MY 2026
Special Supplement to
THE DAILY HOME
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
The Daily Home
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
The Daily Home
My hometown
MY
is the only place to be
2026 A publication of
THE DAILY HOME PUBLISHERS
Blucher Ehringhaus John Fry CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Ginna Gray EDITOR
Chris Norwood SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR
Buddy Roberts
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Tucker Webb GRAPHIC DESIGN
Darla Allen MARKETING COORDINATOR
Annabelle Barrow RETAIL ADVERTISING SALES
Chelsy Glisson CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING MANAGER
Candace Nesby CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING SALES
JoAnna Allen BUSINESS MANAGER
Debbie Bussie DISTRIBUTION
Elijah King My Hometown is a two-time winner of the Alabama Press Association’s Media Award for Best Newspaper Special Section.
BY BUDDY ROBERTS SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR
When it’s time each year to start work on The Daily Home’s special My Hometown edition, I’m always reminded You probably remember the one. Episode 30 of season 6. ‘A Singer in Town.’ It’s 1966 (60 years ago, by which time the series had transitioned from glorious old black-and-white to living color), and singing sensation Keevy Hazelton stops in Mayberry for some Edwards into performing on his television show a song they had written for a local celebration. he might be onto a potential hit, so he agrees and invites Aunt Bee, Clara, Andy, and Opie to the studio to watch the rehearsal for the broadcast. Unbeknownst to the ladies, the singer has changed the song’s arrangement to a rock-and-roll number, complete with electric guitars and go-go dancers. Upset with his transformation of their song, they force him to perform it as the ballad they had intended. Remember the name of the song? ‘My Hometown,’ written same fellow who whistled the program’s famous theme music. Remember the lyrics?
“My hometown is the greatest place I know, And the living is easy and slow. “My hometown is the only place to be. Here the worries are small and the kids grow tall And strong and healthy and free. “It’s my hometown, my hometown. Mayberry, Mayberry.” It’s been more than 65 years since Mayberry made its television debut, and it has since come to represent the ideal Southern hometown experience. It’s a state of mind, much like how the communities we grew up in and knew as children are totally in them all our lives. Some of us have love-hate relationships with our hometowns. There are those of us who couldn’t wait to leave, only to be happily drawn back in later years. Others never leave, all the while complaining about how conditions in their towns aren’t the way things ought to be, although they can never even imagine living somewhere else. Maybe you’re inclined to replace Mayberry with Talladega in the last line of ‘My Hometown.’ Or Sylacauga. Or Childersburg. Or Munford, Ragland, or Pell City. If so, we hope you’ll appreciate the advertisers who have made it possible for us to present it to you – hope it will remind you of why you love your hometown or the town you’ve chosen to call your home, wherever in Talladega County or St. Clair County it happens to be.
What will you read about in My Hometown?
ON THE COVER
• How an attraction that’s older than the state of Alabama itself brings people from all over the world to our local hometowns. • Two beloved hometown festivals. • A local patriot who became a centenarian earlier this year. • How a hometown business continues to serve its community after more than 100 years of operation. athletics. And those are just some of the highlights. We hope you will enjoy reading these stories as much as our writers have enjoyed yourself thinking, “None of this is hard-hitting news. And nobody’s hometown is perfect. What’s the point of a publication like this?” That’s a fair question. But the answer is simple. It’s something we need. It’s an example of what America has needed ever since The Andy from the reality of life as we know it.
Fireworks over Lincoln’s Landing, one of several hometown pyrotechnics displays held in local communities in early July. Photo by Seth McWilliams
the decade was gone. Assassinations of political and civil rights leaders, civil unrest, the war in Vietnam, and Helter Skelter had seen to that. The country needed to get out of its head, and the place it wanted to go was a more wistful, stable and idealistic version of itself. A hometown we all wish we could’ve grown up in. That may sound kind of corny, and maybe it is, but it’s why Mayberry has never left our collective consciousness for more than half a century. In turbulent and uncertain times, we want to go back to places and times that make us feel safe and secure. Our hometowns represent that. They also represent the best in each of us. We need to be reminded of who we were, who we are, and how we got from there to here. So scoop out a big bowl of Blue Bell ice cream or pour yourself a glass of Red Diamond tea, sit back, and let us tell you some stories.
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
The Daily Home
At the Kymulga Grist Mill & Bridge Festival Petting zoo by the Talladega Creek is a highlight of this year’s community event BY SARAH ELIZABETH MOREMAN DAILY HOME CORRESPONDENT
Remembering the mugginess of last year’s visit to the Kymulga Grist Mill and Bridge Festival, the verdant greens sharply vivid after the rains the previous night, I adjust the long sleeves of my thick-ribbed top to cover my arms. I then slide out of the rental SUV, which I chose since I am taking presents (lots of them) to South Carolina after I stop by the festival. It is graduation season, and I have three niblings graduating from high schools across the South. Actually, two high schools and one home school program. The one in South Carolina graduates from a strong Latin School homeschool program to which my sister contributes, teaching either Latin or economics, depending on the year. Since my sister is taking my graduating nephew, along with my niece
to strict international guidelines. Having been to Spain a few weeks earlier, I observed how important it is to have the right size carry-on, especially when my sister informed me that they are joining this group in Boston. They have been instructed to bring carry-on luggage only, no checked bags, since they will be traipsing all over the cobblestoned streets of Rome and Venice. Pulling myself back to the present, I take in my surroundings as I walk towards the entrance to the festival. Honorable Dale Price, District Judge for Talladega District, greets me, welcoming me to the festival and sharing some suggestions. I thank him before turning toward the screened-in pavilion, which I did not visit last year but want to try this time. Families and groups of all sizes and shapes gather in various forms of interaction beans, and potato chips.
