The City of Andalusia’s Adult Activity Center and Senior Nutrition staff members are seeking sponsors for their annual Praying Hands program.
The staff organizes the gift drive for senior citizens each fall, making sure that no seniors are forgotten at Christmas.
Adult Activity Center director Sonja Godwin said she and other staff members have asked clients who might be in need to complete questionnaires about their Christmas wishes, which range from toiletries to favorite foods to meal supplement drinks.
“Typically, we ask people to come by and pick up an information sheet on a senior from our Praying Hands tree,” Godwin said. “This year, we are seeking helpers to make Christmas special for more than 50 individuals, all of whom are 60 years or older and many of whom are homebound.”
The AAC staff is asking adopters to participate in one of two ways.
“You can call our office at 222-6891 to choose your praying hands revealing a senior’s wishes,” Godwin said. “We ask that you spend no less than $50 per person.”
Alternately, she said, individuals can make a financial contribution and the AAC staff will shop for the senior adults. Gifts should be dropped at the Adult Activity Center no later than Friday, November 25.
For additional information, call Godwin at 222-6891 or email her at .
The City of Andalusia will further its goal of becoming a more walkable city in Fiscal Year 2026, thanks to a new grant from the Federal Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program (TAP grants).
Gov. Kay Ivey notified Mayor Earl Johnson of the $800,000 award this week.
The grant will fund new sidewalks on Jerry Drive, David Street, Short Street and Manavista Street.
“We are pleased to be able to extend sidewalks in this neighborhood,” Mayor Earl Johnson said. “We have worked to secure grants that have helped us build new sidewalks all over the city. In turn, those infrastructure improvements have encouraged residents to exercise more, and led to reinvestment in established neighborhoods.”
The City of Andalusia previously has used TAP grant funding to build or improve sidewalks on East Three Notch Street, South Three Notch Street, Prestwood Bridge Road, Lindsey Bridge Road, Stanley Avenue, and around the Andalusia High School campus. A project currently underway will improve sidewalks on Third Avenue.
The Alabama Department of Transportation’s timeline for the 2026 TAP grant projects calls for final designs to be approved by July of 2026, and advertisement of bids to begin in August.
The City is working with Darren Capps of Southern Engineering Solutions on the design of the project.
The City of Andalusia will hold a Special Called Council Meeting at noon on Tuesday, Sept. 2, in City Hall.
This meeting is to canvass the results of the 2025 municipal election. During this meeting any provisional ballots approved by the Board of Registrars will be opened and added to the vote tallies previously reported. The council will then certify the official returns.
After they have certified the election results, council members will conduct business that normally would be handled in a regular meeting on Tuesday evening. The meeting is open to the public, and all citizens are welcome to attend.
There will be no evening meeting on Tuesday.
On Friday, September 12, 2025, at 9:15 a.m., the City of Andalusia will test and certify the electronic voting tabulating machines for the Municipal Run-Off Election, which will elect members to the Andalusia City Council Districts One and Four. Testing will be done at the City Hall Building, Third Floor, 505 East Three Notch Street, Andalusia, AL. All candidates and the general public are welcome to attend.
John M. Thompson,
City Clerk - Treasurer
City of Andalusia, Alabama
Tuesday, August 26, is election day in the City of Andalusia.
All voting is in the Kiwanis Community Center, and polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
After the polls close, poll workers, led by Chief Inspector Jenny Pitts, have a specific process to complete to tally the votes. Mrs. Pitts will deliver the totals to City Administrator John Thompson, who will announce the results in City Hall Auditorium.
The public is welcome in City Hall for the announcement, which we expect will be made between 7:45 and 8 p.m.
The doors to City Hall will reopen at 7:30 p.m. for all who wish to hear the results announced. The results also will be posted to the City of Andalusia’s website and social media pages.
Mrs. Pitts will be assisted at the polls by Inspector Jenny Rogers and Assistant Inspector Debbie Posey. Machine operators are Billy Joe Stallworth and Pete Stone.
Other poll workers are Tyawanda Barnes, Judy Phillips, Mary Lynn Stone, Pat Carlton, Brenda Gouge, Shekila Williams, Judy Clark, Sharon McVay, Sammy Glover, and Gina French McVay. Alternates are Jimmy Jackson, Sonia Shaffer and Mae Renza Bryant.