Thank community volunteers. See page A4.
PHOTOS: Russellville Public Library. See page A7.
PHOTOS: Car show. See page A8.
50¢ | Vol. 144, No. 30
Hometown Newspaper of Larry Greenhill — Est. 1879 | Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Vina’s July Fest takes place July 27 By María Camp maria.camp@ franklincountytimes.com Vina’s annual July Fest returns this Saturday at the Vina Fire Department. From 10 a.m. - 9 p.m., there will be vendors. A car show will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Drawn Down tickets will be called beginning at 5:30 p.m. A fireworks show
Tharptown High School’s rocketry team prepares to blast off to London By María Camp maria.camp@ franklincountytimes.com Tharptown’s rocketry team blasted off to a national victory recently, all the way from their home in Russellville, Ala., to securing first place in the nation in the world’s largest rocketry competition, the annual American Rocketry Challenge in The Plains, VA. Tharptown High School bested a record breaking 922 teams that entered the competition at the start of the year and the top 100 teams competing at National Finals on Sunday, designing, building and launching a
See THARPTOWN, Page A2
Index
Records ........................A3 Opinion ........................A4 Kids ...............................A5 Worship ........................A6 Sports ...........................B1 Classifieds ...................B4 Fam ami mily i Owned and an n Opera rated a
The only locally owned funeral home in Russellville!
Our goal is to help families create meaningful, personalized services based upon each family’s unique desires for the departed loved ones.
Akins Funeral Home SERVING FRANKLIN COUNTY SINCE 1949
13455 Hwy. 43 – Russellville, Alabama
256-332-1131
Annie Willis, the reigning Miss RHS, is the 2024 Watermelon Festival Pageant Queen.
CONTRIBUTED/HESTER PHOTOGRAPHY
Watermelon Festival Pageant crowns new queen By María Camp maria.camp@ franklincountytimes.com “It’s an honor to represent Franklin County,” said Annie Willis, crowned overall Queen in the 2024 Franklin County Watermelon Pageant
held Saturday at the Russellville City Schools auditorium. She also won Most Photogenic this year. Last year, she won Queen for the 14–17-year-old division, in addition to Prettiest Dress. She has placed in other years of the
pageant as well. Willis is also the reigning Miss RHS. She is a 2024 graduate of Russellville High School. At RHS, Willis was in FBLA, FCCLA, CSU, served as a member of the annual staff and was a student aide.
She has also participated in the Miss Merry Christmas pageant at Tharptown High School, in addition to participating in the Watermelon Pageant and Miss RHS Pageant all four years of high school. Willis said she hopes to participate in
the Miss UNA pageant. Willis plans to begin attending the University of North Alabama this fall to major in elementary education, with the hope of returning to Russellville to teach, preferably in first or second grade.
ALDOT announces grants for municipal airports By Staff Reports The Alabama Department of Transportation announced July 22 it has awarded more than $22,000 in state funding to three municipal airports for improvements. The Russellville Municipal Airport in Russellville, Ala., will receive $50,130 from the Federal Aviation Administration and $2,785 from a state grant to install runway end identifier lights for two of the airport’s runways. The City of Russellville will provide $2,785 in matching local funds for a total project value of $55,700. The Ozark Municipal
FILE PHOTO Airport in Ozark will receive $144,000 from the Federal Aviation Administration and $8,000 from a state grant for the construction of a
corporate hangar. The airport will provide $8,000 in matching local funds for a total project value of $160,000. The Posey Field Airport
in Haleyville will receive $212,790 from the Federal Aviation Administration and $11,821 from a state grant to rehabilitate the southeast hangar.
The City of Haleyville will provide $11,822 in matching local funds for a total project value of $236,433. These grants are made possible through ALDOT’s Alabama Airport Improvement Funding Program. Through the program, ALDOT can provide financial assistance and other engineering or technical services to airport owners regarding the acquisition, construction, expansion, maintenance, or operation of public airport facilities. ALDOT anticipates the award of approximately $8 million in state funds to Alabama’s various local airports during the 2024 fiscal year.