2013 progress pages

HOURS IN

FRANKLIN COUNTY

ProgressProgress 2013 2013

A special publication of the Franklin County Times

3PROGRESS 2013

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

www.franklincountytimes.com

Editor and Publisher Jonathan WillisEditorial J.R. Tidwell and Kellie SingletonSales Peggy Hyde, Nicole Pell and Brandi BarnettComposing Karen McAfee

Progress 20134 12 a.m. Open late

5 1 a.m. Providing patient care

6 2 a.m. Up in the air

9 3 a.m. Behind the counter

10 4 a.m. Taking the call

11 5 a.m. On patrol

12 6 a.m. Cleaning up the streets

14 7 a.m. Catching the bus

16 8 a.m. School’s in session

17 9 a.m. Rain, sleet, snow or shine

18 10 a.m. Taking notes

20 11 a.m. Keeping things ‘rolling’

21 12 p.m. Deep fried

24 1 p.m. Behind the wheel

25 2 p.m. Family affair

27 3 p.m. Keeping count

29 4 p.m. Switching hats

31 5 p.m. Order up

33 6 p.m. Scouting the field

35 7 p.m. Stretch it out

36 8 p.m. Balls in the air

38 9 p.m. Sweep it up

40 10 p.m. On call

42 11 p.m. Emergency call

Table of ContentsWhen we gathered as a staff several

months ago to begin developing a theme for this year’s Progress edition, we felt this would be a good opportunity to take a look at what makes our county “tick.”Often times in rural areas like ours, you

hear people mumble and grumble that “there’s nothing going on.”Well, we decided to take a look at “what’s

going on” during a full 24 hour day right here in Franklin County.Whether it’s law enforcement, emer-

gency medical services, goods, services or industries, there is always something going on 24 hours each day.When you look around our community,

there are many people who are working each day to make our lives better, easier or safer.The theme of this edition became “24

Hours in Franklin County.”While working on this, however, we

quickly realized that there are many more people in our community that deserved to be recognized, but unfortunately could not be in this particular edition.We want to thank all of our neighbors

here who were so willing to share their stories with us and for wmaking Progress 2013 a huge success. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed produc-ing it for you.

Making Progress

4 PROGRESS 2013

Members of the general public seem to be staying up later into the night than in past years thanks to factors like technology.

Other people work late at night, and some may be travelling through our area after the sun goes down.

If these people need to find something to eat, there are few choices available once the midnight hour hits.

However there are a few places still open for business that late into the night, and one of them is the Taco Bell in Russellville on Highway 43.

Terina Cumlidge, a shift manager for the fast food restaurant, said the store is still doing business at mid-

night and a few hours later.“The lobby stays open until 10 p.m. The drive thru

is open on the weekends until 2 a.m., sometimes until 3 a.m.,” she said.

“We average around five customers that come through the drive thru at midnight, but it all depends. In the summer or during the fall after a football game you could see as many as 19 or 20. Sometimes when it’s really slow we might get one or two. You never really know.”

As her title of shift manager would imply, Cumlidge is used to working for the chain and making sure the customers are happy.

“This is my second time here. I’ve worked at Taco Bell twice now,” she said. “Once was 12 years ago, but it was in a different state. Total I’m going on two years working for the company. I love it. It has a friendly atmosphere. It has great people to work with. We have great customers.”

Being a manager means that Cumlidge has a few more responsibilities placed on here than some other employees have.

“You name it, I’m responsible for it,” she said. “I have to make sure the store runs smoothly, I have to make sure we have enough money at the registers, I have to make sure customers are getting their food, enjoying their food and make sure everything in the order is right. I have to make sure we get orders through the drive thru on time.”

“A lot of people don’t know that we have window times, but we have to make sure everything is accurate and quick. We also make sure we have great customer service.”

Customer service, as Cumlidge mentioned, is a big concern for the store just as it is with any fast food restaurant.

“My biggest challenge is keeping customers happy. Honestly, we just have to do the best job we can,” she said.

“If your food orders are right and you meet and greet every customer, you’re nice to them and actually talk to them like they’re a person, then they’re happy.

“Those things keep customers coming back. When you’re nice to them and you

understand what any problem is and you fix it, they’ll understand.”When the midnight hour rolls around and many residents of Franklin County are

asleep in there beds, customers are still rolling thru Taco Bell’s drive thru and the employees are still working to make sure their customers get what they want in a timely fashion.

“Around midnight I’m usually getting everything ready to close, and we’re waiting on customers,” Cumlidge said. “Sometimes we’re busy and sometimes we’re not. We make sure we have everything in stock and everything is clean.

“We have several regular customers that come through around that time. In the exact words of one of our customers, ‘I love this place.’ He said I love the people that work here, and I always get what I want. He gets the same thing every time, and he loves it.”

With so many people staying up late or working third shift at different businesses around town, residents need a place that they can find a meal, even at midnight or later.

“It is very important, especially with most other places around being closed,” Cumlidge said. “People travelling, coming in and out of town might need a place to eat at. People that work at the chicken plant late at night, if they want to stop and get something to eat there aren’t many places for them to go. We’re one of the only ones open then.”

STORY BY J.R. TIDWELL

PHOTOS BY J.R. TIDWELL

Terina Cumlidge,Terina Cumlidge,Taco BellTaco Bell

5PROGRESS 2013

Peggy Williams said she’s seen it all in her 27 year nursing career.But, one valuable lesson she learned long ago continues to serve her well.“I can’t look a patient in the eyes because I just have to do my job and cannot

let emotions get in the way,” said Williams, a Phil Campbell resident.That practice truly helped her on April 27, 2011.That afternoon, she was showering getting ready for her night shift work to

begin at Russellville Hospital.“I called the ER and told them that it was still stormy but I was coming on in to

work early,” Williams said as she looked back on that day almost two years ago.About two miles from her home, unknown to Williams, an EF-5 tornado ripped

across the county’s landscape leaving more than two-dozen dead.“When I called, they told me what had happened and said they

were calling everyone in.”That night, countless neighbors poured

through the Russellville Hospital emer-gency room, either as patients or looking for loved ones who were rushed out of their homes following the devastating storm.

“It was terrible,” Williams said. “That’s something we prepare for, but it’s different when it’s real. Everyone jumped in and did

whatever they had to do to care for the people being brought in.”Thankfully, events such as the April 27, 2011, tornado are unusu-

al occurrences.But that doesn’t mean Williams and the rest of the Russellville

Hospital emergency room staff don’t see plenty of action each day.Williams said the emergency room stays particularly busy over-

night as more crime related injuries and overdoses occur. But, she also said the emergency room sees more patients need-

ing cardiac care during the overnight hours as well.“After midnight we get a lot of cardiac patients,” she said.“Cardiac troubles usually happen between midnight and 6 a.m.

A lot of people go to bed and wake up at 1 or 2 a.m. complaining about chest pains.”

The ER also happens to be where many people end up after a night of hard drinking.

Williams said there have only been three or four times though that she has ever been afraid for her safety due to a patient’s actions.

“You just have to let people know that you are there to care for

them and you need them to be calm so you can help treat them.“You have to sit and listen to them and help them calm down,” Williams said.Williams’ long ago lesson learned of avoiding eye contact is key to her abil-

ity to treat patients as soon as they come through the ER doors.“If you pay attention to who they are, it might affect your job. If you know

them it might hinder the care you give them. Everyone has their own way of dealing with it, but I can’t pay attention to their face.

“You have to leave any personal feelings behind and do your job to make sure the patient gets the care they need.”

STORY BY JONATHAN WILLIS

PHOTOS BY JONATHAN WILLIS

Peggy Williams,Peggy Williams,Russellville HospitalRussellville Hospital

6 PROGRESS 2013

Kelly Hyche’s “day on the job” can change any instant.The Moulton native has been working at Air Evac Lifeteam’s Spring Valley

base for more than a year and a half. Since moving from Lawrence Medical Center’s emergency room to Air Evac Lifeteam, the registered nurse has seen many things and each day is different.

“That’s one of the things I like so much about it,” said Hyche, who is cur-rently taking courses to further her education in the medical field.

“Every day is a little bit different.”Air Evac Lifeteam crews are used to transport patients in need from one

medical center to the next or to airlift patients from the scene of an accident or incident.

Rarely do Hyche and her co-workers know when the next call is going to be made or where they will be going – no matter what time of day or night it is.

“Whenever they call, you have to be ready,” Hyche said.

Oftentimes that means jumping out of bed in the wee hours of the morning and instantly being focused on the job at hand.

Crews consisting of a pilot, nurse and paramedic are stationed at the Muscle Shoals base 24 hours a day. Working shifts from 8 a.m. one day until 8 a.m. the

next can be grueling, but it’s something Hyche said you adjust to.“It’s not like you would expect it to be,” she said.“When you get that call, no matter what time it is, you just get up and go.

Your body becomes used to it.”On this particular morning, Hyche and her crew quickly respond to a call

near Red Bay.As soon as the call is received, Hyche jumps into action preparing her

flight suit and quickly begins her rounds of making checks on the helicopter. Within seven minutes of receiving dispatch’s call, the crew is airborne and on the way to the west end of Franklin County.

In just minutes, the once restful Hyche and the rest of the Air Evac Lifeteam crew are on the scene to quickly begin working with the patient.

“Time can be the difference between someone living and someone dying,” she said.

“We always respond as quickly as we can because we know that we are

needed quickly anytime we are called out.”Air Evac Lifeteam was created by a group of business leaders in a rural

Missouri community in 1985 when they saw the need to help first respond-ers get patients in need to medical centers in larger metropolitan areas. After carefully studying a similar model in Norway, investors developed a business plan that has helped launch Air Evac Lifeteam sites throughout the Midwest and Southeastern United States as well as in other parts of the country.

There are now 110 bases in 15 states. The local Air Evac Lifeteam base opened in 2000 and has seen a tremendous response from the community, company officials said.

Hyche said all crewmembers are constantly receiving training and are cre-dentialed by physicians.

She said the medical care provided by the crew is pivotal when responding to an emergency call and she believes they play a major role in patients’ care.

“It’s a very exciting job,” she said.“When a call is made, everything is very fast paced and we rush to get

ready, out the door and up in the air.”The time of day plays no role when these heroes are needed.