eating. When I step out onto the wooden deck overlooking Talladega Creek, which runs under the covered bridge, built around 1861, I immediately spot a paddling of ducks. Some are white, while others are bold in coloring, which must be the wood ducks. The way they glide through the water so enjoy life. A breeze combs through my hair, causing me to shiver. Deciding to warm up by having that cheeseburger, I move back inside. I thank the volunteers in their black shirts with a large, bold “C” representing Childersburg High School as they hand me a plate with my burger. The savory taste of the grilled meat makes me groan with satisfaction. Props to the volunteers who Wiping away any remnants of my lunch, I rise from the picnic table to continue my meandering through the festival. Even with the sun in its full May I remember from recent years. May is usually warm like last year, and this unexpected coolness, rather than the muggy humidity I expected after
A golf cart rolls past, then stops. I glance over to see a white-bearded man in overalls and a black shirt imprinted with the festival logo on the chest pocket. What keeps my attention longer is the tiny teacup yorkie in his front large pocket, a bib pocket as they call it. I let out an “Ooh, let me take a picture.” He then leans into the golf cart and carries on, as I turn my attention to the tented booths and the crowds milling around each of them. Pork skins, hats, arrowheads, crafts, baked sweets such as pound cake, and pies. There is a long line at the lemonade booth, which tells me of its reputation for homemade freshness. Beyond this lemonade-anticipating crowd, my eyes are drawn to a large, hulking, humped animal. A camel? My eyes shifts to the handwritten words advertising a petting zoo for a three-dollar fee. Deciding to save the petting zoo as my last stop, I meander to the right, toward the beckoning sign that reads “Gem Mining.” Curiosity pulls me towards a long wooden trough, with metal screens, sifting through muddied water. Rough, colored pebbles and stones have been collected. Seeing these gems, I wonder what the girls who hold them in their hands will do with them. Will they craft jewelry with the stones? Or glue them to a board or into a shadowbox? Or use them for some handmade board game? I return to the petting zoo, stepping closer to the corral where the camel stands inside. The camel’s dark eyes are deep and watchful, as if it has been waiting for me to come closer. Its movements are slow and steady, while the little ponies in the next corral bump into one another. The goats, alpacas, bunnies, and a large tortoise are in the adjacent pens. I smile at their energy as they eagerly receive carrots from other bystanders. A girl is riding a saddled pony in a large circle around the grassy area, with a woman handler gently guiding the pony by the halter. Her parents stand by, taking pictures of this memory for the little girl to treasure for years. I still look at my own pony-riding photos in their sepia tones and smile. Little girls should have their pony-riding moments if they cannot get a pony for Christmas. A young boy rushes around, feeding not only carrots but also feed in graciously moves its mouth, muzzling into the Solo cup. A hairy piglet, leashed on the outside of the camel’s corral and lying next to a large water bowl, oinks as the camel partakes the snack. I walk over to pet the pig, then the camel on their noses. Their skin is rough, yet pleasing to the touch. I cannot remember if I have ever petted either of these species, though I petting zoo. Then I recall two years ago at Christmas, when a Baptist church in Opelika hosted a live nativity that included a camel, along with wooly sheep and donkeys. I digress, I have seen camels from afar in nativity or resurrection performances. inspires me to mentally plan a trip to Morocco or Egypt for a camel-riding experience. This musing reminds me that I need to hurry and hit the road to
The Daily Home
MY HOMETOWN
South Carolina to bring the right-sized carry-on luggage to my sister, graduating nephew, and soon-to-graduate niece for their Italy trip. I also bought several essentials such as power banks, adaptors, antibacterial wipes, tissues, and thin journals with good pens to memorialize experiences and observations. Still, I need to at least enjoy more of the petting zoo experience by picking up a bearded dragon to let it latch on to my shoulder and upper arm. I softly talk to it as I pet its scaly skin before placing it back in its cage. I then unravel the small ball python named Slither before pulling it out of its plastic tub next to the bearded dragon. I like holding snakes, as their limbless bodies fascinate me with their strength as they move. After appreciating the snake for a few minutes, I hand it over to the young boy waiting for his turn to hold it. With that, I leave the petting zoo and be on my way to South Carolina, the memories of the morning clinging to my mind. The unseasonable coolness is perfect for this year’s festival, and the petting zoo gets to be enjoyed to its fullest.
New Friends. New Beginnings. Start your Apartment Search here! TALLADEGA & ST. CLAIR COUNTIES
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2610 18th Ave. South, Pell City,AL 35128
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$500/1BR, $600/2BR, $680/3BR
Saturday, July 18, 2026
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
The Daily Home
BUSINESSES from decades past to decades to come. Each year brings new opportunities for continuing growth and progress. These businesses in The Daily Home coverage area have shaped our communities’ future. Read about them here.
OVER 175 YEARS First Bank of Alabama Talladega (256) 362-2334 Lincoln (205) 763-7763 Munford (256) 358-9000 Member FDIC
160-175 YEARS The Daily Home
Talladega (256) 362-1000 Pell City (205) 884-3400 dailyhome.com
101-159 YEARS Alabama Bag
PO Box 576, Talladega (256) 362-4921
Stringer, Montgomery, & Montgomery 138 East Street North P.O. Box 74 Talladega (256) 362-3154 James “Jake” Montgomery Jr. Davis Williamson
Carter’s Hardware Hwy 21 Munford (256) 358-4971
Rose’s Shoes & Boots 1715 2nd Ave E Oneonta, AL (205) 853-8635
Kilgroe Funeral Home 2219 2nd Ave. N. Pell City, AL (205) 338-3341 Since 1908
Presbyterian Home for Children Founded in 1868 President Doug Marshall 905 Ashland Hwy PHFC.org (256) 362-2114 Email us at info@phfc.org
81-90 YEARS Sylacauga Housing Authority 415 West 8th Street Sylacauga (256) 249-0381
71-80 YEARS Porter & Porter Company Talladega (256) 362-4194
61-70 YEARS Southern Alloy Corporation
President Billy T. Bobbitt 36280 US Hwy 280 P.O. Box 1168, Sylacauga (256) 245-5237 Career Opportunities dturner@southernalloy.com www.southernalloy.com
51-60 YEARS Michael’s Men’s Wear 127 Court Square W Talladega (256) 362-2631
Storey’s Tax Service 111 Court St. N Talladega (256) 362-5571 Facebook @Storeystaxservice
41-50 YEARS Isabel Anderson Comer Museum & Arts Center 711 North Broadway Ave Sylacauga (256) 245-4016 Facebook: Comer Museum FREE ADMISSION!
Midway Auto Parts 47815 Hwy 78 E Lincoln (205) 763-7756
State Farm Insurance Sheila Curtis, Agent
420 West Ft. Williams St. Sylacauga (256) 249-8188 704 Battle St. East Talladega (256) 362-4930 sheila.curtis.jrm9@statefarm.com
SafeGuard Corporation Est. 1978 39610 Hwy 280 Sylacauga (256) 207-2101 Owners: Matt Carpenter Angie Hughes Sheila Hatchett
Tallatron
35960 Hwy 21 Talladega (256) 761-1228 License No. 187
Ford Meter Box Co. Inc. 815 Miles Pkwy Pell City (205) 884-4480 www.fordmeterbox.com
31-40 YEARS Grizzard Living Aids 1227 Noble St. Anniston (256) 237-2006 Owner: Terry Grizzard
Piggly Wiggly
320 W Battle St. Talladega (256) 362-7949 125 Bear Parkway
Lincoln (205) 763-7112
Sarah Brazzolotto, LLC Attorney at Law 1908 Cogswell Ave. Pell City (205) 884-7726
Royal Foods 1904 16th Ave. S. Pell City (205) 884-1040
Caran Wilbanks
2319 Cogswell Ave. Suite 101 Pell City (205) 338-7320 caranw@era-king.com
Clark’s Insurance 106 S Court Square
Talladega (256) 362-3548
Kell Realty
17 Court St. West Ashville (205) 594-5391 www.kellrealty.com
21-30 YEARS Piggly Wiggly
1070 1st St. NW Childersburg (256) 378-5795 1244 Talladega Hwy Sylacauga (256) 249-4836 1351 W Ft. Williams St. Sylacauga (256) 249-8989
Payne Science Pest Management Company 106 Stonegate Circle Lincoln (256) 362-2800 Owner: Kyle Payne
AlaHomes Realty, LLC 112 Court Square S Talladega (256) 368-9008 HeatherRoberts-Realtor alahomes.com
SAFE Family Services Center (Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement, inc) 78 Betsy Ross Lane PO Box 1122 Sylacauga (256) 245-4343
FIRST Family Services Center 901 Sloan Ave. #130 Westgate Talladega (256) 362-7254 safefamilyservicescenter.com Follow us on Facebook too!
