Faces and Places

A special publication of the Franklin County Times

FFACES & PLACESACES & PLACES

20122012A day in the life of A day in the life of Franklin CountyFranklin County

Dorothy Taylor

FOUNDERS FEST DAYBay Tree Park

Downtown Red BaySeptember 15, 2012

Events For Founders Day: Beauty Pageant

5K run 3nd Annual Fried Pie Contest - Gazebo

Bike rideQuilt Contest

Coloring Contest Sling Shot Contest

Photograph ContestCook-Off

Arts & Crafts - Food - Games Antique Car, Truck & Motorcycle Show

Festival T-Shirts Red Bay Museum will be open

with Strumming Friends making music Franklin County Cattlemen’s Ribeye

Sandwiches

Red Bay Merchants Side-Walk Sales Specials & Door Prizes

ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE:8:30 Queen’s Train Ride

Outside Stage Live Music Starting at 9 Buck Dancing Contest

Fiddler ContestGive aways for:

Largest Family Longest Distance Traveled Youngest Person Present

Oldest Person Present Play - Standing... By Tammy Wynette Play - Standing... By Tammy Wynette

at the Weatherford Centerat the Weatherford CenterTime: 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.Time: 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.

Tickets $12.00 Tickets $12.00

3

ach summer, we sit down and pour through several ideas and look for the best way to showcase the people and sites of Franklin County, or as we call it, the Faces and Places of Franklin County.

This year, we decided to look at a day in the life of Franklin County residents.

There are so many fascinating county residents and we would love to share each of your stories. But we limited this year’s edition to 10 county residents.

All 10 of these individuals represent the people of our great county.

There are rescue workers, city employees, retirees, plant workers and elected officials.

We believe it to be a cross-section of the people that helps us be who we are as a community.

We hope you enjoy this small glimpse into the lives of these 10 unique individuals and see what they do in helping Franklin County be the great place that it is.

— Jonathan Willis, Publisher

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8

11

13

17

19

21

22LindaHolcomb

MarshaOliver

EdCrouch

DorothyTaylor

JohnCarter

ShannonMcKinney

SpencerMullens

DanialHayes

5

7

15RandySeal

Belinda Johnson

FACES & PLACES

P.O. Box 1088 • Russellville, AL 35653256-332-1881 • fax: 256-332-1883

www.franklincountytimes.com

Publisher Jonathan WillisEditorial J.R. Tidwell and Kellie SingletonSales Peggy Hyde and Nicole Pell Composition Karen McAfeeCirculation Thomas Morris

4

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A day in the life of:

Belinda Johnson

he life of Russellville resident Belinda Johnson can be described in one word: busy.By day, Johnson serves as the chief nursing officer/chief clinical officer for Russellville Hospital – a job that typically starts around 7 a.m. each day.When she arrives at the hospital, she has to check

e-mails, voicemails and go over messages for the previous day.Once she is prepared, she usually kicks off the official start of her day with meetings, which

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TSTORY BY

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review policies and monitor patient care.“Our goal is always to give our patients the safest and best quality service we can provide,” Johnson said. “Meeting regularly to discuss how we can make improve-ments and make things better just helps us be the best staff we can for our com-munity.”This perspective of doing whatever is nec-essary to make Russellville Hospital a top-notch facility is what spurned the daily 10 a.m. “nurses huddle” that Johnson helped implement several months ago.“A group of us go to each unit that has patients and we meet with the nurses on that floor and discuss patient safety, what issues they may be facing that day and where patients are on a day-to-day basis,” she said.“It just helps us all be on the same page, stay up-to-date on the patients, and it lets the nurses know that we care about what is going on in their unit.”After the nurses huddle, Johnson is usu-ally off to more meetings about any-thing from electronic medical records to employee concerns, to patient concerns.“I have to make a lot of decisions on a daily basis and when I first started in this job, I was told that as long as I put the patient number one, I will never make a wrong decision, and I have never forgot-

ten that advice,” she said.“On any given day, I have to meet with patients who have concerns or patients’ family members who have questions and we always try to put their needs first.”Johnson said she a lot of what she does revolves around customer service, but that isn’t just limited to the patients – that can include the physicians, nurses and other employees.“We want this to be a great hospital for the patients but we also want it to be a great place to work as well,” she said.“I have to stay on top of what’s going on with the people who are employed here.”Anywhere from 5 – 7 p.m. each day, Johnson’s workday comes to a close.And while she is only a chief nursing offi-cer/chief clinical officer from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. each day, Johnson is a cancer survi-vor and American Cancer Society (ACS) advocate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.Johnson was first diagnosed with cancer in June 2005 and got involved with ACS as a Cancer Action Network (CAN) vol-unteer who works with state and federal legislators to make changes and shape policies for cancer research and programs.Today, she is till involved with CAN, and she also serves as chairperson of the Franklin County Relay for Life committee

