Grandmother's love of cooking rubs off

By Danielle Wallingsford Kirkland
Photos Contributed

Matt Pitman grew up in Chattanooga, but during his childhood he made frequent trips to Scottsboro to visit his grandparents, Sam and June Tipton.  On these trips he often watched his Granny June cook. 

“Every Sunday after church she cooked these massive meals that covered the entire dinner table,” Pittman said. 

It was those Sunday dinners that sparked Pittman’s interest in cooking and led him to a successful career in barbecue.

“My Granny June taught me to cook,” he said. “I was always in her kitchen asking questions and helping her.”

Pittman even named his favorite pit “June” after his late grandmother.

Today Pittman operates Meat Church, where he sells his own custom  BBQ rubs, hats and shirts. 

The business, he said, started as an accident. 

“Meat Church started as a competition team, but I was selected to be on the TV show BBQ Pitmasters in 2014 and we really took off from there,” Pittman said. 

Pittman said his audition video for BBQ Pitmasters, where he says “when you have my barbecue it’s going to be like having a religious experience in your mouth,” went viral on Twitter.

“We had big names in BBQ tweeting it all over the place,” he said. “It got the attention of the (BBQ Pitmasters) production company.”

Pittman said he learned that he made it on the show while in the Alabama team hotel room during the 2014 Sugar Bowl. 

“That made the loss to Oklahoma later that day a little easier to swallow,” he joked. “I was on a high after getting that phone call.”

After the show aired, Pittman launched MeatChurch.com, where he began selling the two rubs he had handmade on the show, along with two hats and two shirts. 

“Now we have nine rubs, tons of hats and shirts, and (our products) are sold around the world,” Pittman said. 

While on BBQ Pittmasters, Pittman got another good break. 

“One of the meats I had to cook on BBQ Pitmasters was a steak,” he said. “I cooked it on my Big Green Egg, and that got their attention. Now, I’m one of their brand ambassadors and do lots of cool events for them. I teach at their culinary center in Atlanta. They have also hired me to cook back stage at the Academy of Country Music Awards twice, and for the VIP Experience at Memphis in May.  Just this past weekend I was one of their chefs at their annual Eggtoberfest at Stone Mountain Park.”

Pittman said his work as a chef and barbecue champion has led him to meet good people and have good times. 

Matt Pittman and country music singer Luke Bryan. 

“In less than four years we have gotten to cook steaks for George Strait,” he said. “Luke Bryan drove us to Nashville to cook for his first ever stadium show in Tennessee, and we fed Chris Stapleton the day he won four ACMs. We also cooked for University of Tennessee’s head coach, Butch Jones, but I hope the folks of Alabama don’t hold that against me.”

Pittman said the one thing people need to know about preparing good barbecue is that you have to have patience. 

“There is no shortcut to good barbecue,” he said. “There is no right or wrong way. I tell folks ‘I can’t tell you what tastes good to you.’ I offer free recipes on MeatChurch.com to show people my style, and hopefully they enjoy it with their friends and family.”

Though he now resides in Texas, Pittman still returns to Jackson County to visit his grandaddy Sam and mother, Jona Tipton. 

Pictures of Hope to host first art show

By Danielle Wallingsford-Kirkland

Jackson County Drug Court and Family Wellness Court, with the help of local artist Sonya Clemons, will host their first Pictures of Hope Art Show from 12 to 4 p.m., Sunday, October 1 at Pine Brothers Coffee Company, located in downtown Scottsboro. 

“Pictures of Hope is a recently developed art program created to benefit the recovery community in Jackson County,” said Erica Weeks, the Family Wellness Court coordinator. “The recovery community is made up of Jackson County Drug Court, Jackson County Family Wellness Court, Family Life Center and Jackson County Court Referral.  It also consists of anyone that supports recovery or anyone in recovery.  It's a community effort to support those individuals in recovery.”

Weeks said there are a number of benefits to the newly created art program, which consists of classes for both the children and adults of the recovery community. 

“Pictures of Hope provides families a much needed experience to work together.  Families are not only creating art in class, they are taking their newly learned techniques home and creating art at home as well,” Weeks said. “Not only are children using art skills, they are also putting their geometry and math skills into practice.   Pictures of Hope is teaching the adult participants a positive form of self-expression.”

Weeks explained that the program provides those involved with a creative outlet that relieves stress and builds self confidence.

“ It's amazing to observe the children in each class,” Weeks said. “They are fascinated by each new technique that they learn.  We have received all positive feedback from both the adult and children's classes.  Both children and adults have been blown away at their ability to create new projects.”

