Berry’s girls coach Caleb Hynds recorded the 100th win of his coaching career as Berry defeated Pickens County 69-44. The Lady Wildcats easily overcame the Lady Tornadoes, aided by a 75 percent team performance from the free throw line. Brooke Hill led Berry with 17 points and 10 rebounds, followed closely by Tyner Beth Bowling with 16 points and Allie Taylor with 10 points.Zoe Mauldin added nine points for the Lady Wildcats and Bailey Thomas had five assists for Berry.

Hubbertville boys and girls teams each won two games during the week and lost one.
The boys team defeated Vina on Dec. 10 by the score of 46-30. The Lions were led by Brady Tucker with 20 points, followed by Tanner Upton, Aaron Cribb  and Lawson Harkness with six points each. Zack Hubbert scored four points for Hubbertville, followed by Ethan Nichols and Cannon Alexander with two points each.

The Fayette County High School varsity basketball teams played two games each last week with mixed results. The girls team won at South Lamar before falling to Brookwood at home, while the boys team lost a heartbreaker at South Lamar before beating Brookwood on its home floor.
 The girls team traveled to South Lamar on Dec. 11 and defeated the Lady Stallions 67-41.

The Fayette County Board of Education held a brief meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 4, followed by a work session. Prior to the start of the meeting, Fayette County Probate Judge William Oswalt issued the oath of office to Superintendent Jim Burkhalter, Board member John Stowe and Board Member Waldon Tucker. All three were incumbents who were re-elected to their offices during the November general election.

The Town of Berry held its annual Christmas Parade on Thursday, Dec. 6. The Berry High School Marching Band performed in the parade, along with several colorful and festive nentries.

Russ Taylor, Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director for Fayette County, announced the start of a new Mass Notification System for Fayette County residents. Taylor said that the system was activated for Fayette County on Dec. 1. He said his department was able to fully fund the system’s cost with a grant through Homeland Security.

The Berry Town Council appointed a new town council member, municipal judge and city prosecutor to fill vacancies that occurred recently in those positions. Council members Russell Madison, Chris Rice and Calvin Madison were in attendance for the regularly scheduled monthly meeting, held Monday, Dec. 3 at Berry Town Hall. Absent from the meeting was Councilman Troyce Townsel. Berry Mayor Jimmy Madison, Town Clerk Marie McClusky and Berry Police Chief Gerald DeDeaux were also in attendance for the meeting.

Jeff Dodson, native of Fayette and former baseball coach at Bevill State Community College, has been named the new Director of Development for the School of Medicine and Health Sciences for the University of North Dakota Alumni Association and Foundation.

The Fayette County High School boys basketball team hosted Corner High School on Tuesday, Dec. 4 and won a come-from-behind thriller by a score of 67-63. Fayette had a lead for the first few seconds of the game and never led again until Trevor Billups hit a shot with 2.1 seconds left to give Fayette a 65-63 lead. After Corner threw the ball away on a full-court inbounds pass, Corner fouled Billups as Fayette inbounded the ball. Billups made the two free throws to give Fayette a hard-earned 67-63 victory.

The Hubbertville Lady Lions finished second in the NAC Basketball Tournament, held Dec. 6-8 at Guin. The girls team received a first round bye and defeated Lynn in the semifinals on Dec. 7 by a score of 39-35. Leading the way for the Lady Lions was Gracie Dodd with 11 points, followed by Kendall Dunavant with nine points. Haylee Pollard had eight points for Hubbertville, Laikyn Wright scored seven points and Chelsea Porter added four points.

The Berry Lady Wildcats competed on Dec. 7-8 at the NAC Tournament in Guin and brought the championship trophy back to Berry. In the semifinals on Dec. 7, the Lady Wildcats played Marion County and won by a score of 51-40. The leading scorer for Berry was Brooke Hill with 22 points, five steals and two assists. She was followed by Zoe Mauldin with 12 points, and Tyner Beth Bowling with 10 points and two assists. Bailey Thomas also contributed five big assists during the game.

The Fayette Christmas parade was held in downtown Fayette on Monday, Dec. 3. The Fayette County High School band performed and their were many festive and spiritual entries in the parade.

The West Alabama Regional Commission held their Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony Thursday, Nov. 8 at Cypress Inn Pavilion. Candi Williams, State Director of AARP for Alabama, was the guest speaker for the evening. The highlight of the program was the presentation of the 2018 David M. Cochrane Award to the Honorable Jimmy Madison, Mayor of Berry. Members of the West Alabama Regional Commission’s board of directors were also recognized at the ceremony.

The Fayette County Commissioners donated $250 out of their personal funds to the Joey Day program in Fayette to buy Christmas presents for children in Fayette County.

The Fayette County Commission discussed its plans for the future of the aging program in the county, following the retirement in November of its long-time program director, Fay Meharg. All commissioners were present for the Nov. 26 meeting. Commissioner Barry Corkren said that he is certainly not against having an aging program in the county, but added that now by be the appropriate time to evaluate the way the program is funded and staffed to ensure that the program runs more efficiently and economically.

The Fayette City Council discussed options for street paving at its regularly scheduled Nov. 27 meeting. Councilman Jerry Nichols was absent from the meeting, with the remainder of the council members and Fayette Mayor Ray Nelson in attendance.

The Berry Wildcats boys basketball team opened its 2018-19 basketball season on Nov. 29 at Brilliant and started the season off with a road win against the Tigers by the score of 67-48.
Berry was led in scoring by Isaac Darty with 20 points, followed by Levi Cannon with 16 points. Also scoring in double-digits were Sam Franklin with 13 points and Tyler Lollar with 10 points. Johnathan Locke scored six points and Isaiah Kizzire rounded out the scoring with two points.

The Hubbertville Lions boys team won its first game of the season on Nov. 27 at Brilliant by a score of 48-33. The Lions’ Aaron Cribb scored 16 points and had 13 rebounds, with Brady Tucker scoring 12 points and nine rebounds. Others scoring for Hubbertville were Zach Hubbert with nine points, Ethan Nichols with five points, Tanner Upton with four points and Cannon Alexander with two points. Brilliant’s Kevin Bryant scored 20 points to lead the Tigers.

Note: The U.S. Postal Service office will be closed on Wednesday, Dec. 5. to honor the memory of the late President George H.W. Bush. This will delay delivery of The Times-Record to our subscribers. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Dr. Kim Ennis, president of the Bevill State Community College system, said that despite a few temporary setbacks, the college is still strong and looking ahead to a bright future. “We’re positive about the future of our institution and we want other people to feel the same,” Ennis said. “Bevill has impacted the lives of so many individuals during the last almost 60 years and we think the college will continue to be a vital part of its service communities in the future.”