INSIDE TODAY, PAGE 2: HULL TO SERVE ON STATE BOARD OF DIRECTORS County prep teams have up and down sports year
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Meet Elmore County Pet of the Week: Buck
SPORTS, PAGE A7
LOCAL, PAGE A2
THE WETUMPKA HERALD Elmore County’s Oldest Newspaper - Established 1898
Wetumpka, AL 36092
50¢
WEDNESDAY • JULY 12, 2017
THEWETUMPKAHERALD.COM
VOL. 119, NO. 28
Award-winning bands, new stage highlight River & Blues Fest By DAVID GRANGER Managing Editor
Two award-winning bands and the addition of a stage on Friday night highlight the entertainment set for Wetumpka’s 2017 River and Blues Music & Art Festival, set for July 21-22 downtown and at Gold Star Park in Wetumpka. Lousiana’s Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas and Alabama’s own King Bee will
delight fans with their zydeco and blues styles, respectively. “We think we’ve got two of the best headliners we’ve had,” said Tiffany Robinson, events director for the City of Wetumpka. “Plus, this year we’ve added a third stage downtown on Friday night.” Main Street Wetumpka is sponsoring the Friday night downtown stage “to help kick off the festival and bring more people back into the historic
File / The Herald
business district downtown,” said Jenny Stubbs, executive director of Main Street Wetumpka. She said the stage would be at the corner of Commerce and Court streets and Big Bobby & the Blues, a Montgomery blues band that has been playing in the South for approximately two decades, would play from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Stubbs added that businesses See FESTIVAL • Page A3
Louisiana’s Nathan Williams and his band, the Zydeco Cha-Chas, are this year’s River and Blues Music & Arts Festival headliners.
Efforts to help closed Boys & Girls Club continue
Commission approves grants, resignations and land lease By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
Elmore County Commissioners voted on a wide array of topics spanning county government, from sheriff’s department grants, county economic board resignations, to a $1 lease agreement for use of courthouse grounds for an upcoming city festival. The commissioners also heard a presentation from state Sen. Clyde Chambliss on what was reported as 300 bills passed by state legislature out of the roughly 1,030 introduced. A few commissioners spoke with Chambliss about areas of concern in the county mostly revolving around law enforcement staffing, prisons and mental health care and the weight it places on local law enforcement. Sheriff Bill Franklin spoke second about a grant his office applied for which he said was introduced by the Trump administration and would pay for the hire of two new deputies. The savings, he said, would amount to roughly $233,000, however after three years he said the costs would fall to the county to continue to support the new deputies. Franklin said he anticipated it would See COMMISSION • Page A8
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By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer
we’ve been here.” According to Brooks, woodcarvers from throughout the southeastern United States and beyond were in attendance for the three-day event – some as instructors, some as students and some both teaching and learning. “If I tried to name all the states, I’d leave one out,” Brooks said. “But we’ve got folks here from Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina
Wetumpka’s Boys and Girls Club has closed after over half-adecade providing educational and recreational services for hundreds of local children, leaving those who fought to sustain it when the city withdrew its funding earlier this year scrambling for alternatives. Local community organizers and church leaders have been the primary figures behind the club’s presence and its duration in the area after its near closure in March. Ultimately the main factors in its demise were said by those at the core of the club’s operations to be a lack of funding and marginal community support. Its end last week was not for lack of a fight, as those key figures mobilized to find support for the club. From their efforts they secured enough funding through indepen-
See WOODCARVING • Page A2
See CLUB • Page A3
David Granger / The Herald
Gene Houston works on a wood-carved bust at the Southeastern Woodcarving Competition on Friday at the Wetumpka Civic Center.
Woodcarvers bring talents to Wetumpka By DAVID GRANGER Managing Editor
More than 100 woodcarvers filled every nook and cranny of the Wetumpka Civic Center Friday through Sunday for the 32nd annual Southeastern Woodcarving School and Competition. “This is our third year here in Wetumpka,” said Judy Brooks with the Central Alabama Woodcarving Association, who helped organize the event. “We’ve grown every year that
Gardens of Wetumpka recognized for senior care By DAVID GRANGER Managing Editor
The Gardens of Wetumpka, a seniors assisted-living facility, was recently recognized by SeniorAdvisor.com as one of 2017’s Best of Assisted Living Award winners. SeniorAdvisor.com is the largest ratings and reviews site for senior care and services in North America. Located in a quiet residential area just off Holtville Road (Highway 111), the Gardens of Wetumpka offers personal attention, home-cooked meals and, according to residents, caring staff for people whose loved ones deserve it, said Barbara Womack, administrator at Gardens of Wetumpka. Womack said Gardens of Wetumpka offers a community that
is pet-friendly and has all private suites, family style dining, spacious common areas and shady porches. Perhaps best of all, Womack said, Gardens of Wetumpka has good neighbors. “When we celebrate for one of our residents, our neighbors are often invited and some will attend,” Womack said. “That makes our residents feel good and our neighbors, too.” According to SeniorAdvisor. com, the Best of 2017 Award winners represent the best of the best of in-home care, assisted living, and other senior living providers, based on online reviews written by seniors and their families. The website says the designation “honors the top one percent of senior See SENIORS • Page A2
David Granger / The Herald
Proud residents of the Gardens of Wetumpka sit on porch underneath sign declaring it one of 2017’s best assisted living facilities.
Thanks for all the “Grand Giveaway” turnout. It was Fun!
Flea Market & Antiques 5266 U.S. Hwy. 231 • Wetumpka, AL
OVER 100 BOOTHS Everything from odds & ends to fine antiques
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