Category: Community News

Oak Grove Town Council meeting report for 11/12/2024

The Oak Grove Town Council met at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 12th at 6:00 p.m.

Councilman David Harris reported that the recent Oak Grove Fall Festival essentially broke even in terms of expenses and sponsorship revenues, “It was our smoothest and most successful festival, thanks to everyone joining in and working together.”

The Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Department made their monthly report to the Town Council for October 2024:

Total Calls – 54
Structure Fires – 6
General Fires – 5
EMS-Only Calls – 41
Non-Fire, Non-EMS Calls – 2
Aid Given Calls – 4
Aid Received – 6
No-Aid Required – 44
Calls Inside Town Limits – 14
Calls Outside Town Limits – 40

The following are action items from their agenda:

William L. Taylor was approved to joing the Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Department.

The Council approved the 2025 Town holiday schedule for Town Hall and employees. The only change in the traditional schedule is for the Christmas holiday, with Friday (12/26) added to the schedule , along with Wednesday (12/24) and Thursday (12/25).

Repairs to the bumper of the Street Department’s 2022 Ford F-250 were approved at a cost of $1,700 by Collier Motors.

The Town Council approved the purchase of 2024 Gooseneck Trailer ($9,500) and hitch ($699). The 8.5’ by 30’ trailer will allow the Street Department to transport all three lawn mowers to job sites.

Resolution 617 approved declaring the 15-passenger Transportation bus as surplus and authorized disposal of the 2017 E350 Cutaway Bus.

The Council discussed a proposed 2.5-percent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for town employees. The proposal will be formalized with a Resolution during the December regular meeting.

The Town of Oak Grove voted to approve Resolution 616, which joins the State of Alabama in approving a Sales Tax Exemption for Agricultural Fencing, up to $25,000.

A revision of the National Flood Insurance Ordinance had its first reading and will be considered during the December regular meeting.

The required Oak Grove Annual Safety Meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, November 27th at 2:00 p.m.

A contingency budget of $500 was approved for the annual Oak Grove Christmas Tree Lighting event, which is scheduled for Monday, December 2nd at 6:00 p.m. in Oak Grove Park.

Childersburg welcomes “Fair to Middlin’ Gifts & Boutique”

Kara Eslinger opened the doors to “Fair to Middlin’ Gifts & Boutique” with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 7th, including both the Greater Coosa Valley & Sylacauga Chambers of Commerce.

Childersburg Mayor Ken Wesson welcomed the new downtown business, “The transformation has been nothing short of amazing. This is a shop that Kara and her family can be proud of creating, something special for the future of downtown Childersburg. It’s great to see such a crowd welcome her and her new shop.”

Eslinger got more than a bit teary-eyed as she explained the name she chose, Fair to Middlin’, “The name is a tribute to my GrandPa, using one of his favorite sayings. I was blessed to have such a supportive family. Everybody chipped in, allowing me to research what I wanted to include, while getting the building ready, and deciding how to display everything. I know he’d be so proud of everything about Fair to Middlin’.”

Here are some scenes for the dig day:

Check out “Fair to Middlin’ Gifts & Boutique in person at 705 1st Street Southwest in downtown Childersburg.

HSCU presents, “All Things Considered” on 10/21, 11:00 a.m. at the BB Comer Library

The Heritage South Credit Union Foundation has commissioned an original play about the reality of financial scams, “All Things Considered.”

The play is scheduled to be performed live at the B.B. Comer Memorial Library on Monday, October 21st at 11:00 a.m. A FREE Lunch will be provided for the first 100 guests.

“We wanted to do something to raise awareness of financial scams,” said HSCU’s Kevin Whitman, who is directing the play, “We obtained a grant to make the production possible, including having Sylacauga native Logan Chance write the script, along with myself, Beth Chance, and Jessie Vincent.”

Heritage South held auditions back in early September, and the troupe has been rehearsing since. They held a dress rehearsal for staff members on Monday, October 14th at the main branch in Sylacauga. The cast features:

Janie Giddens as Marjory
Donna Walker as Sara
Randy Clark as Ed
Michael Giddens as Jon
Robin Wallace as Stella

Ribbon-Cutting & Open House for College Park development

Rausch-Coleman Homes held a Ribbon-Cutting & Open House event on Thursday, October 15th. Twelve homes of a planned 132-home College Park development have been completed and more are currently under construction. A great crowd was on hand as College Park gave its first public peek at its new homes.

Here are some scenes from the big event:

We talked with Rausch-Coleman’s in-house College Park representative, Robbyn Duncan:

Wow! What a weekend!