(a position she’s held since 2008), and she is a trained ACS Reach to Recovery vol-unteer who speaks with people recently diagnosed with breast cancer.Johnson works on various ACS-related projects daily (sometimes multiple times a day). This may sound like a lot of extra stress and work that she has added to her life, but for Johnson, her work with the ACS isn’t work at all.“I’ve been there. When a person is diag-nosed with cancer, I know the fear that is felt and how it turns your life upside down.“I do what I do for the ACS and for other people battling cancer because I’m still here. I’m a product of the research and I want to give back. It’s my personal way of being thankful for the support I received and helping people who are in the same situation.”When Johnson isn’t in meetings at the hospital or looking for new ways to fight back against cancer, she said she enjoys biking and hiking with her husband, Mike, and visiting their four grandchildren.“I’m just blessed that I get to do what I love – nursing and volunteering – on a daily basis and I’m even more blessed that I can do it all right here in Franklin County.”

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anial Hayes is a young man that works at Fireplace Manufacturing, Inc. [F.M.I.], of 1769 Lawrence Street E in Russellville.F.M.I. sits just off Highway 24 beside Sloss Lake.Hayes, a man in his late 20s, has not been working at F.M.I. relatively long, but he has moved up the ladder in

just a few short years.“I’ve been working here just over four years now, and I’ve been doing my current job for two and a half years,” he said. “Originally I was a production worker, but now I’m a parts handler. I started out at a lower level and worked my way up. Now I’m over the

parts department in the plant.”Hayes is now a mainstay at F.M.I. here in Russellville, but he was not always a resident of Franklin County.“I lived in Seattle until I was 15,” he said. “My

parents decided to move here for the warmer weather, because you know what the weather is like in Seattle.”Fast-forward a decade and Hayes found himself working at F.M.I. Hayes does not have an exact schedule for every day at the plant because his duties shift depending on what is being made. While he does not have a concrete job description, one thing Hayes does is help make sure progression flows smoothly at F.M.I.“I cover four to five jobs on a given day,” he said.“When I come in we get the front line started up, we have our morning meeting and I tell the other lines what they have to do to

support my manufacturing line. “I take parts to the line and make sure they’re correct. I make sure the parts we need can be ordered on time. We have seven depart-ments at the plant. If people don’t cooperate it makes it a chal-lenging job.”As the name implies, F.M.I. makes gas log fireplaces for homes. There are several benefits to having gas heating in a house, with the main benefit becoming apparent if and when the power goes out.“We make a good quality product here at F.M.I.,” Hayes said. “Gas heating is cheaper than average electricity heating per year. The major benefit of gas heating is gas will run without electricity, so you can still have heat in a power outage. There is also the ambi-ance of the flame. Gas is zone heating, and it’s cheaper to heat the living area.”Having a gas fireplace can indeed be a great thing in a power out-age, but do not forget that they work every other day of the week as well. F.M.I. is yet another company working to make Franklin County a better place to live for area residents.“F.M.I. keeps jobs local, and we produce a product made in the United States,” Hayes said.“F.M.I. keeps people warm and keeps people working. We also do a lot to give back. Sam Scarbrough [the F.M.I. plant manager] also sponsored the car show at the Fourth of July event at Sloss Lake.”

D

STORY BY J.R. TIDWELL

FACES & PLACES


Danial Hayes

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FACES & PLACES8


Ed Crouchvery small town in America has its mainstays.Whether it’s a familiar face or local building, residents are sure to imme-diately recognize whoever or what-ever they see on a regular basis.

