Jeff Huff, of the Fayette Medical Center (FMC), gave the hospital’s annual report to the Fayette City Council at its Aug. 28 meeting. Councilmen Jerry Nichols and Cedric Wilson were absent from the meeting. Huff introduced several members of the FMC staff in attendance, then told the council that the one-half cent sales tax passed by the council three years ago to help the hospital has made a tremendous difference in the way the facility is able to do business.

The Fayette County Commission voted during its Aug. 27 meeting to pay County Engineer for all of his accrued sick and vacation hours upon his separation of employment from the county on Aug. 31.

Guthrie Smith Park will host the 49th Fayette Arts Festival from 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8. The Fayette Arts Festival is the longest consecutive-running arts festival in the state. This year’s festival is also an endorsed event of the Alabama Bicentennial Commission. To help celebrate Alabama’s 200th birthday, the Fayette Arts Festival will host Alabama’s own “Three on a String” as the morning entertainment on the Main Stage from 9:30 a.m. – noon.

In a game that was delayed by lightning for approximately 30 minutes during the first quarter, the Winfield Pirates scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to defeat the homestanding Tigers 35-13. Fayette trailed 14-13 early in the fourth quarter before the Pirates scored the final 21 points to seal the victory.

Hubbertville made the long trek north to Lauderdale County to battle the Cougars of Waterloo. The two teams had never met on the gridiron so the atmosphere among players, coaches and fans were varied. Head coach Lamar Harris forewarned his Lions prior to boarding the bus that the long trip would be conducted as a "business venue" with the ultimate goal of remaining confident and bringing home the victory.

Green Bay coaching legend Vince Lombardi once said, “We didn’t lose the game; we just ran out of time.” The Berry fans who traveled to Cullman County to watch the Wildcats take on the Cold Springs Eagles can identify with this. The two teams traded the lead all night, but ultimately the clock caught up with Berry and Cold Springs escaped with a seven-point victory, 27-20.

Approximately 15 miles from downtown Fayette, is an old Warren Pony Truss bridge, estimated to have been built around 1928. It spans the Luxapallila Creek on Dodson Road (off of County Road 21). This unique bridge is currently still open to traffic. Its total length is 101.1 feet, with a deck width of 12.1 feet.

The Fayette Community Foundation will soon accept grant applications for 2018. According to the Fayette Community Foundation’s mission statement, “The Foundation shall seek to support, promote, improve, and maintain the health, educational, and cultural institutions serving the citizens of Fayette County.”

The 2018 high school football season kicked off last week and the county teams appeared to be ready for action. Fayette County High School scored with 4.7 seconds remaining in the game to take a hard-earned 19-13 victory over Gordo, and Berry played Sulligent extremely close before losing a heartbreaker by the score of 30-22. Hubbertville also had a very impressive jamboree win against Phil Campbell. See additional pictures and details of these games in this week’s paper.

Several Fayette businesses held ribbon-cutting ceremonies in Fayette last week. The Charming Cottage and Fannie’s Bistro and Events celebrated the opening of their new businesses, and Alabama Sunshine celebrated the opening of its new location.

Fayette County Superintendent of Education Jim Burkhalter told board members during the Aug. 21 meeting that the Fayette County school system is exploring the possibility of participating in the Alabama Sentry Program. The sentry program will allow an authorized and certified school administrator in a school without a resource officer to have a firearm on campus in a secure location to protect students and teachers in the event of a security threat to the school.

The Berry Town Council met in a work session on Aug. 20 to discuss budget issues for fiscal year 2019. All councilmen, Mayor Jimmy Madison and Town Clerk Marie McCluskey were in attendance. Berry Police Chief Gerald DeDeaux told the council that his department is needing new patrol cars and asked the council to consider options to buy or lease new cars during the next budget.

For the second straight year, the FayetteTigers completed a touchdown pass with little time remaining on the clock to defeat the Gordo Greenwave. Fayette senior Blake Wallace, who was starting his first game as quarterback for Fayette, completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tre’Darion Walker with 4.7 seconds left on the clock to give Fayette a 19-13 victory.

The Berry Wildcats began its 2018 football campaign by hosting the Class 2A Sulligent Blue Devils for the first time since 2007. The Wildcats and Blue Devils played a close game, with both teams bitten by the turnover bug. In the end, Sulligent escaped with an eight-point victory.

The Lions kicked off its 2018 season by traveling to Phil Campbell to face the Bobcats in a fall jamboree. The varsity squads took the field for the first three quarters with the junior teams finishing out the last quarter of the game. Following the opening kick by Zach Hubbert, the Lion defense quickly stood ground holding the Bobcats offense in check, turning the ball over on downs at the Lions 42-yard line.

The Fayette Tigers entered last season seeking to rebound from an uncharacteristic 4-6 season in 2016. Head Coach Lance Tucker was optimistic last year, especially with the senior leadership that he had returning, including quarterback Chance Stevenson and receiver Darius Nalls.
His optimism was rewarded with a spectacular season, one that saw the Tigers play for the Class 4A state Championship before falling 21-7 to UMS-Wright on a snowy and freezing Bryant-Denny Stadium field.

Lamar Harris is beginning his 42nd year as the head football coach at Hubbertville, breaking a tie with the late Woody Clements of Holt as the longest head coaching tenure in Alabama high school football history. Harris’s tenure at Hubbertville also exceed the tenure of  current Vestavia Hills coach, Buddy Anderson, by one year. Harris has seen a lot of changes since he started coaching at Hubbertville in 1977, and he has experienced both good and bad seasons. Yet Harris said that he loves what he does and has no immediate plans to retire.

Coach Caleb Hynds said before last season that he had always wanted to be a head football coach. He admits that last year was a learning process, but said his determination and the determination of his players is stronger than ever. “Last season was tough at times, but I learned a lot and it was a big adjustment for both me and the players,” he said. “I’m very hopeful that the results will be somewhat different this season.”

A sudden flash thunderstorm at approximately 4:15 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 17 sent this heavy metal awning crashing into the front of Bolling’s Pharmacy. The awning apparently fell due to a sudden strong wind burst generated by the thunderstorm. Fortunately, the awning did not break any windows and no one was hurt during the incident.

The Fayette County Commission hired a new engineer and shop supervisor during its regularly scheduled Aug. 13 meeting. Current County Engineer Luke Porter resigned his position at the last commission meeting, with his resignation becoming effective on Aug. 31. At the time of his resignation, Porter told the commissioners that Mike Tomlin had also expressed an interest in returning to the shop and resigning his position as road supervisor. The commissioners accepted the resignations and posted each position during the same meeting. After a brief executive session during the most recent Aug.