Atkinson Homes, Inc. 33230 US Hwy 280 Childersburg, AL 35044 (256) 378-1201 www.atkinsonhomesal.com In business since 1997
Bain & Co. CPA 1609 Cogswell Ave. Pell City (205) 884-2332
16-20 YEARS Lincoln Chiropractic 47795 US Hwy 78 Lincoln (205) 763-2222 Lincolnchiropractic.org
11-15 YEARS Jazz M’ Up
1607 Martin St. S. Suite 1 Pell City (205) 884-7387 doggroomer@petlover.com Like us on Facebook!
Express Pharmacy 320 W Battle St. (Inside Piggly Wiggly) Talladega (256) 362-1120
1-5 YEARS XDross Jewelry
1607 Martin St. S. Suite 1 Pell City (205) 352-5423 jamesadenney10@gmail.com
Morgan Munn
Realtor ERA King Real Estate 2319 Cogswell Ave., Suite 101 Pell City (256) 223-0838 morganm@eraking.com morganmunnrealestate.com
The Daily Home
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
Up, up, and away Exploring the skies with the Museum of Pell City’s Immersive flight simulator BY LOYD MCINTOSH DAILY HOME CORRESPONDENT
Flying isn’t exactly in my blood.
O’Hare Airport in Chicago – the world’s busiest airport at the time – to start a four-game road trip to play DePaul, Marquette, St. Louis, and Central Michigan. with the frustrations of air travel: rushing to make the plane on time, Now one of the museum’s most popular attractions, the simulator allows a nap, playing a pick-up game in a corridor with a hacky sack, landing in in a Bücker Bü 133 Jungmeister (a single-engine biplane developed in the 1930s) or over the Statue of Liberty on your way to Manhattan in a Robin DR-400 monoplane. Mosul, Iraq, in a Messerschmitt ME 262, or do a training run over the desert landscape of Monument Valley, Arizona, in a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. All of these are in-air experiences, meaning the pilot of the virtual experience only has to handle the
an expanse of cottony whiteness through the window, and the stomachchurning anxiety of landing in total darkness. Thirty-plus years later, I’m still fascinated by the experience, but one experience I know I’ll never know is the feeling of piloting a jet, or any plane for that matter. Fortunately, the
in the pilot’s chair, you look straight ahead at the display on a large, curved screen monitor. The plane’s hand controls are on either side of the pilot,
of Pell City provides a close-enough facsimile, without the danger or the need for Dramamine. Created as part of the Museum of
allowing the pilot to control the rudder and push the plane right or left. The joystick on the right rolls the plane left or right and controls the pitch up or down. The experience is quite realistic and takes a minute to learn to control the plane. A somewhat clumsy goofus, I spent much of my time learning to coordinate my movements, but soon got the hang of it, steering the plane directly over the Statue of Liberty, then turning the plane 180 degrees and heading back toward Manhattan and the Empire State Building.
simulator gives visitors a hands-on experience of military and civilian made possible through a partnership with the Pell City Airport Authority, local pilots, and other community supporters, who raised more than $6,000 in just two days. Among the major contributors are the late Pell City Circuit Judge Bill Hereford, the St. Clair County Airport Authority, Elmer and Glenda Harris, INPAC, Calvin Smith, Donnie and Ellen Todd, Dream Home Inspections, and Gilreath Printing, along with a grant from the United Way of Central Alabama. With funding secured, museum curator Jeremy Gossett led the “We wanted to create an exhibit that would bring visitors closer to the experience of military aviation,” explains Erica Grieve, the museum’s
over, did barrel rolls, pitched the plane up to climb high above the scenery below, and dropped my altitude to buzz right over the trees of the north coast of France.
just for a moment, and helps them appreciate the skill and courage of those who serve.”
Airport. This takes some practice. Using the controller on the left to throttle the engines, the trick is to increase speed while controlling the plane’s
and eventually buzzed over Logan Martin. It is possible to crash the plane; however, before you hit the ground, the screen goes black, prompting the pilot to go back ten seconds, start over, or
However, it also serves as an educational tool and a tribute to military aviators. Grieve says the museum hopes the exhibit will inspire future pilots and deepen appreciation for those who have served, and continue to serve, our country. time is one of my favorite parts of this exhibit,” she says. “It’s not only fun — it’s meaningful. It connects people to aviation, to service, and to the stories we’re preserving here.” Learn more at museumofpellcity.org.
ST. CLAIR COUNTY BUSINESSES
Logan Martin Veterinary Clinic Providing quality care for your best friend Dr. Larry Chasteen, D.V.M. 1220 Martin St. S. | Pell City
(205) 884-3412
24 HOUR TOWING Air irr Cushion Recov Recovery ve y Wheel heel Lifts Light Lig ght & Heavy Hea y Dutyy Wreckers ecke s
MURRAY’S GARAGE, INC.
Springville
Small Engine Service We Are A Dealer For: Country Clipper, Dixie Chopper, Masport Push Mowers, EFCO & Maruyama Weed Eaters.
Auto & TTruck uck Repai s Repairs
Auto & Truck Repairs
1600 9th Street | Leeds, AL 35094
205-699-6651
205-467-0373
Stacy Shoop, Owner 5270 US Hwy. 11, Springville
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
The Daily Home
A conversation with Nikki Stiles Baker
BY BUDDY ROBERTS
SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR
A host of titles could be used to describe Nikki Stiles Baker. Author. Designer. Brand strategist. Coach. Entrepreneur. An alumna of the University of Miami and Talladega College, she’s worked in the entertainment, government,
conversation at the Armstrong-Osborne Public Library in Talladega. DH: How did you develop the idea for your book? Baker: I started taking some classes in social media, and
you’re in the woods with a bear or you’re hunting for food, right? But you don’t want it around while you’re nurturing a baby. Tools serve a purpose, and that’s to make life easier
humans. But we can abuse them, and if taught us was to there should someone produce a book. And around to say, ‘This I was like, ‘Well, what is the proper way or am I going to write about?’ So I decided way to use this tool to write about what I for this purpose.’ I would tell the me of want to teach people 20 years ago, which what I’ve found to is to stay a little bit and technology adventurous. The way to use these sectors. She’s led pioneers going out tools for business, projects for the west, they had to be especially for artists National Association adventurous, right? and designers. of Negro Business In any age, it’s those & Professional DH: As a creative who went and got Women’s Club and individual, what the goal that led currently serves as inspires you? the age. Right now, the organization’s Baker: I think those who lead in Southeast district there’ s something information will lead governor. As the about water too that in this age by staying founder and CEO fosters creativity. adventurous and on When you’re at the the trend, not way goal is to empower water – whether small businesses and behind the trend. The book is pretty short and simple, purpose-driven but it’s basically design. Her book, lessons about how to “Side Hustle Glow get out of your way Up: How to Turn creatively, how to Your Creativity into connect with current a Bankable Design Business,” is available information age tools and applications, and on Amazon and how to jump in. Audible. DH: And social But the titles and the accomplishments media is an example of information age aren’t in themselves tools? indicative of Baker: Exactly. Just the engaging, like any tool, it can be unpretentious used inappropriately. personality behind A gun, for example. them, which was You want a gun if on display during a
City of
Cragdale Baptist Church
A Good Place To Call Home
Mayor Rodney (Buck) Christian
2149 Berney Station Rd. Talladega
Sunday School -10 am Morning Worship - 11 am Night Worship - 6 pm Wednesday Night Bible Study & Prayer Meeting - 6 pm
Pastor Sam Walker
CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS 2nd and 4th Monday - 7:00p.m.
Work Sessions - 2nd Monday - 6:00p.m.
CITY DEPARTMENTS
•City Hall •Building Department •Fire Department •Police Department •Public Works Separtment •Utility Departments •Library
183 Alabama Street, Odenville, AL 35120
205.629.6366
SYLACAUGA
CHURCH OF GOD 106 South Main Ave Sylacauga
256-245-2053 or 256-267-8888 SundayMorning10:30 a.m. SundayEvening5:00 p.m. WednesdayMid-Week service– 7:00 p.m.
A warm WELCOME for everyone!
