The Saddle Maker
January 04 2008
A saddle is a complicated device...it has to keep both the rider and ridden comfortable. Loey Wassam taught himself how to make saddles that not only serve horse and rider well, but can be works of art.
A Lot of Long Marriages
December 26 2007
A family gathering in West Mobile County included eight brothers and sisters, all married or widowed, with no divorces. The total number of married years for the siblings was 464...an average of 58 years per couples. We meet them and hear some reasons why their marriages have been so successful.
Bird Photographer
December 17 2007
Steve Neitzel is a real estate agent in Coastal Baldwin County. His hobby is photographing birds, especially the many temporary migratory species. He sometimes takes hundreds of shots of the same bird just to find the one perfect picture. And many of his pictures do seem perfect. One was selected for a National Calendar; his osprey picture illustrates August 2008
Uganda Beads
December 06 2007
On a trip to Uganda, Darlene and Richard Winter of Citronelle came across a woman selling beautiful beads. The woman owned an home for AIDS orphans, and supported the fifty children by selling the beads they made. The Winters realized they could help sell the beads in the U.S., and now import the jewelry and return all the money they make.
Cancer Rider
December 05 2007
Fred Kelley has pictures of himself with President Bush, Congressman Jo Bonner, and Governor Bob Riley. He's met them mostly because of "Peddlin' for a Cure." He started the fundraiser in 2004 to help Monroeville's Relay for Life...an annual event to raise money by the American Cancer Society. He vowed to ride the 92 miles from Monroeville to the Battleship Alabama in Mobile if $1000 were pledged to Relay for Life. By noon there were $5000 in pledges. The Peddlin' for a Cure ride is held every spring now, and has raised a third of a million dollars...so far.
Def Chef
November 26 2007
Naman's Catering actively seeks hearing impaired employees. The person who showed them you don't have to hear to cook is Chef Tony Marcopulos, born deaf, but a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York. He heads a crew consisting of hearing and hearing impaired workers.
Animal Cracker
November 09 2007
After being a "human" chiropractor for many years, Dr. Lance Cleveland retired, then promptly went back to school and became a Board Certified Animal Chiropractor. Today he has a full book of patients all across the Southeast.
Robert Butler
November 05 2007
Robert Butler is an internationally known painter. He paints landscapes to document their beauty for future generations. Recently he documented the ancestry of a Mobile woman who was of African and Choctaw descent. He views that all Americans share diversity in their heritage, and that makes each of us an American Original.
The Clock Lady
November 02 2007
Lottie Caraway loves clocks. She has a collection of over 1400, gathered just in the last dozen years or so. Most of the wall space in her home is covered with clocks of all sizes, shapes, sounds.
Heritage Homestead
October 26 2007
James and Joan Malone have a country getaway...kind of. It was built in 1993, but was constructed like country houses from an earlier era...before electricity and running water reached rural Alabama. The style is "dog trot," named for the breezeway that separates the two rooms of the house. Not only does their extended family enjoy the house, but it has become a venue for a major public education program.