By Stephen Dawkins

Seven really was a lucky number for 2010 Miss Peach Queen Jessica Swindle.

The 18-year-old Jemison high grad estimated Thursday that she had been in a total of seven Peach Pageants in various age groups before finally winning a crown.

“I’m so honored. I can hardly believe it,” Swindle said moments after her name was called at Chilton County High School.

Her parents, Dwight and Madeline Swindle were ecstatic — and quite proud too.

“She’s worked for this since she was a little kid,” said Madeline Swindle.

Her dad added: “Anything she’s ever done, she has always put her best foot forward.”

Swindle said she looks forward to her upcoming journey as Miss Peach and representing Chilton County.

Durbin Farms Market sponsored Swindle. In the fall, she plans to enroll at Alabama A&M University and study telecommunications. She would like to be a meteorologist in the future.

Linlee Karn won the swimsuit portion of Thursday’s pageant. She was also named Miss Congeniality.

Swindle’s court includes first alternate Marisa Hilyer, second alternate Candace Pierce, third alternate Leigh Anna Shavers and fourth alternate Krisi Caudill.

Earlier in the week, Kaitlin Ray was crowned Junior Miss Peach, Leah Easterling was named Young Miss Peach and Gracie Owens was chosen as Little Miss Peach. All four girls will be on hand for this weekend’s Peach Fest activities, including the Peach Parade and Peach Auction on Saturday.

By Scott Mims

The next chapter of international relations between Thorsby and its sister city of Torsby, Sweden will take place July 8 when G2 Bluegrass Band performs a concert in Richard Wood Park.

The five-piece Swedish band has included Thorsby in its U.S. tour and plans on playing two, 45-minute sessions. Admission is free, and concessions will be available.

“We were able to work it out with their schedule that they would actually be able to do a concert for us while they were here,” said Thorsby Swedish Fest Committee chairwoman Tracia Bussey. “Who knows? This could turn into a yearly bluegrass festival.”

The connection took place when G2 leader Tobias Stromberg read an article in the Torsby, Sweden newspaper by Per-Erik Persson of the Scandinavian-American Economic Development Alliance, who visited Thorsby during last year’s Swedish Festival.

In the article, Persson wrote about the agreement by Thorsby town leaders to pursue a sister city relationship with similar-named Torsby. While there has been contact and some interaction between the two towns, nothing official has taken place. The article stated that Thorsby was still interested in pursuing the relationship.

After reading the news release, Stromberg contacted Mayor Dearl Hilyer by e-mail, saying that the band was interested in visiting Thorsby and learning about its Swedish heritage. Hilyer then forwarded the message to Bussey.

“The Swedish Festival Committee has agreed to help fund the event along with area businesses and individuals,” Bussey said.

She called the concert a “step in the right direction” toward forming a more official connection between the towns.

During the concert, locals Mike Graham and Scott Springer will work the sound system for G2. The band will take time in between sets to meet and greet with people in attendance and will have CDs for sale. People are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.

Anyone who wants to sample G2’s music may visit the band’s website, g2bluegrassband.com. For more information, call Bussey at 217-0978.

By Stephen Dawkins

Jemison’s basketball team on Monday played its 11th game in four days, and it showed.
The Panthers held a 19-16 lead over Marbury—in their second game of a “play date” exhibition event at their home court—but allowed the guests to leave with a 47-36 win.
“We played hard, got after it—we just didn’t have our legs to make shots,” Jemison coach Stacy McGehee said.
Monday’s games came on the heels of a team camp over the weekend at Birmingham-Southern, where the Panthers went 7-2.
At each stop this summer, Jemison has worked to fine tune the uptempo brand of basketball it plans to utilize in the upcoming season, McGehee’s second as coach.
McGehee said the team is already better than it was at this point last season.
“We have made leaps and bounds this summer,” he said.

