shoe shop boasts luster - media.al.com
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14A j The BirminghamNews Sunday, March 7, 2010LOCAL NEWS
JOBS:49,000 joblessin metro areaFrom Page 13A
FAREWELL JIM LUGAR
Man of music, nature taken too soonBy LISA OSBURNNews staff writer
When construction jobstook him out of town, JimLugar loved the outdoors somuch he would rather stayin a tent instead of a hotelroom, said Kathy Brimer,who was his fiancee.
The 54-year-old ShelbyCounty man was killed onFeb. 4 while working at aCullman County road con-struction site. Lugar wasoutdoors and doing what heloved when a work-relatedaccident took his l i fe ,Brimer said.
Lugar spent his childhoodand many of his adult yearsworking in the family busi-ness, Music Center OneStop Record Distributors.The store, which was indowntown Birmingham forabout 40 years, was startedby his mother, Audrey Lu-gar, and his late father, Vir-gil Lugar Sr.
“We opened our storeback in the Motown days,”Audrey Lugar said. “We allworked in that together. Wehad some great experiencesand met a lot of great peoplewho loved music.”
Lugar and his two broth-ers, Virgil Lugar Jr. and JohnLugar, gained an apprecia-tion for music.
“People who know us —
they know we like all kindsof music,” John Lugar said.“It is kind of in our blood.”
The brothers loved theblues and working with thecustomers at the store. ButJim took a special interest inthe ones who were not nec-essarily there to buy a re-cord.
“We were downtown, andyou got all kinds of custom-ers,” Virgil Lugar said. “Thething about Jimmy, healways tried to help peoplein need — the homeless,people down and out. Hewould help them try to findwork. He wouldn’t givethem money, but he wouldgive them food.”
Family and friends saidLugar had a passion forhelping people and living aChristian life by example,not words.
“ H e n e v e r m e t astranger,” his mother said.“He was always wanting tohelp someone, reaching out
when they were in need.Always kind and loving, justa great guy. It is still just un-believable that this hap-pened to him.”
Jim Lugar was a foundingmember of the AlabamaDelta Chapter of Sigma PhiEpsilon fraternity at theUniversity of Alabama atBirmingham. He was thefirst member of his family toearn a degree, his brotherssaid.
The family eventuallyclosed their record distribu-tion store as the industrystarted to change, AudreyLuger said. But Jim stayedconnected by establishingonline stores to sell to re-cord collectors.
His brothers said Jimcould have tried any num-ber of careers, but he lovedthe outdoors.
He moved in with hismother to help with thefamily’s Shelby County farm
and eventually started work-ing in the construction busi-ness about three years ago.
Lugar, a member of HopeLutheran Church, never hadchildren but did have aclose relationship withBrimer’s grown childrenand a stepdaughter from aprevious marriage, Brimersaid.
“He was family,” she said.“My grown children consid-ered him a stepfather, andto other children in the fam-ily, he was Uncle Jim.”
Brimer said the two haddated for 10 years and re-cently decided to marry dur-ing the month of February.“He died a few days beforewe were going to get mar-ried,” she said.
E-MAIL: [email protected]
To suggest a person for Fare-well, contact Jon Andersonat 325-3258 or [email protected], or by fax at325-2283.
included re-hires. Thisyear, the park hosted aseparate job fair for re-hires.
The job fair kicked offSaturday at 10 a.m. Thirtyminutes later, at least 100people were in line to en-ter the park’s administra-tive offices.
People, five at a time,filed into a temporarybuilding to fill out an ap-plication and then inter-view with supervisors fromeach of the park’s depart-ments.
The annual job fair typ-ically draws teens andyoung adults , people17-20, looking for work aslifeguards, admission-b o o t h w o r k e r s , f o o dservers and ride operators.
But this year, as withlast, there were moreolder, more-seasonedprospects attending thefair in hope of filling jobsin areas such as securityand first aid.
The turnout under-scores the need for jobs inmetro Birmingham, wheremore than 49,000 resi-dents are unemployed, ac-cording to the latest data.The actual number of job-less people is thought tobe much higher, as manyhave dropped out of theofficial work force, dis-couraged by dim pros-pects.
In December, the metroarea’s jobless rate was 9.8percent, up from 5.7 per-cent a year earlier andfrom 3.4 percent in De-cember 2007, when the re-cession began. The mostsignificant job losses dur-ing the past two years havebeen in construction, fac-tory work and in profes-sional and business serv-ices.
The more varied the jobpool, the better, said oper-ations manager MichaelSchwitek. He said withbetter employees, the parkcan offer better service.
Many applicants saidthey were just looking forfun summer work.
