Livingston, AL, Clarence (Melissa) Johnson,Atlanta, GA; one granddaughter, KymbrianaJassandra Turner, Prosperity, SC; an anticipatedgreat grandchild; one niece; six nephews; oneaunt, Jeannie Ray, Los Angeles, CA; and a hostof other relatives and friends.
The Celebration of Life Service was ren-dered by Weatherly-Studdard Memorial FuneralHome of Butler.
Peggy C. NorrisBUTLER - Peggy Carolyn Norris, age 74,
died October 11, 2019 at Mobile Infirmary. Shewas born February 17, 1945 in Thomaston, ALto David Larsen and Cazzie Rebecca Smyly.Carolyn worked for many years as a florist andwas a member of Union Grove Baptist Church.
She is survived by her husband, WalterNorris; daughters, Ginger Glass (Rusty) andBuffy Luker (Ricky); two brothers, Jack Smyly
and Gary Smyly; sister, India Goss; seven gran-children, Brent Luker, Ty Glass, MirandaMaher, Seth Glass, Thea Luker, Jennah Glass,and Katy Glass; 6 great grandchildren; and aspecial niece, Janis Sells.
She was preceded in death by her parents,David Larsen and Cazzie Rebecca Smyly, andsisters, Imojean Bell and Patricia Taylor.
Funeral services were held at Union GroveBaptist Church on Monday, October 14, 201911:30 am with Rev. Lister Hill officiating. Burialfollowed at Union Grove Baptist Church Ceme-tery in Sweet Water, AL.
Active pallbearers were Ty Glass, SethGlass, Brent Luker, Keaton Maher, Will Norris,Steve Smyly, and Tony Smyly. Honorary pall-bearer was Rusty Smyly.
Condolences may be offered atwww.obryantchapelfh.com.
Arrangements by O'Bryant Chapel FuneralHome.
Iver Joyce Broadhead
Funeral services for Iver Joyce Broadhead,86, of Meridian, Mississippi, will be Friday, Oc-tober 19, 2019, at 11:00 A.M. at Bumpers Fu-neral Home Chapel inButler with Rev. JamesGordon officiating.Burial will follow in theBrightwater Cemeteryin Needham, Alabama.Visitation will be at thefuneral home one hourprior to the service.
Mrs. Broadheadpassed away peacefullyat Anderson’s Hospitalin Meridian on Monday,October 14th. She wasborn as Iver JoyceJenkins in Hurricane,AL on February 23, 1933. She grew up nearGilbertown, AL where she married Rev. HermesBroadhead on June 8, 1950. They served at anumber churches in Mississippi and Alabama
for the next 50 years, where she was often thechurch pianist, taught Sunday school andworked with the church youth. She was activein her hobbies which included painting, garden-ing and genealogy. She will be greatly missedby family and friends. Survivors include: herdaughter, Charlotte Gail Walker (Duane) ofDavie, FL; son, Michael Kent (Nadiya) ofAustin, TX; grandson, Joshua (Kelly) of Mem-phis, TN; granddaughter, Nadia of Austin, TX;two great-grandsons, Lincoln and Roman ofMemphis, TN; and special nieces, relatives andfriends.
She was preceded in death by her parents,Harry A. and Nomie Donald Jenkins; five broth-ers: Paul Jenkins, H. A. Jenkins, Howard Jenk-ins, Heyward Jenkins and Edwin P. Jenkins; andthree sisters, Lila Ennis, Laura Smith, and RuthKluge.
Visit bumpersfuneralhome.com to sign theonline register and post condolences to the fam-ily. Arrangements by Bumpers Funeral Home.
The Choctaw Sun-Advocate • Wednesday, October 16, 2019 • page 4
MORE NEWS/EVENTS
LAVACA -- The Choctaw County Chamber of Commerce delivereda check last week to the Choctaw County Rescue Squad as part ofa year-long fund-raising effort by the chamber. The chamber heldopportunities throughout the year for members of the organizationand the public to donate to the Rescue Squad. The $1575 checkincluded funds raised through the ‘Ugly Cowgirl’ contest and otherevents held in conjunction with the Boots for Glory Rodeo. Picturedabove is Chamber executive director Nick Harrell with members ofthe Rescue Squad. AT LEFT: Harrell presents the check to Al Nix.(Submitted photos)
tenure on the council. “The city has obtained grants to replace
most of the existing city sidewalks, built thenew City Hall and Police Department, reno-vated the old City Hall and Civic Center,cleaned up various areas of the downtown area,obtained the old National Guard Armory, andmost recently, obtained a grant of almost$1,000,000 to build a new storm shelter for theresidents of Choctaw County,” he said.
Mason has been recognized by the Ala-bama League of Municipalities as a CertifiedMunicipal Official and an Advanced CertifiedMunicipal Official. Most recently, he wasawarded the Certified Municipal OfficialEmeritus by the League of Municipalities. Hewas one of only 59 individuals to achieve thisstatus in the state of Alabama, the first to everreceive it from Choctaw County.