By Stephen Dawkins

The Jemison volleyball team might feel honored to have the coach of the University of Alabama team run its summer camp, but the players might not know that the feeling is mutual.
UA coach Judy Green last week instructed Jemison players for the fourth consecutive year.
Green has committed to Jemison coach Leighsa Robinson that Green will continue to conduct the camp as long as possible.
“This one kind of kicks off their camp season,” Robinson said, “and she said it’s hard to find other groups that are willing to work like these are, that don’t complain.”
Another reason for Green’s presence—and the players and assistant coaches that also help—might be the baskets of peaches donated by Culp Fruits each year.
Regardless, Robinson and her players agree the team is better off because of Green’s willingness to help.
“They get the one-on-one that you don’t get from a Division I coach when you go to a team camp,” Robinson said. “They work very hard because they want to make that impression on her—they have so much respect for her.”
Thirty-two Jemison players—varsity, junior varsity and middle school—participated in the camp.
One participant was Kasi Wells, a rising senior setter. Like Robinson, Wells said having Green in town benefits Jemison volleyball.
“We learn a lot,” Wells said. “She makes it fun, but she makes you learn it.”

By Scott Mims

The old lunchroom building that sits behind the former Thorsby Elementary School doesn’t look too impressive now, but the town’s Historic Preservation Committee wants to make the ’30s-era structure useful again.

The organization raised about $8,000 from donations and the sale of historic booklets to fund the building’s renovation in time for the Swedish Fest.

“This is a baby step in renovating the whole facility,” said committee chairwoman Tracia Bussey. “We’re doing the work ourselves.”

The structure was first built for additional classroom space and was later used as a lunchroom, according to Bussey. But time and neglect have aged the building, and vandals have busted out virtually every window pane, damaging the wooden frames in the process.

“You wouldn’t believe how many rocks we picked up on the inside of that building,” Bussey said.

Ed Angel of Clanton, who has ties to Thorsby, is volunteering his time to restore the windows back to their original beauty. Bussey said it would have otherwise cost thousands of dollars to fix the windows.

The committee’s goal is to turn the building into a community recreation center. Once complete, it will sport a small kitchen, bathroom and indoor meeting space.

A reception has been planned for Oct. 15 in conjunction with the Swedish Fest, to recognize descendants of Thorsby’s original founders and settlers. These include the families of founders T.T. Thorson and J.F. Peterson, among others.

Committee members hope the old lunchroom can serve as the backdrop for this event.

“Anyone is welcome to come to the reception if they would like to meet and greet the founders,” Bussey said.

More big plans are in store for this year’s Swedish Fest, which will fall in line with the Year of Alabama Small Towns and Downtowns celebration. A marker will be dedicated in the center of town to recognize the Scandinavian founders and settlers. Also, a flag court will be erected featuring the U.S. Flag and the flags of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

Much more will be announced as the October event draws near. Meanwhile, anyone interested in donating to the restoration project may call Bussey at (205) 217-0978.

“Any donations will be appreciated,” Bussey said.

By Stephen Dawkins

Heading off a problem before it could arise, school and city officials worked together to develop a traffic plan for the opening of the new Jemison Intermediate School.

Now, they can only wait and see how well the plan works.

The new school, located adjacent to Jemison Elementary School, will bring to the area about 600 more students and employees, many of whom will share entrance and exit routes with more than 900 JES students and about 100 more employees.

“We wanted something in place before school started, and we had a really good conversation,” JES principal Louise Pitts said about a group that included fellow principal Mark Knight, school superintendent Keith Moore, school transportation supervisor Joe Dennis, Jemison city councilman George Brasher and others.

The meeting produced a detailed plan. In the mornings, all parents dropping off students will use the far east entrance, or the road nearest to County Road 51. JES parents will circle around in front of the school, while JIS parents will continue straight down the road, beside JES and behind JIS, before unloading students on the west side of the new school.

The afternoon pick up routes will be the same at JIS, but JES parents will, as they did last year, pick up students on the east side of the school.

Buses will use one route to drop off and pick up students at both schools, driving by the west side of the elementary school and in front of the intermediate school.

Jemison Elementary tested the routes for the last couple of weeks of the last school year, and a letter and traffic map was sent home with students’ final report cards.

“We’re hoping, but we won’t know until we get out there and see how it works,” Knight said about the plan. “It will be trial and error. We hope everybody will be patient with us.”

Any problems would likely be compounded the first few days of school because parents, especially of kindergarteners, are more likely to drive their children to school instead of letting the bus pick them up.

Knight encouraged anyone with questions about traffic or any other issue related to JIS to attend the school’s registration and open house from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 6.

Also, traffic rules will be posted online at www.chilton.k12.al.us/JMS/jms.htm.

