News for January 25th 2010
Jim N Nick’s Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Alabaster, Alabama helps special need children
When you walk into Jim N Nick’s Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Alabaster, a smiling 2-year-old Connor Sawyer greets you. Below his picture sits a jar for “Connor’s Coins”. It is all a part of the restaurant’s efforts to raise funds for Connor which will ultimately go to support the Bell Center.
The center is dedicated to helping children with special developmental delays, like Down syndrome and Cerebral Palsy. Connor has Down syndrome and attends the Bell Center two days a week. It is just one of the centers that’s supported by the Mercedes Marathon.
For years, Jim N Nicks has supported the race with a post race party. But this year, each store is running for and raising money in honor of a child for the Bell Center. The Alabaster store chose Connor.
“He’s all over the place. He’s such a cute kid,” said Tricia Garret with Jim N Nicks. “The Bell Center operates primarily on donations. That’s how they provide the resource for the child and parent.”
On Friday, January 29th, the Alabaster store is hosting “Connor’s Day.” They’ll donate 10% of the sales to the Bell Center and also if you give $5, you’ll get two free taco tickets.
Edited: January 25th, 2010
Time for a class act: Yes, Virginia there is one!
Tim Tebow took someone special with him to the The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards ceremony held Thursday night in Orlando, Florida. I like Tim Tebow. I liked him after he beat Alabama last football season, I like him even more after Alabama beat him for the SEC championship. In a day of pretenders, deceivers, and manipulators I think Tim Tebow is an example of what a “real” witness for the cause of Christ looks like. He’s a Christian who happens to be a great football player rather than a football player who just happens to be a Christian. That should be true of all of us who profess to be followers of Jesus whether we are athletes, bankers, bottle washers, stay-at-home-moms, doctors, or sanitation engineers.
Here the story in a nut shell. Tim’s special guest on Thursday night was a young lady named Kelly Faughnan who was diagnosed with a brain tumor right before Thanksgiving last year. Her wish was to go to the ESPNU College Football Awards ceremony in Orlando in 2009 and meet Tim Tebow. Her parents committed to make the trip happen for her, but they told her that meeting Tebow probably wouldn’t happen. Well, they made the trip, went to a football reception, and low and behold she did get to meet Tim. Not only did she meet him, but when he heard her story Tim asked her if she would like to be his date to the awards ceremony on Thursday night.
I challenge you to watch the video below and then tell me that you didn’t well up with a “that’s what it’s all about!” I know Tebow isn’t the most popular guy with all football fans, but even the most die hard fan has to respect Tim’s act of kindness in making that one night special for Kelly Faughnan. Tim, may your tribe increase!!
Edited: January 25th, 2010
Alabama goat cheese for breakfast
Most of the known world don’t eat breakfast like we Alabamian’s do. This being true. why we don’t incorporate our melting pot mentality into this oh so important meal?
Quite a dominant number of cultures count cheese as an integral part of the breakfast nutrition. France with fromage blanc and fruit, Turkey with fresh goat cheese and nuts and coffee as well as quite a bit of the middle east, Sweden with cheeses and cold cuts.
Why not – try goats milk cheeses for health and for taste! Try fromage blanc or plain chevre on your toast or bagel instead of cream cheese for less fat, calories and cholesteral, and by far more taste complexity. Try cheese and nuts and coffee and cold cuts.
Try adding goats cheese to your eggs and omelettes. You will feel better and, according to some Doc’s, you might even live longer because of it.
And since I am flying a breakfast flag I thought I should let you in on a secret that Belle Chevre is launcing a new line of breakfast cheeses. I was in my kitchen this very morning practicing with them I am very excited to say some creativity is coming soon to my favorite meal!
There is goat cheese made right here in Sweet Home Alabama. Try it, you might love it!!
Edited: January 25th, 2010
US F1 team will run its car for the first time at the Barber Motorsport Park in Alabama
The US F1 team will run its car for the first time at the Barber Motorsport Park in Alabama next month.
The Charlotte-based squad has confirmed its car will have an American debut before it travels to Europe to begin testing ahead of its maiden Formula 1 season.
“Because we are a new team and start everything from zero the first time we will run the car will be in the United States at the Barber Motorsport Park in Alabama, the circuit that was nominated by the FIA for us,” sporting director Peter Windsor told the official Formula 1 website.
“We’ve got the dispensation from the FIA, which is fantastic, because we are not based in Europe. We are the only team that does have a test circuit outside Europe, so it is totally logical for us that we run the car the first time in the US at the beginning of February.”
Windsor said the team is allowed to carry out three testing sessions in the US, but will then fly to Spain to join its rivals.
He added that US F1 is on the verge of announcing its drivers for the upcoming season.
“We are very close to announcing our drivers,” he said. “We’ve been talking to some great racing drivers over the last couple of months – and it is very difficult choosing from the good drivers that are around.
“I think there are still a lot and the difficult thing is to choose only two out of ten that are available. It’s a difficult job and I hate having to do that. We have not signed our forward deals yet in terms of the contracts, but we are pretty near to announcing.”
Edited: January 25th, 2010
Travel Tourism to Hati will be a “No GO”
In the aftermath of the 7.0 Haiti earthquake, it’s difficult to imagine the future of travel and tourism in the battered country.
Prior to the January 12 earthquake, Haiti had been eyed as a potential tourism hotspot, with several projects already completed or underway.
In May, former President Bill Clinton was appointed United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti, and quickly targeted tourism as a key area for private investment.
At a Miami conference this year, Clinton suggested that organized tours in Haiti could bring in as many as two to four million tourists a year and create significant job growth.
Haiti saw about 800,000 visitors in 2008, about 500,000 of which arrived on cruise ships but used only limited resources on the island. Many of the remaining visitors are thought to be native Haitians visiting from abroad.