As broker and owner of Southern OaksLand & Realty, LLC, he has also received nu-merous awards and honors. He has been a RE-ALTOR® since 2002 and is a graduate of theREALTOR Institute. He has earned the Certi-fied Residential Specialist designation, whichis the highest credential awarded to residentialsales agents, managers, and brokers, with lessthan 3% of all agents in the nation having at-tained this designation. Mason has also beenawarded the Seller Representative Specialistand Accredited Buyer’s Representative desig-nations, as well as the BPOR, e-Pro, andAHWD certifications. He has completed ex-tensive training in property evaluation includ-ing completion of required courses to be alicensed appraiser.
On the state level, he has also been electedto serve on the Board of Directors of the Ala-bama Board of REALTORS.
“My almost 18 years of real estate experi-
ence gives me the necessary knowledge to un-derstand the importance of accurate propertyvalues in Choctaw County,” said Mason.
Mason has also been active in the commu-nity and civic organizations. He is an activemember of First Baptist Church of Butler, theButler Lion’s Club, Gideons International, theBoard of Directors of The Community ServicePrograms of West Alabama, the Board of Di-rectors for Leadership Choctaw and an assis-tant Scout Master. He was a past Chairman ofChoctaw County Chamber of Commerce andCommunity Development Foundation, formerChair for Choctaw County Relay for Life, re-cipient of the University of West Alabama Col-lege of Liberal Arts Achievement Award, andhas been named Choctaw County’s Business-man of the Year.
Ron is married to Holli Mason and theyhave two children Sophie and Adam.
In running for the office of Revenue Com-missioner, Mason said that he recognizes theimportance of seeking and keeping industry inour area.
“As Revenue Commissioner, my goal willbe to look for ways to promote growth of ex-isting business and attract new ones,” he ex-plained. “I will be accessible to the people ofthe county to listen to their needs and concernsas it relates to the Revenue Commissioner’s of-fice. I want to make it easy for the people ofthe county to access their records, pay theirtaxes, and purchase tags online. None of uslike to pay taxes, but my goal is to make theprocess as painless as possible. As RevenueCommissioner, I will always be accessible tothe people of Choctaw County. Anyone withany concerns or suggestions can contact me onmy cell phone at 205-499-4663, at my office205-459-4663 or by email [email protected]. I ask for your vote inMarch for Revenue Commissioner.”
Mason intends to qualify to seek the nom-ination in the Democratic primary on March 3.
Medicare enrollment eventsto be held locally in
Lisman, Butler, GilbertownLocal residents who are eligible for Medicare can receive
help in choosing among Medicare medical and prescription drugplans for 2020 at enrollment events on Monday, October 28, inLisman, on Tuesday, October 29, in Butler, or on Thursday, No-vember 7, in Gilbertown.
Medicare beneficiaries are urged to evaluate their plan op-tions this year because many of the plans have large decreasesand others large increases in the cost of premiums and co-pay-ments for 2020. The State Health Insurance Assistance Program(SHIP), sponsored by the Alabama Tombigbee Regional Com-mission Area Agency on Aging (ATRC), provides informationand assistance concerning health insurance issues to Medicarebeneficiaries of all ages. In addition, if you are over fifty-fiveand do not have Medicare or Medicaid or if you are on disabilityor have medical evidence of disability at any age but you do nothave Medicare yet, you can apply for free help obtaining pre-scription drugs through the ATRC Senior Rx Program. Peoplewho are over age sixty can also receive help with legal issues.
You can obtain assistance with any of these matters on Oc-tober 28 (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.) at the Lisman Senior Center (Fire Sta-tion on Highway 10, 205-398-3842), on October 29 (10 a.m. to3 p.m.) at the Butler-Choctaw County Senior Center (114 TomOrr Drive, 205-459-4442), or on November 7 (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.)at the Gilbertown Senior Center (45 Chestnut Street, 251-843-2885).Chamber makes donation
to Rescue Squad
In conjunction with the grant project, theboard voted to list the following positions:
• Project manager – years 1-3, at $60,000,years 4-5 at $61,200
• PBIS Facilitator – years 1-3 at $35,000;years 4-5 at $36,200
• Mental Health Therapist (Master’s de-gree) – years 1-3, at $42,000; years 4-5 at$43,200
• Mental Health Therapist (Bachelor’s de-gree) – years 1-3 at $36,108; years 4-5 at$37,308.
The salaries will be paid from grant funds.In revealing the grant last Tuesday,
Phillips said that the project was a significantstep toward addressing the needs of students inlocal schools.
“This will improve discipline, attendance,address social and behavioral challenges, andimprove conditions for learning and studentperformance,” she said.
The school system also received a one-time $20,000 Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration grant for$20,000. The funds will be used to address bul-lying.
In other business, the school board votedto employ the following personnel:
• Shelly Baker – Teacher, CCES• Emily Jenkins – CNP Bookkeeper,
CCBOE• Alan Newell – English/Language Arts
teacher, CCHS• Leigh Singley – After-school Science
Teacher, SCHS• Tiffney Abston – After-School English
Teacher, SCHS• Lyle Meador – After-School History
Teacher – SCHS.
