Note: This column first appeared in Impact, the Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce's monthly newsletter.
By CHRISSIE DUFFY
A city, or county, and the businesses within that area, grows and prospers only by community-wide cooperation.
What keeps our community growing and on the right track? It all has to do with people, making a difference. Visionary leaders, industry experts, non-profit organizers, church groups; all make up a culture and a civic infrastructure in Andalusia that you just don’t see in other small towns. Coupled with support for our public school systems and impressive healthcare systems, we have a great foundation!
To really cultivate prosperity in rural Alabama, we cannot wait for improvements to happen. The world is more competitive than ever. We have to fight for our community. We have to invest in our community. We must be specific and intentional. If it means picking up trash on the side of the road to make Andalusia a nicer looking city, organizing groups to raise awareness for our specific needs, and even planning quality of place events like our Christmas in Candyland. These “small” things add up to make the biggest difference. And can be a catalyst a change. We never really know how far-reaching our conversations can go, and projecting positivity, using our resources with intention, and being specific with our efforts is what moves the needle.
I like to think of our Chamber as a window through which people can see what Andalusia has to offer. Some of our efforts go to generate interest, and generate content and also shed positive light on this town and the real bonuses of living in a rural community. What better way for people to see Andalusia than beautifully decorated for Christmas? Candyland started just six years ago as a little idea I had in the back of my mind to make it snow on the square. Little did I know that it would literally snowball into something much larger, but think of all the change that has happened in that time. Our downtown has seen a renaissance that has breathed new life into our community.
Candyland by the numbers
Let’s go through how many people we were able to reach through this one event. Starting with our own organic marketing efforts of the event, our Candyland Facebook page has an engaged reach of more than 200,000 people, and our website got about 30,000 hits last December. We tracked cell phone data using a geo fence around Springdale and the Square and collected 38,000 unique devices that attended the event. That is 38,000 cell phone carrying adults (with location services on) and we can extrapolate from that information that we had more than 60,000 people actually attend the event. They even took the data further to tell us that 17,114 individual families attended with an average family size of 2.96, average household income of $68,555 and the median age is 39.2.
Last year, Andalusia was also featured on the MSN homepage on December 12th for an article Reader’s Digest put out about the most Festive Town in each state. The cover photo of the article was of downtown Andalusia and we were in the top left corner of the welcome screen for MSN.com homepage for an entire day. MSN is the 33rdmost visited website in the world and 28thmost visited in the US with about 850 MILLION visits last December alone. What does that mean for Andalusia? I don’t really have any idea, but that is a whole lot of people that saw a positive story about our town. We were also featured in the Chicago Tribune, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and several other regional publications.
We just received a message from a different national publisher that will be featuring our event this year. This has the potential to gain even more publicity than last year. We have to harness that energy and use it to its greatest potential. We did that together! The list of businesses, organizations, and individuals that bring this event to life is huge and I would like to encourage you all to help continue to spread joy this December. In my opinion, what makes our event unique and so exciting is the shared investment in the event through the Candyland Cottages. Now is a great time to make your mark on this community by putting your company or organization or church’s culture into a playhouse for children to enjoy with their families this season. Not only does this reflect positively on your organization from the outside, your employee base will also swell with pride.
If you would like to participate in Christmas in Candyland in any capacity, please contact the Chamber today.
"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." --Helen Keller
Chrissie Duffy is the executive director of the Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce. She can be reached at .
The Andalusia Police Department’s Sgt. Mike Hayden recently spent a month at National Computer Forensic Institute in Hoover to earn certification as a mobile device examiner.
While Hayden has been extracting data from computers for years, he said defense attorneys now question cell phone and other mobile device evidence if it isn’t recovered by investigators with mobile certification.
The class taught law enforcement officers not only the technical skills necessary for recovering data, but also how to draft court orders and search warrants for mobile devices, and legal issues applicable to digital evidence for mobile devices.
Participants also received the equipment needed to extract data – including a microscope, soldering tool, laptop, and ramsey bag, which blocks signals to phones.
Between those tools and a tool kit he already had in house, he said, the APD can extract data from any cell phone made in the past 20 years. It doesn’t matter if the phone is locked, or even if it’s spent a few days at the bottom of the river.
“Basically, you dry them out, clean them up, and go to work,” he said. “You can even recover data from phones that have been shot with bullets.”
Additional classes are available to qualify law enforcement officers to analyze the data that is recovered, he said.