One major mainstay in the small town of Hodges is Mayor Ed Crouch, a local man who has held the position for 24 years.“I was born in Franklin County in Atwood in 1949,” he said. “My family moved to find work, so I stayed for 28 years in Zion, Ill. It was a town of 10,000 people back then and a church founded it. We vacationed here every summer with our relatives.”

It was an illness in the fam-ily that saw Crouch move back to his childhood home.“I worked for OMC Sterndrive [which makes

boating products] and I was the head of the union,” he said. “We moved the plant and my mother was sick, so I came back to see her. I went to work at my dad’s local logging com-pany for 10 years after that.In 1988 I was elected mayor. I went back to college to get a Water Management degree, and we put in the water lines around here. I got a Grade 3 and 4 water certification, and I worked in Hamilton before I moved to work-ing for Russellville.”While Crouch has been a long-term mayor for Hodges, he serves in another important role in Franklin County.“I’m the Chief Executive Officer at the Russellville Water Department,” he said. “I make sure the water department is OK, then I work with Hodges town maintenance, which keeps the town picked up and the grass

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STORY BY J.R. Tidwell

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mowed, like at the park. I do the telem-etry for the water system from here, and I can check the tanks and pumps online. I check the mail and read and sign papers.“Usually I check in with the town clerk, and I come in around lunchtime. I go to Russellville to check the well, then I go run the water plant. When I get the tanks full we shut down and I go home.”Crouch and other members of Hodges have been working on a major project lately aimed at increasing tourism to both the small town and Franklin County.“I’ve been busy the last year or so with getting the equestrian trail and the campground ready,” he said. “I’ve worked with Hodges Police Chief Mike Franklin on the trail. We’ve completed 16 miles of trail so far, and we had 200 people ride it on July 7.”Crouch sees the equestrian trail as a major boon to the economy here in the county.“I think the trails and the campground will bring in tourism dollars,” he said. “When people see what we have here they will come back. It’s a nice loca-tion in between big cities in three states. The land is beautiful out here. Hopefully companies will see Franklin County and like it. With the right development we can create jobs.”

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ost people are still sleeping soundly when Dorothy Taylor begins her day at 3:30 a.m. By 4 a.m., she arrives at Taylor’s Restaurant, a popular Russellville eating spot owned by her son, Marty, and gets right down to business making gallons of tea, bak-

ing pie shells and cooking beans.“The food isn’t going to cook itself,” she said of her before-dawn arrival. “You can’t start cooking beans or baking cakes at 9 and expect them to be good to eat by lunchtime. You have to manage your time wisely.”Once she finishes her preliminary preparations, she moves on

to the activity that has made her quite famous around town: her baking.Every day at Taylor’s Restaurant, patrons are provided with an assortment of made-from-scratch desserts that are typically gone in the

blink of an eye.She begins making the caramel cakes, strawberry cakes, egg cus-tards, pecan pies and chocolate pies in the two hours she spends by herself at the restaurant and finishes them up once the other ladies arrive who do a lot of the preparations for that day’s lunch

specials.“We make everything here from scratch because that’s the way it should be – no preservatives, no additives, no boxes or mixes,” she said. Taylor starts whipping up the mile-high meringue for the pies around 7:30 and then moves on to assembling and frosting her cakes that have been cooling on the table since they were pulled from the oven.“I’ve been working on my caramel frosting for 10 years,” she said. “You can find a recipe for caramel frosting in just about any cook-book, but I make changes to a lot of recipes to make it taste just right. Experience is what teaches you to cook, not a cookbook.” And Taylor definitely has experience. She said she has been in the restaurant business since 1973 when they opened the first Taylor’s Restaurant in downtown Russellville.Some might think after 39 years of cooking that Taylor would be ready to hang up her flour-covered apron and just relax, but she said she’s doing exactly what she wants to do.“This isn’t work for me,” Taylor said. “I love cooking, I love baking and I love being up here at the restaurant.“The people who come here to eat are my friends and I love get-

M

STORY BY KELLIE SINGLETON


Dorothy Taylor

FACES & PLACES12

ting to talk and joke with them every day. Plus, I work with my family and that’s something I feel very blessed to get to do. Some people don’t see their family very often but I get to see mine every day, so I think I’m pretty lucky.”Once her desserts have been sliced, wrapped and placed on the counter, Taylor has a short time to rest before she trans-forms into the perfect Southern hostess for the lunchtime crowd that starts filtering through the doors when the restau-rant opens at 10:30 a.m.“I don’t cook at lunch – those girls do the cooking then,” she said. “Lunch is when I socialize with everyone. We just have a lot of fun.”Once the lunch crowd has dwindled for the day, Taylor said she heads home about 2 p.m. to do a little laundry, watch some TV and rest before she gets up the next day to do it all over again.“I love the people in this community and I love this restaurant and what I do here,” she said. “It’s something I plan on doing for as long as I can.”

