The Fayette Community Foundation held its annual reception on Thursday, April 15 at the Fayette Civic Center for recipients of this year’s foundation grants. Although an annual event, the reception was not held last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fayette Community Foundation was started in 2005 through the generous donation of funds from the Tilloston family. The Tilloston family started with a $1 million dollar donation to begin the perpetual fund from which the grants are made, and have continued to add additional funds through the years that now total $10 million dollars.

Fayette Police Chief Danny Jenkins told the Fayette City Council at its April 13 meeting that a policeman position would be posted within the next few days to replace a retiring officer. All council members were present for the meeting. Former Mayor Ray Nelson led the council in prayer prior to the beginning of the meeting. Jenkins said that Police Lieutenant Charles Walker, a veteran officer with approximately 22 years of service, will be retiring effective May 30.

The Town of Berry will celebrate its annual “Berry Heritage Festival” on Friday April 23 and Saturday, April 24 following a one-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Berry Mayor Jimmy Madison said that he is hoping this will be one of the best festivals ever. Madison said that the festival started several years ago as a fun way to bring the citizens of the town together for a time of fellowship and fun. He said that other towns were having festivals, so the citizens of Berry decided to start a new tradition of its own.

The City of Fayette and the Town of Glen Allen will hold municipal clean-up this Saturday, April 24. The clean-ups are part of Alabama’s month-long PALS (People Against a Littered State) project. The Town of Glen Allen’s clean-up will begin with a safety briefing at the Town Hall at 8:30 a.m. Teams will then travel through the town of Glen Allen to pick-up trash.
The Fayette clean-up will begin at 9 a.m at Fayette City Hall. Police Chief Danny Jenkins will give a short presentation to the workers concerning safety before the clean-up activities begin.

Brooke Hill, senior athlete at Berry High School, signed a scholarship offer on April 14 to play college basketball beginning this fall for Gadsden State Community College. She has been a two-sport athlete at Berry High School, excelling in both basketball and softball. She scored more than 1,200 points during her high school basketball career, with nearly 250 defensive steals and almost 550 total rebounds. Berry Basketball Coach Caleb Hynds said that Brooke Hill was a leader on the Berry basketball team throughout her playing career.

The Fayette Tigers entered its three game series last week against Hamilton knowing that the series would determine the Area 12 Champion. Unfortunately, Fayette lost two-of-three games and will have to travel to Oneonta this week as the area runner-up. On Tuesday, Fayette traveled to Hamilton and was defeated by the Aggies by a score of 9-4. Hamilton scored a run in the bottom of the first, but Fayette tied the game quickly at one in the top of the second.

The Berry Lady Wildcats played eight games in softball last week, finishing the week as runner-up in the NAC Tournament. Earlier in the week, Lamar County defeated Berry 4-3.

After wrapping up the area title last week, the Berry Wildcats cruised to a 11-5 baseball victory over Oakman. The Wildcats started its scoring early, as Isaiah Kizzire singled in a run, then two more runs scored on walks to Tanner Parr and Trace Deavours. Berry scored four more runs in the fifth inning, as Parr, Deavours and Trace Nelson picked up RBIs at the plate.

The Hubbertville Lady Lions started off the week suffering a 10-1 loss to Marion County. Emma Nichols was the starting and losing pitcher for Hubbertville. Dixie Moye had two singles in the game, which were Hubbertville’s only two hits. Madison Cribb scored the only run for Hubbertville. Hubbertville beat Meek on Thursday by the score of 12-11. Emma Nichols pitched the eighth inning in relief for Hubbertville to record the win.

The Hubbertville Lions finished its 2021 baseball season with three games last week. Hubbertville beat Meek by the score of 19-14. Cade Fisher started the game on the mound for Hubbertville, allowing four earned runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings of work. Carter Hollingsworth won the game in relief, allowing two earned runs on seven hits in 1 1/3 innings. Brady Porter pitched the final inning for the Lions, allowing one hit and no runs while striking out three.

A Fayette County man with an extensive criminal history will serve 30 years in prison for breaking into Berry Elementary School. Nathaniel Albert Cannon, 43, was sentenced Thursday, April 8 after entering a blind guilty plea to third-degree burglary charge. He was charged with breaking into the elementary school on Nov. 15, 2018. Berry Police officers arrested Cannon after school staff reported that 11 handheld radios valued at $5,000, two I-Pads, cash and other items were stolen from the school.

“Temporary Princess,” a local business that sells formal dresses and hosts girl’s and ladies’ fashion pageants, recently held a charity contest to collect dog food and raise money for the Fayette County Animal Shelter. The contestants competed to see who could collect the most dog food and raise the most money for the shelter. The response was overwhelming as more than 2,100 pounds of dog food was collected and $1,000 raised.

John and Doris Brasher, along with a few female inmates from the jail at the Fayette County Sheriff’s office, recently picked up several hundred pounds of garbage that had previously lined the streets of Fayette. Doris Brasher said they concentrated on covering the city limits of Fayette, with some additional garbage pickup in the city’s police jurisdiction. During a nine-day cleanup effort, more than 1,100 five gallons buckets of trash was collected.

The Berry Town Council voted at its April 5 meeting to pay half the cost for employees who wanted to purchase a AirMedCare membership. All council members were present for the meeting. Representatives from AirEvac attended the March meeting of the Berry Town Council and said that the town could purchase a membership in the program for employees at a cost of $65 each. Town Clerk Marie McCluskey said that the company  told her that many counties and municipalities are participating in a similar plan.

The Glen Allen Town Council met in regular session on Tuesday. April 6 at the town’s community center. Councilman Dustin Youngblood was not in attendance, with all other council members present. The council chose to reject the only bid received for the proposed street paving project, which would have addressed repaving Birch, Hickory and Twin Streets, Allen Avenue, 11th and 12th Streets East and 10th Street West. Mayor Allen J.

Governor Kay Ivey awarded a $20,000 Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) grant to establish a building operator certification program at Bevill State Community College in Jasper. The building operator certificate training is geared toward people who manage and maintain equipment in commercial buildings, including heating and air systems, and lighting.