This year’s recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Award on the Fayette Campus is Beverly Hardison-Carter. Hardison-Carter began her educational pursuits at Bevill State Community College, graduating Cum Laude with an Associates in Arts Degree in 1997 as a Liberal Arts major. In 1999, she received her Bachelor of Arts in English from the Mississippi University of Women. She received a Master of Arts in English from The University of West Alabama in 2002.

Berry Church of the  Nazarene welcomes new pastor
Berry Church of the Nazarene is excited to welcome its new pastor, Rev. Rob Steinbrook and family. Steinbrook is from Bloomington, Ind., and was raised in Martinsville, Ind. in a Christian home and in a Nazarene Church. He attended Kentucky Mountain Bible College in Vancleve, Kent. from 1999-2001, and God’s Bible School and College in Cincinnati, Ohio from 2001-2002.

On June 22 and 23, more than 50 area and West Alabama Amateur Radio Club (WAARC) members (operators) came out for Field Day in Fayette’s Guthrie Smith Park. The event incleded a 24-hour nationwide training exercise to test the skills of amateur radio operators in the event of an emergency.

High winds at approximately 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 27 toppled a huge tree onto the residence of Larry and Euline Sanford, located at 6978 Highway 159 in Fayette. The Sanfords said that they were at home during the time the thunderstorm occurred. They said that they were in the other end of the house when they heard the rain begin. The Sanfords said they then heard a loud crash and discovered that the tree had fallen on the house.

A local church pastor was honored at the recent Southern Baptist Association’s annual convention, held in June in Birmingham. Mike Perrigin, pastor of Chapel Hill Baptist Church near Newtonville, thought that he had been asked to speak at the convention concerning his role as a bi-vocational pastor. He expressed that just being asked to attend and possibly speak was an honor to both him and his family.

The Fayette County Board of Education approved several personnel changes during its June 25 meeting. Board Member Waldon Tucker was absent from the meeting, with all other members being in attendance. The board accepted the following resignations during the meeting: Shelby Humphres, teacher at Fayette Elementary School; Lori Tucker, special education teacher at Fayette County High School; and Luke Tucker, physical education teacher and coach at both Fayette Middle School and Fayette County High School.

Fayette Mayor Ray Nelson said at the June 25 meeting of the Fayette City Council that he wanted the city to try one more effort to find the means for the proposed Rails-to-Trails. All council members were present for the meeting. Nelson said that he received a letter from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), dated June 17, stating that the city has 30 days to notify ADECA of its “intent or lack thereof to proceed with the (Rails-to-Trails) project.”

The Fayette Lions Club welcomed The Times Record’s News  Editor, Dean Maddox, as its featured speaker for the club’s June 24 meeting. During the presentation, Maddox explained his duties as reporter, photographer and editor for the newspaper. He discussed the process for covering meetings and events, and Maddox also outlined the steps necessary for getting the newspaper ready to publish.

The Oak Barrel Spirits, Package and Vape Store held its ribbon-cutting and grand opening on Friday, June 28. The store is located on North Temple Avenue, and the hours of operation are  Mondays - Saturdays, 10:30 a.m. - midnight.
 

Marilyn Cash of Fayette said that she had never quilted before designing a square for this year’s Alabama Rural Electric Association’s quilt contest. She said that her friend Renee Richardson had encouraged her to enter the contest and since she had done some crocheting in the past, she decided to give quilting a try. Her design was one of 90 entries throughout the state for the contest, which had an Alabama Bicentennial theme this year.

Beginning this fall, Alabama will no longer issue  licenses to individuals wishing to enter into marriage. A bill was passed, signed and enacted on May 31 that will abolish the issuing of marriage licenses in Alabama. The law is scheduled to take place on approximately Aug. 29, and will require the couple wishing to marry to sign an affidavit affirming that they meet the legal requirements to marry.

On April 10, Fayette County Coroner Timothy “TK” Kimbrell was elected President of the Alabama Coroner’s Association. He was elected at the 2019 Alabama Coroner’s Association Conference, held in Orange Beach. This is the first time that a coroner from Fayette County has been elected to this position. Kimbrell was elected as Fayette County Coroner in Nov. 2010 and took office in Jan. 2011. In 2013, he was elected as director of District 5, which includes Fayette, Lamar, Walker, Marion, Franklin, Colbert, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Cullman, Morgan, Limestone and Winston counties.

Historic Restorations, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization, is soliciting funds to repair the many damaged headstones and monuments at the Fayette City Cemetery. All donations are tax deductible. Historic Restorations charges no administration fee, therefore 100 percent of all donations will go toward actual work in the cemetery.

Unity Grove Baptist Church of Fayette hosted its first-ever youth fishing rodeo at Guthrie Smith Park on June 22. Pastor Will Corbett said they decided to host the rodeo to try to reach more youths in the area. More than 50 people attended this year’s event.

Local artist Missy Miles saw a big blank wall and thought, “That wall has a story to tell.”
Miles painted the original label logo on the wall at the Golden Eagle Syrup factory in 2013, and mentioned to the owners that she would like to paint the entire wall. The owners, Temple and Kimberley Bowling, and John and Joy Blevins, could not envision at the time being able to finance such a massive undertaking.

The Fayette City Council heard a presentation at its June 11 meeting from Fayette County resident Greg Lowery concerning the growing, production, manufacturing and distribution of hemp-related products in Fayette County. Councilman Jason Cowart was absent from the meeting due to an obligation with the National Guard. All other council members were present for the meeting. “Hemp is not marijuana. Hemp is not illegal,” Lowery told the council and the audience in attendance. “Hemp production can help save the family farm.”

The Fayette County Commission voted to seek bids for the County Road 53 repaving project this month during its regularly scheduled meeting held on June 10. All commissioners were present for the meeting, with Commission Chairman Mike Freeman absent due to attending a probate judges’ conference. Vice-Chairman Joe Acker presided over the meeting during Freeman’s absence.

The Glen Allen Town Council held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 4 at the Town Hall. All council members were in attendance for the meeting.
Mayor Allen J. Dunavant presented before the council a request inquiry from Alabama PALS (People Against a Littered State) with regards to the town’s participation in the statewide Adopt-a-Mile program.

On April 1, Shelley Young Jones, LICSW, assumed the role of Executive Director at Northwest Alabama Mental Health following the retirement of Dr. Dale Cottle.  Jones held several positions in her 18 years with the Northwest Center, beginning with Coordinator of the PHP Program in Lamar County, Regional PHP Coordinator, Marion County Outpatient Director, and most recently as Clinical Director over Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Programs for the five-county service area. Also on April 1, Patricia L. Franks Montgomery, LPC, became Clinical Director over Northwest’s five counties.

The 2019 regular legislative session that adjourned earlier this month accomplished many tasks that I believe will improve the lives of the citizens throughout House District 16.  In addition to providing record funding for public education and essential state services, we implemented some much needed and long overdue pieces of legislation.