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hen long-time Russellville resident Spencer Mullens graduated from Paul Mitchell the School in Huntsville, she knew she’d be heading back to Franklin County to start her career in cosmetology.“Ideally, I think I would have liked to live and work in Nashville, but I knew I’d get swallowed up in a big city like that,” she said. “Franklin County is home, I

have friends and family here, and I thought it would be the per-fect place for me to start out.”Mullens said she was going to college at Northwest-Shoals when she told her mother, Paula, that what she really wanted to do was cosmetology.

“When my mom would go on mission trips, I would stay with a family that had a hair salon and I would go to work with them and watch them do hair,” she said. “I remembered how much

I enjoyed that and when I told my mom that’s what I really wanted to do, she said I should go for it.”Mullens typically begins her day at Jimmie’s Hair Salon, a down-town Russellville business, at 9 a.m. when the salon opens.After getting her station prepared and making sure all her sup-plies are clean and in place, Spencer consults her appointment book.Her first appointment of the day might be cutting someone’s hair; then she might move on to a client who wants a few high-lights; a little later, she might help a person who wants to go from a brunette to a blonde; in the afternoon she might pam-per someone’s toes by giving them a pedicure or make their face shine with a facial.“The best part about my job here is never knowing what a day will hold,” she said. “I like the unpredictability and not knowing who will walk through the door next.”

WSTORY BY

KELLIE SINGLETON


Spencer Mullens

FACES & PLACES 13

Another part of her job that she really enjoys is talking with all her clients. It’s common knowledge that hairdressers are notori-ously sociable, which makes sense seeing as how they have to stand right next to a person for 30 to 40 minutes while doing their hair and not speaking the entire time would seem strange.“I’m definitely a people person and I love catching up with the person who’s in my chair,” she said. “Even if I don’t know them, I’ll get to know them before the appointment is through.”Mullens is also a people pleaser, so she loves to see a happy cli-ent.“One of the best moments is when I’m all done and the person’s face just lights up when they look in the mirror,” Mullens said. “I love to see people happy. Making people beautiful and happy makes me happy.”When she finishes up at the hair salon, Mullens doesn’t go home to relax – she heads out to the highway to the Best Western where she has worked as a front desk clerk for the past four years.“I had this job when I was in school and I’ve held onto it because the first couple of years for a hair dresser are usually your hard-est,” she said. “You have to build up your clientele and get estab-lished and that takes time. While I’m doing that, I have to have another steady form of income and I’ve done this for awhile so it just made sense.”At the hotel, Mullens spends her evenings answering phones, making reservations, checking guests in and cleaning until her day wraps up around 11 p.m.“I know it sounds like a lot of work and sometimes the days are really long, but you just have to make sacrifices sometimes so that you can do what you want to do,” she said. “I love both my jobs, though, because I’m around good people, I’m doing things I enjoy, I’m making money and I’m saving for my future.“These jobs are helping me prepare for the rest of my life and they’re helping me learn a lot about myself.”

Serving the Community with Caring &Respect for over 50 years

14 FACES & PLACES

ussellville Fire Department has been serving the city of Russellville for many years. The firefighters there work to make sure that Franklin County is a safer place to live and that citizens get the help they need when they need it.Randy Seal has been serving Russellville as a firefighter for over a decade.

