Residents at the Fayette Medical Center - Long-Term Care facility treated pre-school children in the area to treats on Halloween during the facility’s annual event. Children politely walked through the hallways in their colorful costumes, greeting the residents and receiving candy on their journey. Several of the residents and many of the staff members also dressed in colorful outfits as they waited to greet the children.

The Fayette County High School varsity volleyball team completed a successful 2018 season, winning the regular season area title and finishing as the area runner-up to the Haleyville Lions in the tournament. The Lady Tigers also were the West Alabama Conference (WAC) champions during the season. Fayette finished with an outstanding 29-10 overall record.

Bevill State finished its volleyball season with a 7-16 record and with Brooke Self being named Second Team All-Region. Head Coach Theresa Berry-Franks said she is proud of the team and their accomplishments during the second season of the renewal of Bevill Volleyball. Berry-Franks is also excited to have freshman players Ricki-Jill Burrough, Amanda Cunningham and Madison Pavlovec.She thanked the crowd for their support this season and said that she is hitting the recruiting trail to find new talent for next year’s squad.

The Fayette Fire Department responded to an apartment fire at 406 9th St. NE at 9:50 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5. According to Fayette Fire Chief Shannon Taylor, there was a “heavy” fire inside the apartment upon arrival. The fire was quickly brought under control by the firemen, but the apartment sufferred heavy damage throughout the building’s interior. No injuries were sustained as a result of the fire.

Fayette scored quickly, then used a solid defensive effort to defeat Dora and secure the number one seed in Class 4A, Region 5 for the Alabama high school football playoffs. The win broke a tie-breaker between Fayette, Good Hope and Northside to decide the first place seed in the region. Northside received the number two seed in the region, with Good Hope seeded third and Curry fourth.

Hubbertville closed out regular season play by hosting the Phillips High Bears on Friday night. Winning the coin toss, the Lions elected to receive the opening kick. Gage Key received the ball at the 20-yard line advancing to the 41-yard line and four plays later, he rambled his way down the right side line into end zone for the opening drive score. The PAT kick by Zach Hubbert was good and the Lions were on the scoreboard with 9:42 remaining in the first quarter.

Many people remember Mike Sexton: a native of Fayette, Fayette County High School graduate, husband, father, musician. Yet many people did not know the artistic side of Sexton, a sode that will be unveiled to the public during a showing of his artwork from 2-4 p.m. at The Venue in Fayette on Sunday, Nov. 4.

Gary “Tugboat” Hubbert was honored at the Fayette Civic Center on Oct. 25 with a retirement luncheon that was attended by many of his co-workers and friends. According to Fayette Mayor Ray Nelson, Hubbert’s tenure with the city is the longest ever by an employee, exceeding the tenure of long-time employee and former Mayor Guthrie Smith by about two months. Hubbert thanked his co-workers for attending, and told the city employees to remember to treat everyone equally.

The Fayette County Community-Wide Fall Festival, held on Oct. 28 at the Fayette Multi-Purpose Complex was a tremendous success. Hundreds of children of all ages attended the event to enjoy a time of masquerading, food, candy and fun. The event was sponsored by area churches, with many other organizations and individuals helping to host the event.

The Fayette City Council hired a new full-time fireman for the Fayette Fire Department during its Oct. 23 meeting. All council members were present for the meeting. Fayette Fire Chief Shannon Taylor recommendee to the council that Russell Oswalt be hired as a new fireman. He said that Oswalt has worked the past 1 1/2 years as a volunteer fireman with the department and has been an exemplary fireman in that capacity. He said that Oswalt is the kind of person that he feels good about promoting to full-time fireman.

A structure fire occurring on 6th Ave. SW in Fayette on Oct. 23 resulted in damage to a single residential home. Two occupants were home at the time, but managed to leave the home uninjured. The Fayette Fire Department responded to the fire and was able to quickly get the situation under control. According to Fayette Fire Chief Shannon Taylor, the home suffered moderate fire and smoke damage.

The Fayette County Commission hired Holly Duckworth as the new payables clerk during its Oct. 22 meeting. All commissioners were present for the meeting.
 More than 40 applications were received by the commission for the payables clerk position and after interviews were conducted, the selection committee reccommended that Duckworth be hired for the position. The payable clerk will work with County Administrator John Gordon’s office.

Sometimes, one play and just a few seconds make a difference in a football game. That was the case in Fayette’s game last Friday night against Good Hope. With 36.3 seconds remaining in the game, Fayette appeared to be in pretty good shape to win its region and the number one seed in the region for the playoffs. Good Hope’s quarterback, Bailey Quick, had just intentionally grounded the football while attempting to avoid a sack on third down near the Fayette goal line.

Hubbertville closed out region play by traveling to Reform to meet the Tornadoes of Pickens County. The Lions won the coin toss electing to receive but were held to three and out on its opening possession. Facing fourth and seven from its own 33-yard line, Ethan Nichols punted the ball away. The Tornadoes began its opening drive from its own 49-yard line and quickly advanced the ball downfield utilizing the passing game. Facing second down and nine, AlJaron Edwards connected with his receiver in the endzone for the first score of the evening.

The Berry Wildcats ended its 2018 campaign by traveling to Guin to face the Marion County Red Raiders. The Wildcats had three second half touchdowns, but turnovers would be the difference in the game. The Red Raiders took advantage of the three Wildcat turnovers to win the game 42–18.  Marion County won the toss and elected to receive. The Red Raiders returned the kickoff to the Berry 34-yard line to begin play. Marion County had the ball for seven plays before the Wildcats’ defense forced a punt on fourth and 11 from the Berry 49-yard line.

The “Snake Show” came to Fayette Middle School last week, and offered thrills and education about reptiles to the students.
Yarborough Educational Reptiles presented a show that sought to show children that not all snakes and reptiles are bad. The show also brought examples of both venomous and non-venomous snakes, along with several other exotic animals to gibe the students an up-close encounter with nature.

The Fayette County Board of Education met for its regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 16 at the Berry Elementary School library. The meeting was the board’s annual trip to Berry High School and Berry Elementary School for a tour of the facilities. All board members were present for the meeting. The board elected Steve Sawyer to serve as the new principal at Berry High School, filling the vacancy left when Trevor Kribb left the position near the beginning of the school year to take a similar job with another school system.

The Nov. 6 general election will decide several key offices, not only throughout Fayette County but also in the state. The sheriff race in Fayette County will have three candidates on the ballot. Incumbent Rodney Ingle will be seeking his fourth term as sheriff of Fayette County and will be on the ballot as independent candidate. He will be challenged by current Alabama State Trooper Tierre Agnew as the Democratic candidate and current Fayette policeman Byron Yerby as the Republican challenger.

The Fayette County High School volleyball team celebrated its Senior Night on Oct. 16 with a regional match against Cordova. The seniors on this year's team are Mary Kate Ballew and Aleah Byars.

The Fayette County Fair, held Oct. 16-20  had rides, exhibits and something for just about everyone. The fair is held annually and distributes the profit from the fair to several local organizations.