Kelly Hyche,Kelly Hyche,Air Evac LifeteamAir Evac Lifeteam

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Festivals of Franklin County 2013• Phil Campbell Hoedown - June 14 & 15 • Vina Fest - July 27

• Watermelon Festival - August 16 &17 • Red Bay Founders Day - September 21 • Spirit of Hodges - October 12 • Spruce Pine Day - October 19

Activities

Attractions

• Easter Egg Hunts, March 16, 10 a.m. in Russellville at City Lake Park & 2 p.m. in Red Bay at Bay Tree Park • Partnership Banquet, March 21

• Smithsonian Institute Exhibit, The Way We Worked, September 14 – October 25 • Junior Leadership Program • Watermelon Festival Pageant

• Ribbon Cuttings • Scholarships • Christmas Open House and Christmas Parades

• Bear Creek Lakes • Red Bay Museum • Bay Tree Council of the Performing Arts • Dismals Canyon• Cypress Cove Farms • Bear Creek Canoe Run • Roxy Theater • Bear Creek Education Center

• Rock Bridge Canyon Equestrian Trail • Spruce Pine Museum • Red Bay Water Park • Kings Drive In

Website: www.franklincountychamber.org • Email: [email protected] • 256-332-1760

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8 PROGRESS 2013

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Emergency Service

Anyone looking for gas, a restroom break or a hot meal in the wee hours of the morn-ing in Russellville will mostly be out of luck due to most stores in town being closed for the night.

The Legacy Chevron on Highway 43, however, can provide customers with all of those things and more at any time on any day of the week.

The gas station/convenience store is a 24/7 business that is always open for its cus-tomers, and there is more demand than one might think in the early a.m. around these parts.

Enter Jasmine Gholston and Tonya Chaney, two Chevron employees who work the graveyard shift.

Gholston works behind the register while Chaney helps keep the deli open for busi-ness. That’s right, the deli stays open all night right along with the store, allowing truckers, construction workers and others working during that time access to a hot meal when no other one is offered elsewhere.

“I love the customers,” Chaney said. “I see just about the same people every morn-ing. They’re wonderful. I work third shift. 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. five nights a week, Sunday

night through Thursday night. I make salads and sandwiches. I keep that stuff going every night. I cook breakfast. We have chocolate and white gravy biscuits, bacon, sausage, Polish sausage, steak, chicken, pork chop and tenderloin biscuits. Pretty much you name it we’ve got it.”

While Chaney keeps fresh, hot food available for purchase, Gholston takes care of other parts of the store.

“I keep up with my drawer, keep cigarettes and tobacco stocked, I put out fresh coffee and I will do a little bit of cleaning, sweeping and mop-ping the floor, as the night goes on. There’s not really much to it,” she said.

Working in the early morning has its advantages, but that time of day has inherent challenges as well.

“We have to watch out for people stealing,” Gholston said. “People trying to steal alcohol, they do that a lot. We have to watch out for drunks. They come in and you have to be careful who you sell to. You’re not supposed to sell to anyone under the influence. Some of them can get pretty out of hand if they can’t get what they want.

“At night you have to be on your toes. You have to be able to watch people, read people and be able to handle different situations no matter what comes up. ”

One thing that helps these two ladies perform their tasks is the experience they’ve gathered working at the store.

“I started working here a little over a year ago,” Gholston said. “I’ve always worked night shift. I love it. I love all of the regular customers. I like the job. It’s not too hard, not too easy. I like all the people I get to meet.”

“I’ve worked here since March of last year,” Chaney said. “I love my job.”

Chaney usually works 10 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Gholston covers 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. By 3 a.m. most people around Franklin County are snug in their beds getting a good night’s sleep before work, school or whatever activities await in the morning.

However, some workers like those mentioned have to be up and about before the normal waking hours, and the Chevron allows those people to have a place where they can eat a meal or sit down and rest a minute.

“We see quite a bit of business at this hour,” Gholston said. “You would be surprised. There are a lot of people who come in here. You would expect night shift to be a lot slower, but it’s not. It’s almost constant. At 3 a.m. I’m usu-ally cleaning the floors, making coffee, cleaning out trash, wiping the tables and trying to get everything set up for our breakfast rush. ”

“I don’t know how many people I see a night because we have a lot of custom-ers,” Chaney said. “We probably get around 70-80 people a morning between the hours of 3 and 6 a.m. I am always

waiting on customers during that time. People that work for G and G Steel come in and get breakfast. People on their way to Decatur to work or Wise Alloys, and we get a lot of truck drivers that come in. Breakfast rush starts around 3 a.m.”

A gas station may not be the first place many people would think of to have food available 24/7, but it doesn’t seem so unusual for those that work the job.

“It doesn’t seem weird to me at all that we do this at a gas station,” Chaney said. “It’s convenient, especially to truck drivers. It’s really good for them because they can come in, sit down and rest. If they have a special order that my take me a minute to fill they’re more than welcome to come in and sit and wait and I’ll bring it to them.”

“It’s really important. We’re the only place in town that’s open 24 hours a day, and we have so many customers come in and say we have the best breakfast around, and I like to think I’m part of that.”

Aside from the usual happenings at the store around that time, some out of the ordi-nary things have been known to take place.

“About a week ago we had a regular customer come in here,” Gholston said. “He walked into the bathroom and all of a sudden I’m at the register helping a customer and I here a loud noise, like someone just ran into a wall.

“A male customer went into the restroom and the guy had passed out. He didn’t feel good and he might have had a seizure. We didn’t know if he was alive or dead, and all we had were two women working in the middle of the night with a man passed out in our bathroom. That’s probably my worst experience so far.”

Even though the two ladies have to work at such an early time, both will be quick to mention how much they enjoy what they do.

“I think this is the best job I’ve had so far. It’s laid back, and I love the customers,” Gholston said.

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Jasmine Gholston,Jasmine Gholston,Legacy ChevronLegacy Chevron

10 PROGRESS 2013

The night shift varies from business to business in how fast the work pace is over the early morning hours.

This is no different for the Franklin County 911 Dispatch Center, which fields emergency calls and routes pertinent information to dif-ferent county agencies.

One employee of the dispatch center who works the night shift is Shelley Hill.

“I’ve worked for Franklin County going on three years,” she said. “I started out at the jail, and last year I moved to communications. I started on nightshift when I moved to communications.”

The dispatch center is in charge of not only receiving emergency calls but keeping in touch with different local agencies in order to know who is where and get the right people on a 911 call.

“We dispatch calls for Franklin County Sheriff’s Office,” Hill said. “We also do calls for Franklin Electric when we have storms. We dispatch ambulance, fire and police. Anything we have within the city limits we transfer over to the city limits. This is a high multi-task job.”

Working the night shift is different than working day shift at the dis-patch center because of the hours involved and the amount of activity by Franklin County residents.

“During the day there’s a higher pace, at night it all depends. When they say it’s a full moon, you’re call volume is usually higher,” Hill said. “We average 30 or 40 calls a night. Some nights we only get 10 or 20. Dayshift today answered 65 calls.”

The closer it gets to daybreak, the slower it usually gets for the dis-patchers. However, there is always work to be done.

“Around 4-5 a.m. the call volume is relatively low,” Hill said. “You

might get a news anchor around that time. Robert Reeves (of WHNT) calls us every morning to get a traffic update. If anything is going on at that time it’s usually going to be a medical call. There’s not much else that goes on that time of morning.”

If a Franklin County resident has to make a 911 call, it might be because of an incident that could be classified as the worst experience of his or her life. Part of the job of a dispatcher is hearing such calls day in and day out.

“You can’t let a lot of what you hear stick with you. It’s not that you get cold, it’s just that you can’t let anything get to you in order to keep doing your job,” Hill said.

Despite those types of calls a dispatcher must field on a regu-lar basis, Hill said there is a definitive reason why she keeps doing what she’s doing.

“I love working here,” she said. “Getting to help people for me is rewarding. You might get a call that doesn’t mean much to other people but it means everything to the caller. We

might have someone call in because their dog’s lost. They may love their dog like they love their child. We’re helping people here, and it’s rewarding.”

There is one aspect of the job that Hill says parents can help prevent in order to lower the number of non-emergency calls fielded by the dispatch center.

“We get a lot of calls from kids playing with cell phones,” she said. “I’ll ask to talk to their mommy, and some of them will say ‘no!’ I had a 911 hang up call tonight. I called back the number and the parents said that the child was playing with the phone. If you are going to let a child play with a cell phone, take the battery and the SIM card out. Otherwise they may call 911.”



Shelley Hill,Shelley Hill,Franklin County E-911Franklin County E-911

11PROGRESS 2013

Law enforcement officials are an important part of a state, county or city’s workforce because of the job they do in helping keep residents safe.

One such officer is Clint Holcombe, one of Franklin County’s finest.

Holcombe is a sheriff’s deputy. He helps to cover the entire county as part of the department’s night shift.

“I will have been in law enforcement for two years this October,” he said. “I’ve been married for going on 12 years. I have an eight-year-old son and a child on the way. I pastor a church in Atwood, so I stay pretty busy.”

Becoming a police officer for any branch takes a lot of time and commitment, and like so many others who work in this profession, Holcombe has his rea-sons for becoming a deputy.

“A lot of people have different reasons for doing what they do, being in law enforcement,” he said. “I wanted to be in law enforcement when I was younger, but the older that I got I

wanted my son to have a good, visible example that if you had a goal in life and you worked towards it, then you could attain that goal. It was already something that I wanted to do, but I put a lot more into getting in it in the past few years. I used that for me and him both, real-ly. I wanted him to learn as much as I wanted to myself.”

As part of the night shift Holcombe finds himself working late at night and in the wee hours of the morning when most people are asleep in their beds. That is, most people.

“I work patrol. I patrol the whole county,” he said. “There are two deputies on every shift. Some of us live on the east side of the county, some on the west. It’s around 647 square miles. It’s a pretty big county. 3 o’clock to 5 a.m. I’m normally riding around a lot of the small back roads in the county.”

“We have a lot of break-ins in the county, and they solve a lot of them, but I still get out and patrol because we still have issues with burglaries and thefts. Around that time I drive around and make sure there are no suspicious vehicles.”

“On Fridays and Saturdays that’s a really good time to catch DUI drivers because they’re all over the back roads. You can watch for speeders. You can do anything you can at any other time of the day, but that early in the morning I can’t sit still. I have to ride around.”

The job responsibilities for a sheriff’s deputy can be different from one night o the next given the nature of the work. Another thing that can be different each night is the number of calls Holcombe covers.

“It varies. A lot of people say that there isn’t much that goes on in this county when nighttime comes, but that’s wrong,” he said.

“It comes in spurts, but sometimes it will last for two or three days. Sometimes we have so many calls that we have to call another unit to come help us. Some nights it might be slow enough that one person could work it, but it’s a lot safer

with two. It would be safer with more, but you do the best you can with what you’ve got.”

Being a law enforcement official for any length of time means that you will probably cover your fair share of interesting calls that make for great stories, and Holcombe’s experience in the field is no different.

“One night I arrested a guy on a warrant for public intoxication on a road barely big enough to drive a vehicle down,” he said. “He gave me some story how the guy he was riding with had run off and left him and he had no idea who the guy was.

“He went to a house and they took him to get gas, so he goes to the house, knocks on the door and everybody in there is smoking marijuana. We ended up getting several bags of marijuana out of the house. It was a crazy night.

“The craziest night I ever had we got into a car chase, me and another deputy and one of Russellville’s units. We chased them from Russellville all the way to nearly Hamilton. The guy tried to rob a business in Russellville and one of the deputies working with me pulled him over and another officer came up.