The classes are led by Clemons, who has more than 20 years of experience in the field and works as a muralist for many schools in North Alabama. 

“Ms. Clemons has a passion for teaching art and inspires creative expression in others,” Weeks said.

Clemons said she enjoys working with the Pictures of Hope program because she feels that art should be made accessible to everyone. 

“It improves behavior and stimulates learning,” Clemons said. “The students are excited to see what they can do and learn, and (art helps them) see the world differently.”

Clemons said she teaches the students of the program that art can be found in everyday items.

“I teach them to break things down into smaller shapes, so it doesn’t seem that hard to draw,” Clemons said. “When they achieve a finished product it builds self-confidence. I am honored to play a part in Pictures of Hope and provide a creative outlet for members of our community.”

The art work displayed will consist of paper mosaics, paintings, self-portraits and zentangles. 

In addition, a Christmas ornament, created and designed by Clemons, will be debuted and 25 preorders will be taken. Proceeds from ornament sales will benefit the art program. 

“Pine Brothers is the perfect location to display art while talking with artists and enjoying coffee. We invite the entire Jackson County community to join us in celebrating these young artists,” Weeks said. 

For more information, contact Weeks at 256-609-8659, or visit jacksoncountydrugcourt.org. 

Scottsboro native aids in Harvey rescue

Scottsboro native Jeremy Campbell experiences the dangers of Hurricane  Harvey as he floats the flooded streets on a boat rescue mission.

By Danielle Wallingsford Kirkland

As catastrophic waters brought on by Hurricane Harvey flooded the streets of Southeast Texas, Scottsboro native Jeremy Campbell got up close and personal with both the danger and the human compassion that comes along with such an historic weather event. 

Campbell, who now resides in Atlanta where he is a journalist for 11Alive news, was dispatched to Houston to help 11Alive’s sister station, KHOU-TV cover Harvey. 

“When a big story impacts a city, our parent company, TEGNA, sends crews from other areas to help,” Campbell said. “That was my job. However, this time it was different. The day I flew to Texas, KHOU flooded and the entire TV station had to be evacuated.”

For Campbell, this was a sign of how horrific the flooding would be.

His job was to find a story, but flood-covered roads and barricades made getting to the flood zone in Houston difficult. 

“I was worried we would be cut off from any news so far from the epicenter,” Campbell said. “But this storm was so widespread, and things were just beginning to worsen.”

When Campbell, along with his executive producer Erin Gutierrez, saw a green pontoon boat being hauled down the highway, they pursued it. 

“I figured it was on the way to a rescue, so we followed it,” Campbell said.

Soon, the truck hauling the boat pulled to the side of the road as the rain continued to pour down. 

“Turns out they had a flat,” Campbell said. “This is where I first met Charlie (Diggs) and Morgan (Weiderhold). We offered to help. They didn’t need it. We asked to come along. They said, ‘Sure.’”

Campbell said he never dreamed that this chance encounter with a man and a pontoon boat would lead to the dramatic rescue that followed. 

Over the course of the next two hours, Diggs, an event promoter, and Weiderhold, a former Houston Texans cheerleader, would rescue 27 people, 8 dogs and three cats on a pontoon boat built to hold only 12. Campbell went along for the ride, filming along the way. 

“Riding on a rescue boat down a street that looked a lot more like a river felt, in a word, eerie,” Campbell said. “The houses were covered in three or four feet of water. Some people had been trapped upstairs waiting as the water inched up the sides of their living room couches and kitchen tables. As we cut through the mucky brown flood water I heard air horns signaling for help. I’ll never forget seeing a family of three staring out a bay window waving while the water wake splashed on the glass of their home.”

Campbell said that as each person, and pet, climbed aboard the boat he could see relief and gratitude in their faces. 

“Everyone was emotional, but cheerful,” Campbell said. “Cats and dogs literally got along on the boat.”

But cheer soon turned to fear, as things began to get rough. 

“The flood water flowed so rapidly it took on a current that drifted the boat toward power lines and submerged mailboxes,” Campbell said. “They might as well have been land mines as the stress took its toll on the passengers.”

The families, Campbell explained, thought they had survived the worst part of the Harvey experience before they boarded Diggs’ boat.

“Now, the boat intended to be their salvation started taking on water. It was horrific in the moment,” Campbell said. “Relief after the rescue turned to fear.”

Luckily, Diggs knew what he was doing and stayed calm as water coming onto the boat caused some passengers to panic. 

