Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023
Covering Lee County, Alabama
An award-winning publication created 'For local people, by local people.' Vol. 15, No. 13
Opelika, Alabama
Susie K's Shutters Its Doors
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED TO THE OBSERVER
PHOTO BY MICHELLE KEY / THE OBSERVER
Teachers for the Next Generation
Opelika restaurant Suzie K's, which has been open in the area since 2017, officially closed its doors Saturday, Dec. 31. BY MICHELLE KEY MICHELLE@ OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
OPELIKA — Opelika has lost one of its popular meatand-three, country-
style restaurants. Susie K's, owned by Suzanne and Timothy Lowery, decided to shutter its doors at the end of the year. New Year's Eve was the final day for its
in-restauarant food service. The Lowerys opened Susie K's in August 2017 and it has served thousands of breakfasts and lunches since that time.
The restaurant served dinner for almost a year in 2018, but reverted back to serving just breakfast and lunch in January Shannon Brandt (middle) received one of the city of Auburn's 2022 Lamplighter Awards highlighting individuals who have made great contributions to the local community.
See SUSIE K'S, page A3
Opelika Pastor Develops Unique Digital Photo App PHOTO BY WIL CREWS / THE OBSERVER
BY WIL CREWS SPORTSCREWS@ OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
OPELIKA — An Opelika resident is changing the way we look at pictures. GrouPixx, a new photo app developed by Alzata Florence, a pastor at Opelika’s Fellowship of Faith Christian Center, makes family or friend portraits without everyone being in the same location. “The purpose of it is to bring people together,” Florence said of the app. “It’s different … unique.” How does it work? Well, after downloading GrouPixx, signing up and syncing your contacts
BY HANNAH LESTER HLESTER@OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
GIS specialist Joe Norris (left) and Alzata Florence (right), the creator of GrouPixx, a new photo app for your phone.
with the app, the first step is for the user to take a photo. Then, the user can
invite their contacts to take a picture from wherever they are in the world.
Next, the user simply picks out the silhouettes See APP, page A2
AUBURN — After 19 years of teaching, Shannon Brandt said she had no intentions of doing anything else. But when a friend approached her with an opportunity to step into a position as an instructional coach or local reading specialist at Yarbrough Elementary, apparently she couldn’t pass it up. “I’d been a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher for 19 years at Wrights Mill Road Elementary,” Brandt said. “Did not see myself ever leaving the classroom. I don’t have an administrative degree, was not looking to be a principal or anything and the opening came up at Yarbrough — and the person who had the job before me called and said, ‘Would you be interested?’ And I thought my mouth was saying, ‘No, not interested.’ But apparently, I was saying, ‘Sure, tell me more.’ So I just think it was just a God thing.” Brandt has now been at Yarbrough for 10 years. But what is an instructional coach? “I tell people that I help teachers do whatever helps students,” she said. “So, primarily I guess [I’m] a support for teachers in whatever they want. So, if it’s working with one child, trying to help them teach one child, I can do that — or if it’s teaching the whole entire group a lesson, or if they’re looking for a resource.” See TEACHERS, page A4
It is Cookie Time! See Page A7
CONTENTS
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OPINION ................. A4 ENTERTAINMENT ...... A7 RELIGION .............. A12 OBITUARIES ........... A13 COMICS .................. A16
SPORTS ................... B1 POLITICS ................. B9 PUBLIC NOTICES ..... B10 CLASSIFIEDS .......... B13 PUZZLES ................ B15