Mayor's weekly blog
Weekly Letter Friday, March 28, 2008 - Friday, April 4, 2008
Greetings from the Mayor’s Office.
I hope you had a good week and that you and your family will
find exciting things to do here in Athens this weekend. It is
Friday morning and the strong storm has just moved through our
area. We received a huge amount of rain here at City Hall, and I
hope we did not have bad damages in our area. I have heard about
are some trees down north of town, and lines down across Highway
72 westbound in Rogersville. Maybe this will help us catch back
up on our water needs from the drought. We also heard that Dr.
Walker, who lives in the East Limestone area, lost his barn to
the wind. I am not sure if the barn was destroyed by straight
line winds or if it was a twister. The good news is that we have
not had any reports of injuries to anyone. Maybe the rest of our
weather will just be rain, and no winds.
Tomorrow morning, Friday April 4,
the Veteran’s Museum will have it’s
Monthly Veteran’s Coffee
Call for all of our Veterans and those who support our Veterans
and our museum. Be sure to go by and see everyone. You will get
a good sausage and biscuit while you are there. About the same
time we will be having our opening day for boy’s baseball at the Sportsplex. I will be there for that if the weather permits it
to be held.
Friday afternoon, March 28, I had a
two-hour interview with a writer from the Huntsville Times
regarding the growth and events that are taking place in our
community. I’m not sure when his article about growth in our
area will be published, but I’m sure it will be a positive one
for our community.
I later talked with a business
person about problems he is having with one of our city
departments. We have citizens quite often who need some
assistance in dealing with city departments. Most of the time
these problems are solved by getting enough information to the
person that will allow them to understand why a particular
policy exists.
Kay and I went to Applebee’s for
dinner tonight soon after work. We had to go early because we
are helping my sister and family get all the last minute details
worked out for Della’s wedding tomorrow. We enjoyed a good
dinner of orange chicken and vegetables.
We later went to Barron’s nursery on
Zehner Road to get ferns for decorations in the auditorium. I
have driven past Barron’s many times, but I have never been onto
the nursery’s premises. I was surprised at how many hot houses
he has on premises, and was amazed at the amount of beautiful
plants and flowers available. I hope you will take time to go by
Barron’s some time to check out his nursery and what is
available there.
We stayed late tonight working to
get the auditorium ready for the wedding, and we worked on the
preparation of food to be served at the reception which will be
at Founder’s Hall at Athens State University. Most of Joan and
Jimmy’s family on both sides were there assisting with the
wedding preparations. We want to make sure that things will be
as near perfect as they can be for Della and Brian’s wedding.
The wedding ceremony was rehearsed several times tonight. All of
the wedding party and immediate family members had attended the
rehearsal dinner at Yesterday’s before coming to the practice.
Saturday morning was more of the
same. We moved the food to Founder’s Hall, and got ready for
family pictures to be made before the wedding. We were all
concerned about the weather and the rain. I was hoping the rain
would come early morning, then clear off for the wedding at
2:30. Bonnie Walker, Joan’s dear friend, was in charge of the
wedding. I’m not sure how much experience Bonnie has in
directing weddings, but it was evident to me that this was not
her first. Bringing about a successful wedding is a difficult
job at best, but Bonnie really laid the groundwork for things to
come together at the correct time and place. She worked very
well with the kids. All of the grandchildren from Della’s and
Brian’s families were actually in the wedding. Bonnie taught
them what they were to do, and they had practiced their role
many times before they had to do the real thing.
The wedding began at 2:30 and went
off perfectly. The auditorium was filled to capacity which means
there were at least 400 present. All of Della and Brian’s uncles
and aunts were ushered in just before the grandmother and
mothers were seated. Our little grandsons were ushers and ring
bearers, and they looked very handsome in their tuxedos. Our
granddaughters were flower girls, ring bearers, and attendants
for Della.
Our granddaughters, Kaleigh and
Alex, and our daughters, Whitney and Dinah were bridal
attendants. I suppose Whitney was the best woman or whatever
it’s called for the bride. Della’s brothers, Will and Jesse,
were groomsmen. The best man and another groomsman were Brian’s
friends.
Della, in all her beauty, was
escorted in by her Dad, Jimmy. She was crying, and Jimmy looked
almost as sad as he did the day someone stole his 1964 Corvette,
which was never recovered. My daughters and granddaughters were
crying, along with their Mama and all the family ladies. I
almost broke down and squalled myself. This actually was one of
our family’s most happy days, but during this happiness, we miss
our parents, grandparents, and other family members we have
lost, and realize how happy they would have been for Della.
