The Hubbertville Lions continued in Region 6 play on Friday night, hosting the Marion County Red Raiders. Winning the coin toss, the Lions elected to receive the opening kick. Seth Knight’s kick came to a rolling halt at the 13-yard line, setting quarterback Gage Key and his offensive front up for the opening possession.
Virettia Whiteside made history last week by winning the Ward 1 council position and becoming the second minority member of the newly-elected Fayette City Council. Whiteside defeated Steve Herring on Oct. 6 in the Ward 1 runoff election by a vote of 184 to 104. Whiteside received 126 absentee votes and 58 regular votes to Herring’s 13 absentee votes and 91 votes on election day.
The Belk Volunteer Fire Department held its official dedication for its heliport on Sunday, Oct. 4. Belk VFD Chief Charlie Dale Jones had a vision to build the pad, along with other members of the fire department. That vision became a reality when the heliport was completed in Oct. 2018.
The need for the landing pad was quickly realized when an employee at the nearby Georgia Pacific facility was seriously injured in Dec. 2018. Air Evac used the landing pad to transport the employee to a medical facility for treatment.
Haleigh Ingle and Julia Nolen are carrying on a proud tradition of majorettes from Fayette County High School twirling for the Million Dollar Band at The University of Alabama. No other high school has produced more Crimsonettes than Fayette County High School, earning FCHS the well-deserved title of “Crimsonette High.”
Radford Hester, former principal of Fayette County High School, is the owner of the four-year old world grand champion horse. His horse, “The Finish Line,” won the title at the 49th annual Racking Horse World Celebration, held Sept. 18-26 at the Morgan County Indoor Horse Arena. The Finish Line was the unanimous choice by the judges for the four-year old title. Hester, who said that he has always loved horses and has owned horses since 1964, bought The Finish Line in February. The horse is trained by Jamie Lawrence of Vinemont, and The Finish Line is housed at Lawrence’s stable.
A fire at 113 11th St. SW caused moderate damage to a single structure home at approximately 4:45 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8. The occupants of the home were not present at the time of the fire, and the fire was extinguished quickly upon the arrival of the Fayette Fire Department.
In less than three weeks, on Nov. 3, local voters will decide on their choice for president, a U.S. senate seat, a Congressional House seat, President of the Public Service Commission, two county commission seats, state amendments and one local amendment that will affect only Fayette County. During the “Year of the Coronavirus Crisis,” many voters will exercise the option allowed by Alabama Secretary of State John Merrell to vote an absentee ballot. However, thousands of other Alabama voters will gather at the polls on election day to cast their ballots in person.
Fayette Middle School celebrated its homecoming on Oct. 6 with a football game against Caledonia Middle School and with other festivities throughout the week.
The Haleyville Lions scored four first half touchdowns and used a strong rushing attack to control the tempo of the game to defeat the Fayette Tigers 28-6. The only bright spot of the game for Fayette was an electrifying 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown late in the first half by freshman Dylan Schloerb. Fayette gained no first downs in the first half and had zero net yards at halftime. For the game, Fayette recorded two first downs and only 41 net yards, while allowing 23 first downs and 398 net yards for Haleyville.
Hubbertville continued its winning ways on Thursday night, winning an all out cat fight with the Brilliant Tigers by the score of 40-33. The Lions won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kick. Kade Bryant’s kick was recovered by T.J. Keeton, setting the Lions’ offensive front up for its first possession of the game. Utilizing runs by Gage Key and Gage Alexander, the Lions advanced the ball across midfield to the Tigers’ 42-yard line.
The year was 1934. Franklin Roosevelt was in the White House, there was no such thing as World War II, and the Berry Wildcats defeated Pickens County. Few people would have guessed that 86 years later, the Wildcats would travel to Reform in hopes of picking up its second win against the Tornadoes. In a closely contested game, Berry scored touchdowns on offense, defense, and special teams to walk away with a 29-28 victory over the Tornadoes.
Investigators with the 24th judicial circuit’s district attorney’s office are investigating a shooting that occurred recently in Fayette County. District Attorney Andy Hamlin said that the shooting occurred in the early morning hours on Saturday, Sept. 26 at a residence on New Hope Church Road in Berry.
The Fayette Kiwanis Club held its 25th annual Golf Tournament on Sept. 30 at the Fayette Country Club to raise money for The Weldy Home in Fayette County. The home is now temporarily closed, but is still licensed and is expected to reopen once the coronavirus pandemic subsides. The Weldy Home opened in 1991, and prior to its closure last year, served as a group home for young girls who needed a stable home environment. The Kiwanis Golf Tournament began in 1996, and each year, the proceeds from the tournament have gone to help The Weldy Home.
Hubbertville School and Fayette County High School each celebrated their homecomings last week. Many festivities were held on each campus for the students during the week, while each school had pep rally type activities for the public last Thursday night. Fayette County High School held its annual homecoming parade on Friday, and each school had homecoming games Friday night.
A Fayette County native and entrepreneur is scheduled to appear on an upcoming episode of the television show, “Alabama Upstarts.” Alabama Upstarts is a television show that allows Alabama inventors, entre- preneurs, and start-up companies to appear before venture capitalists from the area to pitch their companies and ideas. Randall Nalls, founder and CEO for Nalls Enterprises LLC, is scheduled to appear on the show this Saturday, Oct. 10. The show airs on the Birmingham station WTTO, Channel 21 at 10:30 p.m. on Saturdays.
The Fayette County Commission approved its fiscal year 2021 budget during its Monday, Sept. 28 meeting. All commissioners were present for the meeting. During the past few weeks, the commission has held several work sessions to try to ensure a balanced budget that could be approved prior to Sept. 30. The budget that was approved at the meeting showed significant cuts to several departments due to lack of sufficient revenue for funding.
Fayette suffered its lowest yardage total for the year as the Northside Rams spoiled the Tigers’ homecoming by a score of 21-6. The Tigers managed only five first downs and a net gain of 95 yards in total offense during the game, while also suffering three turnovers.
Celebrating homecoming on Friday night, the Lions welcomed the South Lamar Stallions to Wiley Hollingsworth Stadium. Hubbertville won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kick with Gage Alexander, Gage Key and Taylor Hubbert back to receive. Austin Berryhill made the reception at the 41-yard line, setting Hubbertville up with its opening possession. Wasting little time moving the ball across midfield on runs by Gage Key and Alexander, the Lions advanced the ball into the Stallions’ red zone.
The Berry Wildcats welcomed the Lynn Bears to Fred Webster Stadium for a Region 6 matchup. The Wildcats’ offense took control of the game early, and the Berry defense dominated in the second half. When the final seconds had run off the clock, the Wildcats walked away with a 36–0 victory to remain undefeated in region play.
The Fayette City Council announced at its Sept. 22 meeting that it is postponing its budget approval until the council’s first meeting in October. Councilman Eddy Campbell said that there were some “unforseen circumstances” that occurred that prevented the budget being ready for approval at the Sept. 22 meeting.