“At one point we thought the boat may be so overloaded that some passengers would have to jump out to keep it afloat,” Campbell said. “Being the observer with a camera, I was ready to go first. What right did I have to stay on board when their homes were flooded?”

As the rescue went along, Campbell said he was nervous and fearful that he had gotten in over his head. He kept calm though. Logically he knew the water level was only about four feet. Still, the dangerous situation made it seem much deeper.

“I could stand in that and keep my camera out of it at least for a short while,” Campbell said. “But on board it didn’t feel that way. This was a street overtaken with rushing water and at the time it felt as mighty as the Tennessee River rushing down John T. Reid Parkway after a summer storm.”

Though the rescue took two hours, to Campbell it felt like only ten minutes. 

“We stopped in culs-de-sac and neighbors stomped down flooded driveways waist deep in water with cats in carriers and dogs in their arms. One father cried as he told the boat driver ‘Thank you. Thank you.’ A young girl joked with her mom that she would rather be in school that day after all. Some neighbors met for the first time, promising to swap numbers when their phones dried out,” Campbell said. “It was the best of humanity at the worst moment. Relief. And when they all made it to land they all had places to go for the night.”

Campbell posted a video of the rescue online and it has been viewed more than 10 million times. 

“That speaks to the heroic efforts of Charlie and Morgan,” Campbell said. 

When everyone was safely on drier land, Campbell headed to the largest shelter in Houston where he stayed for 24 hours.

“Our 24 hours in the shelter revealed humanity at its best,” Campbell said. “Volunteers came in droves, some as soon as they were able to leave their own flooded neighborhoods. They came to hand out food, walk dogs, give free haircuts, haul trash —anything. There was an order of politeness.”

The shelter wasn’t the most pleasant place to stay, Campbell said, but at least it was safe and dry. 

“Life was on pause for the 10,000 plus waiting to find out how bad the storm was on their home, or if they even had a home to return to,” he said. 

Campbell said he wonders where those who left an imprint on him ended up.

“Particularly, I wonder what happened to a young man who lost his grandmother months before and came to the shelter as his last resort when the water rose on his 27th birthday.”

Over Campbell’s decade long career as a reporter he has covered the best of times and the worst of times and has found that there are common themes in each. 

“Sometimes the worst things that happen to us lead us to the best,” he said. “It just takes time to see the silver lining.”

One thing he has learned for sure is that gratitude rises from loss. 

“I saw that sense of gratitude across Northeast Alabama covering the tornado outbreak of 2011. I saw it last week in Houston. When we almost lose it all, there’s a stronger sense of appreciation for what we have left — the people we love who we hold on to as the floodwaters rise and recede. That’s what matters. And no matter the flood, the water always recedes and the sun shines again. Storms pass.”

To watch Campbell's footage of the pontoon boat rescue, search “Charlie’s Ark” on Youtube.

PRV community makes final plea for school

By Danielle Wallingsford Kirkland

 

“It was early 1935 and all over Paint Rock Valley people were rock hunting. Large ones, small ones, they were piled into wagons, washtubs, coal scuttles and hauled into Princeton. Paint Rock Valley was literally building a high school, rock by rock.” – History of Paint Rock Valley by Mary Sue Toney as it appeared in THE DAILY SENTINEL April 29, 1979. 

The word “community” is one that is often heard at Paint Rock Valley High School. It’s been that way since the school began during the height of the depression when citizens of each small community in the valley gathered and hauled rocks from the fields for its construction. Though it stands in Princeton, the school was named Paint Rock Valley High School to honor the people of the communities who had contributed to the building of the school.

Now, 82 years after the first class was held inside those field stone walls, the school is facing its biggest trial. Today at 1 p.m., the Jackson County Board of Education will vote on whether or not its doors will close for good at the end of this school year. But the close knit community came out in droves to the school’s auditorium Tuesday night in hopes that the board will allow the school to remain open.

Loretta Harris has lived just a few feet away from the school since her birth in 1937.

“I could hear the bell ring from where I lived,” Harris said.

Harris, whose mother was a school teacher at PRVHS, grew up hearing the stories of students bringing down rocks from the hills to help build the school. She attended the meeting Tuesday night to support the school she has always called home.

“It’s always been a wonderful place,” she said.

 Not only did Harris, as well as her sisters, children and several grandchildren, graduate from the school, but Harris herself went on to serve as the school’s secretary for 20 years.

“This is my community,” Harris said.”I’m still very connected to the school. I love it, and it’s just a part of me.”

Harris said she does not want to see the school close. And though it is small in numbers, it is just as good as any other school as far as Harris is concerned.

