November 5, 2012

Monday November 5, 2012 friends and invitees of Mayor Pittman and the council met at the Chickasaw City Hall to witness the "swearing in" process of Chickasaws government for the next four years. Sandwiches, and other snacks were provided by the Chickasaw

 Womans Club.

On July 19, at the Chamber meeting, Ervin Dailey presented me with the finished plaque inscribing the honor of "Citizen Of The Year" I remain

humbled and in a state of non-belief, but appreciative of the award.

May 25, 2012

Friday, The treasurer of Knights Of Columbus and I delivered a check for $4000. to the Mobile Association of The Blind. This will aid them in replacing an old van and is just one of the many charitable contributions our Council

makes during the calander year.

May 19, 2012

The weather was perfect for the Kiwanis annual 5K run.  We had 136 runners and Michael Raleigh pulled Mens First Place with a 19:17 time, while Jessie Stone captured the Womens First with 19:49. Everyone headed to the Civic Center to "carb-up" on pizza and beans and rice.  Pictured are winners receiving their awards and folks enjoying the food.

May 12, 2012

On Saturday, in celebration of Mothers Day Deborah and I spent the day in New Orleans where we shopped and had a lovely dinner at Paschal Manele's out in the Garden District. The shrimp, crab and scallops were devine, topped off with magnificent bread pudding.

May 8, 2012

Yester day the Garden Club traveled to Fairhope to see the Rose Gardens down at the bay and to eat lunch. We went over to Market By  The Bay for some of their marvelous shrimp. Here's a few of the roses we saw.

May 5, 2012

Tonight Deborah and I celebrated Cinco de Mayo at La Cazuela in Saraland with four of our church friends. We then drove to the Saenger Theatre for the Mobile Symphony"s "Musica De Las Americas" featuring Bandoneon instrumentalist Hector del Curto.  A bandoneon is similar to a concertina accordion and dates back hundreds of years. 

April 22, 2012

Yesterday was St. Mary's Crawfish Festival on Old Shell Rd.The food was yummy and the entertainment was terrific. Deb and I sat near the stage to hear The Wayfarers, The Dog River Boys and Fat Man Squeeze. Although rain threatened, we never saw a drop. We even brought home a bowl of Crawfish Gumbo for today.

April 20, 2012

Last evening, Deborah and I attended the Municipal meeting in Dauphin Island where the new director of the Sea Lab spoke to us. He discussed

 their mission along with any harm done by the BP oil spill.

After Commissioner Merceria Ludgood didn't show up, Robert McFall stepped in to save the day answering questions and giving answers regarding our finally approved Chickasaw School system. Charles Saucier from The Huddle House provided lunch and everyone enjoyed the afternoon.

April 16, 2012

At Kiwanis today, we heard from Peggy Nikolakis, retired educator and former principal of Blount High School. She cogratulated Chickasaw for gaining school

system independence. Ms. Nikolakis stressed dissipline and keeping drugs out of the schools. Teachers must work on elevating test scores and keeping the physical plant clean. Cleanliness affects performance and can strongly influence student pride.

April 14, 2012

Tonight Deborah and I went out to eat and then attended the Mobile Symphony's brilliant reproduction of Carmina Burena composed by German Carl Orff.

 It featured an almost 100 piece University Of South Alabama choir and several solo artists.

April 5, 2012

On Holy Thursday, the City held its Easter luncheon hosted by the dignitaries such as the mayor and council. Ervin Dailey gave the invocation and later th message celebrating th Holy day.The Easter Bunny came by for a few words of inspiration at the end of the meal.

April 3, 2012

Deb and I enjoyed attending Chickasaw First Baptists Holy week lunch which included a good and timely Easter week message by Pastor Dr. Younce. Was great to see our friend Ed Baxley doing his usual job of greeting folks.

April 2, 2012

This morning the Kiwanis met for lunch and as part of the event, we honored Corporal Rick Davis of the Chickasaw Police.  Officer Davis risked his life to pull a citizen out of his camping trailor adjacent to his home which was on fire and engulfed in flames. Rick, who knew that neighborhood, was aware that the resident actually lived in the camper. We presented him with the plaque

for meritorius service.

March 30, 2012

Friday, our church Knights Of Columbus held their Annual Lenten Fish Fry which was very well attended. Picture shows at the back table former mayor Jim Trout and his wife, Barbara, Councilman Adam Bourne and his wife Jenny and

Parish Council member Margaret Czajkowski. So many people showed up that we ran out of fish.

March 27, 2012

This last weekend I had the opportunity to travel to my old high school, Columbia Military Academy (now just Columbia Academy) to help the board prepare for an upcoming reunion in August. All of us old geezers met Friday evening for dinner at Legends Restaurant in Columbia where old times and drinks were put to rest. A Saturday morning meeting followed before the school provided us with lunch. Then back to Mobile.

March 19, 2012

Lunch with Kiwanis today where our speakers were Janet Buckley (Director of

Headstart) and Angelo Miller of Mobile Community Action. They were very complimentary of our RIF (Reading is Fundamental) program and thanked our

organization for its participation.