“That guy decided he was going to try and avoid them and run off. He did, and the four of us stayed with him until Hamilton. He was throwing stuff out of his truck, and it was a dangerous situation.”

Despite the long hours working in the middle of the night, Holcombe knows that he is doing what he is meant to with his career.

“I love my job. I wake up before my shift every time I work excited,” he said. “I look forward to coming to work. I’m by no means burnt out on my job or life at all. Everybody here does a great job. Guys here go above and beyond and bending over backwards for the citizens of this county.

“Being a pastor of a church, I enjoy helping people more than anything. I prayed about it and felt like it was the Lord’s will for me to come into law enforcement. I followed the direction in my life and I’ve not regretted it. I look forward to coming into work and giving it 110 percent and doing everything I can in the time I have to do it. It’s the ideal job for me.”



Clint Holcombe,Clint Holcombe,Franklin County Sheriff’s Offi ceFranklin County Sheriff’s Offi ce

12 PROGRESS 2013

Sometimes in our day-to-day rush of life, we take for granted many of the jobs that are being done to make sure that we live in a clean, healthy com-munity.

But one early morning trip up and down the streets and roads of Russellville and Franklin County can serve as a quick reminder.

Crews with the Franklin County Solid Waste Department begin working the streets in our communities before many of us think about rolling out of bed. Sometimes, especially in the heat of summer, crews begin working as early as 3 a.m. Even during the cold of winter, crews are working to collect trash throughout the county by 5 a.m.

But, those seemingly odd hours are what make the job appealing for some.

“We kind of get to make our own hours,” said Russellville’s Shane Mitchell.

“The earlier we start and the harder we push it, the earlier we get off.”

Early morning work hours are nothing new for san-itation workers in the area so the thought of getting up and hitting the streets are no problem for most.

But, there are other issues to deal with.“The weather is something you always deal with,”

said Andy McAnally, of Isbell, whose father also works for the solid waste department.

Mitchell agreed.“We are like the post office – we run rain, sleet,

snow or shine,” he said with a laugh.Recent freezing temperatures coupled with a wet

winter cause some problems, he said.“In the early morning, there is some ice on the cans

and things like that,” Mitchell said, “but working in the winter is still better than the summer months.”

McAnally said that preparing for winter tempera-tures is much easier than doing so in the summer.

“You can bundle up for winter but you can’t take enough off to stay cool in the summer, especially here in the city where there is not as much of a breeze,” he said.

Despite assumptions some might make about the job, both McAnally and Mitchell said it is much better than people might think.

“It’s not really a dirty job,” Mitchell said. “We are not handling the garbage. It is very physically demanding, but if you like being in the outdoors and not being cooped up in the same place all day, it really is not a bad job at all.”

There are times when the crew comes up on sur-prises that they had rather not find, though.

“Sometimes you come up on a can where people have put their gutted deer or chickens or fish heads in the summer. That’s really

the worst,” McAnally said. “In the summer, insects, especially ants, are bad so you have to deal with that.”

To beat the heat and the cold, crews often swap between working the back of the truck and driving. In Mitchell’s case, he has yet to get his commercial driver’s license so he is working the back of the truck on the city route.

“But this is really a good job and not what people might think,” he said.

“There are a lot of good things about it.”



Shane Mitchell and Andy McAnally,Shane Mitchell and Andy McAnally,Franklin County Solid WasteFranklin County Solid WasteDepartmentDepartment

13PROGRESS 2013

14 PROGRESS 2013

At 7 a.m. each school day, the wheels on Judy Wilson’s big yellow school bus are rolling through the streets of Russellville picking up children to take them to another day of learning at one of the city’s four schools.

Wilson, who actually got her start in the Russellville City School System as a nurse, has been part of the system’s transportation department for the past eight years and she said she enjoys every minute.

“When I was doing school nursing, I got my bus license in order to be able to transport special needs children,” she said.

“I realized that it was something I really liked doing so I decided that was what I wanted to focus on.”

Wilson said the children she sees on a daily basis are truly the best part about her job and the reason why she doesn’t mind hitting the streets so early in the morning to pick them up.

“I think being a bus driver is special because you get to see these kids for longer than just a year,” she said.

“I know that can be sad for a lot of teachers when they have to say goodbye to children in their classroom after just a year, but I get to see my kids for as many years as they ride a bus.

“During that time, you develop a bond with these kids and they become such a special part of your life.”

Wilson said her daily bus route is always interesting because she never knows what the kids are going to say or what they’ll have to show her.

“You really become like a family, especially since most of them are on the route year after year,” she said.

“They get excited to show me their school projects or tell me what they did in school that day or what they did over the weekend, and I’m glad I can be that listening ear. I care about these kids and I want them to know that I do.”

Wilson said the stories and excitement are a little more subdued at 7 a.m., however.

“The morning bus ride is usually a lot quieter than when I pick them up in the afternoon and they’re all keyed up from being at school at day,” she said.

“In the mornings, a lot of them are still half asleep.”Wilson’s route includes a good portion of the downtown area and she said

while she enjoys listening to the kids’ stories when they get on and off the bus each day, when she’s driving her route, she has other things to focus on.

“When I say we’re like a family, we’re like a family in a lot of ways because, even though I love each one of them, there are times when I have to be stern and make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to do,” she said.

“You always want to be positive but you have to be stern when you’re dealing with 70 kids.”

Making sure the students are on their best behavior is something Wilson does so she can give full attention to her driving.

“I have to concentrate on driving the bus and doing all the things a bus driver is supposed to do,” she said. “All of the bus drivers are state certified

and have lots of requirements we have to meet before we’re entrusted to transport these kids each day.

“I have to be mindful of the other vehicles that are on the road, and I have to watch other cars when we’re stopped to

let the kids load or unload the bus because, even though we have flashing lights and signs that say to stop, some cars don’t pay attention to that so I have to make sure the kids are safe getting to their homes.”

Wilson said she also tries to mediate any issues that happen on her bus or between any of the students who ride her bus.

“I’m very blessed because I have a good group of kids and I rarely have any prob-lems out of them, but there are times when some of them might be upset with each other and I try to keep aware of those situations and handle them before they get out of hand,” she said.

“I want these kids to learn how to handle their problems with talking and compro-mise instead of getting mad and fighting. Those are things they need to be learning now so it’ll be second nature to them later on in life.”

When she finishes picking up all the students on her route in the mornings, Wilson goes to Russellville Middle School first, then to Russellville High School, West Elementary and finally Russellville Elementary before she goes back to the transpor-tation office to drop off her bus until she comes back for the afternoon route.

When she isn’t driving the bus, Wilson is usually at Top of the Rock truck stop and restaurant in Spruce Pine, which she and her husband, Keith, own. She also still does nursing on the weekends and spends plenty of time with her sons, Justin and Joshua, and her seven-month-old grandson, Jeremiah.

“There are a lot of things that I do, but I wouldn’t trade driving my school bus for anything,” she said.

“Seeing these kids grow up and getting to be part of their lives is just a blessing.”

STORY BY KELLIE SINGLETON

PHOTOS BY KELLIE SINGLETON

Judy Wilson,Judy Wilson,Russellville city schools bus driverRussellville city schools bus driver

15PROGRESS 2013

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16 PROGRESS 2013

When many people are settling in at a desk to start their workday, kindergarten teacher Tracey Potter is already busy wrangling 14 five and six-year-olds.

Potter said this is actually a smaller number than in years past when her kindergarten class size topped 20

students, but getting 14 small c h i l d r e n going in the same direction, especially

first thing in the morning, is no small feat.

“When you’re a teacher you have to be organized if you want to get anything accomplished, but this is especially true in a kindergarten classroom,” Potter said. “Without organization, it would be complete chaos.”

When children arrive each morning at East Franklin Junior High, where Potter has taught for the past eight years, they remain in the school’s gym until they are released to their classrooms at 7:45 a.m.

This is when the organization real-ly kicks in.

“We have binders that we send home with the students that act as our communication to the parents and the parents’ communication with the teachers,” Potter said.

“The first thing the students do when they come into the classroom is take out their binders and put away their backpacks. Once they have done that, they sit down to do their morning work, which is basi-cally a daily review of a kindergar-ten skill that we’re covering.”

While the students begin their morning work, Potter said she uses that time to go through each binder and check for notes from parents, lunch money, signed homework and anything else the parent might have

wanted to bring to her attention.

When the binder review is complete, Potter takes atten-dance, gets the lunch count and then leads the chil-dren in the Pledge of Allegiance.

“We have the same routine that we try to stick to every day because repetition is a big part of the learning process, especially for this age group,” Potter said.

“It also helps when trying to get them to stay on task. They know what we’re doing and when we’re doing it and what’s going to come next.”

At this point in the morning, Potter said the students take time to draw a picture of their choosing in their morning journals with the only stip-ulation being to write the first letter of whatever the child is drawing, so if the child is drawing a dog, they would have to write the letter “D” next to the drawing.

“We try to have activities that incorporate fun things, like draw-ing, with learning activities, like labeling the drawing with the cor-rect letter,” she said. “Thinking out-side the box is important in teach-ing.”

Once they are finished drawing in their journals and going to their activity stations to play learning games, Potter said she and the stu-dents sit down on the rug at the front of her classroom for “circle time,” where they focus on the days of the week, months of the year, units of money and how to read a clock.

“This is another one of those things



that we do every day for repetition to really help the students grasp these concepts,” she said.

“Doing a lot of the same things each day may not sound like fun, but being able to see a child’s face light up when they finally have that ‘aha’ moment where the information just clicks and they understand it makes it all com-pletely worth it.

“And at this age, children are so excited to learn and that makes it exciting for me, too.”

Potter said her class usually rounds out the morning with their reading program where they focus on a new story each week along with vocabulary, phonics, grammar and writ-ing.

At other points during the day, the students focus on math skills, social studies and science lessons, break up into small groups for indi-vidualized teaching, enjoy an afternoon snack, and find time to squeeze in a nap.

“Teaching kindergarten is such a rewarding job for me,” said Potter, who said she knew she wanted to be a teacher when she was just a seven-year-old kid playing teacher with her dolls.

“I’m going to be these children’s first experi-ence when it comes to school, so I want to

make sure I’m giving them the best foundation possible.

“I want them to learn the things they need to learn, but I also want them to have a fun time and take away good memories that will hope-fully foster a love for school and learning that will carry over into their future.”

All of the 12 years Potter has spent as a teacher have been in the Franklin County School System, but she said the past eight years teaching at East Franklin have been par-ticularly special for her since it’s also her alma mater and the place where she and her hus-band, Derrell, and 14-month-old son, Jacob, make their home.

“I went to East Franklin from kindergarten through the eighth grade before transferring to Phil Campbell, which is where I graduated,” she said.

“Being able to come back home and do the job I love is just a blessing. I love the sense of community here and, since it’s a small school, it’s neat to get to see the children continue to progress through their educational experience even after they have left my classroom.

