February 28, 2011

Kiwanis lunch meeting today with Henry Phillips providing the programs. Todays speaker was Tom Williams, Councilman from Satsuma and a devout Lions Club of Saraland member. He spoke about the importance of service organizations and what the Lions Club is doing for the blind. Helen Keller gave the club a platform to support when she spoke back in the 1920's. Tom finished the program with a cute cajun story about the talking frog.

February 27, 2011

In preparation for our March 11, Church Fish Fry, Several Knights were selling tickets for the event before the Mass. Afterward, I met some friends at Huddle House for breakfast, then off to shop for Deborah. Tuesday we will stand on the balcony of Phelps Dunbar and watch the LaShe parade. It's always fun to see the float participants try to hit the balcony with beads and moonpies. 

February 26, 2011

Today I spoke with several city and Knights Of Columbus friends about ongoing projects and planning When Deborah returned this afternoon, we

drove over to Tacky Jacks on the Causeway (formerly Oysterella) for

dinner. Prices are reasonable and the food is much better than with the 

other owners. We were going to stop for coffee at Serda, but Bankhead Tunnel was closed for the parade route. 

February 25, 2011

This morning I had to run by Mobile Infirmary and get my A1C test for Monday's appointment. Then it was a drive to the printers and displaying the  Commercial Board notice for next weeks meeting. We had some time for coffee and a trip to Brooks park. We may try to catch the Polka Dots parade tonight if possible.

February 24, 2011

After changing the Commercial Board meeting from March 1, to March 3rd because we couldn't get a quorum, I spent the afternoon getting specifications on the Yamaha O2R mixing console for a client. When Deborah got home we decided to go to Satori for their chicken Thai salad. It's all good.

February 23, 2011

This was Deborah's day-off so we went to the church for lunch and to play bingo. (paper type) Deb won $4.35 so I guess we'll retire. Wait a

minute. . . I'm already retired. On the way out we said hello to Frank who was busily working on the new HVAC unit for the Knights eoom.

February 22, 2011

This morning I went over to my church where Frank and I ran conduit to an outlet in the Knights room, then wired an entire new breaker and outlet for the three food heating lamps that keep blowing fuses in the parish kitchen. Council meeting is tonight, but I'm so tired I don't think I can
make it. After I returned home Margaret and Charles Czajkowski invited us to go to Huddle House for a bite to eat.

February 21, 2011

I attended Kiwanis lunch today and was impressed with twelve year old Mack Brazzleton handling today's program. As a 4F project, Mack and a couple of friends maintain water testing on the ChickasawBogue waterway and send results to Auburn University. The testing is for bacteria, salinity, pH, turbidity and e-coli presence. From donations, they are able to

purchase $500. reagent and indicator kits to perform their duties.

February 20, 2011

This afternoon after church we attended a Mardi-Gras Society Ball rehersal at the Schillenger Rd. Shrine Temple. Lots of laughter and fun practicing dance steps and presentation before the president. When the event was over, we drove to the Original Oyster House with friends for dinner.

February 19, 2011

Today we had the ninth consortium meeting for the Port Of Chickasaw hosted by Gil Craig at Southern Ionics. Gil provided a great lunch before we welcomed Glenn Brannon from EMA, who spoke about forming a database of resources including equipment and instructors to prepare for incident control. Glenn touted our (Chickasaw's) Fire and Police force giving much credit to Chief Mike Reynolds and deemed them a first responder even though EMA has more equipment. The response time from Mobile would normally take about 40 minutes compared to our guys 2-3 minutes. We have scheduled the next meeting for May 13, 2011.

February 18, 2011

Last night we attended the Municipal Dinner hosted by Mayor Wright at Bayou LaBatre. Wonderful fresh seafood as usual and an interesting talk by Spencer Collier, Homeland Security Chief. The motif was Mardi-Gras and it was good to see all the familiar faces.

February 17, 2011

The Chickasaw Chamber lunch today was sponsored by Janice Chitty and Ed Baxley, both members of the board. Our first speaker was Sherman Blosser from the Women's Business Center. She went into some detail about the center's role in helping to set up the development of a business, stressing the need for a sound business plan and training.  Our main speaker was George Davis of Lawrence and Lawrence, CPA's. He informed us about the 30% tax that will eventually be required on foreign transactions and the 10% indoor tanning tax for using a tanning salon. That one was slipped through with the Healthcare Act passed last year. On the good side, the business "start-up expense" credit has been increased from $5,000. to $10,000. this year. Pictured above are George Davis, Chris Patterson and Mickey Parrish of Lawrence and Lawrence and Sherman Blosser from Women's Business Center.

February 16, 2011

I've been trying to get caught up on Knights of Columbus paperwork and prepare for tomorrows Chamber meeting. I got a call this morning warning me that the pizza Ed and Dot Baxley were providing for the chamber lunch wouldn't happen because someone ran their car through the front of the store and they had to close Little Caesar's. While the story was true, the management very quickly called in the glass company and everything is pretty much back to normal. Apparently the woman mistook the gas pedal for her brake.