By Scott Mims

The threat of inclement weather kept crowds at bay for the first week of Thorsby’s Movies in the Park last Friday. This weekend, the weather continues to be a concern with the otherwise well-attended event.

“People really turn out for this,” said Lt. Phillip Porter of the Thorsby Fire Department.

Last year, crowds of up to 350 people filled Richard Wood Park to watch family-friendly movies on an outdoor screen. This year, approximately 150 people attended the first showing.

Porter said the movies are geared toward a broader audience this year. Tonight’s showing will be “The Blind Side,” and next week will be “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” followed by “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” on June 18 and finally “Planet 51″ on June 25.

The event begins at 6 p.m. each Friday, and each movie begins at 8 p.m.

“We want to make it a very family oriented type event,” Porter said.

Movies in the Park has been expanded to include an adopt-a-thon by the Chilton County Humane Society and a booth where people can sign up to have free smoke detectors installed in their home.

Humane society Director Joe Murphy said one animal was adopted last week, which made the effort worthwhile for him. Murphy also gives talks about responsible pet ownership.

“It’s a nice little close-knit community event,” Murphy said. “I just enjoy being a part of it. If the weather would just clear up, I think a lot more people would attend.”

Nearly 20 people have signed up for the free smoke detectors, which are available to all Chilton County residents through a state grant. Members of the Thorsby Fire Department are required to install the detectors.

Those interested may call 646-3725 or e-mail a request to thorsbyfire@centurytel.net.

“We really want to stress that anybody who needs one to call us and sign up,” Porter said.

By Scott Mims

The Chilton Leadership Class of 2010 has unveiled their class project — a promotional video for Chilton County and a brochure that highlights activities in the ever-expanding Minooka Park.

With the help of an Alabama Tourism Department grant, the group printed 100,000 copies of a brochure featuring scenic photographs, a roadmap, contact information and a summary of what Minooka Park has to offer.

Also, a video available on the Chilton County Chamber of Commerce website, chiltoncountychamber.com, promotes many aspects of the county such as recreation, government, community events and industry through a slideshow of photographs accompanied by original music.

“We decided we wanted to promote Chilton County,” said class representative Danny Carter. “We didn’t think it was being promoted well enough.”

The group, sponsored jointly by the chamber of commerce and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, raised $2,800 including the $1,100 matching grant to fund their project. The grant was matched by the county and local municipalities.

Half of the Minooka Park brochures will be distributed around the state to rest stops and other areas frequented by tourists. The rest will go to the chamber and locations around the county.

Several portable displays showing the video will also be distributed to different local businesses.

“We all have to work together to succeed in the county’s growth, and that’s what the video is all about,” said class representative J. Sam Johnson.

Sixteen people graduated from the Chilton Leadership program on Tuesday. The event was held at the Helen Parrish Activity Center in conjunction with the chamber’s monthly business luncheon.

The graduates were: Rex D. Bittle, Danny Carter, Angela Cofer, Jana Conlee, Sherry Cox, Rachel Giles, Lee Gunn, Sheila Haigler, Dearl Hilyer, J. Sam Johnson, Laura Jones, LaGora Lykes, Ralph Mason, Keith L. Moore, Debbie Orange and John Shearon.

Each year, a different leadership class spearheads a project that requires teamwork. Members gain a better understanding of the county’s problems, opportunities and resources, and learn how to build networks with community leaders around the county.

“I’m fairly new to the community,” said class representative Rex Bittle. “I’ve been here for less than five years. It seemed like a quick, in-depth way to learn about the county, and it turned out to be more than I could have expected.”

Class sponsors this year were the Alabama Tourism Department, city of Clanton, city of Jemison, Chilton County Commission, Clanton First United Methodist Church, Gordon Smelley, town of Maplesville, Rep. James M. Martin, Gov. Bob Riley and the town of Thorsby.