Wow! What a weekend in the Greater Coosa Valley! There was NO shortage of things to do in the region on Saturday (10/12), all full of family fun! A pair of annual festivals drew crowds in south Talladega County, as well as a big veteran-related music event in the Lincoln area.

Childersburg’s John Cox Stadium hosted a “combo” event – the “Pumpkin Festival & Coosa Fest 484,” while the Childersburg Rescue Squad’s “Ride to the Rescue” brought hundreds of bike riders to town, along with a Classic Car, Truck & Bike show and some of the south’s best BBQ and all the fixings.

And for the 14th consecutive year, Oak Grove’s Fall Family Festival was the biggest and best ever, along with a great collection of vintage vehicles from the Marble City Cruisers.

Learn about & get involved with the Talladega County Extension Service

Talladega County’s Extension Service held an “Open House” on Thursday, October 10th to show of their many community education offerings, while expanding their network of partners. Extension Service offices are an “extension” of Alabama’s land grant universities – Alabama A&M and Auburn University – Offering a wide variety of educational programs to make your life better, richer, and more fulfilling.

The new Talladega County Extension Agent, Dr. Samuel Roberson has been a “regular” of late at all manner of community gatherings and events, to introduce himself and his mission. With this “Open House” event, the focus shifts to enlisting partnerships of community leaders and the businesses, organizations, and other entities they represent.

Check out the event photo slideshow, but also hear directly from Dr. Roberson in the video below:

To find out more, to pledge your support, you can contact Roberson at [email protected], by visiting the Talladega County Extension Service office at 132 North Court Street in Talladega, By calling (256) 362-6187, and/or visiting aces.edu.

CHS hosts the October GCV Chamber Coffee

Childersburg High School hosted the October Chamber Coffee from the Greater Coosa Valley Chamber of Commerce. We got a good look at the new student kitchen and met members of the CHS Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA).

You can watch the event below, and also catch it on your home television on the GCV-TV streaming tv Network on Roku. It is available On-Demand on the TGOIS Channel.

After witnessing tragedy, a call for help…

It is after 11:00 tonight (Tuesday, 10/1), and I am sitting in a recliner drinking iced tea and watching a little bit of TV while being very comfortable with an air conditioner blowing and the roof over my head and a plate of good food I had ate earlier. I have just returned from a deployment with Childersburg Rescue Squad into Erwin, Tennessee and this same scene I am fixing to talk about is playing out in many small towns as well as large ones at this moment.

When the hurricane hit it dumped enormous amounts of rain and brought about a lot of destruction with mudslides swollen creeks dàm breakage and a host of other things. Erwin was basically wiped out by flash flooding along with a few other natural disasters.

Their whole infrastructure is completely gone. There is no water to drink, no sewer system to be able to flush a toilet, no electricity, no cell phones, etc. Yet, here I am sitting here in a chair with all of these things. Just a few short nights ago the citizens in that area had the same thing, but tonight everything they do water-related from having water to drink to cooking, brushing their teeth, to even taking a bath for the next several months will be done with bottled water.

TV is not existent as they’re all in the ditches or in the river. Many are looking for loved ones that they have been disconnected from and not knowing where they are. Food is at a premium and gas is almost non-existent. Shelter is practically nonexistent, and they are living at this point in the most primitive of scenarios. Yet through all this tragedy, they are still reaching out to each other with neighbors helping each other.

I’ve witnessed very horrible things, but I saw the good things in a lot of people. With all the different drives going on for supplies please pick carefully who you donate to. Many agencies only get a portion of what is donated to those that are needing it or some send everything you donate.

If you have not considered donating, please do because a simple thing such as a bottle of water or a pack of crackers might be the difference between somebody living or dying. There is still hope for many people there, but they need our help desperately.

When I got back home the clothes I left in days ago are the clothes I came back home in. When I stepped into the shower, and I had plenty of water and hot water at that, it was a gentle reminder of how blessed I am. I have the love of my life beside me, and I have a TV that I’m looking at, and my home is comfortable and all of those people had that same thing just a few short nights ago, but not any more.

If you cannot give anything, take the moment to pray, because prayer will change many things. We serve a mighty God. He never promised us an easy road, but He did say we would never be alone. Keep the prayers coming for them because they are desperately needed.

Jim Dennis, Childersburg Rescue Squad

Sylacauga Community Forum on Immigration

First Baptist Church of Sylacauga hosted State Representative Ben Robbins, Sate Senators Keith Kelly & Lance Bell, and a host of other officials representing the city and county to discuss local issues with immigration.

After officials provided their current assessments, the floor was opened to citizens for remarks, as well as a question & answer session. You can watch the video of the event below. It is also available, along with other community shows on the “TGOIS Channel” on the GCV-TV Network on Roku.