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS Jimmy Bailey-Mayor Pro Tem Tammy Crow Elaine Mize Kelli Sanders Don Smith
se Churches Invite to ip at ir
Pastor Ti m Wilson
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 200 8th Ave SW Childersburg Sunday Service 10:20 10:30 a.m.
(256) 378-6058 childersbur
.com
Victory Church Build Strong Families Pell City, Lincoln, & Talladega Find service times & locations on our website: victoryal.com fb.com/victorychurchal @victorychurchal
Pastor Andy Lambert
970 River Road, Cropwell, AL 350 54
Phone 205.642.8744 Web Site: cvcog.church Text (GU EST) to 205.6 42.8 744 for more informat ion
The Daily Home
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
it’s the ocean or the lake – it’s sprouts. The yeast rises in the oven before you bake. The baby nature, right? It’s bigger than you. And water is constantly develops in the womb before moving. Movement stimulates it’s born. Sometimes even when right brain activity. So sometimes you feel like you’re not being when you feel a creative block or creative, you are. You’re just in something, you can take a walk that part of the process where or even take a shower, and often you don’t see it. So don’t worry you’ll having all these bubbling much about it. Journaling can thoughts. If you feel a block, put also help. You can do what are yourself in motion. Don’t worry called morning pages. You make about feeling blocked. The seed grows underground before it See Conversations on page 15D
SYLACAUGA CITY SCHOOLS
• • • •
Indian Valley Elementary Pinecrest Elementary Nichols-Lawson Middle School Sylacauga High School
Dr. Michelle Eller, Superintendent 43 North Broadway Ave. Sylacauga, AL 35150
Our Board
The Pell City Chamber of Commerce Board MembersFront row (l-r): Matt Hunter, Phaith Frazier, Jim Regan, Darren Blakely, Judge Phil Seay; Back Row (l-r): Executive Assistant Ella Charlson, Treasurer Donald Gover, William Bullard, President Thomas Ray Mauldin, Philip Brewer, President Ex-O io Shirley Kujan, President-Elect Stephanie Garner, Vice-President Rotunda Forman, Executive Director Urainah Glidewell
www.scsboe.org
Logan Martin Veterinary Clinicc
venient • C n o o C
• To Providing You
With Quality Service
Odenville Piggly Wiggly) Odenville Drugs 205-629-6303 2319 Cogswell Ave. Mainstreet Pell City Drugs 205-338-4903 US Hwy 231 Ashville 35767Ashville Drugs 205-594-7088 140 Council Dr. (next to
The Historic Ritz Theatre
Talladega’s iconic national Art Deco landmark, premier tourist destination, and source of pride for all her citizens.
Providing quality care for your best friend Dr. Larry Chasteen, D.V.M. 1220 MARTIN ST S., PELL CITY
205-884-3412
115 Court Square North, Talladega, AL 35160 256-315-000 www.ritztalladega.com
JOIN THE HERD. T East Alabama, Southern Union empowers students campuses, students gain the knowledge, support, and real-world experience needed to transfer, earn a
SUSCC.EDU
000290482r1
Discover a community where opportunity meets quality of life. Pell City’s population is on the rise, and so are its possibilities. Enjoy some of the finest recreational amenities in the state, nationally accredited schools that prepare students for success, and a strong commitment to quality healthcare. From local entrepreneurs to global enterprises, businesses here are flourishing—fueling a vibrant and dynamic economy. And at the heart of it all, you’ll find a warm, welcoming community!
With 3 Locations To Serve You
mitted m
In partnership with our community, Sylacauga City Schools encourages, equips, and empowers all students to own their future by providing diverse pathways to an excellent educa
City is Growing And Thriving.
Your Hometown Drugstore
Caring
Equipping Everyone for Excellence
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
The Daily Home
There She Is
New Miss St. Clair Area represents local communities at Miss Alabama competition BY FAITH DORN
DAILY HOME CORRESPONDENT
Kaitlin Glawson is Miss St. Clair Area 2026, awarded the title during the local competition earlier this year that was the “last chance” preliminary for the upcoming Miss Alabama competition. “It has been such a whirlwind,” she said. “I’ll never forget when they called my name.” The new Miss St. Clair Area was crowned January 31, along with Miss River City and Miss Autauga County Fair. The “End of Year Competition” produced the winners preliminary titleholders
who will compete for the Miss Alabama title this summer. The competition was hosted in St. Clair County, at Springville Middle School. Glawson, a senior studying fashion design at the University of year MBA candidate, pageant at age 5. “It was Miss Merry Christmas. It was at a church, and I wore a Sunday School dress,” recalls Glawson fondly. She estimates she has competed in 30 pageants since that competitions have been important for her
development because they have helped her grow as a person and increased her says that competing in so many pageants has improved her interview and communication skills. “I was a very shy kid, and I have been able to come out of my shell,” Glawson said. “Pageant opportunities also award scholarships that can change lives.” She adds that they’ve also taught her to be prepared in any situation. “I did a study abroad program this summer. My backpack had
Band-Aids, a Tide pen—anything you can imagine,” said Glawson. With all of her positive experiences, she has been surprised by the amount of backlash
she has seen pageants receive. “I never realized they received negative reviews until I got older. I would encourage everybody to be a bit
more open-minded. Listen to the answers these women are giving about hot topic issues with eloquence, Pageants have changed
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The Daily Home lives and helped people grow. Most people know ‘Toddlers and Tiaras’— which is a very dramatic version of pageants.” Glawson’s duties as Miss St. Clair Area are wide-ranging. She has served as the emcee for the Little Miss Helena pageant. She makes appearances at ribbon cuttings and festivals. She reaches out to schools and food pantries in partnership with her community service initiative, “Full Plates Project.” The goal of the initiative is to end hunger one meal at a time. “The Full Plates Project has been a long time in the making, because food insecurity is an issue I care about. Almost 900,000 Alabamians, 23 percent of whom are children, go without food for days at a time,” she said. “There are children in local communities who don’t have food on the weekends.” Glawson has been helping. In 2022, she worked with the mayor of Helena to declare September as Hunger Awareness Month. More 5,000 canned
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN goods were donated to the Backpack Buddies students in St. Clair County. In June, Glawson competed in Miss
before the competition. time. “I am very excited and also very nervous. There is so much preparation to do, and I truly want to make the most of it,” she said
is to advocate for food insecurity awareness Although she in Alabama. I hope was excited for the competition and meeting someone in the audience will want to make an new friends, she impact.” remained focused on her goal. “Overall, this Whatever future
pageant opportunities may come, Glawson plans to continue to make an impact in the lives of Alabamians living with food insecurity.
