Braves players coming to Lee Branch

Five Atlanta Braves players will be at the Village at Lee Branch on Thursday, Feb. 2 from 4-5:30 p.m. as a part of the Braves Caravan tour.

Pitchers Jair Jurrjens and Randall Delgado will all be signing autographs during the event at Academy Sports + Outdoors, 310 Doug Baker Blvd. General manager Frank Wren, Bench Coach Carlos Tosca and broadcaster Don Sutton will also be present.

For more information, visit the Braves Caravan website.

 

The force needs for you to fight for a cure!

For his seventh birthday, Kaeden Ezekiel chose to not focus on presents and cake but giving back to the American Cancer Society.

Kaeden Ezekial had a Star Wars-themed float in the Chelsea Christmas Parade to promote the American Cancer Society as a part of his birthday celebration.

Kaeden chose to recognize the American Cancer Society because thinks it is sad for all those who have cancer and he wanted to make a difference.

Instead of receiving gifts, Kaeden asked family and friends to make a $5 donation to the American Cancer Society.

Kaeden with his friends and their float. Back row: Dylan Brown, Steven Shelton, Sara Ezekiel, Kaeden Ezekiel, Skyler Maddox. Front row: Andrew Ezekiel and Ryanne Ezekiel.

Kaeden, along with his friends and family, also entered a float in the Chelsea Christmas Parade with a Star Wars theme and an important message: ”The Force Needs You to Fight for a Cure!”

Kaeden also created a box on his float that read, “Celebrating Life One Birthday at a Time.”

In honor of Kaeden’s birthday, $235 was donated to the ACS.

Firehouse Subs donates life-saving equipment to Cahaba Valley Fire Department

By KATHRYN ACREE

Firefighter David Smetek shows a group of area homeschool students some of the equipment donated to the Cahaba Valley Fire Department by the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. Photo by Kathryn Acree.

The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation awarded more than $17,000 worth of life-saving equipment and tools to the Cahaba Valley Fire Department and Emergency Medical Rescue during a ceremony on Jan. 6 at the fire station off Highway 280.

Equipment donated included ventilation fans, lighted generators, K12 and vent saws, lockout kits, pickhead axes, hose rollers, helmets and many other items.

“Sometimes the biggest needs are the smaller items used all the time by fire departments,” said David Conklin, area representative with Firehouse Subs.

Harrison and Joseph McGaha check out life-saving equipment donated to the Cahaba Valley Fire Department by the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. Photo by Kathryn Acree.

“This is the second donation made to this fire department through the foundation,” said Brook Highland Firehouse Subs owner John Porter. “It’s a wonderful feeling knowing life-saving equipment is going where it’s needed.”

After the April 27 tornadoes across our state, the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation launched a national fundraiser allowing diners to “round up” their bill to the nearest dollar. Funds raised through the program replace outdated and worn equipment, increasing the department’s operational safety.

John, Claudia and Nellie Porter with Firehouse Subs Area Representative David Conklin. The Porter’s are owners/franchisees of four area Firehouse Subs locations including Brook Highland and Altadena. Photo by Kathryn Acree.

Since 2005, Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation has donated more than $335,000 to public safety entities in Alabama.

Winn-Dixie grocery store planned for Inverness Corners

By MADOLINE MARKHAM

Winn-Dixie has applied for a permit for the former Bruno’s location in Inverness Corners. Photo by Kathryn Acree.

A Winn-Dixie grocery store is anticipated to open in the former Bruno’s location in Inverness Corners.

On Dec. 14 Winn-Dixie applied for a permit for the space, Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey announced during his state-of-the-city address on Dec. 16. A lease has not yet been finalized for the space.

Mayor Ivey said that Hoover is excited to have the 53,000-square-foot space filled. The building has been vacant since Bruno’s closed in the summer of 2009.

“We have had a lot of our big buildings fill up this year,” Mayor Ivey said. “In this economy we are excited to have people wanting to get new businesses opening in the city.”

A life of Secret Service

By RICK WATSON

Inverness resident and former Secret Service agent Lem Johns holds a photo of himself standing behind President Lyndon Johnson and Jacqueline Kennedy as Johnson took the oath of office following President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Photo by Rick Watson.

On November 22, 1963, four shots rang out at Daley Plaza in Dallas, the shots that were heard around the world.

Former Secret Service agent Lem Johns of Inverness remembers all too well where he was on that fateful day – less than 150 feet behind John F. Kennedy’s Lincoln Limosine.

“I was in the right rear seat of the car following the vice president’s limo, and I heard a shot that came from the right,” he said. Johns was riding in the third car in the motorcade with his door cracked, and the instant he heard the shot, he bolted from the vehicle and raced toward Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson’s limo.

Johns’ primary responsibility was protecting Johnson, and he needed to be in the car with him.

Film taken at the time of the assassination showed that Johns and his boss Rufus Youngblood both reacted instantly to protect the vice president when the first shot was fired.

Fit for life: Boot camp instructor Ashley Dawson

By KRYSTI SHALLENBERGER

Heardmont Park boot camp instructor Ashley Dawson prepares for the Ragner Race; her team placed first among the women’s teams. Photo courtesy of Ashley Dawson.

