August 31, 2010

This afternoon we went to the Alabama DMV to transfer the car we just purchased to our name. They told us we were going to have to pay advalorem tax on the vehicle because we didn't have the receipt from Georgia where it had been previously paid. So we called our daughter. . . she had to run home from work. . . bring back the paperwork and fax it to the DMV. Man, what a

mad transaction that was. The clerk, however was extremely polite and kept us in line the whole time. From there we went to Joe Cain Cafe downtown at the Battle House for an attitude adjustment and then to Serda to play Tuesday night Trivia. Great evening.

August 30, 2010

Time for Kiwanis lunch and today Dennis Brown brought in Shearie Archer, the wife of Lewis Archer, organist for our church. Shearie is the Executive Director of Ozanam Charitable Pharmacy. Ozanam is located at 571 Dauphin Street and provides legal drugs to the homeless, poverty level families and people between 19 and 65 who are not covered by any insurance. They serve over 1800 patients a year and keep people alive that must choose between food and their medicine

August 29, 2010

Kathy Couey, (our recreation director) put together our first Canoe and Kayak outing at Brooks Park. With a trailor load of borrowed kayaks and canoes from Chickasawbogue Park and a large barbeque grill for sausage dogs and hamburgers, the first participants in an evening of "Kayaks Hit the Water" occured on Sunday at shortly before 5 PM. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and the Chickasaw Fire and Rescue boat was not used for any problems other than to keep a close watch on the activities. Loading and docking was confined to the right ramp to keep the left one open for larger boats. About fifty showed up with the majority, including myself, as spectators.

August 28, 2010

Four or five guest singers took the stage this evening at the Country Music Association, but one of the most impressive was this lady who did a great job on some Patsy Cline songs. As usual, we thoroughly enjoyed our evening and are looking forward to the band playing at Founders Day in October. I had earlier taken care of some business in Saraland, while waiting for Deborah to get home.

August 27, 2010

Friday night is date night for the Mrs. and me. Of course that means going to Walmart first, then out to dinner. It was raining most of the day and I had to take care of some insurance papers and stop by the library to work on Teresa's video cameras, but she had already left. I will try again this coming week when I stop to give a potential client a sound system quote. Hope it clears up before the kayak event scheduled for Sunday at 5 PM.

August 26, 2010

This morning I attended an Alabama State Port Authority meeting where the Coast Guard and the Dept. Of Homeland Security spoke on everything from the oil leak to applying for grants on TWIC card readers. After lunch we headed to the Convention Center for a Mobile Chamber Of Commerce "Business Expo" featuring retail and service vendors from all over Mobile County. In the first picture, that's me just to the right of center.

August 25, 2010

I always thought the best iced tea was at Spot Of Tea until I tried the Pomgranite/Green Tea at NoJa tonight. . . spectacular! We were celebrating Deborahs

promotion today or as they say in Chickasaw: "movin' on up to the east side" This was bill paying and cleaning up loose ends day. Corresponding with several councilpersons, we are laying the foundation for a great Founders Day this October.

August 24, 2010

We had a council meeting tonight where it was voted to stop paying for retired city workers health insurance to save the city money. The leash law and pit-bull ordinance was opened for discussion and immediately attacked by citizens who obviously didn't hear the mayors opening statement which gave immunity to "grandfathered"- in pets currently residing in our city. The council appeared reluctant to vote on the ordinance tonight. Two new persons were appointed to the Planning Commission and the monthly payroll/expenses of $21,000. were easily voted to be put in line for payment.

August 23, 2010

At our Kiwanis meeting we voted to co-sponsor a Golf Tournament with the Chickasaw United Methodist Church. This will give us the distinguished honor to play in TWO golf tourney's per year. I can see that they're are forcing me into practicing the game so I don't embarrass myself.

After lunch I got 50 sets of Vendor Applications copied for the Founders Day event. While you can download from the http://www.chickasawfoundersday.com site, some folks don't have computers.

August 22, 2010

We did a novel, new move for the Hayward bunch (by definition, two can be a bunch) We attended the Mobile Country Music Association Saturday evening concert. . . . and by granny, we loved it! I used to play "stand-up bass" in a country group during high school and this brought it all back. Not that we don't listen to some country while on a

car trip, but this is some pure old "driving my pick-up truck over to the train yards to meet my grandmother just getting out of jail" type of music. Deborah and I were whistling, applauding and slappin' our thighs before the third song. We will definitely go back.

