Millport's Christmas Trail of Lights

The Town of Millport proudly launched the First Annual Millport Christmas Trail of Lights on November 20, 2018. Town Clerk Linda Ferguson initiated this event as a fundraiser for the HALOS non-profit organization in Millport that conducts the annual 4th of July celebration. The 4th of July event carries a price tag of approximately $10,000 and reaches several people, some driving an hour to enjoy food, fun, fellowship and fireworks. For our small town of 1,049, it is a big event. 

The Millport Christmas Trail of Lights offered local businesses, churches, organizations and individuals an opportunity to rent a space and decorate a tree promoting themselves. It is a great way of advertising for them. The trees are along the Millport Walking Track and gives the citizens a place to bring their families to see Christmas lights. A lot of effort went into decorating the trees and have been greatly received by the community. As a fundraiser, Clerk Ferguson was able to raise $2,000 for the HALOS.

"This is something I have been dreaming about for the past two years. It is great to see it develop, and I hope to see it continue for many years, growing each year. We have learned a lot this year. The weather has not been nice for our trees. We have several trees that are having issues staying up, and of course some ornaments have suffered wind damage. Thanks to friends and citizens, we have come up with solutions for these problems that we will implement next year. The night we launched, Santa and Mrs. Claus were able to fit in a visit with us and even treated us to a little slow dancing to Christmas music. The HALOS served hot chocolate and hot apple cider which were very welcome on that cold night. It was great to stand back and watch our citizens visiting and enjoying themselves. The Town Hall offices and employees are working hard to promote Millport, the Small Town with a Big Heart and look forward to many more great announcements in the near future," says Clerk Linda Ferguson.

Orange Beach turtle toy boxes encourage sharing, wildlife education and recycling

Anyone who has visited the Alabama Gulf State Park’s public beach accesses in Orange Beach the past two summers has probably seen the colorful turtle signs with handmade wooden boxes at their bases. The words on the boxes say it all: “Need a toy - Take a Toy. Have a toy - Leave a Toy.”

The turtle boxes have been a success since being introduced at the end of the summer of 2015. City Administrator Ken Grimes said the idea all started with early morning walks he would take on the beach in 2012, before the “Leave Only Footprints” clean beach initiative was introduced in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. Grimes would collect plastic toys he found on the beach, soon having bags full.

Fast-forward a few years and with Logistics Coordinator Chris Litton finding the bags of toys stored away in the trunk of Grimes’ old city vehicle, the idea of having beach-toy recycling boxes sprung to life.

“We were also trying to promote the Share the Beach program because they would be out there, too, while I was walking early in the morning,” Grimes said, referring to the Alabama Sea Turtle Conservation Program that has volunteers working each nesting season along the coastline and marking nests.  “So it started to make sense that if you can make people think about collecting this stuff and bringing it back for others to use, it could be successful. We had all of these ideas of why it wouldn’t work but it didn’t happen that way.”

With the help of artist Kerry Parks from the Coastal Art Center’s Hot Shop, Orange Beach cabinet maker David Hallex, teenager Savannah Townley’s painting skills, employees at Orange Beach Public Works and Litton coordinating the program, the turtle boxes became a reality.

The turtle boxes can now be found at all of the public state beaches in Orange Beach including Romar Beach, Cotton Bayou Beach, East Alabama Point on Perdido Pass and the “Shell Beach” access east of Perdido Pass. A turtle box is also at the new sand volleyball court at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.

Grimes said the turtle box displays are a good photo opportunity for families, too.“In addition to encouraging sharing, it shows children how we all need to coexist with endangered sea turtles on the coastline,” Grimes said. “It shows them and brings educational awareness to other citizens who are enjoying the beach. If they understand more about the sea turtles we can better educate them about the nesting birds. We now have ‘Leave Only Footprints’ as a platform and sea turtles are one of the main reasons why we remove all items at night.”

“Make a memory and remember that we’re all working together to help the sea turtles hatch,” he said.

Find more information on Share the Beach go to www.alabamaseaturtles.com. For details on Leave Only Footprints, visit www.cleanisland.org.

