lake wedowee life june july 2012
DESCRIPTION
.Lake Wedowee Life is a bi-monthly lifestyle magazine dedicated to life on Lake Wedowee. We promote many events on the lake and surrounding areas.TRANSCRIPT
FREE June/July 2012 June/July 2012 • • www.LakeWedoweeLife.net www.LakeWedoweeLife.net • •
A member of the Randolph County Rescue Squad untangles a fish-ing line from the barricade net at the 2012 Lake Wedowee Prop-erty Owners Kids Fishing Derby. For more pictures see page 51.
Table of
Contents
Special Features 12. Creative Side: WIND Blows Back to Town for Reunion 16. News to Know: LWPOA Invites You to Annual Picnic 18. News to Know: Artists Converge on Downtown 20. News to Know: Fourth of July Boat Parade 22. News to Know: Summer Sizzle returns to Lineville Park 24. Model Search: Living the Lake Wedowee Life Model Search Seeking New Contestants 28. News to Know: Guide Birds on Mt. Cheaha 50-51. Photos: Paddlin’ for Paws & Kids Fishing Derby 60. News to Know: Local Growers’ Open Gerson’s Garden 62. Creative Side: Man Recreates Family History 66. Survey Results
In This Issue 8. Enjoy Life! - Letter from the Editor 10-11. Lake Wedowee At A Glance 38. Creative Crafting 26. Lake Map 40. Charley’s Treasures 48-49. Simply Fabulous 53. Hooked on Lake Wedowee 58-59. Where in the World? 42. Small Business Spotlight
On the Cover
The Lake Wedowee Property Owners Association hosted its annual Kids Fishing Derby May 19 at Rice Pavilion.
Lake Wedowee Life magazine is published six times a year and available around the Lake Wedowee area which includes Randolph and Clay Counties in Alabama as well as parts of West Georgia. All content in this publication is protected by United States copy-right law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, or otherwise published without the prior written per-mission of Neighborhood Publishing.
© 2008 Neighborhood Publishing
contributing writers Darlene Bailey
Meacham Bailey
Lavoy Caldwell
Leisel Caldwell
Jim McAlear
Tim Brown
Reed Montgomery
Brian Morris
Charley Norton
General Manager LEISEL CALDWELL
Editor KELLY CALDWELL
[email protected] (256) 276-7959
Writer/Photographer AMANDA CAUSEY
Advertising Sales LAVOY CALDWELL
[email protected] (334) 863-0737
Lake Wedowee Life
877.959.LAKE (5253) 18285 Highway 431 � Wedowee, AL www.LakeWedoweeLife.com
I love this time of year… Our community comes alive with all kinds of things to do and enjoy. It began a few weeks ago with the Paddling for Paws Cardboard Boat Races as well as Bike Hike, and will continue through the next two months! Being a born and raised Randolph County resident it makes me very proud to
see how far we have come. When I was growing up there were very few annual community events, but now it seems like there is something to do every week. Over the next few weeks, there are multiple concerts planned, an art show, boat parade and rodeo. All of those events, how-ever, require community participation to succeed and continue. Some of the events are free to the public and some require a nominal fee, but what’s important is that those that do charge admission, its usually because it is a fund raising effort of some sort whether it be for the Randolph County Sheriff’s Depart-ment or Brown Bag Buddies and the HEARTS program. The Lake Wedowee area may be a small community, but we have a lot of people in this area that know how to have a good
time! And, thanks to the generous organizers of all these events in the area, we have something fun to do close to home. So I urge each and everyone of you to attend as many of these wonderful
events as possible this summer. Be sure to check out Lake Wedowee At a Glance to mark your calendars! See you there!
Kelly Caldwell Enjoy Life!
Hot Fun in the Summer Time
8 Lake Wedowee Life
upcoming events
May 26th Lake Wedowee Summer Jam
at Chimney Cove Gates Open @ 5pm Concert @ 7pm
June 2nd
Summer OFF Main West Point Street Roanoke
June 9th
Art On The Median LWPOA Picnic
July 3rd
Street Dance
July 4th Lake Wedowee Fourth Of July Boat Parade
July 5th
Summer Sizzle Kicks Off (Every Thursday in July)
July 6th & 7th
Randolph County Sheriff’s Rodeo
To get more information about upcoming events visit www.LakeWedoweeLife.com
and click on ‘Events’
Even though summertime is here and the lake traffic is heavy on the weekend's don't put them fishing rods up yet!!! The bass are coming off their post spawn mode and are feed-ing up on shad heading out to their summer homes. Majority of the bass are going to be in 10 to 30 ft .This time of the year is when your elec-tronic sonar's are go-ing to be your best friend find-ing the bait and fish. Early in the morning till around 8:00 a.m. I would recommend throwing top water, a popping or walking type bait, throwing it around steep bluff banks and sharp points. A lot of these fish
will be suspended and come up exploding on the bait. After the sun
gets up I would recommend throwing a Carolina rig or a finesse type bait like a 4 to 6in plastic worm green in color, working it around main lake points and deep structure. The crappie fishing can be really
good all day as well, use your electronics to find them suspended around standing tim-ber, underwater timber and deeper boat docks.
Use a 1/16oz jig blue/white or chartreuse/black trolling and also casting minnows work really well trolling them slow around deep brush 18 to 25ft. Hope this information will help you land your next trophy. Good fishing and God bless.
Thanks to the early arrival of mild weather this spring, the gardening season is well under way. Many gardeners have set out their plants earlier than is customary for our area. As a result, gardeners should take every precaution possible in
order to bring in a healthy harvest of fresh vegetables. First, one of the most common maladies seen
each year is end rot of tomatoes and peppers. A number of ac-tions can be taken to provide calcium which is the necessary element in prevention. Supple-menting granular gypsum, dis-tributing lime around the plant, and frequent spraying of liquid calcium product to the foliage
are all useful methods. Also, pelletized calcium nitrate can be used as a supplemental fer-tilizer. Second, there is a wide-spread problem with various worms that feed on the foliage of plants. A widely used prod-uct today is known by the let-ters Bt. Bacillus thuringiensis is a naturally occurring property that can be applied as a dust or liquid for the control of feeding worms. Third, there are several ways to stop those pesky squash bugs. A few remedies include pelleted bifenthrin, car-baryl, imidacloprid, and per-methrin. These are available as liquid or dust. Finally, consider using a couple of common fun-gicides to battle blights that fre-quently affect tomatoes. Chlorothalonil and mancozeb can greatly reduce the risk of fungal infections that can greatly reduce a vibrant plant into a plant that withers away.
