INSIDE TODAY State Wrestling Duals Quarterfinal recap
SPORTS, PAGE B1
244-7778
Trump, staff sweating small stuff
OPINION, PAGE A4
Eclectic Observer The
WEDNESDAY • JANUARY 25, 2017
TheWetumpkaHerald.com
Vol. 28, No. 4
Eclectic survives storms with light damage By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
Eclectic was not left out of the damage from recent storm systems that carved their path across Elmore County with reports of tornados, hail and heavy rains causing problems for both county and municipal systems. At Monday’s Elmore County Commission Meeting, Emergency
Management Agency Director Eric Jones said he would be traveling from site to site of the worst hit areas with meteorologists from the National Weather Service. Mayor Gary Davenport said the NWS was in town Monday afternoon and again Tuesday surveying damage Eclectic sustained. “We weren’t as bad as Wetumpka,” said Davenport. “We had several trees
down in the town area.” He said two trees were removed on Old Salem Road along with two in a couple of subdivisions that were blocking the roadways, while another fell at the Waterworks Building and took out a fence. Davenport said there were several clogged drainage ditches that had to be cleared and coupled with runoff water, caused some flash flooding.
Davenport said it was, “Just par for the course as far as tricky weather goes.” “We were very lucky and very fortunate that the property damage was not real severe,” Davenport said. EMA Program Coordinator Kim Trost said there were five addresses in particular that reported some damage in Eclectic. Trost said there was also a report See STORMS • Page 3
‘Only one Eclectic’ in the world
Calera artist brings beauty to gourds
BY HAILEE MORGAN WALLS Special to the Observer
By DAVID GRANGER Managing Editor
Teresa Wamble’s artistic vehicle is as humble as they get. But she turns that humility to beauty. The vehicle? The lowly gourd. The art? Stunning, whether it be a face (or multiple faces) in a maranka gourd or a less-exotic – though no less beautiful – basket made from a simpler variety. It all started when Wamble, who was making her living as a painter, got asked to do a friend a favor. “The first time I ever did one when I was living in Florida,” said Wamble. “I had a friend who was given a gourd and he wanted me to paint it and he was going to give it back to the guy that gave it to him. “Then when I moved to Alabama I kept seeing gourds all over the place and saw some of the artwork and I thought, ‘I think I could do that.’ So I just started playing around with it and then started playing around with it a lot more and then I bought a gourd that was made into a basket and thought, ‘Well, dang, all they did was cut two circles out. I can do that.’ So I just kind of got hooked.” Wamble, from Calera, will be the speaker at the next Tuesday with Kelly. The lunch-and-learn meeting, open to the public, will be held Feb. 21 at noon at the Kelly Fitzpatrick Memorial See ARTIST • Page 2
Today’s
Weather
73 46 High
Low
ing with my students,” said Stokes. “I love it when their facial expressions indicate that they have had an epiphany or ‘light-bulb moment.’ However, nothing is more enjoyable or makes my job more worthwhile than seeing former students in the real world functioning as productive citizens and knowing that I played a role in their success story. “I always wanted to be a teacher, but I was most inspired by my 10th grade history teacher. She made history interesting and integrated a lot of real-world activities. I know of no other occupation that allows one to learn something new every day.” At the other end of the experience spectrum, Shockley is in only her third year of teaching. She says teaching is the only career she ever considered.
There is only one Eclectic in the world – quite literally. “There’s no other town in the world named Eclectic,” joked Donald Strickland, owner of Strickland’s Cloth Barn. “Look it up. I guess when people drove through our tiny town, they said, ‘I don’t want to name my town after them.’” The origin of the town’s name dates back to the 1870s when Dr. Marshall Lucius Fielder, a Civil War surgeon who had studied at the Eclectic School of Medicine, came to the then-called Pleasant Grove to build his idea of the perfect community, according to Aubrey Hornsby. Fielder initially built up the community by giving away pieces of land to the people he loved. To represent this ideal community, Fielder chose to change the town’s name to Eclectic, a word that means “to select the best.” “Love is really the founding principle of Eclectic,” said Hornsby, the owner of Warehouse, the event center in town. The Hornsby name is well-known in Eclectic, the family roots going all the way back to the 1830s. Although Hornsby has only lived in Eclectic two years, he’s always been engaged in the community. Hornsby opened the Warehouse, which used to be his grandfather’s old cotton warehouse and now holds most of the town’s events, 16 years ago. He wanted “a place
See TEACHER • Page 8
See ECLECTIC • Page 3
David Granger / The Herald
Ramona Stokes, a 35-year veteran mathematics teacher, was named Teacher of the Year at ECHS at a recent Elmore County Board of Education meeting.
HEAD OF THE CLASS
Four Eclectic teachers honored as teachers of the year By DAVID GRANGER Managing Editor
Four teachers from Eclectic schools were recently named teacher of the year at those schools by the Elmore County Board of Education. At a recent meeting, the board named Tara Holley at Eclectic Elementary, Sherry Taylor and Erika Shockley at Eclectic Middle and Rosa Stokes at ECHS as teachers of the year. Stokes, who holds two degrees from Alabama State and teaches algebra II, pre-advanced placement algebra II and trigonometry, is in her 35th year at ECHS, and said it’s her former students’ lives beyond high school that makes her chosen career worthwhile. “My favorite part of teaching is interact-
CONTACT US
FREE ESTIMATES!
334-567-7811 Fax: 334-567-3284 Edging • Weed Eating • Trimming Fall Clean-up • Pine Straw Laid Upon Request And All Lawn Maintenance
THURSDAY: HIGH 56 LOW 35
HOMES FOR SALE/ FOR RENT
JOBS
PETS
(334) 309-4422
USPS 681-260
One Spot. Hundreds of Possibilities!
BARGAINS GALORE
GARAGE SALES
256.277.4219 CLASSIFIEDS
CARS, TRUCKS, MOTORCYCLES & MORE
a k p m Wetu
(334) 580-7879
Flea Market & Antiques 5266 U.S. Hwy. 231 • Wetumpka, AL (Winn Dixie Shopping Center • Behind KFC)
BOOTH SPACE AVAILABLE CALL FOR INFORMATION
334-567-2666