“This is my 15th year with RFD,” he said. “I started as a volunteer. I decided then that I would like working here. This is one of those jobs where you’re helping people when they need it. You’ve got to want to be a public servant to others, helping them out. As a

volunteer I got to run some fire calls. It’s an adrenaline rush, and we’re helping people out, saving their lives and property.”Seal has been married for 23 years to his wife Kim. They have two sons that play sports for Russellville: 17-year-old senior Jacob and

RSTORY BY

J.R. TIDWELL


Randy Seal

FACES & PLACES 15

14-year-old freshman Joshua.Even though the fire department has a set routine, no two days are exactly the same.“I get here at 6:30 a.m. most of the time,” he said.“At 7:15 we do radio checks, then we put our gear on the trucks. We have a check sheet for each truck. We make sure all of the equipment is there and the truck is gassed up. We sweep and mop the inside of the station, and I check with the chief to see what he has lined up for the day. “You have to adjust the routine for calls because each day could be different. We’re all also EMTs so we can run medical calls. We also cover all wrecks and extrications. The number of calls we get in a day varies. Sometimes we get one or two; sometimes we get eight to 10. We split our coverage area with the other station for medical calls, but we run all fire calls.” Other duties members of the RFD take on include doing building pre-plans in case of emergencies and weekly training. Seal works a shift that many might not be familiar with. He works three shifts a week, each one 24 hours long from 7 a.m. one day until 7 a.m. the next. He then gets 48 hours off. Six people work each shift, with four at Station No. 1 downtown. “When you work these hours with these guys it becomes like another family,” he said. Since Seal is a firefighter, it is easy to see what he and the RFD do to make Franklin County a better place to live for residents.“The fire department tries to make Franklin County as safe a place as we can,” Seal said. “We are here to serve the community if there’s a need, and we try to be there to help out. We do a toy drive every year and we host blood drives. We serve the city and the county as a HazMat team and a dive team. If there is a way to make Franklin County a safer place to live, our chief and the guys try to do it.”

FACES & PLACES16

he Bear Creek Development Authority [BCDA] offers Franklin County residents and travelers alike several ways to come in con-tact with nature. Whether its camping and hiking or having a fun day on the lake, the

BCDA has it.According to bearcreeklakes.com, which has informa-

tion about the BCDA, the Tennessee Valley Authority [TVA] began con-struction on the Bear Creek Water Control Project in the late 1960s. The project is now overseen by the BCDA, which has made develop-

ments that allow camping, fishing, swimming, picnick-ing and boating and other water sports.The manager for the BCDA is Shannon McKinney, a local man from Vina. He and his wife Amy attended Vina High School, and they now have two children, a

daughter named Jordan and a son named Cameron.“I was born and raised in Franklin County,” McKinney said. “I’ve lived here all my life except for when I went to college. The BCDA has been here since 1965, and I’ve worked here for going on 14 years. I started on Nov. 16, 1998.”Keeping up such a large system of campsites and waterways means that no day on the job is the same as yesterday.“We work on whatever needs to be done,” McKinney said. “We might pick up trash around our sites or fix what’s broken. That’s how we try to save money; we handle things in house. We try to improve things as we can to make our area nice and available for any-one. “Every day is different. Not doing the same thing every day is something I like about this job. On any day we may be working on the campgrounds’ electrical sys-

TSTORY BY

J.R. TIDWELL


Shannon McKinney

FACES & PLACES 17

tem, doing maintenance, working in the office answering phones or fixing buildings in the winter. What I do today may not be what I do tomorrow. I may be trying to catch stray dogs one minute and getting snakes the next.” Even with so many tasks to be performed by the BCDA workers, the goal remains clear.“Every day I’m overseeing the day-to-day operations of the BCDA,” McKinney said. “We’ve got five campgrounds, 200 sites and 11 rental cabins. We are spread over four counties, so we have wide-ranging land. We take on whatever pops up. Jenna Stephens handles the cabins, Bonnie Gober handles the campgrounds and I take on whatever comes up. Our general focus is to upkeep and improve the BCDA.” The BCDA may be based in the small town of Hodges, but that

does not mean only local residents know what the group has to offer.“We have people from over 30 states per year, which is a nice draw.” McKinney said. If a person does not know what the BCDA offers, McKinney has an answer for that.“BCDA has got you covered on all of your outdoor recreation needs,” he said. Even though McKinney manages a group that offers so much, he does not see how the BCDA is making Franklin County a better place to live per sé.“Franklin County is a great place to begin with, so I don’t know if we’re making it better so much as keeping it as good as it is,” he said.

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arsha Oliver may have recently retired after 28 years of work-ing for Northwest-Shoals Community College, but that doesn’t mean this Phil Campbell resident spends her days with

her feet propped up and an iced tea in her hand.She is still doing what she’s done for most of her adult life: making Franklin County a better place to live, work and play.