Only once has Ashley Dawson canceled her outdoor boot camp class at Heardmont Park. That was during the infamous April tornadoes.

“It doesn’t matter what people’s (fitness) levels are; I can push them to do more, and they do that every class,” she said.

Some students in her class come off the couch and others are avid marathon runners, but all come together for the same hour-long cardio, weight and core workout.

The goal of Extreme Fit Boot Camps, according to Dawson, is to strengthen the heart.

“What it did for me was to take me to a level of fitness that I didn’t know I had,” she said. And that drive and desire is what she now wants to impart to her students.

Capturing natural beauty: Photographer Chris Mason

By MADOLINE MARKHAM

Photographer Chris Mason enjoys capturing landscapes like this at Bryce Canyon. Photos courtesy of Chris Mason.

Chris Mason has a thing for waterfalls. And for barns. And national parks. And even dead flowers.

“I want to capture what I see when hiking or camping and share it with other people,” said the 280 area photographer.

Mason likes to wake up early in the morning and go for a drive, exploring until he finds an image to capture. He scouts out the exact set up for the photo. If the lighting isn’t perfect at the moment, he’ll come back the next day when it is. He doesn’t like to edit his photos extensively; he wants to primarily capture the image through the camera.

People who buy his prints say they like how he captures lighting in the pictures.
Originally from Northeast Georgia, Mason lived in Colorado and loves to photograph the scenery of the National Parks out west.

“Often people say they have been to these National Parks but they didn’t capture them in the same way,” Mason said. “The photos recreate the experience they had there.”

Mason also shoots on his day excursions from his home: Waterfalls at Noccalula, Little River Canyon, Weinti and Bankhead National Forest. Old barns in the countryside. Sunflowers at Jones Valley Urban Farms. Nightscapes on Morris Avenue downtown. Views from a kayak at Oak Mountain State Park. Flowers, full of life or dead, at Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Even a parking deck at the Birmingham Airport.

Soups for a weeknight family dinner

By LISA CULOTTA JOHNSEY

Lemony Chicken Soup makes a quick and comforting weeknight meal. Photo by Lisa Culotta Johnsey.

A quick Google search reveals that the number of families sharing a meal together three or more nights a week continues to erode to what I consider an alarming and shameful percentage.  This New Year, I encourage you and your family to consider eating together more often. It is beneficial to the well being of the entire family. You will develop healthier eating habits, bond and create memories.

Growing up, my mother prepared meals, and we ate together every night at 5:30 as Daddy requested. This was considered a time to be together, sharing stories and unwinding from the rigors of our day. I remember Daddy would share a funny story about his workday. The television was always turned off, and we never answered the phone if it rang. My mother has always been a fabulous cook, but it didn’t matter what was for dinner; the important thing was that we were together.

By MADOLINE MARKHAM

Traci Griffin, Scott Griffin and Gennell Ferrell opened The Red Shamrock Pub in Mt Laurel in December. The pub sells red shamrock T-shirts to raise money and awareness of Duchenne Muscular Distrophy for the nonprofit Hope for Gabe. Photo by Madoline Markham.

The dim-lit interior of Mt Laurel’s newest eatery is rustic. There are no backs on the dark wood bar stools or chairs so that everyone can easily mingle.

“We wanted a pub as rare as the red shamrock,” the pub’s owners said.

A perfect place to watch sports, The Red Shamrock boasts a giant 200-inch HD projection screen upstairs and 120-inch HD projection screen downstairs as well as six 47-inch TVs throughout their space.

Friends Traci and Scott Griffin and Chris and Genell Ferrell opened The Red Shamrock as a close-to-home gathering place for their neighbors.

“Everyone in the neighborhoods around here says they don’t want to drive back in Highway 280 traffic after they get home at the end of the day,” Genell Ferrell said.

The Griffins, who live in Highland Lakes, and Ferrells, who live at the Chelsea/Sterrett line, became friends when their sons were on the same youth football team. While talking one day, they realized their area needed a place to hang out. One thing came to mind for both Chris and Scott: a pub, an Irish pub.

Iron Tribe: Business Spotlight

By MADOLINE MARKHAM

Iron Tribe client Kenan Ashurst, client Brett MacDonald, coach Jessica Parks, client Alexa Hymowitz train at their Inverness Heights location. Photo courtesy of Jason Wallis.

Everyday is a competition at Iron Tribe Fitness.

There are no treadmills or exercise bikes—just free weights, rowing machines, pull-up bars, and most importantly, a coach and team to drive the workouts.

“You put forth more effort in five minutes of our workouts than most people do in 45-minute workouts,” owner Forrest Walden said.

The center of each class is a high intensity Workout of the Day (WOD): running, rowing, Olympic lifting, power lifting, or some combination of those things. No two WODs are ever the same.

The regimen appeals to those who love competition. Everyone’s score from the workout is written on a marker board and is listed online. A male and a female winner are awarded each day.

“We talk about performance, not aesthetics,” Walden said. “When you focus on performance, aesthetics come.”