The Lake We-dowee market
continues to see buyer activity. Since the first of the year there have been 11 (22 transactions) reported lake house sales and 8 (16 transactions) lake lot sales by local agents. The lake house sales vary in range from a low sale of a foreclosed townhome at $85,000 to a recent closing of $700,000 on a large custom home located in the south part of the lake. Out of the 10 documented sales 6 sold for under $230,000 and 4 of these houses were fore-closed properties. Foreclosures have defi-nitely played a big part in reducing the market values on Lake Wedowee in the last 12 months. The good news is there are fewer foreclosures currently on the market and we are seeing increases in traditional sales and prices offered. Based on recent reports there are 6 lake houses under con-tract with the majority of the list prices in the high $200's. This is a good indicator values are taking a turn for the better for lake houses. Lake lots are another story. The sale of lake lots continues to be very sluggish and the very cheap is what makes up the ma-jority of sales, with 5 out of the 8 docu-mented sales being $60,000 or less. Lake lot sales suffers from a double whammy due to the lack of financing options and the sizeable inventory of reasonably priced pre-owned lake houses currently for sale. Why build when you can buy for less. This will change as the inventory of lake houses priced under $300,000 disap-pears. Savvy investors should be looking at the lake lot market. Lots of lots for sale and prices are low. More good news in-cludes sales in other areas of our county and surrounding areas. Most sales are in the range of $60,000 to $100,000. If you have a stable income and feel secure with your job it is an excellent time to buy. With the lower prices and low interest rates, you have a tremendous opportunity to buy more with lower payments.
Lake Wedowee Fishing Advice By Brian Morris, Fishing Guide
Diggin’ In The Dirt By Tim Brown
Randolph Farmer’s Co-Op
Lake Wedowee Real Estate Update By Leisel Caldwell Managing Broker RE/MAX Lakefront
12 Lake Wedowee Life
When Jay and Evelyn Norton moved their fam-ily to Roanoke, Alabama in 1970 from Memphis, Tenn. little did they know the musical chain of events that would oc-cur.
The eldest son Bill al-ready had aspirations for musical fame and joined the group Rock Candy soon after moving to town as their drummer. His little brother Tom would tag along to prac-tices and soon became enamored with the band's talents.
"I remember being amazed at Tom Ziglar's talent," Tom Norton said. "It was that moment, I got serious about the gui-tar."
A couple of years later Norton along with Handley High School classmates John Hodges, Mike Davis and Jackie Garrett formed the group WIND. Robert Burns and Gerry Knight joined the group as road crew at the time as well.
"Our first performance was the 1972 Miss Handleyan Pageant," Norton said. "At that time, we only knew five songs."
Because of that first gig, the band was able to book two addi-tional performances almost imme-diately, the Wadley High School Prom and the Woodland High School Prom.
"We gained an almost instant following because of those three performances," Norton said.
The band continued to play
around the area for the next few years and picked a couple of addi-tional members including bass player Tim Cox from Lafayette and
drummer/vocalist Richard Murray from Camp Hill.
"We played in Auburn and the Lake Martin area a lot but we also would play after football games at Handley High School at the Roa-noke National Guard Armory,"
Norton said. "We charged a few bucks at the door, and on a good Friday night we would have 300 plus people there. For some broke college stu-dents that was a lot of money back then." The band experienced some growing pains when Garrett left in 1974 and played as WIND for only a few more years. The group hasn't per-formed together in 35 years and many never thought a reunion show was a possibility. How-ever, things changed when lead guitarist was battling esophageal cancer in 2011. "I always wanted to play with WIND again," Nor-ton said. "And, when I got sick, it was the wake-up call I needed to get started on this." Norton spent several weeks in the hospital after surgery and was touch and go for a while.
"I visited Tom Norton in the hospital, he was lying in bed with tubes coming out of every portal of his body." John Hodges said. "He called me to his bedside and told me to get a drum kit. Because he was putting WIND back together.
"And, that was a year ago," he said.
Once he was released from the hospital, Norton began making phone calls.
"Tom called me and I wouldn't have missed the opportunity to play with my old buds for noth-ing," Mike Davis said.
WIND Blows Back in Town for Reunion
Creative Side by Lavoy Caldwell
Mike Davis, Tom Norton, John Hodges and Jackie Garrett formed WIND in 1972 in Roanoke.
Davis, cur-rently lives in Nashville, Tenn., where he owns an audio produc-tion company. Since his playing days with WIND, Davis has toured the country with Dolly Parton as her go-to key-board player.
Norton contin-ued to call his for-mer band mates and virtually got the same re-sponse from eve-ryone.
"I haven't played with this group in 35 years," Tim Cox said. "Tom called and asked me to sit in with them and that's why I am here."
Considering the group lives all over the Southeast, practices have been a little difficult to coordinate, but all six members have partici-pated at some point.
"It has been great to rejoin the old band," Richard Murray said. "I have rekin-dled old friendships and re-membered old times through this experience. And, I am here because Tom Norton told me to."
The band will be performing at Summer OFF Main on June 2nd for the Randolph County Chamber of
Commerce. "We have been practicing and trying to re-learn some of the songs we were known for back in the day and we are all really excited about playing together again," Norton said. Performing dur-ing the 1970s, WIND was known for play-ing the music of day like The Ea-gles, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Doobie Brothers and Southern
Rock and Roll. "We have had a blast prac-ticing together getting ready for this show and hopefully we will have a great reunion with our fans on June 2nd," Jackie Garrett said. The band will be the musi-cal headliner for Summer OFF Main and are slated to take the stage at 5 p.m. It is an outdoor event and the band will be playing in
front of the Handley High School Auditorium where they made their debut in 1972.
Mike Davis, Richard Murray, Jackie Garrett, Tim Cox, Tom Norton, and John Hodges are the members of WIND that will be playing at Summer OFF Main June 2.
This summer, the Lake We-dowee Property Owners Associa-tion is hosting their 14th annual picnic and fire-works display on June 9th at 3 p.m. This event provides the membership an opportunity to come together to have fun and fellowship, meet old friends and make new ones. It is also an oc-casion for the membership to get to know their board mem-bers.