August 21, 2010

South West Alabama Railroad Modelers (SWARM) monthly train layout club meeting this morning. We met at the old Masonic Temple downtown, where they have a model train and automobile store on the second floor. Their main layout is HO gauge with very realistic scale model buildings and the smaller one is O gauge (slightly larger track) The fall calendar of events was announced including Wales West, Annual tour of Mobile layouts, Pecan Festival and the Chickasaw Founders Day. After the meeting we drove the club president and vice president out to the Chickasaw Civic Center so they could measure the room to determine size of the layout needed for the area.

August 20, 2010

Last night we had a "Business After Hours" sponsored by the Chamber Of Commerce and hosted by Chickasaw Spa and Tub. Everyone had a great time, with wine, beer and fancy hors de oeuvres provided by Tiffany with Spa and Tub. We discussed the upcoming Founders Day and

explored some ways we could provide wide press coverage for our businesses that auctioned off product or gifts. Tonight was our 2010 meeting and Ervin Dailey brought gifts he had obtained from merchants for the event. Pictured is half of the crowd, me and Tiffany (owner) and the other half of the crowd.

August 19, 2010

Thursday August 19, was our Chamber Of Commerce meeting at the Civic Center, Today's speaker was Casi Callaway of the Mobile Baykeepers and she presented an accurate, yet somewhat solemn view of the long term repercussions caused by the oil leak. Many damages to certain species of turtle and other sea-life may be non-reversable. The Business Of The Month was awarded to Ron Bush, Inc. but since Ron is out of town, he will receive the plaque next month, We did finally get the engraved "Citizen Of The Year" plaque from the Trophy Shop

and it was given back to Nell Autry with our admiration.

August 18, 2010

While Deborah met with her elders of the Order Of Athena Mardi-Gras group, I prepared my hand-outs for the Chamber Of Commerce Board meeting tomorrow. I also went to pick up the wine and beer for the Business After Hours get-together tomorrow at 6:00 PM. Charles Czajkowski and I were also able to pick up paint for the Knights Room at St. Thomas Church. Busy day on Thursday with the Board Meeting, Chamber Luncheon, Business After Hours and the Municipal Dinner.

August 17, 2010

Vegetables anyone! Today Old McDonalds Fruit and Vegetable Emporium opened on Lee Street in the Yesterdays building. A spiffy new paint job inside and out in Watermellon Red and Broccoli Green adds an enticing appeal to the business. I wasn't going to let the day go by without purchasing some tomatoes and roasted peanuts. Yes, the same tasty roasted peanuts you get at the ball park are right there waiting on you to come by.

At Noon I attended the Mobile Area Chamber Executives Meeting and lunch in the Mobile Chamber Building downtown. The cities represented were Bayou La Batre, Citronelle, Dauphin Island, Atmore, Evergreen, Chickasaw, Saraland, Jackson, Grove Hill, Tillmans Corner, Eastern Shore and North and South Baldwin County. We discussed the really desperate situation being suffered along the coastal area. . .sort of a triple banger. First Katrina, then a recessed economy and now the tourists staying away in droves due to the oil leak. Governor Riley has often said that 33% of the state's budget comes from South Alabama and now we are faced with an economy which will be off over 35% in our area by the end of the year. Looks like the state could be in trouble next year. We all need to support the coastal beaches and also the newly proposed bridge to alleviate some of the traffic from the Wallace Tunnel.

August 16, 2010

At this mornings Kiwanis lunch, Dennis Brown presented our speaker, Sharron Phillips, the administrator of Murray House. The large Assisted Living Facility is sponsored by the Episcopal Church and located at 1257 Government St. in the midst of Mobiles Historic District. They maintain 42 suites for men or women and their spouses who are capable of taking care of themselves. They provide 24 hour attentive care, home cooked meals, transportation and laundry service included in the price which runs $2500. per month. Next meeting we will have general elections for president, vice president and secretary of our club.

August 15, 2010

After church we stopped and talked with Margaret and Charles Czajkowski as well as Father Saucier about the upcoming membership drive for the Ladies Auxiliary and the Knights. We then drove down to Legacy Station for lunch at Zoe's and an opportunity to Let Deborah purchase some clothes at Talbots. Heading home before it rained, we stopped at our local Dollar General for some items and ran across our mayor diligently building a fence to keep his fathers puppies safe from wandering from his house.

