The 2018 Fayette Frog Level Festival promises to have something for just about everybody this year - from jumping frogs, to antique and vintage vehicles, lots of live musical entertainment, a large variety of arts and crafts, and food vendors cooking up a variety of tasteful creations. The festival will be held in downtown Fayette beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday Oct. 5 and will continue at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 6 with a full slate of activities scheduled.

The Fayette County Board of Education held a brief meeting on Sept. 27 to approve personnel items and contracts. Board Member Tim Fields was absent from the meeting with all other members present. The board began its meeting by unanimously approving the agenda for the meeting and the financial statement.

Fayette County High School recognized its “A+ College-Ready Students” during an academic celebration held at the school’s library on Thursday, Sept. 20. The students and their teachers were also recognized during the Fayette-Curry Homecoming football game on Friday, Sept. 21. Fayette County High School is proud to be a participant in the Advanced Placement (AP) program and has implemented eight advanced placement courses that are offered to its highest achieving students.

The Fayette County Commission approved its fiscal year 2019 budget and bid requests at its Sept. 24 meeting. Commissioners Barry Corkren and John Underwood were absent from the meeting. County Engineer Chris Howell asked the commissioners to re-classify Max Miller from a Flagman to Equipment Operator 1. He said that Miller would remain a part-time employee, but his pay would increase from $9 per hour to $10.50 per hour.

Macedonia Baptist Church in Fayette celebrated its 125th anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 30, with more than 120 people in attendance. Many former pastors were in attendance and each of them spoke about their memories of the church.

The Tigers traded touchdowns with Sipsey Valley for most of the game before scoring its go-ahead points in the fourth quarter and controlling the tempo in the final period to take a 31-27 victory. Fayette led 12-7 until late in the second quarter, when a muffed punt attempt by Blake Wallace was returned by Sipsey Valley for a touchdown with 44 seconds remaining in the half. Missed extra points by the Tigers had Fayette on the short end of the touchdown swap until the fourth quarter.

The Lions traveled to Hackleburg on Friday night to face the Panthers in a non-region game. Receiving the opening kick, the Lions utilized the ground game with runs by Zack Hubbert, Gage Key and Tanner Upton advancing quickly to the Panthers’ two-yard line in just five plays. Facing first and goal, Z. Hubbert took the ball into the endzone for the score with 9:30 remaining in the opening quarter. The PAT kick by Z. Hubbert was perfect, giving the Lions the early lead 7-0.

The musical group Grateful Dead once sang about what a long, strange journey this has been. The Berry faithful who made the long trek to Calhoun County to see the Wildcats take on the Donoho Falcons could identify with that. The game saw problems with the field, controversial calls, and contention between players from both teams. The Wildcats hoped to upset the Falcons on their homecoming, but ultimately Donoho walked away with a 42 – 14 win.

Berry Elementary School received a $20,000 check from the Alabama Department of Education in recognition of its outstanding success in reading achievement during a ceremony in Montgomery on Sept. 13. The state education department honored 50 of the top schools in the state for reading achievement, and each school received a $20,000 check at the ceremony. Berry Elementary School was the only school in Fayette County to receive this special reading recognition.

Macedonia Baptist Church, located on County Road 35 south of Fayette, will celebrate its 125th anniversary of Christian service on Sunday, Sept. 30. The church was founded on Nov. 19, 1893 when five men and six women assembled at Sulphur Springs School House to organize a new Missionary Baptist Church. Those individuals that gathered on that day were J.A. South, J.B. Kemp, Ira Griffin, G.W. Newton, J.M. Lindsey, F.A. South, Sara E. Kemp, Susan A. Griffin, T.O. Newton, Nora Lindsey and Ethel Kelley.

Fayette County High School celebrated its Homecoming on Sept. 21 with a 24-0 win over the Curry Yellow Jackets.

John Gordon (left) received a plaque from Fayette County High School Principal Jeremy Madden during the FCHS homecoming game recognizing his 42 years of service as the public address announcer at John Morgan Brown Stadium. Gordon officially retired from announcing this season after taking a leave-of-absence during the previous year.

The 24 Judicial Circuit honored Nancy Reeves with a retirement party on Aug. 23, in recognition for her 16 1/2 years of service to the district attorney’s office. Reeves was hired on Feb. 11, 2002 and will officially retire on Nov. 30.

The Glen Allen town council unanimously decided at its Sept. 4 meeting to refrain from submitting an application to seek funding for assistance in upgrading the town's water infrastructure. All council members were present for the meeting.
Mayor Allen J. Dunavant informed the council that The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development is presently making available a historic level of funding for water and waste disposal infrastructure in rural towns and communities. The funding could be obtained by way of grants or long-term, low-interest rate loans.

The Berry Town Council held its regular monthly meeting on Sept. 10. All council members were present for the meeting. Town Clerk Marie McClusky presented the budget for fiscal year 2019 to the council. She said that the only significant change in the budget was the inclusion of a provision to purchase three new police cars, as detailed during discussions at the August meeting with Berry Police Chief Gerald DeDeaux.

Fayette used a solid passing attack and a dominating defensive effort to register a 24-0 homecoming victory over the Curry Yellow Jackets. Curry managed only two net yards rushing and less than 100 yards in total offense during the game. The swarming Tigers’ defense also forced Curry to lose four fumbles that were recovered by Fayette.

The Berry Wildcats faced the Meek Tigers with both teams looking to pick up their first regional win. The Tigers led early in the game, but the Wildcats took control in the second half to win 33–15. The Tigers won the toss and elected to take the opening kickoff. Meek started its opening possession on the Tigers’ 32-yard line. Nine plays later, Meek faced fourth and two on the Berry 28-yard line and decided to try to convert the down. The Wildcat defense stopped the Tigers for no gain and forced a turnover on downs.

The battle between the undefeated South Lamar Stallions and the Hubbertville Lions got off to a quick start on Friday night. The Stallions won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kick, wasting little time advancing the ball to the endzone for a quick score. Beginning the first offensive possession at its own 46 yard line, Jack Dawson dropped back and connected on a pass with Keidarris Griffin, who raced down the right sideline for the touchdown. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful, leaving the score 6-0 with only 11 seconds erased off the clock.

In partnership with the Alabama Career Center System / Alabama Department of Labor, the City of Huntsville, United Ability, the Alabama Department of Rehab Services, the Alabama Department of Mental Health, the Governor’s Office on Disability, and the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, Governor Kay Ivey announced plans to host the second annual Governor’s Job Fair for People with Disabilities.

“We don’t tear down old buildings, we renovate and restore them,” said Fayette Mayor Ray Nelson. “We are proud of our historical past and want to preserve that heritage while preparing for business in the future.” With only a couple of noticeable exceptions, those being the McNease-Robertson Hospital/Clinic and Richard’s Theater, the buildings occupying present-day downtown Fayette have a very familiar look to the landscape of 50-100 years ago. The names on the buildings may have changed, but the buildings have been renovated and reborn into new vibrant businesses.