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MY HOMETOWN
Nature
The Daily Home
journaling and sailing on Logan Martin Lake with biologist Amy Sides BY SARAH ELIZABETH MOREMAN DAILY HOME CORRESPONDENT
sure I have the name right as I scribble it in my lined notebook. She nods and repeats, “Charlotte
I step outside to take in the surrounding nature of Logan Martin Lake. I smile and wave. We shake hands as I introduce myself. “Sarah Elizabeth. Nice to meet you.” “Amy.” She smiles. “Let me grab the journals. I have some in the car.” I watch as she places each of her journals carefully on top of the other, almost reverently. I ask how she got involved with nature journaling. She begins to explain that the foundation for her interest began when she was homeschooling her two daughters. “Charlotte Mason?” I interrupt, making
philosophies, and she is one of them. She was an educator around the turn of the 20th century in England. One of her main ideas about education was to get kids out in nature. And I am a biologist. I thought to myself, ‘Oh, I like that idea.’” “So, Charlotte Mason at the turn of the 20th century in England. You were saying her philosophy inspired you with nature journaling?” “Yes. Through nature study, we learn to observe closely. We look, and when we put things in a nature journal, it is like retelling what we observed in nature. Her philosophy emphasized a
lot of retelling. If you read a chapter of a book, you retell what you read. By retelling, you absorb it and make it your own.
details, he told Watson, ‘I am not smarter than the average person, but I notice things.’ Nature journaling helps us slow down and spend time in nature,
“And if you think about Sherlock Holmes and how he noticed so many
See Nature on page 22D
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MY HOMETOWN
Saturday, July 18, 2026
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
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The Daily Home
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Born to Compete
MY HOMETOWN
Saturday, July 18, 2026
Inside the remarkable athletic legacy of a Pell City family BY LOYD MCINTOSH DAILY HOME CORRESPONDENT
If you were to ask your favorite AI platform to name some famous athletic families, a handful of names immediately pop up in the search results. If you know your sports history, you’re no doubt familiar with them: the Mannings, the Currys, and the Boones likely all spring to mind. However, another athletic family that should make the list is Pell City’s own, the Richards. Many people around Pell City know the Richards well. But what many the Richards (pronounced in the French manner with a soft ch: Ri-shard) are all former or current college athletes. Furthermore, not only are they all jocks, but good ones, excelling at a total of six disciplines at seven institutions. The Richards are obviously gifted athletically, but it also helps to be competitive, which they are competitive to the point of absolute madness. (They’re also dear friends of mine, so I can talk smack about them if I want - playfully, of course). Seriously, though, this crazy and amazing bunch can - and often does - turn everything into a competition. “We don’t like to lose. We even drive two cars to church and race home,” admits Brian “Richie” Richard, the family patriarch. “I mean, we’ve raced over the border into Canada.” That is where their story begins, in Richie’s hometown of Windsor, Ontario, a city just over the Canadian border and just seven miles from Detroit, Michigan, and a major hockey hotbed. Primarily playing left wing and moving to defense on power plays, Richie was a dual and “enforcer” rolled up in one. “In junior hockey, I led the team in scoring and in penalty minutes,” says Richie with more than a hint of pride. Despite being highly recruited out of high school, he decided against attending a four-year college and initially pursued a career in law enforcement. However, hiring policies at that time limited opportunities, forcing him to reevaluate his priorities. After putting his name out to recruiters, Richie was contacted by coaches from several major collegiate hockey programs, including Miami of Ohio and, believe it or not, Harvard. “‘I said, number one, I don’t think I’ll be able to get into your school,’” recalled Richie regarding his conversation with Harvard coach Ronn Tomassoni. “‘Number two, if I do get into your school, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stay.’” He eventually chose the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH), which, at independent hockey team, one of the few below the Mason-Dixon line - a major selling point to the native Canadian. “The opportunity to come down and play hockey and wear shorts very, very appealing.” Richie played at UAH from 1992-95, a period that saw the Chargers shock the collegiate hockey scene, traveling around the country and beating some of the nation’s best teams, like Ohio State and a memorable trip to Rhode Island to play Providence. “They were ranked
Channel Cats before hanging up his skates in the late 90s. Ali Engram Richard grew up in Georgia and played for the Jonesboro Cardinals girls basketball team, where she excelled at the point guard position despite being a little taller than the average female roundball player. “I was actually a point guard in high school only because we didn’t have one,” Ali says. Following graduation from high school, Ali went the junior college route, playing two years at Calhoun Community College in Decatur. Assigned the position of shooting guard, she was a standout for the Warhawks, setting a short-lived record in the NJCAA tournament by going seven-for-eight competitive spirit made it darn near behind the three-point line in a single impossible to get either one of them game during her freshman year. to spots on an elite travel team, both As her second year at Calhoun Community College was coming to an City High School teams through the late was over and prepared to return home 2010s-early 2020s and highly recruited by several regional colleges. Saylor also to Georgia. However, a teammate who was transferring to UAH convinced her spent some time as a placekicker on the Panthers football team. to try out for the Chargers. Harbor chose Faulkner University “I was packed up, ready to come home, that May of my sophomore year. in Montgomery, where she played I don’t really know what I was going to do,” says Ali. “So I tried out, and I came turbulent 2020 season. Following her freshman campaign, Harbor was literally tore the contract.” ready to start the next chapter of She played two seasons for UAH as a forward, a fact that confuses her to welcoming her daughter, Miley, in 2025. too tall for a point guard, but much too Saylor initially chose the University short for a forward.” of West Alabama, starting in 35 of Ali completed her senior season and, 36 games during two seasons in once again, thought her college athletic Livingston. After a coaching change, Saylor transferred to Fort Hays State career was over. However, she was University in rural Hays, Kansas, noticed jogging on campus one day where she quickly emerged as a major by the UAH Cross Country coach, who contributor. with a meet coming up in just a few In 2025, Saylor started in 11 games days. as a defender, scoring two goals and earning the MIAA Defender of the Week “He asked me if I wanted to run, and award in September. said he would give me a scholarship. I said, ‘I’m not fast,’ and he said, ‘I don’t The Richards knew Saylor was have time to recruit.’ I mean, they had a developing into a physically and meet that weekend,” Ali says. “He said, emotionally tough athlete - she played ‘I don’t expect you to win, but I know football after all. But Ali was surprised you’re competitive enough that you won’t get beaten by everybody.’” brand of soccer at Saylor’s opening game of the season and came away After running cross country for one year, Ali’s years as a competitive athlete with a new appreciation for what her daughter had signed up for. came to an end. The Richards were married in 1997, settled in Pell City, and started their family. Saylor, ‘Wow, that was quite the physical game,’” Ali recalls. “And her Many of us who live in Pell City practically watched Harbor, Saylor, and coach laughed and told me that was a River grow up playing sports: club ball, weak team.” junior high, and high school. River played several sports as a kid, but early on, it was clear running was The girls gravitated to soccer and played together on their competitive race, where they teamed up to run in club team in Trussville despite a twoa local 5K. The plan was for the pair to stick close to each other so Richie could keep on eye on the third grader. That Saylor, who started the season on the bench, only to repeat the conversation plan quickly hit a snag. after she took her older sister’s starting “Ali called me during the race and spot a few games later. said, ‘How are you guys doing?’ I said, ‘I “‘Whenever you get the opportunity haven’t seen him since about a quarter
hicks from Alabama,” explains Rich, “and we beat them 4-2 in their rink.” The team even made the cover of Sports Illustrated during that run, in which Richie can be seen sporting a cheesy mid-90s mustache. How he landed a chick like Ali with that lip brow is anyone’s guess - even hers. “We really didn’t like each other,” teases Ali, to which Riche responds, overall, and he was nine years old!” “‘So you’ve got to go out and give it your “She despised me.” River ran cross country in high all.’” Richie went on to play a little minor school, graduating in 2025, and Before long, their talent and league hockey for the Huntsville was recruited by several programs
before committing to the University of Louisiana-Monroe. However, his The coach who had recruited him left for another program before River set foot on campus, and a scholarship during move-in. The Richards were encouraged to
scholarship, opening a new door. River spent his freshman year competing in cross country in the fall, indoor track in the winter, and outdoor track in the spring, running essentially year-round He closed his freshman year by 3,000-meter steeplechase — and is one of two nominees for ULM’s Rookie of the Year award. After lacing up his shoes and running for almost nine consecutive months, River has earned a little time. “He is looking forward to his break,” Ali says during our interview in early May. For Richie and Ali, who, between them, played hockey, basketball, cross country, and professional hockey at high levels — and who know better than most what it takes to compete at that level — watching all three forge their own paths, excel on their own terms, and grow as people has been the greatest victory of all. “For all three of them,” says Richie, everything they put into it.”