But suddenly it was over, and we
were at historical Founder’s Hall celebrating the occasion with
dear friends and family. We had an abundance of good food, and
our family’s choice of beverage, ice cold Sun Drop. There were
white and chocolate cakes, and I think the chocolate was the
most sinful piece of food I have ever eaten. It was so delicious
and had huge hunks of chocolate baked into the cake. It was
almost like eating fudge. We had so many dear friends to come to
the wedding and reception, and we enjoyed being with them. David
and Patricia Rollings and Marcelle and Roger Leopard were there.
Patricia, Marcelle, Kay, and Joan were best friends during their
childhood, and it was great for them to be together.
Della did the traditional tossing of
the bouquet but I don’t know who caught it. I was inside with
Whitney, Daniel, and Charles singing some songs for some of our
friends and family. We all had a great time at the wedding and
the reception, and I wish everyday would be as happy for us as
this one has been.
Saturday night I went to the Council
on Aging Senior Center, and emceed the Fifth Annual CASA Roast.
The roasted tonight was Pastor Dusty McLemore from Lindsey Lane
Baptist Church. A good crowd was present for the roast, and
roasted he was by his old high school coach, Jackie Greenhaw,
Lindsey Lane Church Administrator, Bradley Griggs, his brother,
Mike, and his sister, Ginger Martin. They really stuck it to him
for quite some time. They told many true tales about his
childhood, his school days, and his ability to mispronounce
words while he is preaching.
Dusty, however, did a good job of
rebutting the cutting remarks they had made about him, and I
think he is planning to fire Bradley Griggs come Monday morning.
I told Bradley that he probably would not have to consider
working out a two-week notice. I told him to come on up to City
Hall and I would see if I had a truck-driving job for him.
Kay and all the family had gone to
Casa Blanca tonight for dinner, then over to Whitney’s for
visiting. I went by Whitney’s house after the roast, and I think
I got home around 1:00 a.m. Her cousin, Brian Parker from Olney,
Maryland, was here for the wedding, and he came by for a visit
with us. He and his Mom, Sharon, her sisters, Jeannette and
Cheryl, all came for the wedding, Cheryl from Maryland, and
Jeannette from South Carolina. While they were here for the
wedding, they also visited their older sister, Kay Adams. Kay
and Doug live on New Cut Road, not too far from our house. Kay
and the others did not grow up together, but have become very
close for many years and really enjoy the times they can have
together.
Sunday morning I went to Sunday
school and Church. Kay didn’t make it to Sunday school, but did
get to Church. Bro Jenkins had a good sermon about friends, and
how to have Jesus as your friend. We were down in numbers a
little bit, but the service went well. Our choir did well and
Tammy Haymon did a great job as soloist on one of our songs. She
is the wife of our Information Technologist, Dale Haymon, and I
did not realize who she is.
After Church, we went to our Mama’s
house where Joan and Jimmy now live, and had a great family
lunch in the basement. Our cousins from Maryland were still here
from attending the wedding and came for lunch. Troy and Jennifer
Covington, our young cousins, came from Buckhead.
I went to the Athens Middle School a
few weeks ago to declare the month of March as Youth Art Month
for the school and the City of Athens. Young artists around the
country recently displayed their talents during Youth Art Month
at the National Art Conference in Washington D.C.
Samantha Biggs’ design represented
the State of Alabama at the capitol. Biggs, 14, is an eighth
grader at Athens Middle School. Her art class, taught by
Jennifer Rosso at AMS, participated in creating an entry for the
contest. Her design featured the Alabama state flag, paint
splashes and brushes. She and her classmates worked on their
projects for about two weeks.
Two more students represented AMS in
the arts, as well. Stuart Sims, a seventh grader at AMS, was one
of 17 area students to be given a blue ribbon award for his
aboriginal painting entitled “Turtle.” He was honored by the
Visual Arts Achievement Program. Juli Owens’ painting “A World
of Art” was chosen by Rosso as the YAM entry for the school.
Owens is also a seventh grader at AMS.
Monday morning I went to the Oasis
Restaurant for the Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting. I didn’t
realize they had not done this since they have been opened for
several months.
We met this afternoon with a couple
of businesses that are having trouble with people loitering
around and causing trouble. We do have a plan of action to try
to stop the problems before they get out of control.