Oliver was born and raised in this county, and most of the jobs or activities she has partici-pated in have focused on

helping the county progress, like her job as director of NWSCC’s eCentury Center that develops commercials for local businesses, helps with web pages and assists with college-related media design.Even though she retired from that posi-tion, Oliver still does contract work for the school.A typical day for Oliver usually starts with one of her daily visits to the Phil Campbell campus to discuss a project she may be working on.

“I loved my job at Northwest and I love being able to still be involved and do contract work,” she said. “There are some good people who work for Northwest who really care for this community. I knew that already but it was very evident during the tornado disaster. People at the college dropped what they were doing to help and it’s been great to work for and with people like that.”While her job at NWSCC helped promote business and education in the county, her involvement with the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce for the past 20 years has helped the county as a whole. After she finishes up at NWSCC, Oliver usu-ally has several meetings to attend, espe-cially this time of year when the Chamber is in full swing promoting the annual Watermelon Festival.“I first got involved with the Chamber because I knew some of the people involved and I knew it was a good organi-zation,” Oliver said. “I am very proud of the way the Chamber has progressed over the years. It’s a rewarding board to be a part of because you can see the results of the hard work you put in.”

At Chamber meetings, Oliver participates in discussions about the Watermelon Festival, ways to promote the county and stimulate economic activity, and the organization’s program for high school juniors called Franklin County Junior Leadership.“One of the things I love about being involved with the Chamber is the Junior Leadership program,” she said. “It’s a way for us to show these students what our county offers and introduce them to other people from different parts of the county they may not be familiar with. “This is the next generation that will be running our county in several years,” she added. “It opens their eyes and gives them a sense of community and a sense of pride in where they are from, and it hopefully gets them thinking of ways we can make the county better.”Another way Oliver invests in the youth of Franklin County is through her role as presi-dent of the S.P.A.N. Program Foundation, which is a supporting agency for the S.P.A.N. Program – an alternative program for at-risk youth in the juvenile court sys-tem that helps them re-enter the school system, obtain their GED or enter the work

M

STORY BY KELLIE SINGLETON


Marsha Oliver

FACES & PLACES 19

force.The S.P.A.N. Foundation meets once per month but Oliver works on fundraisers or other activi-ties for the program on a weekly and sometimes daily basis.“There are so many wonderful stories that have come out of the S.P.A.N. Program,” she said. “I think it helps these children become productive citizens who will hopefully contribute to the county.”When Oliver finishes a typical day of work and meetings, she spends her evenings reading; cooking with her husband, Mitch Cole; keep-ing up with her two sons: Cody, an adjunct English professor for NWSCC, and Jay, who is an attorney in Houston and has a three-month-old daughter named Abby with his wife, Jo; and rid-ing her motorcycle.

FACES & PLACES20

he Russellville Parks and Recreation Department always has something going on for residents of Franklin County. From line dance classes to summer camps and basketball leagues, Russellville Parks and Rec always has something to offer.It takes several people to run such an operation, and one of the wheels in the cog is John Carter. Carter’s title is the

Maintenance Leader for Russellville Park and Rec, but he works with “everybody else.”He went to school at Colbert County, and June 25 of next year will mark 30 years of working for Russellville Parks and Rec.Carter married his wife Mildred back in 1982, and

they now have seven kids and seven grandchildren. Russellville Parks and Rec takes care of several properties around Russellville, including the Bishop Center, Chucky Mullins Center, John Blackwell Sports Complex, the A.W. Todd Center, Eastside Park, Southside Park, the city tennis courts and the city swimming pool.With so many properties to maintain, no day is ever exactly the same for Carter.“We come in at 6 a.m. every day,” he said. “[Maintenance] cleans the building, the parks, cuts the grass, lines the ball fields off at 2:30 p.m., we fix anything that tears up, we clean the fountain at City Lake and we also play secretary when need be. “We take care of the Bishop Center, Tom Strange Field, Hal Kirby, the Canteen, Sloss Lake, Veteran’s Park and we cut the grass at