City of Center Point Community Center and Library Complex

The City of Center Point City Council voted in October of 2017 to raise the local sales tax by two cents.  The purpose of this increase was to realize a dream that began more than 16 years ago: to bring a local library and community center to the residents of Center Point.  Later that month, Center Point voted to purchase the former Hilldale Baptist Church property on Sunhill Road to renovate as the community center and library complex.  The Hilldale property has 12.2 acres, one softball field and three buildings.  One building has the community center which consists of a gymnasium, full commercial kitchen, fitness room, and conference rooms available to rent. The Community Center will offer exercise programs, sports programs (such as basketball, softball, sand volleyball, badminton, etc.), playground, walking trails and after school programs in the fall.  The second building houses the library and offices.  The third building is the worship center, and our plans are to lease it to a church. It will also be used for concerts, plays, etc. The Community Center (which falls under the City banner of the Parks and Recreation Department) wasted no time in creating programs to bring the City together such as a Food Truck Rally and a Back to School Rally where 750 free backpacks were given out to Center Point school children.  A city clean-up day has also taken place with unprecedented involvement by community minded citizens. The community got its first look at what would become our Community Center at the annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast in March 2018.

Since then, remarkable progress has been made toward accomplishing a Community Center/Library Complex.  Staff has been hired, architectural plans have been drawn up, and a library board has been appointed by the City Council.  The Library Board has accomplished all requirements to become a member of the Jefferson County Library Cooperative and is currently scheduling interviews for the many applicants who desire to become Center Point’s first librarian. 

We as a city are very excited about the positive changes we are making in the lives of our residents. It is a great time to live in Center Point!

City of Montevallo: Our Magic Formula   By Hollie Cost, Mayor, City of Montevallo

During 2017, the year of our bicentennial celebration, Montevallo, Alabama, experienced somewhat of a renaissance. While the boom of progress is only now upon us, implementation plans have been underway for more than a decade.

Over the past 10 years, citizens of Montevallo have engaged in a multitude of public meetings focused on developing a shared vision for the future of our community. Youth were asked what their city would need to look like in order for them to decide to raise their own families here one day. Seniors were asked what services and amenities would enhance their lives. Citizens of all ages were challenged to craft a comprehensive development plan that clearly and systematically laid out city centers and appropriate directions for growth and development.

What soared to the surface throughout these discussions was the commitment to build a thriving community with ample opportunities for education, recreation, and occupation. Among other aspirations, our citizens expressed the desire to create a variety of gathering spaces and to continue to nurture and develop our walkable community by focusing on the heart of our town: Main Street.

Developing Main Street became our first goal to accomplish. As a community of action, we secured two federal grants to completely renovate our downtown streetscape. Construction broke ground on Jan. 2, 2017, with the tagline, “200 years of distinction and 200 days of construction.” Upon completion, Montevallo had an accessible streetscape beautified with native species landscaping, decorative lampposts, finely-crafted benches, tinted sidewalks, brick borders, and impressive mast arm traffic signals.

Realizing that construction alone could not strengthen our downtown, we applied for and were awarded a Main Street Alabama designation. As a Main Street community, we’ve been privy to recommendations and training from communities across the nation, as well as the national Main Street organization, regarding appropriate ways to develop a thriving Main Street district. Through our Main Street Montevallo initiative, pocket parks are being developed in two prominent downtown areas, one alongside a charming snickelway, to bring and keep citizens and guests downtown.

Montevallo is not your average small town. Among acres of public green spaces, we house a prestigious public liberal arts university, an American history and civic education center, and the Alabama National Cemetery. Yet, with all these resources, we realize our citizens remain our most significant asset. While we are broadly diverse in terms of race, religion, income level, education level, and background, we are intensely united and firmly committed to working together to strengthen our community. Citizens working together with municipal leadership is truly the magic formula for sustained progress.

Throughout this process, we learned the importance of convening; of growing slowly and deliberately; of truly listening to one another and respectfully disagreeing with each other; and perhaps most importantly, of putting these plans into action. As the mayor of this little unconventional oasis, I can say I am incredibly proud of who we are and who we are committed to become.