Through the generosity of the Rice family, the picnic will take place at the Luther & Laska Rice pavilion where it has been since the inaugural event in 1998. Each year the event continues to grow with last year’s attendance reaching 270 people despite the threat of stormy weather. This year’s attendees will be treated to a meal of a fried chicken/ham plate. Entertainment will be provided by the ‘Tree Frogs’ and the night will be topped off with a spectacular fireworks dis-play by the Billy Herren family. Other activities will include: face painting and a clown ball toss for the children, History and global story telling by Don East and Mark Parrish, and a demonstration by the Cheaha radio controlled airplane club.
Attendees are also invited to enter the baking contest in one
of three categories; pound cake, layer cake and pies. Winners will be chosen in each category and the entries served for de-sert.
All of this is free for Lake Wedowee Property Owners As-sociation members providing they make advance reservations. Reservation forms were sent to each member the middle of May and must be received back by June1st. If you did not receive, or misplaced your invitation and need a new one please call 256-396-5526 or e-mail [email protected] If you are not a member and want to join in the fun, send us your mem-bership and picnic reservation prior to June 1st. If you are not a member and want to check us
out before joining, the cost for non-members is $10 per person, children un-der 8 are free. Res-ervations can be made by calling 256-396-5526. The Lake Wedowee Property Owners Association is dedi-cated to making Lake Wedowee a more beautiful, cleaner and safer place to bring your family and friends. Some of the associa-tion’s activities in-clude: recently in-stalled mile marker
signs, annual lake clean-up, Christmas trees for enhance-ment of fish habitat program, monthly water testing and the annual kid’s fishing derby just to mentions a few. You can check us out more at our web-site www.lakewedoweepoa.com.
The strength of the Lake We-dowee Property Owners Asso-ciation is in its people, both in membership and their involve-ment. If you are already a mem-ber, please contact one of the directors and let them know where you can help with any of our many projects. If you are not a member, please consider joining with us and help us “protect your playground” by submitting a membership form that can be found on our web-site.
Jim McAlear sits on the board for the Lake Wedowee Property Owners Association.
LWPOA invites you to Picnic June 9th
News to Know by Jim McAlear
The Lake Wedowee Property Owners Association annual picnic offers fun for everyone. Food, games and fireworks!
18 Lake Wedowee Life
Art lovers will be in for a treat June 9 when the East Alabama Arts Society hosts its fifth an-nual Art on the Median in down-town Wedowee.
The festivities will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“We are hop-ing to have a wide variety of mediums,” Syl-via Grant, Art Show chairper-son, said. “The show this year will feature fine art, folk art and fun art!”
Several mediums of art will be displayed including oils, acrylics, watercolors, photography, pottery and possibly stone work.
The event will be in the median on U.S. Highway 431 in Downtown Wedowee.
“We feel like the art show is a good opportunity to show local talent and gives the visitors to our town a chance to see what all we have to offer.”
Wedowee police officers will be on hand to help direct traffic as well as di-rect visitors to available parking. The shops in the down-town area will also be open for the day and the owners en-courage the visitors to
take a peek in their doors as well. There will be
no admission charged for the event but most of the artwork will be available for sale. “There will be some art-ists who will choose just to display their work,” Grant said. “But there will be numerous artists sell-ing their work.” The one day art show con-tinues to grow every year
and this year will be no exception.
Artists converge downtown June 9
For five years the East Alabama Art Society has hosted Art on the Me-dian in Downtown Wedowee.
Lake Wedowee Life 19
Plant a tree to help protect the environment… Our Children’s FUTURE!
This July 4th will mark the 4th annual Lake Wedowee Fourth of July Boat Parade. The event’s organizers Kelly Caldwell, Randy Morris, and John Tinney are very enthusiastic that this year will be the best one yet. “It will be interesting
this year because the Fourth of July falls on a Wednesday,” stated Kelly Caldwell “But, we decided to hold true to having the parade on the Fourth to avoid confu-sion. "In the four years we
have been doing this, the only time the event has not been on Independence Day was a few years ago when the holiday fell on Sunday. And, there was a lot of confusion that year..." The parade route will remain
the same this year with participat-ing boats picking up their registra-tion packets at RE/MAX Lake-front and then making their way to Wedowee Marine before re-
turning to Lakeside Marina where the winners will be announced.
"We enjoy being a part of this every year," John Tinney said. "It is a fantastic way to express your American Pride and the decora-tions seem to get better every year."
This year there will be 5 categories to win first place in and 1 grand prize. The Grand Prize Category will be named “Pride in Wedowee”. This boat will have to encompass as many of the 5 categories as possible. The winner will also receive recogni-tion with their photo-graph placed at all sponsor locations until next July Fourth. “There have been so many great boats that it is hard to pick winners. We can’t make everyone a winner, but we want people to know how much we enjoy
seeing their boats and what they have come up with.” stated event organizer Randy Morris of We-dowee Marine. Other categories, which will
receive only one winner for each will be: Most Outrageous, Star Spangled Celebration, Best Mas-cot, and Most Spirited. The Most Outrageous category
will be awarded to the boat that is decorated...well most outrageous.
News to Know Story by Kelly Caldwell
American Pride returns to Lake Wedowee July 4
Lake Wedowee celebrates Fourth of July with creative displays of the American Spirit. Last year’s overall winner (opposite page) paid homage to American Troops.
20 Lake Wedowee Life
It’s for an “outside of the box” thinker and anything goes. Boats that are decorated in something that is not typically 4th of July, but still have American concepts will be perfect for this one. Some exam-ples of past boats who could have won this prize would be last year’s winner "The 57 Chevy" or "Mickey Mouse."
The Star Spangled Celebration category will be awarded to the
boat that exhibits the best use of the American Flag. Please see “Respect Our Flag” above to make sure your decorations are not dis-courteous to Old Glory as well as the spectators and others involved.
Best dressed mascot will be a fun category for everyone. Whether you have your pet dressed as Uncle Sam or your child dressed as Lady Liberty there is not restriction on who or what is your mascot.
Most Patriotic is the best way to show you American Spirit. The Red, the White, and the Blue are symbolic to America and our na-tion’s spirit.
To enter your boat please visit one of the sponsors, Lakeside Mar-ket & Grill, Wedowee Marine, Lake Wedowee Life Magazine and RE/MAX Lakefront. Registration ends July 3rd at 5 p.m. The entry fee is $10.00
What America Means to me
America to me means Freedom. When I see the American Flag I think of Soldiers in foreign lands guarding, fighting, protecting and doing what they must do in order to maintain the freedoms our founding fathers fought so hard to establish, the free-doms we still enjoy today. I think of the thou-sands of Soldiers since then that have died for their coun-try…that died for you, me, our families and friends and everybody else that lives in America so that we may con-tinue to enjoy the freedoms that so many countries wished they had.