In October, the Haitian government signed a $30 million deal with Venezuela build a new international airport in Cap-Haitien—about 85 miles from Port-au-Prince on the country’s north coast.
The U.S. Agency for International Development had granted $15 million for three-year development project, part of which would involve training locals to work in the hospitality and tourism industry.
For nearly 30 years, the cruise line Royal Caribbean International has leased a private beach resort called Labadee, adjacent to Cap-Haitien. Each week, thousands of cruisers sail into this tropical oasis, bringing in $6 a head to the Haitian government and employing hundreds of locals. The resort is fenced off from the rest of the island and guarded by private security; passengers are not allowed to leave the area.
Royal Caribbean recently spent $55 million to upgrade the resort, including a new 800-foot cruise-ship pier, a zipline and rollercoaster. Visitors can also spend the day parasailing, kayaking, splashing around Royal Caribbean’s Aqua Park, or buying local wares.
Last Friday, the Independence of the Seas landed in unharmed Labadee, bringing passengers and relief supplies. The cruise line announced that 100 percent of its net revenue from cruise ship visits to Haiti will be contributed to relief efforts, and that it will provide at least $1 million in humanitarian relief.
Other ships expected to land in Labadee carrying passengers and relief materials are Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas (scheduled to land today) and Liberty of the Seas, and the Celebrity Solstice.
Less than a week before the earthquake, Choice Hotels International had announced its plans to build two new hotels in Haiti—a Comfort Inn and a boutique hotel—in the township of Jacmel. The status of both projects is currently unclear.
A $40 million road project was being planned to link Labadee to the Citadelle and Sans Souci Palace—a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982. The nearest town, Milot, would be transformed into a tourist destination from where visitors could hike or ride on horseback up to the Citadelle.
Meanwhile, Port-au-Prince’s landmark National Palace has crumbled, along with the main parliament building and presidential palace. Many hotels are in ruins, including Hotel Montana and Karibe Hotel, while the renowned Hotel Oloffson, a gingerbread mansion in Port-au-Prince, has reported some damage.
Edited: January 25th, 2010
Tannehill Park in Alabama making a come back
When Tannehill Ironworks State Historical Park was created 40 years ago, it was an obscure spot far from town, its massive stone furnaces reclaimed by the wilderness after being burned during the Civil War.
It took a real optimist to imagine it becoming one of the top tourist attractions in central Alabama, but it now draws more than 440,000 visitors a year.
As the park approaches its 40th anniversary, officials there are hoping to bounce back after a tough year.
Heavy and persistent rains in 2009 slashed attendance at events. That, plus proration from the state and the general economic downturn, have resulted in layoffs and reduced hours of operation during the winter.
But Tannehill is no longer in the middle of nowhere. Development has spread into the adjacent countryside, with subdivisions sprouting from the farm fields nearby.
Park officials are looking to bring in more people on a regular basis, hoping to broaden the park’s base of visitors and increase revenue. Now open is the first segment of a new mountain biking trail built by volunteers with Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers. The rocky and challenging 1.5 mile single track trail is the first segment of what will be 11 miles of trail, winding through wooded sections of the 1,500 acre park that now are inaccessible.
A restored and upgraded 2-mile walking trail isgetting its finishing touches now. The trail runs along Roupes Creek, also known as Mud Creek, and follows the path that mule-drawn rail cars once followed from ore deposits to the furnace.
Additionally, the park has just launched a new Web site, www.tannehill.org, and continues to add exhibits to its Museum of Iron and Steel. The museum, extensively remodeled in 2005, traces use of iron in civilizations from the Egyptians in 4000 B.C. to modern steel mills. The museum is open only on weekends until mid-March, when it will return to regular hours.
Those improvements build on last year’s addition of a Bob Sykes Barbecue restaurant at the park, serving lunch and dinner Thursdays through Sundays. Tannehill Stables, the private horse-riding business that leads trail rides on park property, also is making improvements.
Alabama Labor Commissioner Jim Bennett, who has served on Tannehill’s governing board since it was created in 1969, said the park always has had to find creative ways to make money. It has survived on a modest subsidy from the state, turning a $100,000 line item into a $1.8 million operation paid for by revenue from events and visitors.
“This park is largely self-sustaining, which is unusual,” Bennett said. “We’re doing the best we can with limited resources.”
Confederate arms
Tannehill is historically significant because it was home to the area’s earliest iron manufacturing, beginning in the 1830s. Large furnaces, now restored, were built in 1859 and were an important source of iron for Confederate arms manufacturing. But after Union troops destroyed the operation in 1865, the furnaces never returned to service, and the center of iron production shifted to Birmingham. “This was the birthplace of Alabama’s iron and steel industry,” Bennett said.
The park’s calendar builds on 19th century history with Civil War reenactments, old time music festivals and Tannehill’s Trade Days.
According to Bennett, the park has amassed the largest collection of 19th century log cabins in the South. Some of those cabins are available to rent out, for a rustic family adventure.
The park also hosts RV and primitive camping and seasonal events such as the annual Labor Day Picnic and a Halloween celebration that packs the park with visitors who tour elaborately decorated campers set up for most of the month of October.
Other opportunities are on the horizon.
Alabama’s land preservation program, Forever Wild, is considering the purchase of an additional 560 acres adjacent to the park, offered for sale at a discount by Hoover City Council President Pro-tem Jack Wright. The land that could be added to the park includes stretches of Roupes Creek and a portion of Shades Creek where Cahaba lilies bloom.
David Dionne, executive director of the fledgling Red Mountain Park in Birmingham, said the new park takes inspiration from the blend of history and recreation at Tannehill.
“They have done a great job of blending the two there,” Dionne said. “I think it is an amazing park.”
Edited: January 25th, 2010