The Homewood Star Volume 4 | Issue 12 | March 2015
neighborly news & entertainment for Homewood
Like the wind
Summer fun
A hurricane changed the path of Aaron Ernest’s life, but he landed on his feet and found a home in Homewood By DAVID KNOX Inside, find our guide to the best summer camps for kids. From cooking to sports to outdoor adventures, we break down the basics of area programs.
See page B2
Community awards
C OMMUNITY
M EMBER OF THE YEAR Every community has people and causes that make a difference. This issue includes a ballot for our cause and community member of the year. Cast your vote by March 8.
C
It was a gust of fate that changed the course of Aaron Ernest’s life forever. It was called Katrina. In 2005, he was an eighth-grade boy who loved being outside and playing football with his friends, running through the schoolyards and playgrounds in New Orleans. But on Aug. 28, he was instead cooped up in the backseat of a car headed toward someplace where the grass was greener, or at least wasn’t underwater. That place was Homewood. The Birmingham metro area saw its share of refugees in the aftermath of the hurricane that devastated much of Louisiana’s Crescent City. Many of those displaced were children who needed a home and a hope that there would be kind of normalcy in their lives. Osome M MUNITY Homewood and the people there helped a 12 year old with that. Ernest, now a senior All-American sprinter for Louisiana State University, talked about his days THE in Homewood OF YEAR during the Auburn Invitational track meet at Birmingham CrossPlex. “It was a big experience for me. I really wasn’t a runner when I came to Homewood,” Ernest said. “I had only played football, never really run track. I didn’t like track at first. I was
C AUSE
See ERNEST | page A22
LSU sprinter Aaron Ernest, a former Homewood High track and football star, prepares to run in the 200-meter race at the Auburn Invitational at the Birmingham CrossPlex in January. Photo by Karim Shamsi-Basha.
See page A14
Dinner and a show
INSIDE Sponsors ...................A2 City .............................A3 Business.................A8 Community ..............A18 School House .............B9 Sports .......................B12 Calendar ................. B17 Opinion .................... B19
Construction on new Brookwood dining theater to begin this month
By SYDNEY CROMWELL
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The facade of Brookwood Village will soon change to make room for a new movie theater. Photo by Madoline Markham.
YOU’RE THINKING SPRING CLEAN.
A new entertainment option is in the works at Brookwood Village. In February, the owners of the mall received approval from the planning commission to renovate the mall and add a dining theater. The theater will be 40,000 square feet and have five screens, city planner Vanessa McGrath said. Customers will be able to order meals and sit at tables within each theater to eat while they watch a movie. Lakewood Drive resident Wendy Stevens
See THEATER | page A23 Proudly keeping homes cleaner and healthier since 1987
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