Meacham Bailey serves as Command Sergeant Major and is the senior
enlisted advisor to the Battalion Com-mander at 1/117 FA BN in Andalusia
Alabama. He has been in the Alabama National Guard for 24 years and was
deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 2006-2007.
Lake Wedowee Life 21
Show Respect when Displaying Old Glory We love to see everyone’s boat decorated in the most patriotic
way. Please keep in mind to be respectful of Old Glory. Below are some rules and guidelines so you can get the most out of respect-ing the American flag and America. Study the United States Flag Code . Many people do not un-
derstand that this is a legal issue. Specific Federal laws regulate the display, maintenance, and disposal of the flag. Learn about the history of the flag. Understand flag etiquette. How do you salute it, and when.
Military persons in uniform salute it with a military salute when it is paraded or when the Pledge of Allegiance is said, civilians remove their hat with their right hand and hold it over their left shoulder, or if they are not wearing a hat, they hold their right hand over their heart. Display the flag properly. Dispose of a retired flag by burning it. The idea is that a flag
should not be seen in a trash heap or mixed with garbage. Do not abuse an image of the flag. Display the flag properly. When flown in the United States,
the flag of the United States of America flies higher than other flags, and it is the largest flag of any group it is in.
Summer Sizzle will kick off in style July 5th for its ninth season of delivering music to the local communi-ties.
"The Clay County Arts League created Summer Siz-zle to showcase local tal-ents," Barbara Pollard, event organizer, said. "And, we have tried our best to stick to that philosophy."
The first night of the mu-sic series will feature Lard Bucket Bluegrass in what has become known as Patriotic Night.
"Our first night is always dedicated to our active and retired military because it falls so close to Fourth of July," Pollard said. "Roger Hammett and Ryan Robert-son have done this for years and now that they are with Lard Bucket Bluegrass, they are continuing the tradition."
Everyone is encouraged to bring their lawn chairs for a night under the stars and expect to be entertained by some of the best local artists around.
July 12 will be Clay County Country Jam featuring Kevin Moon and The Outlaw Justice
Band. "Kevin is wanting to do things
a little differently this year," Pol-lard said. "He is wanting to inter-act with the crowd more and even bring some of them on stage. So it will be a little like a
variety hour which will be a whole lot of fun." The night will be filled with special guests including Pol-lard's uncle Roy Crawford. "He grew up here and is a national fiddle player," Pol-lard said. Crawford has participated in Summer Sizzle for several years as a headliner but this year he didn't think he could do it alone. "Performing takes a lot out of him and I don't know if we will be able to get him here again," Pollard said. "That's why I wanted him to be a part of it still but I didn't want to burden him with a whole night to himself." On July 19, Talladega's Heri-tage Hall Jazz Band under the direction of Jeff Wood is slated to entertain the crowds with their Big Band Jazz sound. The month-series will con-
clude with "Gospel Hour - Clay County Style."
"I have always watched Gaither Gospel Hour and have been to so many singings in Clay County, that I knew we could have something similar here,"
News to Know Story by Kelly Caldwell Photos courtesy of
Ray Stansell and Clay Times Journal
Summer Sizzle returns to Lineville
Pollard said. "So I went to Ken-neth Yates to help me pull this one together."
Last year, Gospel Hour- Clay County Style featured more than 60 gospel singers that enter-tained more than likely Summer Sizzle's largest crowd to date.
"We had more than 1,000 peo-ple there that night," Pollard said. "It was amazing."
Each Thursday in July, Line-ville City Park turns into a mu-sic venue complete with live ra-dio remotes by Alabama 100.7.
"We are so excited to be a part of Summer Sizzle this year," Teresa Goodman, WCKF/ Ala-bama 100.7 station manager said. "We do the live remote and this
year we will be decorating the stage every week.
"It is a great community event and we are proud to have it in Clay County."
Pollard realized in the early stages of Summer Sizzle that she could only do so much to make the event a success, and is the first to admit the Clay County Arts League could not achieve their goals without the help of the local media.
"It's like I say, I could get El-vis Presley on this stage, but if it weren't for the newspaper and radio people, no one would know about it," Pollard said. "They have done so much to help us over the years and I credit
some of our success to them." Clay Times Journal Editor and
Publisher David Proctor said he looks forward to the event every year.
"Summer Sizzle has grown into one of the greatest events in the county. We have a tremen-dous line up of talent and most of it are people from Clay County," he said. "It is just in-credible the amount of talent we have here."
Summer Sizzle is every Thurs-day in July with music starting at 7 p.m. each night. The concert series is free to the public, but everyone is encouraged to bring their lawn chairs. Concessions will also be sold.
Area singers take the stage for Gospel Hour Clay County Style in the final week of Summer Sizzle. Bring your lawn chair to Lineville City Park every Thursday in July for great entertainment.
The “Living the Lake Wedowee Life” Model Search Contest will begin accepting applicants on June 1st. There will be a few changes to the contest this year, the main one being applicant age. This contest is for age groups 12 and above. A separate contest for children under 12 will be launched in a few months for our Southern Holiday Life cover.
The winner will receive a full photo cover shoot, modeling port-folio, his/her photo featured on the cover of 2013’s Guide to Lake Wedowee, as well as a 2 page spread in the issue. There will be an entry form on our website www.lakewedoweelife.com that can be printed and mailed, or sub-mitted online. There will also be a contest contract each contestant
must sign, or if not of age their parent or legal guardian must sign. This form will also be avail-able online. We will require 2 pho-tos per contestant (one head shot
and one full body shot). The photos do not have to be pro-fessional quality. “We are looking for the person that em-bodies the Lake We-dowee Life.” stated Kelly Caldwell “We are looking for natu-ral beauty.” There will also be opportunities for the winner and con-test participants to be called upon for other modeling as-signments affiliated with Lake Wedowee Life Magazine. The deadline for entries will be June
24th. Beginning June 25th every contestant that has their contracts signed and returned will be posted on our Facebook Fan Page. There will be voting on each entry for 1 week. Voting will consist of “liking” the photograph in our online album. The number of votes each contestant receives will be factored into his/her overall score. There will be recognition for the “Facebook Fan Favorite” which will be the person with the most votes on Facebook. This year there will be an interview stage for the top five finalists. The win-ner will be announced in the Au-gust/September issue of Lake We-dowee Life, and posted on our Facebook Fan Page as well as our website.