March 17, 2012

Last night we went to the Little Flower Catholic Church Fish Fry and were greeted by Father John Lynnes (former pastor of St. Thomas Church in Chickasaw. Then Saturday afternoon, Charles Czajkowski and I attended the

Fairhope Arts Festival and Model Train Show.

March 16, 2012

Last night Donald Dees from The Mobile Personnel Board spoke to us at the Chickasaw Municipal Meeting. He brought us on board about the new internet software making it definitely easier to post new positions available in the cities and store your information when looking for employment Lassere's catered with roast beef and potatoes and several types of delicious cake.

March 15, 2012

Thursday was Chamber Of Commerce Day. The sponsors were Adeline Willis. Janice Chitty and Dot Baxley. Caterer was Rogers Barbeque. We heard William Grey speak about the Call News, one of

our favorite local news papers from Citronelle.

March 5, 2012

Today at Kiwanis we presented the Barnett Award to Henry Phillips, our long-time City Councilman and friend.

February 25, 2012

After spending the weekend at The Legends Hotel in Prattville, Al. for the Kiwanis Regional Convention, I returned home to find Deborah waiting to go

to the Mobile Symphony Orchestra program at the Saenger Theatre. We

grabbed a bite to eat at 219 Conti and had a great evening attending Hector

Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique with featured singer Elana Urioste.

February 17, 2012

Last night we attended a Mardi Gras Party at the law offices of Phelps and Dunbar on Royal Street downtown. Great food marked the occassion as well
as the company of Jay Minus and Charles and Margaret Czajkowski. Some of

 the passing floats were amazing and drinks were enjoyed by all.

February 16, 2012

The February Chamber Of Commerce meeting was sponsored by Southern Ionics and was catered by Tyners. Speakers were Mark Cagle and Gil Craig.
We presented a plaque to past president, Terri Pringle, with thanks for her

fine work in 2011. Also members brought in paper products for the Ronald McDonald House, a place for parents of sick children to stay. Teresa Goolsby reminded us to pick up our Mobile County bi-centennial calendar featuring pictures of an earlier Chickasaw.

February 6, 2012

At today's Kiwanis we discussed the upcoming 5K road race in May and paying our yearly member dues. We have $4,485.32 in the General Fund and another $1,651.82 in the Project Fund. The State Convention will be February 24 and I plan to go at this time.  We will need sponsors for the 5K and our president urged us to go after them.

January 23, 2012

At our Kiwanis lunch today, we welcomed speaker Ina Davis, originally from Prattville, Alabama. Ina has led a quite interesting life having married her childhood sweetheart who was in the Coastguard, During World War II they lived in Charleston, SC. and Panama City Florida. Right after the war they settled in Chickasaw and her husband worked at International Paper Co. Ina worked as a disc jockey for WPRN-AM radio and had her own country music program As the 60's came about, the station was encouraged to  participate in diversity so they hired the janitor as part of their programming. Quite some interesting stories about the era.

January 21, 2012

Last night we attended the Mobile Symphony Orchestra appearing at the Saenger Theatre. Dvorak moved to New York at the turn of the century and wrote the New World Symphony #9. A great deal of it was based on Longfellows poem: Hiawatha. The first half of the program was narrated by three gentlemen explaining the scope and unfolding of the symphony. One of these narrators was none other than Charlie Smoke from the Mobile Arts Council, who has spoken to the Chickasaw Chamber of Commerce. Well known music made better by a stunning orchestra and terrific narriation.

January 19, 2012

Thursday the Chamber of Commerce met featuring speakers Regina Malisham from the IRS and Paul Giardina from The Ronald McDonald House. Paul passed out cardboard "house shaped" boxes for everyone to collect "pop-tops" from soda cans to help the cause. A tasty lunch of soups and salad was provided by Dr. Ervin and Cecilia Ann Dailey.

January 18, 2012

Absolutely terrific appearance by Senator Ben Brooks at the Chickasaw Kiwanis Club. He talked about homeowners insurance reform in the Senate and his upcoming run for Judicial Judge in November.

January 14, 2012

On Saturday January 14, The Kiwanis held their annual Disc Golf Tournament.
We had over ninety folks sign up to play, down a little from last year. As for myself, I helped man the kitchen to sell sausage dogs, hamburgers, chips and drinks. As usual, noon time brought throngs of hungry people to the counter. Whether you are proficient at "disc golf" or just a amateur "newbie", getting out in the brisk sunshine is good for the soul. Pictured are customers waiting for sausage dogs, the kitchen staff and our promoter and good friend Cecil.

January 10, 2012

The Mobile County Republican Executive Committee met last night for dinner and "greet the candidates" at Westminster Methodist Church. I had the opportunity to speak with many of them including Ben Brooks, Charles Graddick and Don Davis. We voted a straw poll on the presidential candidate and Mitt Romney came in first. Several awards were given out by our leader, Terry Lathan and we paid dues for another year.