Every digital file has a unique hash set, Hayden said. When retrieving data from cell phones and other mobile devices, the important thing is to retrieve it in a way that the results could be duplicated.
APD Chief Paul Hudson said having the equipment and training gives the APD the ability to analyze cell phones in house instead of having to send them to a lab, which can cause a delay in working cases.
“With the training, Sgt. Hayden can assist other departments in the county and surrounding counties,” Hudson said. “It is not often that we have an opportunity to receive this training and have an officer within the department that has the knowledge to learn and utilize what they have learned, we have that in Sgt. Hayden.”
Hayden said he started working with computers in the 1980s, when he’d buy old computers and reprogram them.
After serving in the military, he moved from Chattanooga to Andalusia to work at The Charter House. He also had a karate studio.
“When the Charter House sold, Sgt. (Bubba) Bailey came by the studio and said, ‘You’re good with kids. We need some officers, why don’t you come talk to the chief?’
“It’s one of those things I think God led me to,” Hayden said. “The door opened, and I got to step through it.”
Hayden was next in line for a sergeant’s job in 2007, when was deployed with the Navy Reserve in Operation Iraqi Freedom. When he returned, he got an opportunity to take over the department’s technical responsibilities previously handled by Matt Mancil, who left to take a state job.
Special events and recognition are planned for each home game of the 2019 Andalusia High School football season, as the community celebrates the 100thyear of high school football and marks the 1,000thgame.
Andalusia City Schools, the Andalusia Booster Club and the City of Andalusia are planning the special events for home games, which include:
• August 23 – Andalusia vs. Saraland, Senior Night for football
• September 20 – Andalusia vs. Hillcrest, Andalusia Youth Football League players and cheerleaders who are accompanied by an adult will receive free admission to the game, and will be recognized on the field between quarter.
• Oct. 4 – Andalusia vs. Williamson, AHS will celebrate its 1,000thgame. Members of the state championship teams will be honored at a pre-game reception and recognized on the field. Official rededication ceremonies celebrating the stadium renovation also are planned.
• Oct. 18 – Andalusia vs. W.S. Neal, Band night featuring an alumni band.
• Oct. 25 - Andalusia vs. Clarke County, Homecoming, and recognition for the newest inductees in the school’s football hall of fame.
A special logo has been developed for the commemorative season. The Bulldogs will have a special decal on their helmets, and the Andalusia Booster Club has merchandise available with the logo that will be sold beginning at Thursday night’s Meet the Bulldogs event, and at each home game.
“We are excited to be a part of such a special time in AHS Bulldog history, AHS Booster Club President Merrill Davis. “We invite the entire community to join us in celebrating our 100thyear of playing football at Andalusia High School. What a time to be a Bulldog.”
Looking back at the past 99 seasons, here are some highlights:
• AHS fielded its first football team in 1920. The inaugural Bulldogs were led by Coach R.C. “Red” Brown and had a record of 6-2. Opponents that year included Luverne, Evergreen, Highland Home, Dothan, and the only two losses came against Monroe County, whom the team played twice. Interestingly, the Bulldogs ended their first regular season with a game against Palmer College.
• Since the inception of football at Andalusia High School, the Bulldogs have compiled an overall record of 564 wins, 390 losses, and 39 tie games. Andalusia has been Region/Area Champions 11 times and holds three State Championships. The longest winning streak was 21 games from August 26, 1977, until October 20, 1978. The Bulldogs also recorded 58-straight regular season games without a loss – a streak which began November 3, 1972, and did not end until October 27, 1978. The only non-win during that period was a tie game with Carroll of Ozark in 1973.
• The Bulldogs were state champions in 1958, tied for the championship in 1976, and won it again in 1977.
• AHS ranks third in the State according to the Alabama High School Athletic Association records with 121 players selected to All State. The first recorded was Hal Jernigan, the quarterback of the 1921 team, and the most recent was offensive lineman Andrew Holmes from the 2018 team. Other notable selections include: running back Charles Little who was selected in 1948 and 1949; George Gantt in 1962 and 1963; running back Bobby Johnson in 1974, 1975, and 1976; Steve Posey in 1981; Mike Patton and Grady Smith in 1988; Nico Johnson in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 (the only AHS player to be selected all four years of his high school career); Montel Lee in 2013; Jamal Hourel in 2015; Ethan Wilson in 2016 and 2017; Allan George in 2016; and BJ Anderson in 2017. The most All State selections from one team was in 1977 with eight.