August 14, 2010

Tonight was the big 50's dance for the Order Of Athena. Loads of good company and

fun There was a silent auction for some great prizes and a "split the pot" for $460. Also the raffle was for a complete bar with bottles and all, We got a chance to dance to the twist, line dance, hand jive

and of course the pony and mashed potato. I was the designated driver, so the last part of the evening was diet Coke for me.

August 13, 2010

Pictured are two of our good friends, Marvin and Linda Vernon. This morning I helped Frank Coate move a 3 ton airconditioning unit into the church which will be used in our Knights Room. I corresponded with the Police Chief and one of the Councilpersons then met my bride for a mexican dinner tonight.

August 12, 2010

We spent part of the day trying to figure out how much of the SWARM (model train club) layout will fit into the Civic Center for Founders Day on October 30. But the club will be there as a treat for the children. I also turned in my resignation from the City Planning Board. Someone discovered that you can't be on the Planning Board and any other board at the same time, so Ross Naze, Karla Autrey and I had to resign to remain in accordance with Alabama law.

August 11, 2010

More on our trip to Nashville/Columbia Tennessee. Deborah had the chance to visit some homes in Columbia and spend time with their owners. One, in particular, is a couple who are avid clock collectors. This is just a couple of the areas in their home where you will find the collectible timepieces. Notice the two gold specimens on the mantel. . . they are Atmos Perpetual Motion clocks, 22 carat gold plated, which run on small temperature changes in the room. Approximate cost of each unit: $5,500.

August 10, 2010

I'll bet most of you are saying: "When is Hayward going to show pictures of his reunion trip to Nashville?" Well OK, if you insist! It was an enjoyable occasion, full of patriotic meetings (we were a military academy) lots of good meals, including a visit to the Loveless Motel Diner where they serve the absolute best bisquits and sawmill gravy you have ever tasted and big band evenings with dancing and conversations with 50+ year ago friends. One guy and his wife came all the way from Alaska and several from California. Several slide show presentations featured yours truly playing trombone in the band and stand-up bass in the orchestra. About 300 folks

had one heck of a good time.

August 9, 2010

We returned from Nashville last night and were pretty exhausted, since it rained all the way from Birmingham to Bay Minette. Today we returned the rental car and went to Kiwanis at noon. There, we had two speakers, Marie Cain, who invited us to join the K Club and participate in their fall golf tournament and Dr. Chris Corsentino, a chiropractor who has cured some back problems for one of our members, Dennis Brown. He explained how the body's electrical system can be made completely dysfunctional with a non-lubricated disk or dislocated vertebra. He

presented us with his card and gave away some prizes.

August 4, 2010

Preparing for a reunion trip tomorrow. I had a few unanswered questions to discuss with the Mayor and felt bad that by the time I left his office, his entire staff was saying Adios. So it was a good time to take Mama to supper and type up my itinerary. Will try to blog while I'm gone, but that is entirely dependent on my "sometimes workable" lap-top computer.

August 3, 2010

The Chickasaw Garden Club met today at 2 PM and were pleased to have Bonnie and Horace Allen present their friend Elanor McBride who spoke about roses. Ms McBride has been to quite a few National Rose conventions including those in Germany and Switzerland. She chastised the general public for resorting to the "Knock Out" rose for convenience and frequency of bloom in trade for the aroma and delicacy of hybrid roses. We also learned of the death this morning of Margaret McFall, a long time citizen and genuinely nice person. I remember her as a supporter

of the Chamber Of Commerce and she will be missed. Tonight the Commercial Board will meet to vote on a new business wishing to open in our community.

August 2, 2010

Today at Kiwanis we discussed the voting process for a new president, but decided to wait until our current ruling officer returned from his honeymoon in Spain. We will provide school supplies for Peter Jo Hamilton school sometime within the next two weeks. There will not be any meeting of the Planning Commission this evening.

August 1, 2010

My first meeting as Grand Knight of Knights Of Columbus Council 13174. We were installed as officers in the church by District Deputy Woodie McPhillips, then moved over to the Knights room for our first meeting featuring the new officers. During the meeting we honored our Past Grand Knight, Don Reynolds, with a certificate of appreciation. New committees were chosen, business was discussed and we moved one step closer to replacing the floor in our Knights Room.