College Avenue sometimes.”Even with a long list of jobs like that, Carter has had other duties with Russellville Parks and Rec in the past.“I was refereeing youth-league softball but I stopped,” he said.The Bishop Center, which serves as the main building for Russellville Parks and Rec, has a basketball court and meeting rooms. There are several baseball/softball parks around town. When you add in the tennis courts, parks and other locations tended by the group, you begin to see just how much Russellville Parks and Rec has to offer.As Maintenance Leader, it is Carter’s job to make sure the different sites are kept up.“I try to keep our parks looking good,” he said. “That’s my job. I like for them to look good. If you come into Russellville [on Highway 24 West] the first thing you see when you get into town is the east side of Sloss Lake. If someone comes in and sees it, they might want to move here one day.”One major event that Russellville Parks and Rec help put on was the Fourth of July celebration at Sloss Lake. Even people that were not working when the fireworks went off had to put in time before people could enjoy the show.“I didn’t work during the Fourth of July celebration, but we cleaned up Sloss Lake before the event and brought in the bleachers,” Carter said. “I think they’re doing a good job with the Fourth of July event at Sloss Lake.”In case you are wondering, Carter did get phone calls regarding the recent Disney movie that shared his name even though he was not involved.

TSTORY BY

J.R. TIDWELL


John Carter

FACES & PLACES 21

n city governments, the mayor and city council members are the ones who are typically noticed by the public for their hard work and dedication to the city’s business.But there’s one person behind the scenes making sure that every “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed, making sure every bill is paid and every resolution is worded just

right, making sure agendas are prepared and minutes are taken, making sure historical documents are preserved and grants are applied for, making sure city employees receive their pay and elections go smoothly – a person who is entrusted to keep-

ing the city running like a well-oiled machine.These are the responsibilities of the city clerk, and in Red Bay, the job belongs to Linda Holcomb.Holcomb has served as the city clerk in Red Bay for the past seven

and a half years and in that time she has learned that keeping the city going is something that requires hard work and dedication.She begins each workday at Red Bay City Hall by checking and responding to e-mails that come from state agencies, city officials, regular citizens and everyone in between.“Keeping up with my e-mail is a more important part of my job now than it used to be,” she said. “A few years ago, my phone was constantly ringing, but with technology the way it is, people send e-mails now instead of calling a lot of the time. It’s the way I keep up with what’s going on.”Once she’s caught up with her e-mails, Holcomb’s day is normally filled with meetings.“On days when we have council meetings, I meet with the mayor to fins out if there are any additions to the agenda,” she said. “Then I prepare the bills for the council’s approval, prepare the

ISTORY BY

KELLIE SINGLETON


Linda Holcomb

FACES & PLACES22

council room and coordinate people who will address the council that night.”Twice a week, Holcomb takes time to balance the funds in the city’s 23 accounts.“This is something that takes a good bit of time because you to make sure every payment is reconciled and every bill is paid from the correct fund.”When it’s time for lunch, Holcomb said she normally goes home to eat a healthy meal with her husband, Don, who is a CPA in Red Bay.“That’s one of the nice things about living in the same place you work,” she said. “Being close to home is convenient for both of us.”In the rest of her time at work, Holcomb answers phone calls; meets with citizens who have questions about the city’s history, the city cemetery or the city business; answers questions from city employees about insurance, retirement and vacation time; and attends meetings of all the various committees and boards she serves on and takes the min-utes.Most of the time her workday ends around 5 p.m. except for the first and third Mondays when she has council meet-ings to attend and take minutes for.“We have a great group leading our city and I enjoy going to the council meetings and being ale to watch as our city progresses,” she said. When she isn’t managing the city’s business or attending meetings, Holcomb said she enjoys spending time with her husband and keeping in touch with her children and three grandchildren, who live in Addison and Muscle Shoals.She also tries to make time each day to garden, read and play her bowed psaltery and dulcimer when she’s unwind-ing at home. “My days are usually busy and it may sound alike a lot of work, but it really is something I enjoy,” she said. “I love Red Bay, I love living here, I love the people and I love having a job that gets me involved with the city and what goes on.”

Paid Political Advertisement by Barry Moore, 399 High Pine Drive , Russellville, AL 35654Paid Political Advertisement by Barry Moore, 399 High Pine Drive , Russellville, AL 35654

VOTEVOTE BARRY MOOREBARRY MOORE

PROBATE JUDGEPROBATE JUDGEOn November 6On November 6thth

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