By Stephen Dawkins

When Ab Argent agreed to the job before the 2005 season, he was told he couldn’t win as coach of the Thorsby baseball team.
Six seasons—and 132 wins, six playoff berths, four area championships and three appearances in the state playoff quarterfinals—later, the doubts still motivate Argent.
But perhaps the greatest testament to the job Argent has done is the fact that his players motivate themselves, as evidenced by a commitment to strength training last summer that helped the Rebels earn a ranking as high as No. 2 last season and make the third of those quarterfinal berths.
And the greatest example of that offseason commitment is junior pitcher Cody Carroll , who compiled a 12-2 record with a 1.85 earned run average and 96 strikeouts in 78 1/3 innings pitched. His dominance was best demonstrated in a five-inning no-hitter at Ashville and a performance at Vincent in which Carroll was one out away from a perfect game but gave up an infield hit.
“We could’ve played 20 innings and they wouldn’t have been able to hit him,” Argent said.
Carroll is The Clanton Advertiser’s Baseball Player of the Year, and Argent the Coach of the Year.
After the 2009 season, when Thorsby was knocked out of the playoffs in the first round for the first time in Argent’s tenure, coaches and players agreed something more had to be done if the Rebels were going to achieve the success they wanted.
So, each team member began making three visits a week to Cornerstone Fitness and Wellness, where they worked with trainer Barry Baker. The Rebels even continued the routine as they began playing regular season games.
“We told Barry not to cut them any slack, and he didn’t,” Argent said. “In the beginning, it wasn’t any fun. He said, ‘y’all will thank me later.’”
And they did, after the players realized how much their offseason work helped them on the field—and in their heads.
“We had a little more swagger this year than in the past,” Carroll said.
Carroll added 15 pounds of muscle (he weighs 190 pounds) in a year and added about 10 miles an hour to his fastball (he was clocked at 82 mph during the season). Carroll also grew a few inches, yielding a 6’2” frame Argent said college coaches will find attractive.
“His better days of baseball are ahead of him,” Argent said but added that Carroll must continue to work. “If you get content with where you’re at, you’re not going to improve.”
Argent talks like his own baseball future will include much of the same.
THS features varsity players like Carroll who are willing to go the extra mile to be successful, a youth league with all the tools necessary to produce capable players, and a school and community proud of their baseball program and willing to support it.
“I can’t imagine doing anything else, really,” Argent said. “It’s hard for me to believe I’ve ever been anywhere but here.”
But Argent said the best part about his job is that Thorsby isn’t so big or stressful that his daughters, 9-year-old Adi and 4-year-old Sarah Beth, can’t be a part of the program.
Adi wakes up ready for the day’s game and even gets in on the strategy.
“We’re up in Lexington, quarterfinals of the playoffs, and I’m sitting there on the bucket, into the game, and there’s this tap on my shoulder,” Argent said. “I turn around, and it’s her. She says, “What (pitch) do we got called? I look at her for a minute, and I say, ‘fastball away.’
“It’s one of those moments you just can’t explain.”

By Scott Mims

A new athletic training facility was once just wishful thinking among coaches at Thorsby School.
But it is soon to be a dream come true.
Thanks to the efforts of the school’s booster club, parents, students and other generous individuals, plans are underway for a structure that will provide breathing room for the school’s athletic programs.
Once complete, the building will house multiple weight stations, practice equipment and more.
“It’s going to make it possible for us to get all our kids from every sport into one facility to be able to work them out, and that’s huge,” said Billy Jackson, Thorsby’s athletic director and football coach.
The building will measure 75- by 85-feet. One side will house approximately 14 weight training stations—doubling the capacity of the existing field house. On the other side will be batting cages, practice pitching mounds and other types of equipment. The building will also contain restrooms and a coach’s office.
Currently, there is not enough room for the school’s 200-plus athletes to train under one roof simultaneously. In order for everyone to get time in the weight room, varsity and junior varsity must alternate training days.
“Weightlifting is the backbone of any program,” Jackson said. “If your kids are not working out and getting stronger, everyone else is. It’s tough to compete with the bigger schools.”
An indoor training area will also come in handy on rainy days, especially for the school’s baseball team. It will end the inconvenience of splitting the students into groups between the field house and gymnasium.
The old field house, which was built in the early 1990s, will likely be turned into a full locker room.
“I think it will be very beneficial to all sports here at Thorsby,” said baseball coach Ab Argent. “It’s something we desperately need. We need a bigger area to accommodate our kids—male and female athletes.”
School Principal Russ Bryan thanked Sen. Hank Erwin for a $10,000 gift toward the facility. He also thanked the athletic booster club for helping the school reach out and locate resources to fund the project.
An architect is working on plans to present to the Board of Education and the State Building Committee in June.