February 15, 2011

Last night we went to a seniors Valentine dinner and movie held at the Civic Center. The movie was "License To Wed" and was quite enjoyable. About 40 to 45 folks showed up and had a good time. Deb and I were sorry we missed the Historic Society meeting which was scheduled in the same slot. Tonight I meet with the Knights executive committee for our Fish Fry planning session.

February 14, 2011

Happy Valentines Day! With our lunch today, each Kiwanis member got a heart shaped piece of cake and some candy. Can Nell Autry and staff be any sweeter?  This was the day we set aside to honor our police and firemen. As our meal ended, Chickasaw Police Chief Mike Reynolds

introduced his nominee, Marcus Paige by relating his story of spotting a car with a big television in the back. When he pulled them over to ask them questions about the TV, they got more and more agitated. Finally, they quickly sped away with Officer Paige in pursuit. He stopped them over in Alabama Village and cuffed one man, but the other escaped. Marcus gave the force an excellent description of the runaway and they should be able to capture him soon. Outstanding job, Officer Paige.

February 13, 2011

After Mass this morning we got Deb's car washed and had lunch at Zoe's at Legacy Mall. Satori was closed so it was necessary to travel downtown for some coffee at Serda. Then it was time to return home and watch The Godfather Part II for the 65th time. Relaxing Sunday.

February 12, 2011

The church dance was last night at the Parish Hall. It was a buffet style "finger food"  and BYOB drinks event with a great one man band / DJ type entertainer. We had loads of fun including line dancing and "the stroll". Ticket drawing money went to our youngest couple who demonstrated some great jitterbugging moves. Our glorious leader (standing) even got "right" enough to sing a few stanzas of "My Dingaling".

February 10, 2011

Today was delivery day for some of my favorite folks. I took a new video cable to replace the one severed while repairs were being done to the library roof. Teresa was very happy that it finally came in. Then I delivered two condenser microphones to Michelle Adams over at Chickasaw Math and Science. Of course the day wouldn't be perfection without stopping for coffee with friends.

February 9, 2011

The St. Thomas Seniors met for their monthly lunch get-together, planned activities for the year and capped it off with a meal at Catfish Junction. We

discussed what would be the neccessary supplies for our March 11th FISH

FRY and passed out some of the Knights tickets for that event. Tonight I will attend the wake for our recently departed parishioner, Ruby Pierce. The Knights helped fix her house after Hurricane Katrina knocked down a wall.

February 8, 2011

This afternoon I went to Saraland for their Chamber Of Commerce meeting. The featured speaker was Dr. Vickers, superintendent of schools. He reiterated how important the March 22, 2011 vote for maintaining the school tax was to Cities such as Saraland, Chickasaw and Satsuma. He said this was NOT a new tax and overall taxes would remain the same. In
the same line of thought, he reminded us that to count as a yes for our 
city, it was important for us to vote yes on all three components of the referendum. The yes vote is worth $700,000. for the city of Chickasaw. I would also like to congratulate Saraland in selecting their new Police Chief, J.T. West.

February 7, 2011

Kiwanis Lunch today and we voted on several items. The first was to form a Cancer Society "Relay For Life" team. We listened to the prerequisites from Debbie Harbin and where and when it will be held (which is Saraland High School on April 8, 2011) We also voted and welcomed Debbie as a new member of our chapter and finally we assigned jobs for the February 10th Governors meeting to be held in the large Civic Center dining room. The club will pick up the cost of our members lunch and guests will pay $10./head. 

February 6, 2011

We had a great Knights meeting this morning and this afternoon we were invited down to Elberta, AL. for the Knights Council 2752 for a Super Bowl party. It was a fund raiser and all food, beer, wine and mixed drinks were included. Had a fantastic time and the Packers deserved to win. There were several drawings for prizes and Deborah won two of them.

February 5, 2011

At 2:00 PM we met at First Baptist Church of Chickasaw for a reception honoring Nell Autry and other past Citizens Of The Year. Barbara Pulliam arranged a very nice get-together with cake, punch and a large selection of finger food for the fifty or sixty guests including many of the city's councilmen.

February 4, 2011

After a day of cleaning out my desk, paying bills and ordering microphones, there is nothing so fufilling as coming face to face with a Five Guys hamburger.  Cheers! 

February 3, 2011

While mounting a lighting panel in the Chickasaw School P.A. system wallbox, I had the opportunity to speak with principal Michelle Adams who showed me the childrens new pets including this Brazilian Pac Frog, which burrows itself to avoid detection. They have also added a guinea pig and two gerbils along with their fish tank holding scores of weird swimmers.

February 2, 2011

Last night the Industrial Board met to determine a tax abatement and today I spent most of my time in the office doing paperwork. This evening the St. Thomas Parish Council met in the Sullivan Room for our monthly reports. I reported that the Knights will try to have two fish fry's during Lent. Thank God I had shaved, since tonight was individual picture taking for the Council.

February 1, 2011

Bleak, rainy, nasty day shot from Dauphin Street after leaving my doctor's office,  I'm headed toward Chickasaw. I guess it's better than the Kansas to New York area that is threatened by snowfall up to 24". Tonight I will

have a quick dinner, then head for my Industrial Development Board meeting.