“Teaching can have its ups and downs, but it’s something I love to do, and I know there will never be a dull moment in my classroom.”

Tracey Potter,East Franklin Junior High School

17PROGRESS 2013

Around 9 a.m. each workday, city mail car-rier Shawn Greenhill is getting settled into his route that covers a good portion of downtown Russellville.

But before Greenhill can load up all the mail for his 800 stops and get started on his route, he has an hour’s worth of prep time that helps ensure his route runs as smoothly as possible.

Greenhill said when he gets to Russellville’s U.S. Post Office at 7:30 each morning, he immediately conducts a vehicle inspection on his mail truck to make sure everything is in proper working order.

“You don’t want to be in the middle of your route and discover your tire is com-pletely flat because you didn’t notice the air was low in it that morning,” he said.

After finishing his mail truck inspection, Greenhill moves into the mailroom where he begins to sort, or case, all of the “flats,” which is what the postal workers call magazines and large envelopes.

Once those have been sorted, Greenhill said he moves on to casing letters that weren’t already sorted through the Delivery Point Sequence (DPS), which is a sophisticated system that takes the last four numbers on a letter and sorts it based on what street it will need to be delivered on. This ensures those letters get into the correct carrier’s bins.

“The technology really makes what we do a lot easier than it was 15 years ago when they had to case all of these letters by hand,” Greenhill said.

But just because the process has been some-what simplified by technology doesn’t mean

the process is easy.The back mailroom at Russellville’s post

office is bustling with activity as the mail car-riers get everything ready for the day ahead.

“There’s a lot of organization and attention that has to go into making sure each piece of mail gets to where it’s supposed to go,” Greenhill said.

“We check and double check for letters that we call ‘sleepers’ that might have gotten wedged behind one of the mail slots, we case all the parcels and we get everything sorted in the order that we’ll be delivering it so it makes our time more efficient when we’re actually out on the route.”

Once all of the sorting and organizing is finished, Greenhill rolls his bin of mail and parcels out to his mail truck and loads it in a specific order.

Once that is finished, he’s ready to start his city mail route.

All of these tasks might seem monotonous to an outsider looking in, but after working for the U.S. Post Office for almost nine years, Greenhill said that no day is exactly the same.

“One of the best parts about this job is being able to get out and not be stuck in an office all day,” he said. “I really like to be on the go because it makes things more interesting.”

As a city mail carrier, Greenhill also spends most of his day walking his routes, which isn’t a problem for him since he is an avid runner in his free time.

“I enjoy the walking and the exercise and just the time outdoors,” he said.

But being outside every workday has its disadvantages as well.

“The biggest challenge to being a mail car-rier is definitely the weather, especially in Alabama,” he said.

“One day it might be 30 degrees, the next day it might be 70, and then it could rain for

nine solid days and you’re having to juggle all your mail while trying your best to keep it and yourself as dry as possible.

“In the winter it can get really cold and in the summer the heat index gets over 100. You just have to be prepared for anything as far as the weather is concerned.”

Even though battling the fickle Alabama weather isn’t fun, Greenhill said there are parts of his job that he looks forward to each day, like seeing the residents he’s gotten to know over the years.

“The older generations don’t do Facebook and texting and e-mail like

a lot of the younger generations do, so they still really look forward to getting their mail every day,” he said.

“There are some people on my route who sit outside and wait for me to come by and it makes me happy they they are so excited to see me each day.”

Greenhill said the friendships he builds are just one of the advantages to work-ing in a small town.

“I get cookies and pies baked for me at Christmas, and I even got a pie recently because it was my birthday,” he said.

“Coming in contact with those kinds of people on a daily basis makes this job a lot more enjoyable and makes walking these routes every day more fun.”

Shawn Greenhill,Shawn Greenhill,U.S. Postal ServiceU.S. Postal Service



Growing up in Texas, court reporter De McGuire knew that he loved the out-doors.

He knew he liked to fish and hunt. But what he didn’t know at the time was what career he wanted to have later in life.

“It was one of those situations where I had to figure out what I didn’t want to do before I could figure out what I did want to do,” McGuire said, “and I had to figure it out by experience.”

After high school he worked various jobs such as window washing and working at a rifle range. But it wasn’t until he observed the lifestyles of two good friends that McGuire found something he really

thought he might enjoy.“Two of my friends in Texas were court reporters,” McGuire said. “They both

had good jobs while still being able to enjoy their pastimes, so I knew it was worth looking into.”

McGuire began classes at Del Mar Junior College in Corpus Christi, Texas, and studied there for two and a half years before transferring to Richardson Court Reporting School in Dallas.

For the next two years, McGuire learned to read and write stenography, which is the shorthand “language” of court reporters.

“Really, going to school and learning to be familiar with stenography is like learning a different language,” McGuire said. “People are speaking English, but it has to be written and read in a completely different way.”

Naturally, taking classes to learn a new language can be very stressful and the classes McGuire took for court reporting were no exception.

“I didn’t really know what I was getting into at first, and the experience got to be very frustrating at times” McGuire said. “There were certain requirements that had to be met and it could take several months sometimes to meet them. It was frustrating enough that I didn’t know if I still wanted to be a court reporter.”

To be able to graduate from court reporting school, McGuire had to meet mini-mum requirements of typing 225 words per minute (wpm) during a question and answer session, 200 wpm during jury charges and 180 wpm during any other proceeding.

Meeting these expectations was hard, but McGuire stuck it out and said that practice and balance were the keys to making it through school.

“For practice, the instructors would tell us to take our stenograph machines home, set them up in front of the TV and transcribe whatever was on,” McGuire

said. “But they also said to let it go on Fridays and pick back up on Mondays so we wouldn’t get tired and burnt out.”

During school, McGuire not only took classes for stenography but he also took classes on legal and medical terminology and English and grammar classes.

“Not everyone who goes to court reporting school becomes an offi-cial court reporter,” McGuire said. “Some people do freelance work, so you have to be prepared for whatever form of writing you might be transcribing.”

After graduating from school, McGuire became one of such peo-ple. He did freelance court report-ing work through an established firm for the next 14 years.

“Freelancing had its advantages,” McGuire said. “My schedule was flexible and I met some very inter-esting people while taking deposi-tions at prisons. I also took the depositions of Floyd Reece, the general manager for the Tennessee Titans, and Marques Haynes, a for-mer Harlem Globetrotter.”

But freelance work isn’t always glamorous, which McGuire began to find out. He couldn’t always

count on work, which was a problem since he had his wife, Lori, and their two children to look out for.

“About 10 years ago I was offered the opportunity to be the official court reporter for the 34th Judicial Circuit

in Franklin County,” McGuire said. “It was a great move because

the work is stable; I can always count on a check being there. And

e v e n though I come to the same place every day, the job is still exciting because every case is different.”

McGuire has found his niche in the court reporting world but the stability doesn’t mean that he has fewer responsibilities.

“We are the guardians of the record,” McGuire said. “When cases come up for appeal, people depend on court reporters to accurately transcribe the court proceedings.

And I am responsible for handling and storing the exhibits offered at trial. This can be tedious when it’s a big trial with many different exhibits.”

Court reporters are also required to keep their certifications up through con-tinuing education and court reporters in Alabama must be members of the Alabama Court Reporters’ Association in order to be certified.

But probably the biggest downside to court reporting, whether freelancing or having a steady job as an official court reporter, is that it’s time consuming.

“I average around 70 hours per week when there are a lot of cases and I’m busy,” McGuire said. “But even when I’m not extremely busy, I still average more than 40 hours per week.”

Even though the job requires a lot of time and responsibility, McGuire is still able to do the things he enjoys like hunting, fishing and scuba diving, which prompted McGuire to have been a member of the Morgan County Rescue Squad for years.

“This job is definitely for single people with a lot of time on their hands,” McGuire said with a laugh. “Being a court reporter is challenging and demand-ing, but in the end it is very rewarding, too, and it’s something I have enjoyed.”

18 PROGRESS 2013

De McGuire,De McGuire,Franklin County Courthouse



Titamer

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19PROGRESS 2013

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Vina native and cur-rent Red Bay resident Amanda Hester has worked for Tiffin Motor Homes for the past 10 years.

She currently serves as a human resources clerk – a job that Hester said entails a “little bit of everything.”

A typical day for Hester includes a lot of paper-work, which might not sound very exciting to most people, but Hester said she enjoys what she does because she gets to help other people who work for Tiffin on a daily basis.

“Sometimes my job can be stressful because I run the payroll for all of our employees and I take care of all the bene-fits like health insurance and 401Ks, so you can imagine there are a lot of different facets to what I do,” she said.

“But at the end of the day, I really enjoy the people I work with and the fact that I get to help them. When they have questions about their insurance or concerns about their retirement funds, I can sit down with them and help them resolve any problems they’re having, and it’s good to know that a per-son can leave my office feeling a lot better than when they walked in.”

Besides the fact that she gets to help her fel-low Tiffin employees, Hester said she considers herself blessed to work for a company that truly cares about its employees.

“Every time I see Bob [Tiffin], he always has a smile on his face and always asks me how I’m doing,” she said. “That concern they have for their employees car-ries over into the concern they have for their customers.

“The Tiffins are a great family and they care about the quality of the products they are producing. It’s nice to work for a company that puts the employees and customers first.”

Hester said she also loves that she was able to find a job with a quality com-pany just miles from her hometown of Vina and minutes from her current home in Red Bay.

“Being able to work close to home gives me more flexibility, especially when it comes to being there for all the activities my children are involved in,” Hester said. Her 12 year old daughter, Paige, is a junior high cheerleader, and her 10 year old son, Skyler, plays basketball, so Hester said she and her husband of 13 years, Josh, stay busy keeping up with them.

“My life outside of work is mainly all about our kids,” Hester said. And when they aren’t busy supporting their children, Hester and her family can

be found at the church she grew up in – First Baptist Church of Vina.

20 PROGRESS 2013


Amanda Hester,Amanda Hester,Tiffi n MotorhomesTiffi n Motorhomes

21PROGRESS 2013

Most everyone in Franklin County has heard of Swamp John’s, a popular restaurant that sits in a converted gas station on Highway 24 in Red Bay.

John Shewbart, the owner and namesake of the restaurant, helms the establishment.

“I’m just a working fellow. That’s about it,” he said.

The restaurant has been in business for over a decade now and was started by Shewbart’s mother.

“She was an outstanding cook,” he said. “She worked at the school lunchroom and the hospi-tal lunchroom, and she was the one who got the food and everything else started. I think we have been open here for 15 years now.”

Swamp John’s now features a catering service that travels to different places for fundraisers.

It also has expanded to include a few more locations outside of the store in Red Bay.

“We’ve been cater-ing for 10 years now,” Shewbart said. “I took on some partners about

eight years ago, and we opened the store in Muscle Shoals. We’ve got one in Florence also. It keeps me very busy.”

Despite starting in a converted gas station, Swamp John’s now sees many customers each week between the restaurants and the catering service, which keeps its owner pretty busy.