“I’m a big kid,” said Jes-sica Jones, 20, of Fairfield.“I want to work with kids.”
J o n e s s a i d s h e h a ssteadily applied for jobs incustomer service andhealth care with no luck.
McAdory High Schoolstudent Alexis Williamswas looking for her firstsummer job. She needsthe money to pay seniorfees for the coming schoolyear.
Nekghanta Jones, 18,just wants to work out-doors.
“I like being outside,” hesaid Saturday. “Maybe Ican work at the go-carts.”
News staff writer DawnKent contributed to this re-port.
E-MAIL: [email protected]
Jim Lugar
INFOCUS LIFE THROUGH THE LENSES OF BIRMINGHAM NEWS PHOTOGRAPHERS
Shoe shiner RichardWilliams awaits customers at the Goodyear Shoe Hospital.
Shoe shop boasts lusterBy MICHELLE WILLIAMS j News staff photographer
There aren’t a whole lot of things you canget for $1 these days, but a shoeshine is oneof them.
It only lasts a couple of minutes or so, butsomething about having shoeshiner RichardWilliams work his magic has the regularscoming back.
A pile of newspapers rests on one of twoseats and underneath is an assortment ofpolishes, cloths and cans. Williams knowswhich to use on each individual’s shoes.
Bert Taylor stops in a few times a month
and has been coming most of his adult life —about 30 years, he said.
It’s usually the gentlemen that indulge,but ladies are welcome to hop up, too. About20 to 30 pairs get shined per day at the Good-year Shoe Hospital, Williams estimates.Some have the people attached to them;some don’t.
The downtown shop opened in 1919 and,along with shoeshining, does full-scale shoerepair. Rhonda Patton owns and operates theshop at 2016 Third Ave. North. She used torun it with her father, Jack.
When he passed away last summer,Rhonda took over on her own. “I tell people Isave soles for a living, and I deal with a lot ofheels,” she says in a way that makes youthink she’s had practice using that line.
Sunny days are the busiest for the shoe-shine side of the shop, when people are outand about.
And during the slower times, Williams maytake an opportunity to shine his own shoes,or watch the world pass by from his shinestand.
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COMINGWEDNESDAY YOUR COMMUNITY NEWS SECTIONS
SOUTHMountain Brook: Li-brary book sale—14,500 sold, $33,000raised
Vestavia Hills: UAHshootingsstrengthen talk ofbackground checks
Homewood: Schoolcalendar set for2010-11
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SHELBYU.S. 280: Paving allsummer long
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VESTAVIA SOFTBALL TEAM
OPTIMISTIC AFTER RUN AT STATE 11S
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Chelsea, Montevallo, Columbiana and other Shelby
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YOUTHFUL CHELSEA SOFTBA
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TEAM STEPS THINGSUP AT STATE
9SC
y Mt Laurel Elementary School prin-
cipal Nita Thompson is retiring in
June, with Angela Walker assuming
the job as new principal. Walker is
currently the assistant principal at
Chelsea Park Elementary School.
Walker won the 2007 Virginia
Horns-Marsh Doctoral Scholarship
and is currently completing her doc-
torate at UAB. She is also a National
Board certified teacher and a former
See PRINCIPALS Page 8SC
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BASEBALL STATE TITLE
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and other northeastern Jefferson County comm
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MORTIMER JORDAN SOFTBALL
TEAM TAKES HOMETITLE 6N
Covering Eastern Birmingham, Center Point, Clay, Trussville, Pinson, I
and other east Jefferson County communit
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MORTIMER JORDAN SOFTBALL
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Covering Bessemer Cutoff, western Birmingham, Fairfield, Fore
Hueytown, Midfield, Pleasant Grove and other west Jef
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HUEYTOWN SOFTBALL TEAM
PASSES CHEMISTRY TEST 10W
ARCHIBALDFrom Page 13A
I am sorry all this has oc-curred.
And I am. I am sorry tosee Langford and his travel-ing political theater hauledaway to prison. I am genui-
nely sorry to see his family’stears, and sorry to see apromising man throw hislife and his trust away.
Most of all I am sorry —but not surprised — thatLangford is not sorry.
He wouldn’t talk about itFriday, on his day of sen-tencing, but he has said itbefore:
He can’t show remorse,he has said. Because he isnot remorseful. He can’t sayhe is sorry because he stillcontends he did nothingwrong. His mother taughthim not to lie, the storygoes, and if he said he wassorry, you know what thatwould be:
A lie.Not a big one, though.
Not compared to the onehe’s been telling himself.
John Archibald’s column ap-pears Sundays, Wednesdaysand Fridays. Write him [email protected].