For more details, official rules, and to enter online please visit
our website at: www.LakeWedoweeLife.com and click on the ‘Contests’ tab
at the top.
Model Search by Amanda Causey
“Living The Lake Wedowee Life” Model Search
One of the few memories I have of my grandmother involve birds. She loved watching birds, feeding them, and hearing their songs.
She painted them on a number of mediums, and I always remem-ber her having different feeders around her house. After her death our family continued her love of bird watching.
Bird watching is something I enjoy doing and love sharing with others, so I was excited to be able to write this article and share my photographs that I have taken over the years. All of the birds that are featured in this article were photo-graphed here in Randolph County and on Lake Wedowee.
Bird watching is an inexpen-sive, rewarding hobby and, next to gardening, the fastest growing hobby in America. With the in-creased interest in the eco-friendly movement, bird watching is a pas-
time that gets you in tune with nature and into the great outdoors. You don't even have to leave your home to enjoy birds. But, if your backyard does not have bird watching potential, we have three new additions to the Piedmont Plateau Birding Trail right here in Randolph County. Local bird watching areas now include Fox Creek on Lake We-dowee, Kiwanis Park in Wedowee, and at Southern Union Community College in Wadley.
I contacted Randolph County native Bailey McKay, Ph.D., to get some information about what types of birds to be on the lookout for in Randolph County. He got his passion for birding during class
trips to Belize, Kenya, & Peru, to name a few. Bailey received his Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Minnesota, his master's in Evolutionary Biology at Auburn University, and his bache-lor’s degree in Biology at Samford University. He is currently doing post-doctorial studies in ornithol-ogy at the American Museum of National History in New York City where he is particularly interested in Asian birds.
Dr. McKay said there are an overwhelming amount of species that are known to be prominent here, with four different types of groups. Residents, the birds that are here year round; Summer Mi-grants, birds that migrate here dur-ing the summer months from the
News to Know Story & Photos by Amanda Causey
This photograph of Bailey McKay Ph.D. was taken off the coast in Southern California.
• Migratory, breeds in the north lives in central to north-ern South America in the win-ter. •Forages in shrubs or trees for insects, seeds and berries, also catching insects in flight and occasionally eating nectar. •In Alabama these birds mi-grate through during the spring.
Guide to Birds on Lake Wedowee
28 Lake Wedowee Life
30 Lake Wedowee Life
• Found in a wide variety of habitats, but prefers open woodlands and agricultural areas. •Broad diet of animals, from small mammals to rabbits, geese, and herons. •Uses a variety of nest sites, including trees, cliffs, buildings, and the ground. Does not make its own nest. Typically takes over nests in trees made by other bird species. Often puts nest in hollows or broken-off snags in trees. •Even though the female Great Horned Owl is larger than her mate, the male has a deeper voice.
•One of the biggest, most striking for-est birds on the continent. •It’s nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest. •Digs characteristically rectangular holes in trees to find ants. These exca-vations can be so broad and deep that they can cause small trees to break in half. •The nest holes they make offer crucial shelter to many species including owls, ducks, & bats. •The oldest known Pileated Wood-pecker was 12 years 11 months old.
• Like all other blue birds, Indigo Buntings lack blue pigment. Their jewel-like color comes instead from microscopic structures in the feathers that refract and reflect blue light, much like the airborne particles that cause the sky to look blue. •Indigo Buntings learn their songs as youngsters, from nearby males but not from their fathers. •Sometimes nicknamed "blue canaries."
• Often seen hovering before it plunges headfirst into water to catch a fish. •Frequently announces its pres-ence by its loud rattling cry. •The nest burrow is usually in a dirt bank near water. The tunnel slopes upward from the entrance, perhaps to keep water from entering the nest. •One of the few bird species in which the female is more brightly colored than the male.
32 Lake Wedowee Life
•Eats beetles, grasshoppers, ants and other insects. It also eats acorns, beechnuts and fruits. •They will often store food in holes in trees or fence posts. •Prefers to nest in holes in dead trees or limbs and they are quite aggressive when it comes to competing for nesting sites. •Predators include birds of prey, black rat snakes and house cats. •Are noisy birds, and have many varied calls.
• Found across much of the world, from southern Canada southward to Argentina, and in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. •Hunters in the late 1800s and early 1900s reduced North Ameri-can populations by more than 95%. •The longevity record for a wild Great Egret is nearly 23 years. •The Great Egret is the symbol of the National Audubon Society, one of the oldest environmental organizations in North America.
Lake Wedowee Life 33
tropics; Winter Migrants, ducks and geese that migrate from the north during our winter months; and Mi-grants, those species that are just passing through, stopping to rest and feed.
A few of the species we talked about stuck out as the most interest-ing. One bird you may notice in your yard is the Brown Headed Cowbird. It is in the blackbird fam-ily and has an unusual “song.”
The cowbird sounds like drop-ping water or a series of low gur-gles. They are a parasitic species that lay their eggs in other bird’s nests.
“The Brown-headed Cowbird got its name because it followed buffalo around to pick insects off,”
Bailey said. “They have done dam-age to some species of birds be-cause of their parasitic nature.”
Cowbird eggs hatch faster than other species eggs, giving cowbird nestlings a head start in getting food from the parents. Young cow-birds also develop at a faster pace than their nest mates, and they sometimes toss out eggs and young nestlings or smother them in the bottom of the nest.
Several of the other species we discussed are pictured in this arti-cle. One that is not pictured is the American Bald Eagle. Numerous people have seen it but had not got-ten a photographs. I went out searching for Lake Wedowee’s ea-gles but did not have any luck. An-
other bird that I did look for specifi-cally for this article was the Great Horned Owl. The owl is my favor-ite bird and while I have seen many in the wild I have never been able to capture one in a photograph un-til now. I set out on a mission and fortunately was able to capture this beautiful bird of prey.
If you are going to photograph birds you do not need special camera equipment, just a little pa-tience.
“Having open feeders is a good way to attract many different birds,” McKay said, “Get a good seed that they will eat. Sunflower seeds are the best for attracting area birds.”
“Alabama has a lot of natural, unique areas. If you want to get the most out of Alabama, get out there and bird watch.”
Set up your feeders and look for some of the birds photo-graphed here. Follow “Tips from an expert” I have created with ad-vice from Dr. McKay on bird watching. If you snap some great shots email them to us at [email protected], we would love to see them. We may use them in upcoming issues!