“Running the business is very time consuming. I work about 12 hours every day. Counting the catering we probably have a thousand customers every week,” Shewbart said.

“Here at this store (in Red Bay) we usually have 75 customers a day for lunch. Out in the country like we are that’s pretty good number. The Muscle Shoals store does a lot of business for lunch usually. With our catering it just depends on where we’re at.”

Lunchtime, as with many establishments, marks a busy part of the sched-ule for both the restaurant and Shewbart.

“I’m usually getting ready to do catering jobs around this time,” he said. “I run the catering side of things. I’m not usually down here a whole lot. My thing now is getting the truck cleaned, ready and loaded up to go. Tonight we are getting ready to go to Pumpkin Center in Morgan County. We’ll probably do about 300 plates there.”

“We go on catering jobs six days a week. We’re closed here on Sundays. Sometimes we do multiple jobs in a day. Tomorrow we have two. We have a lunch and a dinner to cater. On average we cater at eight different places a week.”

Having a catering business means travelling around to fulfill job orders, and Shewbart has taken food from Swamp John’s to places much farther

north and south than Red Bay.“We have catered around Birmingham. That’s a pretty good stretch. We

go up around Pulaski, Tenn., as well,” he said. “When it gets beyond a two-hour drive it becomes unfeasible to go as

high as fuel is. We started catering around Birmingham because my daugh-ter was in college at UAB. So if I could cater down there and get pay for fuel then I could go visit her. It’s a pretty good drive from here to Pulaski, but we do pretty well up there.”

Swamp John’s has become a well-known name in Red Bay and across Franklin County. This name recognition and catering as far and wide as he does marks a lot of growth for the restaurant over the years.

“It feels good,” Shewbart said. “The restaurant business is tough at the moment. Everything has gone up, and it’s tough to get by. We do the cater-ing as a fundraiser, so we let people make money off of that. The restaurant does pretty well for us.”

“I’m grateful and thankful for the success the restaurant has had. It’s tough, but we’ve managed to go through some hard times here, so we’re still going.”

For those reading this story the last and possibly most important question about Swamp John’s, how the place got its name, will finally be answered, and that bit of information might be surprising.

“It is just a nickname I got while playing football in high school at Red Bay, so there’s no special story with it,” Shewbart said.


PHOTOS BY J.R. TIDWELL John Shewbart,John Shewbart,

Swamp John’s RestaurantSwamp John’s Restaurant

22 PROGRESS 2013

23PROGRESS 2013

There are many different things Russellville firefighter Marcus Hill could be doing on any given afternoon because a day in the life of a firefighter is never the same.

Hill said there’s no such thing as a “typical day.” Duties that he would normally perform in the morning when he

starts his shift, such as cleaning out the bay where the fire trucks are kept, getting a briefing from the fire captain about the day’s activi-ties, or working out at the gym in Station 2 so he can stay physically prepared for his job, might be pushed back to 1 p.m. if there was an early morning fire call that kept him from getting those things done.

“We clean the bay everyday and it really just depends on our schedule as to when we can fit that in,” he said.

“We also try to carve out time to work out because being a firefighter is a very physically demanding job. If you don’t work out and stay physically fit, it makes the job a lot harder and even more dangerous for you, so it’s really to your advantage to fit this time in when you can during the day.”

Hill could also be fighting a structure fire at a city residence at 1 p.m.“Calls come in at anytime during the day so we just have to be ready when

we’re needed,” he said.Hill is the driver during “A” shift, which is the 24-hour shift he is a part of and

being the driver carries a different set of responsibilities than the other fireman on the truck have.

“When the tone goes off, we get details from 911 about what kind of call it is,” he said. “If it’s a wreck, we have to know where the call is coming from so we’ll know which station needs to respond, Station 1 or Station 2, and then we get details on how many trucks need to respond.

“If it’s a bad wreck, both stations may need to respond.”Hill said the same principle applied to most medical calls that come through.“If it’s not a life-threatening injury, whichever station’s jurisdiction it falls

under will respond but if it’s something life threatening, both stations may respond.”

Hill said when the tone goes off and there’s a fire anywhere inside the city limits, both stations respond no matter what.

“When we get a fire call, we immediately grab our gear and get in the fire truck to go,” Hill said.

“On the way there, the guys will be putting on all their gear, but I have to do things a little different because I’m the driver. I put my boots and pants on over my clothes but I have to finish getting my gear on once I get to the scene and get the fire truck parked where it needs to be.”

Hill said when they are en route to the fire, they’re still talking to 911 dispatch-ers getting more information about what they can expect on the scene.

“We need to know things like if there are any people inside, if there’s a lot of smoke and if flames are visible,” he said.

Hill explained that depending on the severity of the fire, other firemen may have to respond to help.

“If a second alarm goes off, it means the fire is fully involved and it’s bad, so our volunteers will get an alert to come help,” he said. “If it’s really a bad scene, a third alarm will go off that calls in all the off-duty paid firemen.”

While they’re still gathering information, Hill is having to make decisions of his own as the driver of the fire truck.

“My first responsibility is to get us there quickly and safely,” he said. If we’re going through intersections or past vehicles on the road, I have to be mindful of the surroundings and the other drivers.

“Once we get on the scene, I have to figure out where to park the truck. There are certain places that aren’t safe, such as right next to a wall that could collapse from the pressure of the fire. The safest place is usually near a building’s corner, but you also don’t want to park somewhere that the truck will get stuck so you have to make a lot of quick decisions.”

Once parking the truck is taken care of, Hill has to switch the truck’s transmis-sion to “pump” mode so it can pump water through the hose. He then “charges” the hose, or fills it with water, once it’s ready and hooked up.

“Once those things are taken care of, I get my gear on and get ready to do what I need to do.”

Hill said no fire is ever the same so they must be constantly prepared for any type of situation.

“When that tone goes off ad we head out the door, we know we’re heading into a dangerous situation,” he said. “My worst fear is always that we’re headed to a fire where someone is still trapped inside.

“We’ll do absolutely everything we can to get someone out of a situation like that and get the fire under control.”

Hill said since there are many different scenarios they could face when they are on duty, training is a mandatory, everyday event that everyone participates in, which is also something Hill could possibly be doing at 1 p.m.

“We train everyday at different times of the day,” he said. “We focus on things like search and rescue, rope training, certain skills, equipment training – there’s a long list of things we go over,” he said.

“We go over these things and use other situations we’re involved in as training so that we can keep our skills fresh in our minds. We want our responses to be second nature and training helps ensure that it is.”

Hill, who has been with the Russellville Fire Department for over four years, said he couldn’t imagine doing anything else but being a fireman.

“I originally got into this line of work just to have a change of pace from what I was doing before, but once I got here, I realized it was something I should have been doing my whole life because I love it so much.

“I love helping people and the people in this community really make it worth-while. Just last week we had a lady who came by to drop off some cookies she made us because we helped get her cat out of a tree.

“It’s things like that and being able to work with guys who become like your family that make this job so great.”



Marcus Hill,Marcus Hill,Russellville Fire DepartmentRussellville Fire Department

24 PROGRESS 2013

As local accountant Joe Tucker settles into his afternoon, he’s usually busy meeting with clients at his office, which is located in downtown Russellville.

Tucker said this is especially true during tax season from January through April as people are coming in to file their annual income tax returns.

“This is definitely the busiest time of year for us with many long nights and extended hours,” he said.

“We do the best we can to work with our clients and make it easy on them to come in. Some people are able to make it during the day, but some people have jobs where they can’t get away, so we try to make time in the evenings and even on Saturdays for those clients.”

Tucker said a normal meeting for a returning client during the tax season consists of going over the person’s W-2 or 1099 information and plugging the data into a

tax organizer.“The business of accounting is much different now from when I first started

working part-time in 1968 with a CPA in Florence during college,” Tucker said.“Everything had to be done by hand back then, but now we utilize software

that not only makes things simpler for us but it makes things simpler for the client as well.

“It makes appointments go by faster since we can store certain information that we normally would have to re-enter every year, and clients can get their returns back a lot quicker now that we’re able to e-file them, or file them electronically.”

Tucker said once a client’s information has been plugged into his tax software, they then go over what the numbers mean.

“For a returning client, the software will show last year’s numbers compared to this year’s numbers, which helps me make sure we have all the information entered that we need to,” he said.

“Our goal is to make sure the client is getting the maximum refund available to him or her under the IRS regulations, so I try to go over as many specific things with them as I can to make that a reality.”

Tucker said a meeting also usually consists of answering any questions clients might have about tax deductions.

“Most people have a lot of questions about whether or not a meal or a purchase or a trip can be considered tax-deductible so we go over that information and plug any of those deductions into the equation,” he said.

“We usually advise our clients to keep up with any tax-deduction questions they have throughout the year and bring those in when we have their consulta-tion and it makes the process a lot quicker.”

Once they have gone over all the necessary information, Tucker said he goes over everything at least one more time before electronically filing the return.

“We’re able to see then what a client will be getting back,” he said.

“Most clients come in with high expectations and are waiting in anticipation to find out what they’ll receive so I enjoy getting to be the bearer of good news when they get a good refund back.”

But on the flip side, Tucker also has to be prepared to tell some clients that the refund is much smaller than they had hoped or that they might even owe the government more money.

“When those situations happen, I try to go over all the client’s information and find out what they might can do differently to avoid the same scenario next year,” he said.

“There are changes in the way you file or the form you fill out and if any of that applies, I can advise them on what route they should take.”

All of the income tax appointments and the paperwork that has to be completed for the returns that some customers opt to just drop off is quite time consum-ing, which means there are plenty of long hours for Tucker and those who work with him, including his son, Mark Tucker, who is a staff accountant; Rhonda Crutchfield, who is also a staff accountant; and his wife, Shelia, who is the secretary.

But Tucker said long hours and working on the weekend are just some of the ways that his firm tries to accommodate their clients and provide them with personalized service.

“In the accounting world, independent firms like ours are constantly hav-ing to compete with bigger companies and do-it-yourself tax programs like TurboTax,” Tucker said.

“We want our clients to realize that for a little extra money, we can provide you with friendly, personal service that is tailored to your needs and your specific situation.

“If you have a question about your taxes, you’re not going to be able to talk to your tax software on your computer and ask it everything you need to know. But if you are one of our clients, you can call us anytime that we’re here and we’ll be glad to walk you through your questions or problems.”

Tucker said that personal element is what he enjoys about being an accountant.“I’ve practiced here in Russellville since 1976 when I started out in a one-room

office in the Byars Building downtown,” he said. “I purchased the house where my firm is currently in in 1984 and we’ve been

here ever since.“The advantage of working in a small town like Russellville is that you get to

really know your clients. You see them out in town at church or school or at the grocery store. You watch their children grow up and you just really get tot know them.

“Getting to know people and interact with people on a daily basis is what makes this job so enjoyable for me.”