“I feel (the students) get as good an education here as anywhere else in Jackson County,” Harris said. “We have a lot of seniors who receive scholarships and they always look forward to that.”

 Superintendent Kevin Dukes addressed the crowd at the meeting, and gave them a presentation about the factors that contributed to his recommendation that the school be closed.

“It’s not a good situation,” Dukes said. “It’s tough on the community and it’s tough on the people making the decisions.”

Several of the school faculty members and community supporters gave presentations as well, many making a case for the board to allow them to remain open at least one more year.

Teacher Stacey Miller presented the board with the plan to move the school forward with place based learning, explaining how teachers could use Paint Rock Valley itself as a classroom.

“Place based education is an approach to education that takes students out into the community to learn and grow as human beings,” Miller said. “It gives them the opportunity to learn subject matter in a deep and lasting way.”

Another PRVHS teacher, Danielle Potts, explained how a teacher from A&M University will help the school fund its place based education program with grant money.

“He said, ‘Do not worry about funds for place based learning. If they will keep you open, we can have it funded by August,’” Potts said. “We are really confident that if you give us a chance, we can pull this off.”

Community member and parent Stacy Prince addressed the board members about the numbers they have presented in recent weeks regarding per student costs of keeping the school open.  Prince said that at a board meeting on March 16, CSFO Jeff Middleton said Paint Rock Valley High School spends $432,148 more than any other school in the county to educate its students.

Prince said she feels that number is much smaller when other factors are considered.

“Should Paint Rock Valley close, 22 of our students will not be going into the Jackson County School system,” Prince said. “They will be homeschooling, going to Tennessee, Madison City, Madison County and Scottsboro City, according to their parents.”

Prince explained that the county would lose $184,360 if those students leave the system. She also said she believes the system will lose two units, accounting for $161,000 in salaries, should the school close.

“We believe the actual number of savings if Paint Rock Valley closes is $87,000,”Prince said. “We are asking you, the board, to invest the money you would lose in funding, should the school close. We will do the rest. We do not want to be a burden on the Jackson County School system. That’s not our goal.”

Prince added that after a fundraiser to be held this weekend, it is projected that the school will have earned nearly $20,000 on its own.

“That’s a large portion of $86,000,”Prince said.

Shadrack McGill, former state senator, said he graduated from Paint Rock Valley in 1994 and just last year built a new home in the valley so his children could attend the school there.

“We enrolled our children in Paint Rock Valley School here just to find there is a threat of closing the school down,” McGill said.

McGill expressed disappointment, saying he felt little has been done by the board and administration to keep the school open.

“Ever since I was in 4^th grade I remember hearing they are going to close the school down,” McGill said. “It’s like we have never had a board that supported us here in Paint Rock Valley.”

McGill, who said he has called state school board members as well as legislators and the former governor to discuss the school in the past few weeks, said he had several suggestions on how to increase enrollment numbers and build the school back up.

“I’d look at rezoning,” McGill said. “We are allowing a school bus from Woodville to cross over dangerous railroad tracks to pick up students that would otherwise be going here when Woodville is busting at the seams with students.”

Mike Sisk, current Jackson County Commissioner and lifelong resident of Paint Rock Valley, said he did not feel that PRVHS students should be transferred to an environment that would be unfamiliar to them.

“Until you have been a teacher here, or have had a child in school here I do not think you can understand what I am truly saying,” Sisk said. “Our kids here don’t slip through the cracks. They get the attention they need. It’s a nourishing environment.”

Sisk too expressed disappointment in the Jackson County Board of Education concerning the state of the school.

“We have had nine principals in the past 15 years,” Sisk said. “It’s hard to set goals when you’re transferring over and over. The school has been built by this community. It has never been taken care of by the board of education.”

Sisk stated instances of the community gathering to clean the school halls, varnish floors and repair bathrooms.  He said once the lunchroom manager paid to have the lunchroom painted out of her own pocket.

“I just want the board to realize this is our community,” Sisk said. “This is what we want to keep together.”

When the meeting ended, Board Member Cecil Gant said the presentations confirmed his decision.

“I will not vote to close this school,” Gant said.

Dukes said he understood why people were upset.

“Who wouldn’t fight for their community?” Dukes said. “We have got to come to a conclusion. If it closes, we move forward. If it doesn’t close, let’s move forward. But let’s drop the talk. It’s the only fair thing to them, to get the peace of knowing one way or another.”

And the community will know one way or another today when the board takes a roll call vote at 1 p.m. at the Jackson County Board of Education central office.

