The Fayette City Council voted at its July 9 meeting to cancel its current contract with Avenu/RDS for sales tax collection and return to having the tax collected by the State of Alabama. Councilwoman Linda McCraw was absent from the meeting, with all other council members in attendance. Prior to the start of the meeting, current Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill spoke to the city council concerning his upcoming bid for a U.S. Senate seat.

Local artist and mural painter Missy Miles has completed a mural for the Town of Glen Allen depicting the town’s rich history. The mural is painted on the south wall of the Glen Allen Volunteer Fire Department, next to the Glen Allen Town Hall and Post Office. A grant from the Alabama Bicentennial Commission Foundation paid for the cost of the mural.

The municipalities of Fayette and Berry, in conjunction with Fayette County and the State of Alabama, will participate in the annual school sales tax holiday on July 19-21. This is the 14th year that Alabama has held the tax holiday, and the third time that the event has been held in July. The sales tax holiday will begin on Friday, July 19 at 12:01 a.m. and end on Sunday, July 21 at 11:59 p.m.

The Fayette Medical Center Long-Term Care facility hosted an Independence Day “Watermelon Celebration” for its residents. The Long-Term Care facility provides daily activities for its residents and always sponsors special events during the major holidays, as well as Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day.

Eli Champion, 12, an eighth-grader at Fayette Middle School, recently attended Space Academy for Leading Students in Alabama (SALSA) at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, home of Space Camp®, Space Camp® Robotics™, Aviation Challenge®, U.S. Cyber Camp® and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Official Visitor Center.

Fayette County 4-H, with help from grant proceeds from the Tombigbee RC&D, established a 4-H RiverKids program this year. Grant proceeds were used to have a kayak trailer built and to purchase nine kayaks. In addition, the grant helped pay for personal flotation devices, dry bags, throw ropes, whistles and other essential safety items.

The Fayette Garden Club selected the yard at the home of Jacqueline Johnson as its “Yard of the Month” for July. Johnson moved to Fayette from Indiana about 11 years ago, and she has worked very hard since moving to Fayette to transform her yard into the flowering oasis that it is today.

An accident within the Fayette City Limits on July 2 at approximately 4:24 p.m. caused multiple injuries to local residents. The accident occurred on Highway 18, approximately one mile west of Fayette. A 2011 Honda Ridgeline, driven by John Brasher of Fayette, was struck in the rear by a 2007 Chevrolet Colorado, driven by Leroy Dale Simmons of Fayette. The collision destroyed the back portion of the double-cab Ridgeline, and caused the Chevrolet Colorado to cross the four-lane highway and exit the road on the opposite side.

The local Baptist Association churches held a “Celebrate America Rally” on Sunday, June 30 at First Baptist Church in Fayette “to honor God for His blessings on America.” The event was organized by Fayette County Baptist Association Director John Killian, and featured special patriotic music, color guards from the Alabama Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and a featured message tracing America’s roots back to its Biblical heritage.

The Berry Town Council held its regular monthly meeting on Monday, July 1. Councilman Chris Rice and Councilman Troyce Townsel were absent, with all other council members present.
Councilman Russell Madison made a motion to appoint Andy Lowery to the Berry Park and Recreation Board, and the motion was seconded by Councilman Calvin Madison. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of the council members present.

The popular “Tunes on Temple” returns to downtown Fayette this Friday night for its debut performance of the season. The June event was postponed due to rain, and this event, typically held on the first Friday of the month, was rescheduled for the second week due to the Independence Day holiday last week. The featured group for Friday night’s Tunes on Temple is the Vaughn Family from Berry.

The annual Fayette Truck and Tractor Pull was held on July 6 at the Multipurpose Complex in Fayette.

This year’s recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Award on the Fayette Campus is Beverly Hardison-Carter. Hardison-Carter began her educational pursuits at Bevill State Community College, graduating Cum Laude with an Associates in Arts Degree in 1997 as a Liberal Arts major. In 1999, she received her Bachelor of Arts in English from the Mississippi University of Women. She received a Master of Arts in English from The University of West Alabama in 2002.

Berry Church of the  Nazarene welcomes new pastor
Berry Church of the Nazarene is excited to welcome its new pastor, Rev. Rob Steinbrook and family. Steinbrook is from Bloomington, Ind., and was raised in Martinsville, Ind. in a Christian home and in a Nazarene Church. He attended Kentucky Mountain Bible College in Vancleve, Kent. from 1999-2001, and God’s Bible School and College in Cincinnati, Ohio from 2001-2002.

On June 22 and 23, more than 50 area and West Alabama Amateur Radio Club (WAARC) members (operators) came out for Field Day in Fayette’s Guthrie Smith Park. The event incleded a 24-hour nationwide training exercise to test the skills of amateur radio operators in the event of an emergency.

High winds at approximately 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 27 toppled a huge tree onto the residence of Larry and Euline Sanford, located at 6978 Highway 159 in Fayette. The Sanfords said that they were at home during the time the thunderstorm occurred. They said that they were in the other end of the house when they heard the rain begin. The Sanfords said they then heard a loud crash and discovered that the tree had fallen on the house.

A local church pastor was honored at the recent Southern Baptist Association’s annual convention, held in June in Birmingham. Mike Perrigin, pastor of Chapel Hill Baptist Church near Newtonville, thought that he had been asked to speak at the convention concerning his role as a bi-vocational pastor. He expressed that just being asked to attend and possibly speak was an honor to both him and his family.

The Fayette County Board of Education approved several personnel changes during its June 25 meeting. Board Member Waldon Tucker was absent from the meeting, with all other members being in attendance. The board accepted the following resignations during the meeting: Shelby Humphres, teacher at Fayette Elementary School; Lori Tucker, special education teacher at Fayette County High School; and Luke Tucker, physical education teacher and coach at both Fayette Middle School and Fayette County High School.

Fayette Mayor Ray Nelson said at the June 25 meeting of the Fayette City Council that he wanted the city to try one more effort to find the means for the proposed Rails-to-Trails. All council members were present for the meeting. Nelson said that he received a letter from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), dated June 17, stating that the city has 30 days to notify ADECA of its “intent or lack thereof to proceed with the (Rails-to-Trails) project.”

The Fayette Lions Club welcomed The Times Record’s News  Editor, Dean Maddox, as its featured speaker for the club’s June 24 meeting. During the presentation, Maddox explained his duties as reporter, photographer and editor for the newspaper. He discussed the process for covering meetings and events, and Maddox also outlined the steps necessary for getting the newspaper ready to publish.