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
The Daily Home
Carter’s Hardware A stable fixture in a changing world
years, Gary was ready to retire,” she said. “As a family, we didn’t want to sell or close the store. Out of my siblings, I was the only one still living in Munford, both my brother and sister BY KRISTI SELLERS having families and careers outside of DAILY HOME CORRESPONDENT the state. My brother Tony is in North In Munford, where the hills roll gently Carolina and my sister Katie is in South and everyone waves whether they Carolina. In June of 2023, I took over the know you or not, Carter’s Hardware has business. I am the responsible party quietly been the heart of the town for and sign all the paperwork but my more than a century. The small store daughter, Rebecca Luckado, manages all Carter’s Hardware is at 43123 Highway 21 in Munford. on Highway 21 has helped folks keep the day to day operations.” things running—homes, farms, engines, Step through the front door, and you’ll talk about town news and Friday night and lives—since long before anyone thought to order a hammer online. and the soft hum of conversation. The free, and the glass Cokes are cold. We The Carter name has been tied to even have a selection of old-fashioned hardware in Munford for generations. tool, nut, bolt, and bucket. There are sodas, like orange cream, root beer, or What started as a small supply business auto parts and spark plugs, paint sarsaparilla.” run by the family’s earlier generations cans in every shade, garden tools, and There’s a kind of magic in that—a has grown and evolved into the Carter’s plumbing supplies that have solved rhythm of community that hums quietly Hardware of today. Founded in 1910 by more Saturday morning crises than beneath the business of bolts and brake J. Renzo Carter, the current store carries anyone could count. pads. on more than a hundred years of family Through the years, Carter’s has know-how and small-town service. that. Need your chains or blades weathered every change time could In 1918, J. Renzo’s brother J.P. joined sharpened? They can do that. Need throw its way. When chain stores came, him in operating the Munford Mercantile Carter’s stayed. When online shopping until 1930. According to current owner sputtering lawn mower? You’ll get that Dovie Turner, “by the late 1940s, Dial too—along with a story and a laugh. Munford folks needed advice on how Carter (Renzo’s son) ran the store under Carter’s Hardware has been a local to patch a roof or jump a car battery, the name Jot-Em-Down Store. No matter spot for U-Haul rentals for the past Carter’s was still right where it had the name, most people just referred to it 25 years. Keys can be cut here, and always been—steady, reliable, and as Carter’s Store.” it’s the place for ordering parts for friendly as ever. After Dial’s death in 1967, his brother lawnmowers, chainsaws, and ATVs. The secret to its endurance? It’s Frank Carter took over and operated the For locals, Carter’s is more than simple. The Carters never forgot who store until his death in 1972. Sara Carter convenience—it’s a lifeline. Why go they were serving. Every person who (Frank’s wife) ran the store until their elsewhere when the folks at Carter’s walks through that door matters, son Gary graduated from college and already know what you need? took over around 1977. timer. Part of Carter’s charm is that it still Until 2023, Gary Carter, the third feels like the old hardware stores you Since taking charge of the store, the generation to operate the business, remember from childhood – the kind new owner and manager have upgraded stood behind the counter just like his where the air smells faintly of sawdust multiple aspects of the business, all grandfather once did. He knows the and motor oil and where people gather regulars by name, remembers what on slow mornings just to catch up. You brand of oil they prefer, and has a story might come in for a can of paint and POS system to track products and sales. for just about every item on the shelf. end up staying half an hour swapping “Gary did it all the old-school way and For the people of Munford, Carter’s isn’t had all the locations and prices in his just a store—it’s a piece of home. head,” says Turner. troubles, or last night’s ball game. Carter’s has received a fresh coat of Now, Gary’s daughter, Dovie Turner, paint, the shelves have been replaced, runs the family business. “After 45 him here several days a week ready to
Munford retailer celebrates 116 years of history and tradition while making plans for the future
and the signs have been rebranded. Need a gallon of paint mixed? Carter’s with its line of Pittsburgh Paints. If you need to ship a package via UPS, Carter’s Hardware can do that too. The store has big plans for the future. With changing times and customer demand, the hometown store wants Soon, the store intends to become an also call for an expanded garden center selection. For over a century, Carter’s Hardware has been part of the daily heartbeat of Munford. It’s where tools are sold and friendships are built, where advice is free, and where a handshake still means something. According to Turner, “Carter’s is one of the – if not the – oldest businesses in Munford. We have always been family-run. We do our best to support our community and schools in any way allow people to stay closer to home and keep their business in our town. If we can save you a 20-minute trip to a big box store, then we have done our job.” “We have,” she added, “been blessed with the amount of support we have received from our community, especially during the recent changes. We want people to know that even though Gary retired, we are still here and hope to be for many more years.”
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The Daily Home
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
At the Magic of
Marble Festival Sylacauga hosts ‘family reunion’ of talented, inspiring sculptors BY CHERITH GLOVER FLUKER
the city synonymous with the marble Michelangelo used. This same stone is the one Sylacauga’s white marble is DAILY HOME CORRESPONDENT most often compared to. Every spring I grew up in Talladega County, less than for 12 days, Central Park in downtown 20 miles from Sylacauga. For most of my life, that was just a fact. One of those the country and around the world. They pieces of information that, as a kid, you claim a block of marble, set up their tools, and spend nearly two weeks about it. I knew people called it the Marble They work openly, allowing anyone who City. You absorb that growing up in wanders through a front row seat to see Alabama, learn it in school, hear it at the sculptors at work. dinner table, and then eventually it just I wandered through on a Tuesday becomes background noise. After a while, morning. you nod and move on. As I approached the sculpting area, My uncle worked at one of the marble quarries. I know this the way I know a lot grinders and other tools that somehow, of things about my childhood — in pieces, the closer I got, felt less like noise and without the full picture. I remember more like rhythm. Under a long tent, riding out there in the summers with my artists stood at their blocks in various aunt to take him lunch. We’d pull up, chat states of concentration. Some had barely home. I never once thought to ask what he actually did at work. Never thought to look around. It was just where my uncle worked. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the things I took for granted growing up. I now think about the places I drove past, the stories I didn’t think to ask about, and the history sitting right underneath my feet that I never bothered to look down and notice. The older I get, the more I want to go back and pay attention this time. I want to learn the things I should have learned years ago. I’ve found that the more I understand about where I’m from, the more I love it. Alabama keeps surprising me. So when a colleague mentioned the Magic of Marble Festival in passing, I was intrigued. I realized that I’d been ignoring something that deserved my attention all along. I decided to go. The festival began in 2008 as a cultural exchange between Alabama’s arts council and Pietrasanta, Italy,
started, a few tentative lines scored into the surface, still just observing. Others were deep in it, bending close to study a curve, stepping back, then stepping forward again. Marble dust moved through the air like smoke, settling on the worktables, the tools, the sculptors’ clothes and hair. Nobody seemed to mind. I was wearing a black dress. Rookie mistake. The second day, I came more prepared. What I hadn’t anticipated was how welcoming everything felt. I’d imagined down, too absorbed to be interrupted. Instead, I found the park had the warmth of people genuinely glad to share what they love. Sculptors stopped mid-chisel to answer my questions, pointing out details in their work, explaining their process with an intentional patience, hand at sculpting. Several of them told me some version of the same thing: their mission isn’t just to make beautiful
things. It’s to make sure the next generation picks up the tools. They want to inspire. You could feel that intention in the way they talked to everyone who wandered over. Nobody was turned away from the conversation. One long-timer called the festival a family reunion. Another said it was about picking up conversations right where you left them the year before. You could feel the particular comfort of people who don’t need to explain themselves to each other and the particular generosity of people who want to bring you into that circle anyway. I walked across the street to the B.B. Comer Memorial Library, which holds past festival pieces in its permanent collection and runs a marble art sale room during the event. Then I made my way to a lecture: From Soul to Stone: The Artistic Journey of Charles and Ada Cummings. I’m glad I didn’t skip it. Charles and Ada are from Titus, Alabama — small town, central Alabama, the kind of place that doesn’t show up on many lists. Charles spent the better part of four decades in the optical business before retiring and, almost on a whim, then marble. Ada came alongside him. Now they return to the festival every year, and the room they drew was full — sculptors, festival regulars, curious newcomers, all of us leaning in. They moved through their story carefully, the way people do when they’ve lived something rather than just rehearsed it. They talked about the strangeness of starting over late, about learning to read stone the way you learn
to read a person — slowly, with a lot of wrong assumptions before the right ones settle in. Ada spoke about the meditative quality of the work, how the resistance of the marble demands a presence that’s talked about the mistakes. He didn’t shy away from them or rush past them. a thing they’ve come to believe all the way through: the mistakes are where the learning is. At some point the room stopped being a presentation and became something else — a conversation, then laughter, then that particular feeling of being somewhere you didn’t expect to belong Before it ended, someone asked the Cummings what kept drawing them back. Charles looked around the room for a moment and said simply, “Family.” He meant the sculptors. He meant the people who come back to this park every April and pick up right where they left visit, surrounded by people I’d never met, I felt it too. I drove home the same way I’ve driven that road my whole life. But I was thinking about marble. About what it means to grow up next to something extraordinary and never stop to look at it. About how much Alabama has been trying to show me all along, if I’d just been paying attention. The Cummings found their art after four decades in another life. I found a piece of my home I didn’t know I was missing. I didn’t have to go far. I just had to stop driving past it.