Board member David Lewis was selectedto represent the board at the Alabama Associa-tion of School Board’s Annual Convention tobe held on December 5, with Randy Gibson toact as alternate.
The board also voted to support candidateSheila Dortch of Wilcox County for DistrictDirector for the Alabama Association of SchoolBoards, District 2.
through a review of bank statements thatshowed day-to-day transactions made on thegeneral fund account.
During their monthly meeting on Monday,the Town Council discussed the theft and therecovery of the funds.
Council member Randall Jackson said thathe believed the bank should have flagged thetransactions and alerted the town about a po-tential problem.
“You know the Town of Toxey is not inOrange Beach and Gulf Shores multipletimes,” Jackson said. “You can look at our his-tory. We use the card six times a month, thenit’s being used 16 times in one day? We are liv-ing in a world where everything is electronic,but there are firewalls set up.”
Nelson said that once a person’s name isadded to the debit card, they have access to theaccounts.
The town has also now repaid a loan fromthe fire department’s account. Mayor Nelsontold the Sun-Advocate that the town had bor-rowed about $11,000 from the department topay a bill owed to a contractor for recent streetpaving projects. Nelson said that the loan fromthe fire department fund was allowable sincethe department is under the auspices of thetown.
She added that the town owed the debt andcould not pay it because of the theft. The fire
department funds allowed them to pay the debton time. Council members voted on Mondaynight to sign an agreement for documentationof the pay back of the loan, since the moneyhas now been returned to the town.
“We don’t want people to think that thetown is working against the fire department,”Jackson said during Monday’s meeting. “Weare trying to work together. We don’t want peo-ple saying ‘you took money from the fire de-partment.’”
Jackson added that the former clerk had al-tered records presented to the council, and therecords had looked appropriate on paper.
“All the reports looked great,” he said. Jackson later added that, going forward,
there should be more safeguards in place sothat no one takes banking information outsidethe town hall office, including access on cellphones or internet.
The town council also voted to reinstatemaintenance personnel since the funds havenow been returned and the town is able to re-sume the payment of the salary.
Mayor Nelson said that she is currentlyacting as clerk, while trying to straighten outthe financial records. The town will be seekinga new employee to fill the clerk’s position inthe near future.
She added that the town is grateful to havethe issue corrected and is trying to get back onits feet.
“We are thankful that she did the rightthing,” the Mayor said. “It’s what’s best for herfamily, and now the town can move on.”
the decision to seek the commissioner’s posi-tion because he believes there is a need for newideas in the office.
“The reason I decided to run is that I thinkthere needs to be new ideas, new perspectivein the way we are doing things,” he explained.“Being able to spend time here since 1990, Ihave observed things that I think could be donebetter and more economically. Being able totravel and see other places and other areas andthe way community is going, I think I can helpin that area.”
Cunningham said that, as CSM, he was incharge of more than 900 soldiers and also had,under his direction, the responsibility to takecare of the community and military familymembers. That role included ensuring that thecommunity itself was maintained, includingroads.
Specifically, Cunningham said that he be-lieves that much can be accomplished byworking together with others, regardless ofparty affiliation.
“Working together with other membersand not a party-type issue, but collective is-sues, is important,” he said. “We need to setparties aside and do what is right for the com-munity.”
One of his top priority for his office ascommissioner, he said, would be the better-ment of the county’s roads, including the es-tablishment of better working relationshipswith the men out there doing the work.
“One of the main roles is to continue touse the funds and grants that we receive for thebetterment of the people of the community,”he said.
Cunningham has been married to Ernes-tine Cunningham for the past 26 years and is along-time member of Heritage Church of Godin Gilbertown where he serves as usher.
“I want to ask everyone to vote for me,”he said. “Give me the chance to do things a lit-tle bit differently. “I’m a hands-on person andI take my responsibilities seriously. I will def-initely be a 24-hour person anyone can call atany time. I will be visible.”
Cunningham intends to run for the posi-tion on the Democratic ticket on March 3.
Iver JoyceBroadhead
nObituariesfrom page 3
nToxeyfrom page 1
nGrantfrom page 1
nCunninghamfrom page 1
nMasonfrom page 1
Choctaw County Democratic Executive Committee to hold meeting in Butler this Friday, October 18
Candidates have until Jan. 8for free announcements
Candidates for local offices who intend to qualify for theMarch 3 primary elections can get their free political an-nouncements in the Sun-Advocate. All free announcementsmust be published by January 8. Only one free announcementallowed per candidate.
After that date, only paid political advertisements will bepublished. Call 251-843-6397 for details and advertising pack-ages.
BUTLER -- The Choctaw County Demo-cratic Executive Committee will meet in thelarge courtroom in the Choctaw County Court-house this Friday, October 18.
Candidates who intend to qualify to seekelection in the Democratic primary can submitqualifying documents at that time.
The meeting is set to begin at 1 p.m.
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