North America’s most com-mon “brood parasite.” A female cowbird makes no nest of her own, but in-stead lays her eggs in the nests of other bird species, who then raise the young cowbirds.
Here are some great tips from Dr. McKay on how to start bird watching. • “Make sure you have a good
pair of binoculars. In order to identify a bird accurately you will need to be able to see it up close.”
• “Take note of the location that the bird is. If its on the ground or up in a tree that will help you identify them based on their activity.”
• “Get a good field guide. One
that is hand drawn instead of having photographs is better. Artists can look at hundreds of photos of birds and create a sketch that is more accurate for the species” He suggested ‘The Sibley Guide to Birds of Northeastern American.’ “Getting a guide with your specific region will eliminate birds in other areas that you will never see.”
• “Determining what type of bill a bird has is key to identifying a species.”
• “Get out in the woods and for-est areas, don’t wait for them to come to you.”
Creative Crafting By: Amanda Causey
Patriotic Wreath This burlap and tulle wreath with painted canvas “flag” is a 2 part craft. You can
make them together and have this combo or make them separate and have 2 differ-ent décor pieces. Cut your burlap into two-three inch strips and work into a
wire wreath form. Cut strips of tulle and insert as you see fit. Paint a square canvas red & white stripped and add a decora-tive 3-demensional star to the middle.
Hang canvas with twine. To see detailed instructions, tips and photos of each step please visit www.LakeWedoweeLife.com
and click on Creative Crafting.
Magnetic Message Board This message board is hanging at my desk. To create this look you will need an old cookie sheet, fabric (I used burlap left over from an-other project), ribbon, and magnets. Measure
your fabric about an inch over each side of your cookie sheet. Hot glue the edges keeping the fabric tight. Hot glue ribbon to the back to cre-ate your hanger. I decorated this one with some additional ribbon on the edges. Use pre-made magnets or get creative and make your own. Using vintage buttons or brooches is a good
way to incorporate family heirlooms.
Lake Wedowee Life 39
This has been the most asked question on Lake We-dowee since its conception and there have been a lot of “official” an-swers. Some of the ones I’ve heard are: “So people could build their boat docks on dry land“. “They let it down during the rainy sea-son to avoid flooding“. “To improve the fish habitat” or “so that they (the dam people) could make repairs to the dam“. And of these answers there may be some truth, but I propose that none of them are true and it is a massive cover up to avoid widespread panic. I have recently been told by an old timer that our dam wasn’t built to supply power to the com-munities. It was built to supply power to a secret government labo-ratory built deep under ground below Harris dam. This laboratory does experiments on animals re-quiring a huge amount of power. Experiments that are focused on designing a super trooper. A man that has super human strength and rejuvenatory abilities. Enhanced perception and intelligence are other side effects from these ex-periments.
It started in the early 1980s, according to the old timer, there was a terrible accident after a light-ning strike and two of the animals escaped from the laboratory. He
knew this because he worked there as a custodian at the time. He went on to say that a massive search took place, telling the local com-munity that it was a plane crash they were looking for. After sev-eral weeks it was assumed that the animals must have perished. That was until the next Fall.
“When the water went down the first time, everyone just thought it was Georgia being stingy with the river flow“, said the old timer. That was when the court battles started between the
states. Then when Spring came around, without warning, the wa-ter began to rise again. Alabama Power began getting inquiries about why it happened. “They were clueless”, the old timer told
me laughing to himself. He told me that it was actually him that came up with the first reason. He was getting the trash out of the lab when a scien-tist, out of pure frustration blurted “What do I tell these peo-ple”?! “I just told him to tell them people to shut up and build their docks, I didn’t
think they would actually do it,” said
the old timer . “But that’s exactly what they did.”
When the next Fall came around, the water began to drop again. It became obvious that there was something serious going on. After a massive search was per-formed, the terrifying truth was found. Beaver dams. Not just any Beaver dams, these were massive structures built from entire trees set just below the water level in both the big and little rivers. It con-firmed the worst fears of the scien-tists deep below the Harris dam. The animals that escaped two years before were beavers. Super beavers that were genetically enhanced to build temporary bridges for the military. Not only had they sur-vived, foot print measurements indicated that they had grown sub-stantially, estimated at over a ton each!
A secret deal was made with out of town logging companies and they blasted the dams with TNT, which they blamed the noise on the
Charley’s Treasures
by Charley Norton
So why do they raise and lower the lake?
Yes this picture is digitally altered for purposes of this column. No, we do not actually have beavers of this size on Lake Wedowee!
rock quarry which caused law suits against them from the surrounding community. It is rumored that a deal was also made with the Messer’s at Wedowee Building Supply and the logs removed and milled were shipped to them at a bargain to keep their silence of the whole affair, which is why their prices are always lower than anyone else’s. Steve Corbin, who was in town hunting the Sasquatch, was secretly hired to track and trap the beavers but after months of tireless efforts, he was un-able to find them. He believed that they lived in the flooded Indian caves under the water.
The power company instituted seemingly unrea-sonable programs that restricted lake home owners from cutting trees or removing dirt from the shore. They did this to make it easier to find super beaver activity and their tracks on the shore. Doug at D&S Marine was contracted to build a specialty vehicle to track and kill the beavers. The Super Tracking Beaver Whacking Aquatic Vehicle, or S.T.B.W.A.V. was de-signed with the highest technology but made to look like an ordinary aluminum boat. They put their best men in it over the years, most recently a man only known as Officer Barry, and disguised him as a police officer. This brave man patrols the waters day and night. Although he has had several encounters with the Sasquatch (also suspected as a product of the Har-
ris dam laboratory), the massive super Beavers elude him.
Now that the truth is out, I hope that everyone will blame the truly responsible people deep below Harris Dam for this incredible mistake and wave to officer Barry every time you see him. This brave man is the only thing between us and the killer super beavers of Lake Wedowee.
From the late, great Dr. Podunk (Rumbly), “The best lie is the one with a little truth mixed in”.
Charley Norton is the co-owner of Norton’s Floor-ing with his brother Tom. The company was founded
by his parents more than 35 years ago.
When the Tin-ney Family re-opened Lakeside Marina in July of 2008, they envi-sioned a one-of-a-kind business on Lake Wedowee. Four years
later, Lakeside has become a spe-cial stop for most lake residents and a regular meeting for place for the majority of the county. "We wanted to fill a need that we
saw not being met," John Tinney said. "We felt the community was ready for a place that was super clean, well maintained and a super friendly family atmosphere. We feel like we have met that need, but had no idea that the overwhelming support would be here. We aren't just a seasonal stop for people, we are a year-round establishment." Lakeside Marina originally
opened in the early 1980s, but under the guidance of the Tinney family the business has thrived in an eco-nomic climate where many small businesses are struggling to sur-vive.