Joe Tucker, CPAJoe Tucker, CPA

25PROGRESS 2013

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26 PROGRESS 2013

When a lot of people are hitting their “afternoon” slump, Sharon Bevis is busy crunching numbers, counting money and balancing the books at Valley Credit Union’s Russellville branch, which is located behind City Hall downtown.

Bevis serves as the credit union’s branch manager and has been with VCU for more than seven years.

“After my kids got through school and I was ready to get a full-time job, I just knew that working with a financial institution was something I wanted to do,” Bevis said.

“I am most definitely a people person and a big part of my job includes working with the public and interacting with them on a daily basis, so that was something I was

looking forward to.”There are several jobs and duties that Bevis has on a daily

basis, many of which often take place in the afternoon.“One of the main things we do is post payroll weekly for sev-

eral schools and colleges,” she said.“When Valley Credit Union first opened, it opened as a

teacher’s credit union and, even though we have many different members now, we still handle several of those payrolls as well as many personal accounts for local teachers and educators.”

Bevis said posting payroll is a lot like a direct deposit but they’re physically taking the payrolls and depositing them into separate accounts.

“This is so important to a lot of our members,” she said.“Many of them count on that money being in their account at

a certain time each week, so we have to stay on schedule and make sure the money’s there when they need it.”

Once a week in the afternoons, Bevis also makes sure the ATM is balanced and the paperwork is sent to the main VCU branch in Tuscumbia.

“Balancing is a big part of our job,” she said. “Whether it’s the ATM or our money drawers, we balance multiple times a day to make sure everything is done as correctly and accurately as possible and that we don’t run into any problems.”

Bevis said it’s possible for potential members to come in at any point during the day to open up a new account, which requires a good bit of compliance paperwork that has to be taken care of.

“We also have members who come in to take out various loans,” she said. “Even though we don’t currently have a loan officer at this branch, we can get all the paperwork together here to send to a loan officer at one of the other branches.

“This is a convenience for our local members to keep them from having to drive over to the Shoals area when taking out a loan.”

In the time that she isn’t working on any of those tasks, Bevis said she’s usually answering the phone and doing her best to answer any questions members might have.

She also works the drive-thru window so all during the day she is helping members with deposits, withdrawals and account questions.

“The members are what makes this job so enjoyable,” she said.

“I really believe working in a small town has a lot to do with it, too. Everyone is so friendly and you really get to know the members. They aren’t just an account number to us – they are

a friendly face and a valued part of our credit union.”Bevis said they have several members who even bring them gifts around the holi-

days.“We get all sorts of things like cookies and cakes and soup and things members

have handmade. Our members are just one of a kind.“At the end of the day, a job like mine may not seem like it would be the most

exciting, but the people I work with, the people I work for and the members who visit our branch make it all worthwhile.”

Sharon Bevis,Sharon Bevis,Valley Credit UnionValley Credit Union

27PROGRESS 2013

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28 PROGRESS 2013

Being a teacher means having a lot of responsibilities.Teachers must make sure students are paying attention, learning and doing well

on their exams.When a teacher is also a coach, the list of responsibilities grows, not to mention

the amount of time required to perform those duties.Coach Greg Hamilton is one such teacher in Franklin County. Not only does

he teach four subjects across three grades at Vina High School, but he also coaches the Red Devils varsity base-ball team.

Hamilton teaches 12th grade Government and Economics, 10th grade American History and seventh grade Geography and Civics on top of being the assistant principal at Vina.

“This is my 17th year teaching,” he said. “In college I played baseball at Shoals and then I graduated from the University of Alabama with my B.S. and got my Master’s and EDA from UNA. I went to Russellville High School.”

“I’ve been a head coach for all of those years. I coached football for 13 years and then I followed my son Taylor through his high school career, and I gave up football. I’ve been a head baseball coach since the day I was hired as a teacher, which presented a lot of challenges since I was starting as a head coach.”

Having this much responsibility would seem like a large challenge to most, but Hamilton sees it all a different way.

“I wouldn’t really call them challenges. I look at it as an opportunity to help young people. There is a lot of time involved,” he said. “The time and effort and the after school practices and games are the biggest challenges, if you can call them that. The biggest obstacle is time, but that’s something you have to put in to build a good program.”

Vina has had limited success in most of it’s boys’ varsity sports over the past few years, but baseball is the exception for the school. Hamilton said that this and coaching in general are some of toughest parts of his job.

“Being a coach presents the greatest challenge,” he said. “Because of the suc-

cess we’ve had the expectations continue to be high, and that obviously presents a greater chal-lenge. The challenge in the classroom is to get the students to listen to you and do well on the tests, but we’ve had a lot of success here with that. We try to make learning as interesting as possible. They’re both challenges, but on two different levels. We want to win on the field and have the students get good test scores and pass the gradu-ation exam.”

Vina ended the last couple of baseball seasons with solid records, but even so, that does not mean they always get the respect they try to earn out on the diamond.

“We are the underdog against everybody we play,” Hamilton said. “I like that part. But there’s no question, everybody thinks they are going to beat us because we are so small a school. We could double the largest graduating class we have ever had and not be where the rest of the teams in the area are, what they gradu-ate per year. That tells you how small we are.”

The biggest obstacle in the life of a coach is the amount of time required to helm a sports team.

This time put into the program presents several problems and challenges for any coach, and Hamilton is no exception.

“We started throwing in early January. During preseason we might spend five hours a week at it,” he said. “During the season I spend 20 hours at least a week with the team, and that’s after an eight-hour workday in the classroom.”

Hamilton said the toughest part about his job is not the long hours he must put in, but the lack of time he gets to spend with his family during the season.

“You’ve got to be married to a special woman, the wife of a coach,” he said. “That’s the only way to say it. There’s so much on her if you have children. That’s the most difficult part for me. Coaching is great and I love it, but not being there with your kids in the 6-8 week season is tough.”

Hamilton said the only time he gets to spend with his family on some days dur-ing the season is in between the end of school and the start of baseball practice, around 4 p.m.

“At four p.m. I have just finished up my duties as assistant principal. That means all of the kids are on the bus and ready to go. Then I go to baseball prac-tice and get that started,” he said.

“My wife and kids usually come and see me, because they know it’s probably going to be bedtime before they see me again. Then we have practice. If it’s a game night the family will be in the bed when I get home. At four o’clock everything is just getting started.”



Greg Hamilton,Greg Hamilton,Vina High SchoolVina High School

29PROGRESS 2013

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30 PROGRESS 2013

Working in a restaurant means a fast pace and high expectations for qual-ity customer service.

These two things are not a problem for waitress Jacklynn DuPont, who works as a server at the Chat-N Chew restaurant in Phil Campbell.

“I’ve been working here over a year, but I’ve worked here off and on over the past three or four years,” she said. “I am a wait-ress. I wait tables, take out food, take food orders, I do prep work and things like that.”

Restaurants tend to have peak business times around breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the Chat-N Chew is no exception.

“Around 5 o’clock everyone will start coming in for din-ner,” DuPont said. “We have to bring them menus, bring out drinks, take food orders and take out the food. We make sure we always have a smile on our face. Everyone likes service with a smile. It gets pretty hectic sometimes around dinner.”

Customer service is a must at restaurants because the employees have so much interaction with the customers.

This is not a problem for DuPont, and is in fact one of the things she likes about working at the establishment.

“I love my job. I really do,” she said. “I love meeting new people. I’m very social, so I’m a ‘people person.’ I like socializing with everyone and I like the restaurant business.”

It takes a concerted effort for a restaurant to get food from the kitchens to the tables. It is up to servers like DuPont to make sure customers et what they want when they want it.

“It’s very important to have good waitresses at a restaurant,” she said. “If someone who is not a good waitress waits someone on then they are not going to want to come in here. They want their service to be great. They want to know that a waitress is good, they treated me well, and that’s what keeps people coming back.”

Phil Campbell is a small-town place with a small-town feel, but that does not mean the diner is without its fair share of loyal cus-tomers.

“It doesn’t really affect my job that we are pretty much the only place in Phil Campbell open for dinner because I feel like custom-ers could go to Russellville or Haleyville just as easy as they could come here, but they still choose here because they love our food. We are always changing things up,” DuPont said.

“We do have a lot of regulars that come in, especially in the mornings and for lunch. Some people come in every single day and some come in almost every single night.”

DuPont said the only time busier than the dinner rush is lunch. A busy atmosphere and workload means that employees need to work well togeth-er in order to keep the operation running smoothly.

“Everybody here is easy to work with,” she said. “Everyone gets along, and it’s like we’re all a little family. You get to meet new people all the time. You don’t sit still in this business. You’re constantly finding some-thing to do.”

If you find yourself in Phil Campbell (or somewhere nearby perhaps) and in need of a meal, the Chat-N Chew on Highway 43 is always an option.

Jacklynn DuPont,Chat-N-Chew Restaurant



31PROGRESS 2013

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32 PROGRESS 2013

Thousands of athletes play high school sports in our great nation.Many of them have dreams of playing at the collegiate level, but only a select

few have what it takes and will get the opportunity to continue those dreams.A player has to be noticed to be recruited by a higher institution, and some-

times a player has difficulty finding the right fit close to home. Maybe a player is good enough to play college ball but has yet to be seen by recruiters.

In steps a man like Glen Jackson, who runs Southeastern Athletics Recruiting in Russellville.

“We are a nationwide high school football, basketball, baseball recruiting service,” Jackson said. “I’ve been in the recruiting business for 30 years now. In those years I’ve sold 13 franchises. That’s nationwide at places like

South Carolina, Florida, Auburn.” “Most people pay me a sum to buy a franchise, and they will do at their place

just like I do here. All of the work comes back through the office here. They go out and find the kids and we do all the work here.

“Then what we do is pick up the kids and fly them nationwide through DVDs, CDs and e-mails with game video. That way coaches can watch it anywhere. I can give you a PIN number and you can punch it in and watch live game cover-age in high definition just like on ESPN. If a coach likes them then they’ll sign them.”

Jackson helps get players noticed by recruiters at institutions that he thinks will be the right fit for them.

“I tell everyone in recruiting there are three things you need on any level: coaches have to know who you are, where you are and how well you can play before you go anywhere,” he said. “I send out information across the country, so coaches can see how well you can play just like your high school coaches and moms and dads already know you can.”

Jackson also sends other related information to recruiters to help get a better feel and understanding of who a player is.

“These pages have name, height, weight, position, G.P.A., ACT score and pertinent things like that. We shop them around and find the right school for them,” he said.

“If you can find players who can play at that level then it will be really simple to place them somewhere.”

Jackson has a keen eye for finding players across his covered sports that he believes has what it takes to compete at the next level.

“When we see a kid who meets those criteria then we’ll send him out to the appropriate level,” he said. “If you are a coach at Kansas I don’t need to send you film on a kid whose Division II material. If you are a D-I school and I give you film on someone who isn’t good enough to play for you then your probably not going to use me anymore.”

