February 2023 | Volume 13 | Issue 9
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PROTECTING A LEGACY Miss Sims’ Garden embarks on capital improvement plan
By NEAL EMBRY
N
ow under the management of a new nonprofit, Miss Sims' Garden will soon receive multiple upgrades as part of a capital improvement plan. The garden’s manager, Amy Weis, said the nonprofit was created last year in order to protect the legacy of the garden’s founder, Catherine Anville Sims, as well as allow the garden to be used as a botanical park for public enjoyment and education. When Weis took over in July 2018, it didn’t take long before she knew more needed to be done at the garden. In October 2018, she began creating a capital improvement plan. The need to have a master plan was part of the reason Weis was brought on as the first full-time manager of the garden, she previously told The Homewood Star. “It wasn’t really working before. There’s only so much you can accomplish pulling weeds and mowing and weed eating and
See SIMS | page A18 From left: Lindsay Hugghins, Lynn Luckianow, David Lorberbaum, Miss Sims’ Garden caretaker Amy Weis, City Engineer Cale Smith and Jimmy Honeycutt at Miss Sims’ Garden in Homewood. Photo by Erin Nelson.
Homewood-based ministry building wells in Tanzania
Anne-Marie Touliatos smiles with some of the villagers she met in Tanzania. Photo courtesy of Anne-Marie Touliatos.
By NEAL EMBRY Lamnyak Lazaro Siria had never seen clean water before last year. The Maasai warrior said about three days a week, while the men herded cattle and protected them from lions and other predators, the women in his Tanzanian village would walk 18 to 25 kilometers to bring back water for everyone. However, as the water was shared with elephants and other wildlife, it was filthy. Still, it was all the village had.
INSIDE
Sponsors............... A4 News....................... A6
Business................ A8 Community.......... A12
Schoolhouse........A14 Opinion.................A16
That is until a chance encounter with a Homewood couple at the gallery near Mount Kilimanjaro where Siria works changed his life and the lives of thousands of other villagers forever.
CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN
Last July, Anne-Marie Touliatos, with The International Ministry of Jesus, climbed
Medical Guide........B1 Events.................... B6
See WELLS | page A18 Sports.....................B7 Calendar............... B14 facebook.com/thehomewoodstar
Medical Guide
All-State Football
Get to know some of the health and wellness providers in the Homewood area.
A handful of Patriots named to the Class 6A all-state team.
See page B1
See page B8
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