In the four years since the family has owned Lakeside, there have been several renovations including the latest...Adding additional seat-ing for up to 64 on a covered deck adjacent to the main building. "Here we GROW again," Tinney
said with a chuckle. "It will be really festive at night because we are us-ing special lighting and then during the day we will have misting fans
going that are really cool." The kitchen area was also recently renovated to accom-modate the ever-growing demands of their customers. "We are looking for-ward to a very excit-ing summer at Lakeside on Lake Wedowee, " Tinney said. "We have bingo on the lawn on Friday Nights, Worship on the Wa-
ter on Sundays then the Fourth of July Boat Parade and we are even looking at partnering with someone to sponsor a bass tournament." Tinney also praises the Lakeside
team in the success of the business. "We couldn't do this without
Marie Bailey, Jerry Hall and Helen Hopkins,” Tinney said. "They are the friendly faces that people associ-ate with Lakeside. "We are a happy place," he said.
"(Lakeside) is a place where you never question what kind of experi-ence you have had. We pride our-selves on doing things the right way and of course having five-star bath-rooms."
Lakeside Marina expands again
News to Know Story
by Kelly Caldwell
From several points in Randolph County, Mt. Cheaha looms in the dis-tance. It may not seem like much from here, but as you make your way closer its size may be-come a bit overwhelm-ing. Cheaha State Park is atop the mountain which is the highest point in Alabama at 2,407 feet. Located in the Talladega National Forest, Cheaha is the Indian word for "high,” and is a foothill of the Ap-palachian Moun-tain system
Cheaha State Park has been in operation since 1933, however, the official opening date was June 7, 1939. The ground work was installed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and in-cluded roads, cab-ins, Bald Rock Lodge, the observa-tion tower, picnic
shelters, hik-ing trails, lake, beach, bathhouses and other recreational facilities. In 1973, a res-taurant, hotel and chalets were added to the park. Since that time there have been numerous changes and the park will be getting several more
significant en-hancements later this year.
“We are about to repave the campground roads, level out some of the camp sites and update the areas in the campground,” Assis-tant Park Superintendent Justin Howard said.
There are many activities for the whole family to enjoy during a trip to Cheaha.
One of the more popular is hik-ing. The Pinhoti Trail is a 104-mile trail that will take you through the Talladega National Forest. It con-nects with the Appalachian Trail, which leads all the way up to Maine. The Pinhoti Trail is a se-cluded, mountainous trail that is best for those who are experienced hikers. You must bring along any supplies you need, although there is a side trail at the halfway mark that will lead you to a supply shop. There are places for hikers to set up camp along the trail. Aside from the Pinhoti, there are several other hiking trails ranging from moderate to steep grade.
The view from Bald Rock, an easy hike on a wooded walkway.
Bunker Tower is located at the highest point on Cheaha Mountain; with an observation area giv-ing visitors an amazing view of the forest below.
Spend a day at Alabama’s Highest Point
Bald Rock is another hiking trail that is very popular at the park. It is handicap accessible with a long walkway to the point that over-looks Oxford and Anniston. There are several steps that lead down to the woods throughout the walkway for great photo op-portunities as well as large boul-ders for climbing. Cycling and Mountain Biking
would seem to be one of the next most popular. “This is the best place in the
world to ride because there are no cars.” Susan Ankrom of Oxford said. “There are a lot of areas to
challenge you here. “added Bobby Phillips of Anniston. They park at the ranger station
near the bottom of the road and cycle up to the top of the moun-tain and back down again. Many cycling and mountain biking events go on at the park. “We have about 6 and a half
miles of trails on our mountain
bike trail,” Howard said. “I don’t ride mountain bikes, so I don’t know from experience. But, I have been told that our trail is one of the most technical trails in Ala-bama. “We have three events going
on here so far this year, but they
are all hosted by outside organiza-tions.” he said. Cheaha Lake is also a popular
park attraction with its sandy swimming area and diving dock. There are locker rooms and picnic areas around the area as well. “We also have been making
some much needed repairs to Cheaha Lake. We have drained the lake and were in the process of cleaning up the swimming area when we found some other issues that needed addressing,” Howard said. “We have corrected those issues and are finishing up the swimming area now. We hope to have the lake ready to open Me-morial Day weekend.” There are day use picnic and
pavilion areas that can be reserved ahead of time, or if not in use are on a first come first serve basis. Cabins and chalets can be re-served as well. The hotel that sits at the park’s
entrance has a swimming pool and an amazing view of the north side of the mountain. The Bald Rock Lodge has overnight accom-modations for large groups, such as weddings or business meetings.
Bobby Phillips, Susan Ankrom, and Marie Barnes of Calhoun County cy-cle up and down the mountain once or twice a month.
Duey & Roger Hammock, of Delta, hike 14 miles to the top of Cheaha prepping for a hike at the Grand Canyon later this year.
Camping is available to individuals with semi primitive campsites and full hook-up sites with free Wi-Fi. Group camping is also available. From March through December there are also church ser-
vices provided at the park’s chapel.
To get more information about Cheaha Park, and to see the calendar of events, please visit www.alapark.com or
call 256-488-5111. Justin Howard points out the best hiking trails for the park.
Fall view of Cheaha Lake.
Mama’s Banana Pudding Time for Church Decorations, Family Reunions or
a Friendly get together. When I was a little girl Decoration day at our
Church was a big deal. The men would meet and spread fresh, white sand
over the cemetery while the ladies cleaned the church. The ladies would share what food's they were cooking for the dinner on the ground. Us kids would put flowers on all the unmarked graves while messing up the fresh, white sand just being spread.
Everyone had a job. On that Sunday morning the smell of chicken dressing and a few other heavenly orders would wake you from a dead man's sleep! One of those heavenly smells would be Mama's Ba-nana Pudding. Nothing like Mama's Banana Pud-ding. In memory of my Mama, Gertrude Cunning-ham Parmer put on your apron and Let's Get Cookin’.
I hope you enjoy!! Glass Slipper Events 256.449.2946
Pour wafers into a 9 x 9 baking dish. Peel and cut banana's into wheel
size on top of wafers. Mix sugar, milk, egg yellow's and flour together over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken. Next pour over wafers and bananas.
Add 1 T sugar to egg white's and beat on high until thick and fluffy.