Not every high school athlete has what it takes to play college ball, and it is up to Jackson and his employees to sign up those who have a legitimate shot at continuing their playing careers.

“Of all the people we sign across all of our sports, 88 percent will sign with somebody. We go out and try to find the best at our schools and try to sign them,” he said. “There are 18,000 high schools that play sports in the United States. Out of those schools there’s only 2.8-2.9 percent of players combined at all of those schools that will sign on to play at the next level, especially Div. II or above.”

“The Gulf South Conference is a Div. II conference and in the NCAA and it takes a special player to play at those schools now. Getting on with them is tough. When you have five or six kids sign on in one year it’s really good. There aren’t many years you will have that, especially in football.”

When Jackson is not out on the recruiting trail, it likely means a busy day at the office is in store.

“Every day we have to check all of your emails. We’ll have 15-20 calls a day wanting tape or an update on a player,” he said. “I’ll return phone calls and talk to coaches. We send out info on 164 kids a day average in all sports combined. When you get all that done and answer or return anymore phone calls you’ve got a lot done.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m here or not, my bunch is going to get the job done, because they know if they don’t they’ll get so far behind they can’t catch up. Every year I lose 78-105 seniors every year in about every sport, but you gain that many back the following year, and it keeps on going on.”

Despite the long days in the office or on the trail, Jackson knows what keeps his business going and him doing what he does for a living.

“It’s all about the kids, and we wouldn’t do what we do if we didn’t love it,” he said.

Glen Jackson,Glen Jackson,Southeastern Athletics RecruitingSoutheastern Athletics Recruiting



33PROGRESS 2013

34 PROGRESS 2013

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35PROGRESS 2013

For those who attend sporting events on a regular basis in Franklin County, seeing Wes Richardson sitting in his chair beside a court or standing on a side-line during a game is nothing unusual.

Richardson is an athletic trainer with the North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic in Florence, and it is his job to make sure several local schools benefit from his knowledge and expertise in the area of keeping athletes safe and playing at their best.

“I primarily cover football in the fall and volleyball when I can,” he said. “A lot of the spring sports don’t have as many significant injuries like football does. I try to make myself available and be at as many events as I can.”

Richardson works as part of a program put on by the Bone and Joint Clinic to help make sure local high school athletes have access to anything they need before or during a game, such as having an ankle taped up or getting an old injury looked at to gauge how it is healing.

“This is a community outreach program by the North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic,” he said. “We call it outreach sports medicine. It’s something that is free to the school. It really is a win/win because our doctors

are very good, and most of the athletes I cover like to see our doctors because they’re very good with athletic injuries, but they’re not going to let a kid play if it’s unsafe for them. At the same time they’re not going to hold them out too long unnecessarily. The school doesn’t have to pay for this service and the doctors get a lot of referrals and business. Hopefully we’re saving a lot of unnecessary ER and doctor’s visits.”

Richardson covers Russellville, Tharptown, Colbert County and Covenant Christian for the most part, but he has been known to look after players at other local schools as well.

Being as how sports can be a bit unpredictable for the athletes who play them, Richardson’s job is never exactly the same two nights in a row.

“What I do each night varies depending on what sport I’m covering,” he said. “For basketball I try to get here early. I’ll try to get here as close to the first tip off as I can. I may check with some of the coaches and follow up with some of the injured athletes that I know. I check to see how they’re doing and progress-ing. I set up a chair I sit in so I can watch both benches, I tape a few players if they need it and cover any cuts I may need to.”

7 p.m. marks the start of the nightcap during basketball season and the sched-

uled start of every major football game in the state during the fall,

so this is a busy time for trainers like Richardson.He has to make sure the players that need his help are taken care of before the

game, but another major part of his job is being on the scene in the unfortunate event that a player does get hurt.

“It’s a great job, but there are times I definitely need to be prepared,” he said. “Not too long ago I had a potentially serious injury at a ball game I covered. I won’t go into any specifics, but thankfully it wasn’t as bad as we first thought. I am EMT basic as well, so that experience with emergency medicine helps me stay prepared for the few emergency situations I have in athletics.”

Richardson has come a long way since his days in college learning to do this profession, but some of his experiences may leave local sports fans jealous.

“I was in the athletic trainer program at the University of Alabama, and I worked football from 1990 all the way through ’93, so I was there for the 1992 national championship,” he said. “I got a chance to work with those players and I got to know a lot of them fairly well. I was assigned to basketball during David Hobbs’ first year after he took over for Wimp Sanderson.”

“When I finished at Alabama I came to UNA. I came back home because I’m from Tuscumbia. I took a graduate assistant position at UNA as a head athletic trainer. I got a lot of practical decision-making opportunities there I didn’t really have at Alabama. I finished my Masters in physical education, and I got to start working with the high schools in ’96. I’ve done this ever since then.”

The work of an athletic trainer is never done, especially one who covers so many schools and athletes.

“Unfortunately there are more schools out here than there are athletic train-ers, so I try to go around to some other schools when I can,” Richardson said. “It varies from week to week and night to night. There are some other athletic trainers in the area, and we try to help each other out the best we can. We try to spread ourselves out and allow schools to take full advantage of our services.”

For those who would like to see one of the Bone and Joint’s staff but cannot find the time to travel to Florence, a branch of the clinic is now open here in Russellville. Dr. Kenny McCullough comes down three days a week to see ath-letes and other patients.

For the kids playing sports around the county who need the help of a trainer, however, they often need only look to the sidelines to find Richardson coming to their aid.

Wes Richardson,Wes Richardson,North Alabama Bone and Joint ClinicNorth Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic



Red Bay Park and Recreations Director Mike Shewbart has already had a full day by the time 8 p.m. rolls around.

Shewbart is in charge of the maintenance and upkeep at the Dixie Youth fields, the Red Bay Fun Park and Water Park, the skate park, the city’s walking trail, and the old school gym, which is now used for rec league basketball games.

He also is responsible for scheduling games for the vari-ous rec league sports such as basketball, baseball, softball and soccer for the younger crowd and activities at the city’s senior center for the older crowd.

After a full day of answering e-mails, returning phone calls, communicating with parents, checking on all the rec department’s com-plexes and equip-ment and attending several games and meetings, Shewbart said the timeframe from 8-9 p.m. is when he usually starts to wrap things up from a busy day.

“At this time of year, we usually have basketball games that are winding down around 8 p.m. and there are a lot of things involved in wrapping up an evening of games,” he said.

Shewbart said thanks to the hard work and dedication of many parents, city leaders and others in the community, the park and rec department has been able to sink around $16,000 into the old school gym over the past couple of years to redo the floors, install new bleachers, update the paint and acquire the goals from the old Phil Campbell High School gym after it was destroyed by the April 2011 tornado.

“We are very proud of the improvements we’ve been able to make at the gym, so when you have something that you’ve worked hard on to make nice, you want to do all you can to keep it clean and maintained,” he said.

“When the games get wrapped up, we have to sweep and mop, get all the equipment put away and make sure everything is taken care of before we can lock up for the night.”

Shewbart said when they were making improvements at the gym, they were also able to install a concession stand where they can sell snacks and hot dogs, which has been a big help to parents who sometimes sit at the gym for most of the evening and have hungry kids, and themselves, to feed.

“The concession stand is another thing we have to start winding down around the 8-9 p.m. timeframe,” he said. “It took a lot of work to get our concession stand up and running so we make sure all the food is put away and all the machines are clean and ready to go for the next night’s

ballgames.”When basket-

ball season is over, Shewbart said his evenings would then con-sist of attending baseball and soft-ball games, some of which are still going on at 8 p.m.

And once sum-mertime rolls around, Shewbart will be checking in on the activi-ties at the Red Bay Fun Park and Water Park, which is still open at that time in the evening.

“The Park and Rec Department in Red Bay is very active and we try to have something going on for residents to enjoy all year long,” Shewbart said.

He added that the evening can also be a good time for him to spend with his daughter, Brooke, 13, and his son, Lane, 10, who help him wrap things up at the end of the day.

“This job can be very time-consuming when you get here at 7:30 every morning and don’t get home until after 9 most nights, so we have to find time as a family to spend together,” Shewbart said.

“My kids are a big help to me when it comes to cleaning up in the evenings, and it’s good time for us to be together but it’s also a good way to teach them responsibility and a good work ethic.”

Shewbart said he hopes the children who are involved in rec league activities are learning those same principles as well as others that can come from playing sports.

“I think the park and rec department is a very beneficial thing in a child’s life because it teaches you important life lessons like how to be a team player, how to compromise and work out your problems, how to communicate effec-tively and how to get along,” he said.

“And in a day and time when kids spend most of their day on the phone or in front of a TV or computer, it’s good to get them out doing physical activities and helping them learn to appreciate exercise.”

When Shewbart isn’t at the ball fields, parks or the gym, he said he spends a good bit of time in the evening at meetings, either with parents who are on different com-mittees or with city leaders.

“We have a lot of ideas and we just want to keep improving the park and rec department and making it better,” he said.

“We’re working on the possibility of a canoe trail through town, a disc golf course, and more activities for senior citizens.

“My goal is to eventually have some type of activity for every age group and be able to involve as many people in those activities as possible so that our citizens have plenty of opportunities for good, clean, community-oriented fun right here at home.”

36 PROGRESS 2013



Mike Shewbart,Mike Shewbart,Red Bay Park and Red Bay Park and Rec. DepartmentRec. Department

37PROGRESS 2013

Complete wiring for all your Indoor & Outdoor Needs

Commercial • Residential • Industrial Maintenance & Repairs

15891 Hwy. 43 • Russellville, AL

Call Call Trent StephensonTrent Stephenson 256-361-3813 256-361-3813 256-580-0447256-580-0447

Licensed • Fully Insured • Workman Comp

Member of

Photo by Scotty Kennedy

Mayor Mayor Bobby ForsytheBobby Forsythe

Councilman Councilman Mike KennedyMike KennedyCouncilman Councilman

Mike StocktonMike StocktonCouncilman Councilman David Tiffin David Tiffin

Councilwoman Councilwoman Charlene FancherCharlene Fancher

Councilman Councilman Brad BoltonBrad Bolton

Welcome Welcome to the to the

City of Red BayCity of Red Bay

District Attorney’s Office• Collected more than $192,175.21 in worthless checks and fees last year alone! • Prosecutes parents who fail to pay child support • Handles all felony offenses committed in Franklin County • Represents crime victims and collects restitution for victims of criminal activity • Restitution Recovery Unit collects court ordered money owed to victims.

Serving Franklin CountyServing Franklin County

Seated: Ann Woodruff, Tasha Zills and Courtney WallaceStanding: Assistant DA Doug Evans, Mike Mayfield, District Attorney Joey Rushing,

David Singleton and Terry Zills

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207 4th Ave. SE • Red Bay(256) 356-8771

15347 Hwy. 43 • Russellville(256) 332-1108

38 PROGRESS 2013

Russellville resident Terry Hester spends his evenings at the Franklin County Courthouse making sure one of the county’s most-used public buildings is ready to go each day that it’s open.