• Current head coach Trent Taylor, who played for the Bulldogs in 1975, 1976 and 1977, has combined a record of 44-11 since taking the helm of Bulldog football in 2015. Those teams have played in the semifinals once, quarter finals three times, and have won three Region Championships in those four seasons.
• The longest running rivalry for AHS is the Opp Bobcats. The two teams have met 90 times with Andalusia holding a 50-36-4 record over Opp. Last season, the Bulldogs beat Opp 55-7 in the sixth week of the season.
“Andalusia has a storied history on the football field and that tradition will continue into our 100thseason,” Superintendent Ted Watson said. “We look forward to celebrating this season with all of our players, coaches and fans.”
The Covington Veterans Foundation in partnership with the City of Andalusia Tuesday night announced the inaugural Celebration of Heroes: A Salute to Covington County Veterans.
The two-week event will begin on Sunday, November 3, with a musical celebration of veterans and the opening of a veterans exhibit at City Hall. The Celebration has been designated an Alabama Bicentennial event.
Foundation members John Vick and Robert Evers reviewed the plans with the Andalusia City Council Tuesday night.
The celebration, which is being coordinated by Covington Veterans Foundation member Amy Dugger, is set for 2 p.m. in the newly-renovated Andalusia High School auditorium. Members of the Andalusia High School band, along with other groups, will present the musical tribute. Retired Lt. Col. Jim Lawrence will be the keynote speaker.
Following the ceremony, a reception in Andalusia City Hall will mark the opening of a historical exhibit focusing on the contributions of local veterans.
Vick said Rodney J. Evans of Florala, the county’s only recipient of the Medal of Honor. will be among those veterans honored in the exhibit. Evans died in Vietnam in July 1969 shielding his fellow soldiers from an enemy mine. Also to be spotlighted are the late Brigadier General James U. Cross of Pleasant Home, an Air Force One pilot and personal confident of President Lyndon D, Johnson; Ben “Crum” Foshee, member of the famed Flying Tigers squadron that fought the Japanese in China before the U.S. entered the war; Eland Anthony of Andalusia, WWII Silver Star recipient who was present for the liberation of the Dachau death camp in Germany; and Charles Saunders of Opp, a military guard at the Nuremberg Trials of the surviving leaders of the defeated Nazi regime.
The Foundation also will produce tribute banners for individual veterans to be placed in the downtown area. Those who would like to sponsor a banner for a veteran who served may do so for $50. Forms are available in the CVF office located in the County Administration Building, 190 Hillcrest Drive, Room 170. Forms also can be downloaded from the Covington Veterans Foundation’s Facebook page, or www.andalusiaveterans.com/get-involved.
The new events will not replace the county’s traditional Veterans Day Parade and Service held each year.
The Covington Veterans Foundation was formed to recognize and honor local veterans both past and present as well as active duty military members. It is also involved in renewing civic education and citizenship among our local students. Foundation board members, in addition to Vick and Evers, are Ben Bowden, Sammy Glover, Teresa Ward, Robert Evers, Roger Powell, Daniel Shakespeare, Sue Wilson, Barbara Peek, Michele Gerlach, Terry Powell and Amy Dugger.
Gulf Air Group has entered a lease agreement with the South Alabama Regional Airport Authority to operate a new division, Covington Maintenance Center, in the twin hangars at the airport.
Gulf Air Group is taking over a lease the SARA Authority had with Yulista, that was set to expire in December. Gulf Air has a five-year lease on the hangars, with options for three five-year renewals.
Tim Rhyne, president and CEO of Gulf Air Group, explained to the airport authority Tuesday that the company is opening Covington Maintenance Center at SARA.
The company has two vertical tiers related to L-382 aircraft, the civilian version of C130s. Gulf Air maintains a fleet of four L-382s with which it provides global air cargo services. Theirs is the second-largest privately-operated fleet of L-382s in the world.
At Covington Maintenance Center, the company also will provide maintenance services for L-382s.
The company expects to hire 21 to 22 full-time employees for the local facility.
“We don’t do the ebb and flow of 50 employees this week, but only 10 next week,” he said. “We want to ramp up with good, steady, well-paying jobs, and we are on a path that helps us do that.”
The company plans to host a job fair at the facility later this month.
SARA Executive Director Jed Blackwell said the company has a financial incentive in its lease agreement to hire local employees.
Rhyne said as Covington Maintenance Center hires employees, it will provide some training on site, but expects to hire people who have completed an accredited training program and/or military training.