Celebrating All Our Hometown Communities Together - Working for a Bright Future. Ben, Melanie, and Gabe Robbins Paid for by Ben Robbins for State House, POB 888, Sylacauga, AL
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
The Daily Home
The Cemeteries of
Talladega County “Thus refreshed I entered the weird and beautiful abode of the dead” – John Muir BY SUSAN COOK
DAILY HOME CORRESPONDENT
I saw a ghost in a cemetery once. At least, I think I did. The spirit wore a sheer white mist of a gown that wrapped itself around a tall weathered gravestone and then...vanished. You’re probably thinking, “Oh, it was just a trick of the light on a dark, cold evening.” I wish. My ghost made its daring appearance in the bright bold daylight of a cloudless summer afternoon. While I don’t typically make a habit
of walking through cemeteries, the time or two I’ve found myself meandering among the gravestones has been an oddly soothing experience. Maybe it’s the air, heavy with the weight of time and buried secrets. A cemetery is one of the rare places on earth where past and present intertwine like a climbing vine, where the whispers of the dead mingle with the whispers of the living. The headstones tell a brief story of these strangers’ lives. Beginnings and endings, connected by that allimportant dash in the middle—a lifespan etched into a crumbling stone. Each monument has its tale to tell. Perhaps there’s a tragic love story here or a life cut short by sickness or war. But it’s the forgotten graves, the ones obscured by time and encroaching nature, that hold
the most intrigue. Here lie the remains of those who’ve been left behind by the march of progress, their stories slowly and silently erased from the collective memory. If I linger too long among the tombstones, I feel the wavering fear of my own eventual mortality, and I go a little cold in the toes. The veil that
separates us from the other side grows thin, and maybe my eyes play tricks on me. While I don’t know if I truly saw a ghost that day or even if I believe the spirits of the dead sometimes glide among us, I’m never more alive than when I feel the tingling wonder of life’s strange beauty and mysteries—the wonder of the unknown.
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The Daily Home
MY HOMETOWN
Saturday, July 18, 2026
Majestic Caverns An Alabama attraction that’s older than the nation BY CHERITH GLOVER FLUKER DAILY HOME CORRESPONDENT
“My father is a caveman.” teacher didn’t think it was too funny. She was a student at Briarwood Christian School in Birmingham when a substitute teacher went around the room asking students to answer simple questions in Spanish. When the teacher got to Joy, she asked what her father did for a living. “I said he was a caveman,” Joy recalls. The class erupted. The substitute, certain she was being mocked, asked again. Joy repeated herself. More laughter. The “The principal had to meet with her and explain that my father really was a caveman, and I wasn’t being disrespectful.” — doctors, lawyers, HR administrators, construction managers. And then she thought about her own father, spending his days in the earth beneath country. “I think that’s when I realized it was unique,” she says. That cave is Majestic Caverns, and as the United States of America celebrates its 250th anniversary, Joy – the park’s president – wants people to know that this cave was here long before the country had a name. The story of Majestic Caverns doesn’t begin with Joy, or even her father. It begins in 1912, when her great-great-grandmother, Ida Mathis, purchased the property. Ida was no ordinary woman. Her work as an agricultural reformer, her a place in the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame and the nickname “economic Moses of the South.” “When you come from a family like that,” Joy says, “you grow up and you’re like, wow, she was a really big person.” The cave had been in the Mathis family since Ida’s day, eventually landing with Joy’s grandfather, who, despite living in Chicago, poured every dollar of lease income back into marketing the property rather than pocketing it. When Joy’s father came to see the cave after college, he ended up staying. He really stayed. Joy’s father slept on a twin mattress in the back of a small gift shop, showering with a hose in the early mornings before guests arrived. He taught himself plumbing from a how-to book and converted that hose into an indoor shower so his Ohio-born bride would agree to move “Really, truly humble beginnings,” Joy says. Allen Mathis, Joy’s father, built the gift shop, the maze, and the attractions. Many of them with his own hands. Today, at 74 years old, he still works at the cave. Joy recently received a photo from a maintenance worker: her father, the Before it was a tourist attraction, the cave was already ancient. The Indigenous people of the region called it Nanahungay — “Fathers Out of the Hill.” They believed it was the birthplace of their nation and the storytelling womb of their people. Artifacts found there date back 2,000 years to the Woodland Period, and the cave holds the remains of burial traditions long before the United States existed. In 1796, Benjamin Hawkins, an agent of George Washington’s administration, documented the cave, and his words have lasted. He wrote that some of the rooms appear as works of art.