Hester, who is a member of the courthouse maintenance staff, works the evening shift, which begins at 4:30 and lasts until 10:30.

Working this particular shift means that Hester spends most of his time at work on his own, but he said he doesn’t mind it as much as some people might think.

“I guess a lot of people would think that it would get lonely working up here in the evenings, but it can really be kind of peaceful,” he said.

“It did take some getting used to at first because this is an old building and it’s constantly making noises, but after being here almost three years, you just finally start getting used to those sounds.”

The main sounds Hester normally hears are the swooshing of his dust mop and the whir of the automatic mopper, or scrubber, as he calls it.

“I have my certain routine that I stick to, and it really makes the time pass by quick when you’re focusing on getting all the tasks done that you need to com-plete,” he said.

“It’s easier to maintain the courthouse and keep it clean than it is if you let it get out of hand and really have to clean it from top to bottom, so I work hard

each evening to make sure that doesn’t happen.”Hester said after all the courthouse employees have gone for the

day and he has locked up the building, he starts off his cleaning on the second floor in the large and small courtrooms, which can get pretty messy on days when court is in session.

“You wouldn’t believe the trash that gets thrown around in there,” Hester said. “Before I can start sweeping and dust mopping, I have to go through and get the trash picked up and it’s anything from wads of paper to Coke and water bottles mostly.”

In addition to the sweeping and dust mopping, Hester said he uses the scrubber twice per week.

“The scrubber is great at getting the floor clean,” he said.“It’s called an automatic mopper because it works like a mop,

but instead of spreading the dirty water around like a mop does, it sucks the water right back up into the machine and leaves the floor looking shiny and clean. With as many people that come into the courtrooms each week, it needs cleaning like that pretty regular.”

Hester said he continues cleaning the floors through this process on the rest of the second floor before moving on to mopping and cleaning the public restrooms.

“When I get done with the second floor, I just move right down to the main floor,” he said.

“It usually gets the most traffic through it because that’s where the main entrance to the courthouse is as well as several offices that people have to go to a lot.”

Hester said he takes special care to keep the floors, particularly near the entrance to the courthouse, clean, but it’s a hard job in such a busy part of the building.

“It’s the hardest to keep the hallways through there clean, espe-cially with the rainy weather we’ve been having,” he said.

“I have my certain routines and my days when I’ll buff and scrub the floors, but I have to re-organize those routines when it rains or when it’s going to rain the next day.

“Scrubbing the first floor can be a whole night’s work and there’s no point in shining the floors and doing all that work if people are going to track mud and water through them the next day, so you just have to think ahead sometimes.”

Twice a week, Hester also vacuums the probate and property tag offices before he heads to the basement to finish up his cleaning.

“It may not sound like the most glamorous job, but I enjoy it, mainly because it’s peaceful work but also because of the people that work up here,” he said.

“Even though most of the employees are gone by the time I get good and started each day, I get to see them for a little while before they leave and everyone who works up here is so friendly.

“It also makes all the difference in the world when you work for a good employer, and Judge [Barry] Moore is great to work for. Having a good employ-er like that can make you enjoy coming to work.”

And even though he’s mainly flying solo in the evenings, Hester said there are some courthouse employees who sometimes have to stay late or come back to their office in the evenings and he enjoys talking with them.

“The courthouse is kind of like a big family and I like being part of it,” he said.



Terry Hester,Terry Hester,Franklin County CourthouseFranklin County Courthouse

39PROGRESS 2013

Terrace Manor Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Inc.

Dedicated to Hope, Healing and Recovery

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who respects your health care needs.

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programs. Large private rooms for short term care.

Medicare or private insurance may cover these stays.

390 Underwood Rd.Russellville, AL256-332-3826

Phillip & Sherene Wade

40 PROGRESS 2013

Every now and then Jeff Murray and Red Newton can sit down and enjoy a nice family dinner at home.

Sometimes, one of them can even get a nice peaceful night’s sleep.

But more times than not, the phone rings at some point in the evening or over-night summoning them out of their homes.

For the crew of M&N Towing in Russellville, however, that is just part of life. And it has been for years.

Red Newton has been working in the wrecker business since 1972 and though Murray hasn’t been at it quite as long, he still has come to know just what to expect.

“We go 24-7, rain sleet or snow,” Murray said, just minutes after arriving back at the garage from an early morn-ing call.

M&N Towing works on rotation responding to law enforcement calls in Franklin County and to customer calls throughout northwest Alabama. The crew of three works with a fleet of eight wreckers and rotates nights and week-ends responding to calls.

“There is usually always at least two or three calls a night after hours,” Murray

said.“That is down from a few years ago

though. We used to get six or seven a night.”

Murray said high gas prices keep some drivers off the roads late at night while others are just simply not driving as fast as they once did.

Still though, there are plenty of calls to respond to, espe-cially overnight.

“You just have to be ready to go when-ever they call,” Murray said.

“Everything is always laid out and ready. It seems like I always get a call when I’m sitting down to eat supper. But, that’s just part of it.”

He said there is one dispatcher with the state trooper’s office who makes sure to check on him when he’s making a call.

“She will check and make sure I am OK when it’s real late,” he said.

In some cases where weather is involved, crews can work for hours and hours.

“In 2011 when we had that big snow, we worked 36 hours straight,” Murray said.

“It takes us all working together here to make it go. We have a real good group and that makes it better on all of us.”



Jeff Murray andJeff Murray andRed Newton,Red Newton,M&N TowingM&N Towing

While most people are sleeping soundly in their beds, paramedic Chris Watkins is standing ready to help those in need.

Watkins said when he is on call with Transcare EMS, where he serves as a paramedic and the company’s training officer, it doesn’t matter what’s going on when that tone sounds because he has to be ready to immediately spring into action.

“We have certain times of the day when we do certain things like re-stocking the ambulance or cleaning it up, eating lunch or dinner, or sleeping if it’s past 10 p.m., but all of that gets put on hold when a call comes in,” he said.

When Transcare is paged by 911, Watkins said they get basic information such as the patient’s description, where the patient is and what symptoms the patient is suffering from.

Once they tell 911 they’re taking the call, Watkins said they have two minutes to get out the door and en route to the patient in need.

“You never really know what’s going to happen when you walk out that door because all we have to go by is the information that has been relayed to 911 that is then relayed to us,” he said.

“The 911 dispatcher may have been told a person was having chest pains and we get there and it’s a gunshot wound to the chest, or a call can sound really serious and we get there and it’s not really a life-threatening situation.

“You just never know, so you have to walk out the door prepared for anything.”Watkins is certified as a paramedic, which means he can provide medical care and

administer any necessary medications a patient may need.“The kind of care I have to administer depends on what kind of situation we have

when we get on the scene, but I try to go over possible scenarios in my head when we’re on our way there,” he said. “Based on the information given to us by 911, I can think of several different possibilities for care and medications that I might have to administer or use and I try to get myself mentally prepared.”

But Watkins said there are some situations you are just never really prepared for.“Any call that involves a loss of life is always hard,” he said. “Wrecks are also dif-

ficult, especially when there are young children involved.”Watkins recalled a wreck he had to work that took place out in the county that

involved a young family of a mom, dad and two small children.“The mom had to be cut out of the vehicle and it was a very intense situation,” he

said. “You have this young mother and you can see her husband and two small chil-dren and you’re seeing right there why it’s so important for us to help her, to make sure she’s ok – she has a family to take care of. That really makes it so much more real.”

Watkins said they were able to help that family and that all of them were treated and

in perfect health today.“Being able to help people is the whole reason I

wanted to be a paramedic in the first place,” he said.“Just knowing I’ve made a difference in someone’s

life is such a rewarding thing.”When he isn’t out on a call, Watkins said he uses the

11 p.m. time frame in several different ways, depend-ing on what needs to be done.

“One of the things I do after every call where sup-plies are used is re-stock the ambulance,” he said. “We have to have certain things on the ambulance at all times and I have to make sure those things are where

they’re supposed to be, so sometimes I’ll be doing that at night if we have just run a call.”

He said he also uses the time to catch up on paperwork, which is something else that is done after every call.

“We have our own patient care reports that we have to fill out that outline the patient’s information for insurance purposes and list a summary of what happened on the call and what kind of care was given,” he said.

Since Watkins is also the training officer for Transcare in Russellville, he sometimes has to use the 11 p.m. timeframe to prepare for any training that’s coming up.

“We have to have certain training and certifications every year, and I’m in charge of organizing those classes, so if I haven’t had any other time to prepare, I’ll use the evenings to get my notes together, get packets of infor-mation ready and anything else I’ll need for the class.”

But Watkins doesn’t have to do all these things completely on his own. He has a partner who works with him and he said that makes a big difference

whether it’s on a call or just being at the Transcare office, which is basically like their home when they are on call.

“Having a work partner makes things easier because they’re seeing what I’m seeing and it’s just great to have that physical, emotional and mental support,” Watkins said.

“We have some great people who work for this company and it makes me proud to work here because everyone really cares about their job and about the patients we serve.

“I was in a different line of work before becoming a paramedic and, even though it was a good job, my heart just wasn’t in it. Here, I look forward to coming to work each time I’m on call and it’s mainly because I work with good people who feel the same way about it as I do.”

Watkins said the patients themselves also make a big difference.“One of the things that always gets to me is being out in a public place in town, at

a restaurant or a store, and having someone come up to us and thank us for what we do,” he said.

“It could be somebody we may not even remember that we cared for a year ago, but they remember you because you helped them.

“Our jobs can be stressful and time consuming. It can take you away from your fam-ily and be really hard at times, but just that one ‘thank you’ or hug reminds you why you do it and makes it all worth it.”

42 PROGRESS 2013

Chris Wilkins,Chris Wilkins,Transcare Ambulance ServiceTranscare Ambulance Service



43PROGRESS 2013

Russellville Utilities

Proud to provide the citizens of Russellville and surrounding community with Water and Sewer Services.

Board Members:Dan Terry - Chairman,

Joe Graham, Curtis Grissom, Dick Tutich, Wanda Myrick, Doug Clement - Manager

1296 Walnut Gate Road • Russellville • 256/332-2020 • Fax 256/332-3592

Proud to Provide Utility Services to Russellville

721 South Jackson Avenue • Russellville • 256-332-3850

Russellville Electric Board 2013

Russellville Water & Sewer Board

Jerry McDuffa, Vice ChairmanJerry McDuffa, Vice Chairman

Dexter Hamilton, Secretary / TreasurerDexter Hamilton, Secretary / Treasurer

Bill Jackson, MemberBill Jackson, Member

Darren Woodruff, MemberDarren Woodruff, Member

Charles Canida, CEOCharles Canida, CEO

Andrea Murphy, CFOAndrea Murphy, CFO

Tom Pace, ChairmanTom Pace, Chairman

Taking great pride in serving the power needs of its customers and the community.

2013 progress pages

Documents