*This story originally appeared in The Daily Sentinel.

JCBOE will vote soon on fate of PRVHS

Paint Rock Valley community members and faculty attended yesterday's JCBOE meeting to hear the fate of PRVHS.

By Danielle Wallingsford Kirkland

Jackson County Board of Education Superintendent announced yesterday that the school board will soon vote whether to keep Paint Rock Valley High School open or to finally close its doors at the end of this school year.

“I think people need to know,” Dukes said. “The faculty and staff need to know. The parents need to know. The community needs to know … It’s time one way or another. If it’s going to close, let’s ease their minds and let them know.”

JCBOE Superintendent Kevin Dukes

Dukes, with the help of county supervisors, gave a presentation about the state of the school to the large crowd of faculty, staff, parents and community members who attended the meeting.

Dukes first explained the declining enrollment at the school, stating that as of March 15 PRVHS had just 76 students in kindergarten through 12^th grade.

“Over the last 21 years the enrollment has decreased 47 percent,” Dukes said.

According to Dukes, in 2010 Craig Pouncy, with the Alabama Department of Education, recommended that then Superintendent Ken Harding take actions to close the school.

Jeff Middleton, the Chief School Financial Officer, said the cost per student at PRVHS is more than $12,500. That, he explained, is $4000 more per student than at any other Jackson County school.

“Over 10 years, that’s $4 million,” Middleton said.

Paint Rock Valley’s current principal, Kevin McBride, said he is still hopeful that the school will remain open.

“The school is the hub of the community, and I’m a part of that community,” McBride said. “My hope is they will be able to keep our school open and make changes that will benefit those students there.”

PRVHS Principal Kevin McBride

McBride said the most recent talk of closing the school has affected school morale.

“I think any time you mention closing a school people get scared,” McBride said. “Whether it’s the case or not they react. I have had students move because they were fearful the school would close …People are not sure what’s going on with the school and they want to know.”

McBride said he believes Dukes will do what is best for the school.

“I don’t think he is against our school. I think he is for what’s best and he is open for ideas. We just have to come up with ideas,” McBride said.

Dukes said if the board approves closing the school it will remain open for the remainder of this school year, the school zones at Woodville and Skyline will be expanded to accommodate PRVHS students, meetings will be held with parents and community members and all tenured personnel will be placed within the system. 

He added that however the board votes will give the people of PRVHS their final answer about the fate of the school for the remainder of his term.

“It’s about what’s best for the students,” Dukes said. “But this is it. Whatever happens with Paint Rock Valley, if ya’ll vote for it to remain open all I’m going to do is fight for it to be the best it can be. If ya’ll vote for it to close, it closes. But I will never bring Paint Rock Valley up again after we vote on this, because it’s time for them to know one way or another and not have to worry about it.”

Benefit to be held to aid seven year old in battle against cancer

By Danielle Wallingsford Kirkland

Easton Underwood, a student from Caldwell Elementary, has been battling cancer since he was 2-years-old. At the age of seven, Easton is now battling the disease for the fourth time.  A benefit will be held in Easton’s honor beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 11, at Goose Pond Civic Center.

Kim Hastings, along with her husband Josh, organized the event.

“We decided to do this for them because Easton’s mom, Keisha, is my cousin,” Hastings said. “I love her and her family with all my heart.”

Hastings said Easton as first diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2012.

“Easton beat cancer the first time, and then relapsed very shortly after,” Hastings said.

The day after his last birthday, Easton’s family learned that he had relapsed and the cancer had spread to his bone marrow.

“We were devastated,” Hastings said. “We were not there expecting to get any type of news like this.”

The benefit will help Easton and his family on several levels.

“They need help paying their bills and have some mold in their house,” Hastings said. “They need to do some remodeling where it is a cleaner and safer living environment for (Easton). Jeff, Easton’s dad, works Monday through Friday so Keisha can stay in Memphis (at St. Jude’s) and take care of their baby.”

A singing will be held at the benefit with performers Face2Face, Sugar Truck, Erica Cookston and Impact Teen Center from Skyline Church of God.

There will also be 50/50, a silent auction, a live auction, raffle tickets for items like a Yeti cooler, Alabama helmet, a smoker and more. In addition, there will be concessions, kid’s games and face painting.

“I would encourage people to put themselves in their situation if they had a 7-year-old son fighting for his life and all you wanted to do is be with him,” Hastings said.

Hastings said Easton is truly her superhero.

“We were told the more the cancer comes back, the harder it is to treat it, but our God is bigger than this,” she said.