The formations he marveled at are still growing. “It’s one of the very few places you can go where people 2,000 years ago would have seen similar formations,” Joy says. “They would have seen the space look similarly.” When Joy’s father took over stewardship of the cave, he made a decision that said something about the kind of family this is: the original human remains that had been displayed publicly were removed. He reached out to Native American descendants, invited them to rebury the remains in the cave with dignity, and stepped away so they could do it privately. To this day, he does not know where the remains were laid to rest. “He felt like that was something they needed to do in a sacred time,” Joy says. “These are not our ancestors to display.” In 2022, the cave changed its name from DeSoto Caverns to Majestic Caverns, and locally, people noticed. Joy has heard the criticisms and takes them in stride, though the timing of the announcement — she had just had a baby — made those early days harder than they needed to be. The reason for the change was practical: GPS apps and search engines had been sending visitors to DeSoto State Park near Fort Payne for years. One family pulled up in an RV with canoes strapped to the roof, certain they had reservations. “It kept getting worse the more people just Googled DeSoto,” Joy says. But the name wasn’t chosen carelessly. Native American leaders consulted on the change described the cave using words that translated to something close to majesty. They called it a place of reverence. “To me,” Joy says, “it was an honoring name.” As the country marks 250 years of nationhood, Joy has been thinking about cave holds layers of American history in a single place: Indigenous civilizations thousands of years before colonization, founding-era documentation from George Washington’s presidency, Civil War-era mineral mining, and more than a century of family stewardship. says. “It’s written in the land itself.” For families looking for a meaningful way to mark the anniversary, Majestic The same chambers that Benjamin Hawkins described in 1796 are still here, still growing, still waiting. This summer, the cave has added a new layer to that experience with an America 250 laser light show produced by Joy’s husband, Jared Sorensen, a
during a cave tour. People who have never been to Majestic Caverns sometimes ask Joy how to describe it. She borrows a line she admires: it leaves you speechless and turns you into a storyteller. feel otherworldly,” she says. “When you see stone shapes taller than a two-story building coming out of the ground, ten stories above you, it’s like looking at the night sky.” The sixth generation of the family is already working at the park. The cave that Ida Mathis purchased on a piece of Alabama land more than a century ago is still family-owned. “I live grateful,” Joy says, “for things people did without ever Her great-great-grandmother could not have known what she was starting. But Joy knows exactly where she stands — on the ceiling her parents built, in a cave her ancestors named, in a country that is just now catching up to a story the land has been telling for thousands of years. Majestic Caverns is at 5181 DeSoto Caverns Parkway in Childersburg. tickets, hours, and information about the America 250 laser light show, visit majesticcaverns.com.
Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
Nature from page 12D helps us notice more of what is going on around us.” She describes how her students tell her they had not noticed many things until they started nature journaling, observing details they would have otherwise overlooked. She clearly loves teaching this, emphasizing her joy in spending time in nature. “I love spending time in nature, and I love how it becomes a written record of things I have seen, spent time with, and observed. I tell my students it is not about making a beautiful picture to hang on the wall. It is not about the end product, but about the process of drawing, which helps you look more closely and notice details. For example, you can look at a leaf and say, ‘That is a pretty leaf.’ But if you start drawing it, you notice the edges have tiny teeth, or a hole right there. You wonder what happened. Or the veins on the leaf, the other leaves you have seen. These are things you may not notice until you start drawing because you have to put them down on paper.” She makes motions with her hands as if she is holding a small leaf with its serrated edges. “The point of nature journaling is
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not the end product,” Amy continues. “Really, anyone who can hold a pencil can nature journal. You do not have to be an artist. I certainly am not. I am not trained in art, but it is something I have grown to enjoy. The more I nature journal, sketches I put in my journal. A sketch is just a reminder of what you have seen. You do not have to be a scientist to nature journal either. “Making up things, making up words, is completely valid when we are nature journaling. I tell my students, Look, this book is for you. It is for you to remember what you saw in nature. You do not have to spell things correctly. No one is coming behind you with a red pen to correct it. You do not even have to use full sentences if you only want to write a few words or phrases. Through nature journaling, I have let go of perfectionism and learned to embrace my mistakes and be okay with them.” Amy believes that the more she struggles to be creative, the more creative she can be. “It’s like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it
gets. I feel that’s the same with drawing, with observing, with creativity. When I was a kid, a lot of people thought that we were born with as much creativity as we were ever going to have. Either we are creative or we are not. I think many people believe that talent alone matters, but you can improve any skill through practice. Same with sailing or any sport when it comes to practice. The more you practice, the better you
and have pigment in my bristles, I squeeze a little water out before wiping it on the sock, and then I can change the colors.” I notice that Amy is standing rather than sitting as she nature journals, so I ask if she would like to sit. “I like to stand up, because there is not always a place to sit when you are in nature. I can easily use my paints and
She gives me her journals to browse through while she talks with the
Amy encourages movement, asking questions, and cultivating curiosity. As a biologist, she is fascinated by how the world works, particularly in ecology, where plants, animals, and even fungi
husband made for her, and admire the thoughtfulness of Amy’s observations in watercolor and ink. The pages depict everything from branches with pinecones to spiders, birds, and squirrels. Amy pulls on the wrist cover she uses while watercolor painting in her journal. She says that nature journaling requires perhaps taste. The other four senses help describe the moment and the observation. She explains how the wrist cover, fashioned from a sock, supports her process. “This is my sock when I paint. I have this paintbrush which has water in it. I do not need an extra bowl of water. When I want to switch colors
often leads to ten more. Asking questions is enjoyable, and there is no need to Google answers immediately. The process nurtures a sense of wonder, allowing one to observe, ask, and record carefully. Documenting observations a way that quick online searches or the importance of personal discovery, concluding, “One of Charlotte Mason’s philosophies is that to know about anything, whether it’s history or science or reading, we have to dig for ourselves is the knowledge that will stay with us.”
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Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
Living well happens
Downtown Georgia, (my hometown), as it looked when I was kid.
Reflections on My Hometown
BY BUDDY ROBERTS SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR
It was a midsummer morning straight out of an Andy Hardy movie in my hometown of Summerville, Georgia. Zell Miller was coming to town to dedicate the newly renovated Dowdy Park (named in honor of J.R. Dowdy, who had served as mayor when I was an infant) at the intersection of U.S. Highway 27 and University Street, from which the then-governor and later-U.S. senator would speak. historic Couey House (constructed c. 1840 by A.M. Couey and sons and relocated to the park 150 years later when a new highway steamrolled over its original site), the playground where I had gamboled as a child, the picnic pavilion, and Town Branch, I could see the governor and his entourage situating themselves behind the red, white, and blue bunting, streamers, and balloons that decorated the rotunda. The high school band was interpreting some classic standard as festively as it could, and I was as full of nostalgia, wistfulness, and sentimentality as Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo were full of hot dogs earlier this month at Coney Island. I know I was full of it because I thought the corniest thing I could possibly have thought to myself as I approached the bandstand and the growing crowd that had come to see the governor. “This is my town.” That’s it. That was my thought. In my defense, I was still in my early 20s, completely caught up in a moment, and too naive to realize that it wouldn’t last. Within two years, I was no longer a resident of my hometown. I now have a complicated relationship with it. Whether we still live there or not, complicated relationships with the communities in which we grew up aren’t uncommon. Some of us couldn’t wait to get out, only to be happily drawn back later in life. Others never thought we’d leave, then unexpectedly heard the call of the vagabond. My vagabond shoes have brought me, after some stops along the way, to Talladega County, and it has been from here while working on this annual supplement to The Daily Home that my thoughts return every summer to my hometown. And I sometimes wonder if I’m being too hard on my younger self. “This is my town.” Was it really naive and corny of me to have thought that? Shouldn’t everyone think such things about their hometowns? As we age, after all, hometown becomes more of a state of mind than a place, and especially in such turbulent and uncertain days as these, it’s not unnatural to feel nostalgic for the places and times that made us feel safe and secure. Our hometowns represent that. They also represent the best in each of us. Yes, maybe that is kind of corny, but being reminded of who we were, who we are, and how the older we get. So regardless of how complicated your relationship with your hometown may be and whether your hometown is Lincoln, Winterboro, Munford, Oak Grove, or somewhere other than Talladega and St. Clair counties, we at The Daily Home hope you have enjoyed reading these stories that our team has worked hard to prepare and our advertisers have made it possible for us to share with you.
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Saturday, July 18, 2026
MY HOMETOWN
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