investing in the effort, and gates open at 10 a.m.

On stage are noted musical groups like the Leverton Brothers, Wingnuts, Deputy 5 and the Ryan Waters Band.

Lining one of the fields is an impressive car show. Scattered throughout the grounds are all kinds of vendors, food trucks and a host of activities for the children.

One of the main events is Battle of the Badges, a friendly but fierce competition pitting the fire department against the police department.

Nearby, you can cheer on your favorites in the corn hole tournament offering a cash prize.

Couple all those features with hourly door prizes and drawings for major prizes like a kayak, flat top grill, a youth four-wheeler and a television, and what you have is the makings of a true family event that does indeed give back to the community.

Proceeds from Lakeside Live benefits worthy causes throughout the city – police, fire, school system, children’s organizations, Museum of Pell City and Pell City Historical Society.

“Our entire goal is to support our community, to bring people into our community to see what we have to offer,” said Cambron. And he and his band of volunteers have done just that. “We couldn’t host this without our great volunteers,” he said, noting how grateful the Foundation is to have a group of people willing to roll up their sleeves and go to work to support the effort.

“Our mission is to shine a light in our community,” Cambron said. “That’s our goal.”

Back for fourth year with Saturday Night Fever

The Black Jacket Symphony is again partnering with The Center for Education and Performing Arts, America’s First Federal Credit Union and the City of Pell City for the summer’s biggest lake event Sept. 2.

This year, it’s on a new night – Saturday – for the Fourth Annual Live at Logan Martin featuring a live performance of the legendary soundtrack, Saturday Night Fever.

This disco dance party will be held at the Pell City Sports Complex on Lake Logan Martin. The event site will open at 5:30 p.m., and the concert begins at 7:30 p.m. A rain date is set for the following evening, Sunday, Sept. 3. 

“We are thrilled to once again be the presenting sponsor of this wonderful event. AmFirst is proud to support Live at Logan Martin and help bring this event to the community,” said Phil Boozer, SVP-Chief Sales Officer, Marketing for America’s First Federal Credit Union.

VIP squares and general admission tickets are on sale now at liveatloganmartin.com or pellcitycepa.com/tickets. VIP squares accommodate up to four individuals. Fans are allowed and encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs for seating. Table seating is available to sponsors only. 

On-site parking will be free but limited. All attendees are encouraged to carpool. Due to the generosity of sponsors, the event is free to boats and will feature large video screens for optimum viewing. 

Per regulations from the State of Alabama, bringing alcohol onto the event site is not permitted. Beverages will be available for sale at the event.

“I can’t thank the community enough for the support they’ve given this event over the past four years,” said Jeff Thompson, CEPA Executive Director. “What began as a means to bring joy to our community during the COVID-19 pandemic has grown in an unimaginable way, and we’re so grateful to AmFirst, the City of Pell City and The Black Jacket Symphony for another incredible show.”

Proceeds benefit CEPA Management Corp. and its efforts to increase access to the performing arts in St. Clair County, including live music performances at CEPA in Pell City, and the Spotlight Drama Education and Outreach Program, which helped St. Clair students and community members produce 12 different plays in 2022.

Sponsorship packages are available at Gold, Silver, and Supporter Levels. For more information on sponsoring this one-of-a-kind event in St. Clair County, please email Jeff Thompson at director@pellcitycepa.com.

Brings back memories of hometown ‘cheerleader’

Story by Carol Pappas
Submitted Photos

Judi Denard had a knack for putting the most unlikely elements together and creating a masterpiece. She had an uncanny ability to envision what could be and set out to make it happen.

It was little more than a year ago when she put the full force of her dynamic personality, ‘can do’ spirit and a love of music together to make history at Pell City Center for Education and Performing Arts.

Taking center stage was The Firebirds, one of Europe’s top Rock ‘n Roll bands, whose appearances were usually reserved for much larger cities. But that night belonged to Pell City, bringing the audience to its feet with ovation after ovation.

Presented by friends Frank Shikle and Ed Jones, Judi convinced them to bring the show to Pell City while they were touring in Birmingham.

Her enthusiasm for an event of this magnitude coming to what she called  “our little town” could not escape notice. It was infectious. Storeowners gladly handed over merchandise to give as gifts to the band from England. She planned a reception in their honor, and her attention to detail made them feel at home even across the ocean.

She wanted to show them what Southern hospitality really is to remind them of an evening Pell Citians won’t soon forget. And she did. She became the town’s and the band’s biggest cheerleader.

The Firebirds didn’t forget either. They are returning to center stage at CEPA on May 18 at 7 p.m.

While Judi won’t have her familiar seat in the audience – she passed away from Leukemia just a few months later – the legacy she helped create is expected to excite, entertain and engage the crowd once again. Just like she would have wanted. 

The Firebirds are Jim Plummer, Dan Plummer, Rich Lorriman and Paul Willmott – four first-class musicians/vocalists who re-create the complete spectrum of music from the 1950s and 1960s. Their incredible set features everything from commercial music to rockabilly, harmonized doo wop to instrumentals, and even some incredible original hits. The band has undertaken extensive tours both at home and abroad. To date, the band has released three singles and 12 albums.

The last five albums were recorded in their own studio and on their own label, ‘Rockville Records,’ and include a Rock ‘n Roll Special with Linda Gail Lewis, the sister of ‘The Killer,’ Jerry Lee, and two Doo Wop albums. The second album features guest vocalist Den Hegarty of ‘Darts’ fame.

Sponsored by Humana, tickets are $25 available at pellcitycepa.com/tickets.