Tuesday morning I went to Athens
State University and presented a proclamation declaring April as
Child Abuse Prevention Month in Athens. This presentation was
made to a workshop attended by local students and teachers from
our school systems. Caroline Page and her staff at the local
Human Resources Department were participating in the workshop.
Wednesday morning Kay and I ate
breakfast at LuVici’s restaurant. We saw Angie Nazaratian and
her sister having breakfast there with Charlotte Lyle. Charlotte
and her family were neighbors of ours for more than ten years
when we lived on Peachtree Street. She and her family were good
neighbors to us.
I decided to take the day off and do
some things that needed doing at home. We looked for and
purchased new chairs for our back porch this morning because the
wicker ones we have had for several years had deteriorated
badly. I had to assemble one of them after I got them home, and
as luck would have it, one bolt out of fourteen would not line
up with the pre-drilled hole. I will have to re-drill it, or
carry it back for them to fix it.
I also purchased more weed killer to
spray our flower beds and areas where weeds give me a problem. I
used my backpack sprayer and it really makes the job a lot
easier than the regular pump-type sprayers. I just walk by the
areas that need spraying and operate the pumping lever with one
hand and spray with the other. This was the third application of
solution I have used, so the weeds should begin to die down
soon.
Kay had to get our granddaughter,
Kaleigh, to the dentist this afternoon. Her Mom and Dad are both
working and were not able to get her. She had her teeth cleaned
and went from the dentist office to McDonalds for a hamburger
and fries. She did not get to eat lunch at school today. While
we were at McDonalds, I saw Billy Swanner, Frank Westmoreland,
Corder Woodward, and Ed Calvin. They were having their afternoon
coffee and shooting the bull. We were talking about Theo, Ed’s
brother, having the accident at Shoney’s this week. Ed said that
their brother, Tom, had an automobile accident the same day. I
don’t think Tom was injured in the accident.
I went to choir practice tonight. We
had nearly all our members present, and had a great practice.
Our choir is going to sing for the Decatur Baptist Revival on
April 16, but I don’t think I will be able to attend. I have to
be in Montgomery on the 15th and 16th for
meetings, and I don’t think I will get back in time for the
service.
Thursday morning I attended a
breakfast at the Senior Center for supporters of our volunteer
programs which help our elderly citizens. This was a good
breakfast, and several folks attended. I got to visit with Jimmy
Christopher, Jackie and Helen Greenhaw, Kay Burlingame and
Jackie Jackson, and one of Mr. Charlie Adams daughters who grew
up in Blackburn when I lived there.
I later met with a representative of
a company that assists cities to develop retail strategies. I
have had one meeting with him before, and I am trying to
determine if it would be financially sound for us to do business
with the company.
I met with our department heads at
10:00 this morning but we only got to cover one item of
business. This item is important, and we had quite a bit of
discussion about it. I am going to have to get them together
again soon to finish the meeting.
I had to cut that meeting short to
meet with a local businessman and his financial advisors about a
proposal to the city.
I met this afternoon with three city
and county officials about the annexation situation, and we are
attempting to come up with other ways to deal with annexation
since our bill in the legislature is not getting local support.
I hope we can do some things to keep some of our adjacent
territory safe from Huntsville and Madison.
Two City Councilmen and I met with
our Economic Development Director this afternoon to discuss an
offer on a parcel of property from an industrial prospect. If
this works out, it will be beneficial to the city and it will
really enhance an existing industry.
Friday morning I attended a ribbon
cutting with Chamber of Commerce members at the Premier Home
Lending office at 104 West Market Street. Premier Home Lending
purchased the Cornerstone Mortgage Company and have been in
business for about three weeks. They are nice people and said
they are happy to be doing business. They have been located in
Madison for five years, but decided to move to Athens. I
appreciate them moving to our community.
Evan Thornton, our Financial
Director and I had lunch today at Quizno’s and then checked out
all of our detention areas to see what is going on since the big
rain this morning. We also checked out the Sixth Street drainage
project and found all of them to be performing as they were
designed. I think those projects are providing much relief from
the damages that is done when water is out of control.
I guess this is enough for this
time. I don’t have Jeannette Dunavant’s Chamber schedule of
events today because she is out of town at a workshop.
Take care
and I’ll see you next time.
mayordan
All of the local
'Events & Activities'
can be found on AthensPlus.com,
with contact information and full details.
www.athensplus.com/tourismhighlight_april.htm