Spread over pudding and bake on 350, watching carefully until light golden brown.
1 c sugar 2 c milk 3 eggs (yolks--save egg whites in sepa-
rate bowl for topping) 2 T flour 1-2 ripe but firm bananas vanilla wafers
Simply Fabulous Story by Darlene Bailey ���� Photo by Kelly Caldwell
The Randolph County Animal Shelter Paddling for Paws Cardboard Boat Races raised more than $20,000 for the Randolph County Animal Shelter in its fourth year.
The Lake Wedowee Property Owners Association hosted its annual Kids’ Fishing Derby May 19th. The fish were nibbling that morning and area children got their chance at reeling in the big one!
Suddenly, the spring spawning season is over. Its summer and its getting hot! As the month of June emerges Lake Wedowee’s Tro-phy Bass Anglers take on a much different ap-proach towards the ad-vance of fooling their quarry, the largemouth bass.
Lake Wedowee’s largemouth bass have been shallow for months. But now spring is over. For the next three to four months of this summer season, these bass anglers know they have an inevitably hot summer of fishing just waiting ahead. The question many may ponder now is; Should they con-tinue to fish shallow, fish deep wa-ter or fish at night?
The main question most anglers now ponder is; “Should I be fishing during the hot, daytime hours or should I be night fishing?” Consid-ering the summer heat, many an-glers will choose the latter of the two. By mid summer it can be 100 degrees at midday in Alabama!
Another consideration is, which choice of lures anglers will select. Both to use during the day and when fishing at night. What lure technique is best during the hot, daylight hours when plenty of com-pany is always at hand? Or what lure should they choose to fish with at night? In a much more peaceful setting, with some solitude actually possible lake wide.
The later it gets into the night, the better your chances are for fool-ing a truly big, Lake Wedowee largemouth bass! At dawn, these same big bass are on the prowl and during the late evening hours, they
begin their low-light period of feed-ing once again.
Fishing under the stars, when most recreational vehicles have left the lake, would be the first choice most summertime , “Trophy Bass
Anglers” would consider for having a really good chance at fooling one of Lake Wedowee’s true, monster size bass.
Maybe a bass exceeding ten pounds. The kind of bass “Trophy Bass Anglers” are looking for dur-ing the summer months. The kind of bass most anglers never see on end of their line. Some anglers never fish at night.
You also have some daylight hours, when you actually plan a night fishing trip, with about a one – two hour opportunity at having a good chance at fooling a really big largemouth bass. One huge bass, that is feeding under low-light con-ditions during sundown and/or sunup.
So as you can see, commitment
to about twelve hours of con-stant fishing should be in-cluded in your summertime game plan. That is, if you con-sider yourself a “Trophy Bass Angler.“ Do you have what it takes to fish for possibly just one bite, on an all day fishing trip in the hot summer sun, using lures most smaller bass would avoid? Or can you hold up to fishing all night? Using only big, over-sized offerings, fishing for at
least twelve hours straight from sundown to sun up, with little or no rest or sleep?
If not, you can become one this summer season! Here’s how, and the five best lure types for both day and night fishing Lake Wedowee this summer season. For some truly big, largemouth bass… Topwater Lures - Big, noisy top-
water lures! My number one choice for big, largemouth bass on Lake Wedowee. Why? Because I’ve seen and caught dozens of huge large-mouth bass on topwater lures, both during the day and at night, in the hot summer months on this lake for almost 30 years, since its impound-ment in 1983.
Heddon’s Zara Super Spooks, black noisy type, clacker-model half-ounce buzz baits, Heddon’s black, broke-back Jitterbug and both solid body, one hook frogs and hol-low-bodied, two-hook rubber imita-tion frogs. They all work very well both during the day and at night on Lake Wedowee, all summer long! Heavy line of 17-20 pound test is suggested with all of these lures.
With the buzz bait always add a trailer hook. On the zara super spook change the front and back treble hooks to a # 2 size Gamakatsu
Should You Fish for Bedding Bass?
Hooked on Lake Wedowee by Reed Montgomery
hook. With the broke-back jitterbug you can superglue glass worm rattles to the sides of the lower segment of these jointed-type top-water lures, for that extra enticing noise. Adding rat-tles to the hollow body of the frog is suggested too! Worms – Big Worms!
Whether you fishing dur-ing the day or night fish, offering these big large-mouth bass a big name sake worm of 10-15 inches in length simulates a lot of slithering summertime meals these big bass feed on. Big Lizards too!
Sticking with darker colors during the night and selecting more translucent colors during the day, helps contribute more to the visual appeal of these bass. Adding scents and rattles to these worms may help ap-peal to their other keen senses of smell and hearing, for some very big and often very picky, summertime bass.
* Stealth is very important day or night to expect any degree of success.
They bite better if it smells good, tastes good, looks good, and they can home in on it and hear it better. If it has an added noise like worm rattles, that appeals to their hearing and lat-eral line senses, they are more likely to attack! If these big bass do not know your there, they often let their guard down as well.
Fish these over sized worms and lizards on a long 6-7 foot rod, with a big 4/0 to 6/0 size Gamakatsu round bend or offset bend worm hook and always use as heavy a line as possi-ble. There are a lot of rocks and wood cover that can damage lighter line causing it to break, usually at a very inopportune time. Like when a tro-phy bass is on the line! Heavy test
monofilament line, fluorocarbon line of 20 pound test or braided line in the 30-50 pound test is best for success!
* Leave the light stuff at home. Jig Combos - Big Jigs with Over
sized Trailers For Big Bass! You may wonder why would I select a jig combo for bottom fishing during the day or night, when I’ve already in-cluded plastics like a big worm or lizard in this top five lure line up for summer? Simple. A jig combo is a big bass meal, just like a big worm or lizard!
Just like a big plastic worm, jigs and jig combos have been around for years. Both lure types have proven through the test of time, they are big bass lures that work in aiding an an-gler in fooling a big bass into biting, during any season. Especially the summer months when bass eat a lot of both snakes, lizards and crayfish..
When these big bass are not ac-tively feeding on worms, snakes, eels, lizards and other slithering
meals, they go after cray-fish. A much slower and easier to catch meal loaded with nutrition. Jig combos simulate crayfish and to a big ol’ Lake Wedowee monster size largemouth bass, the bigger the cray-fish, the better! Select ½ ounce to ¾ ounce jig combos for deeper wa-ter situations. Try ¼ ounce to 3/8 ounce jigs if fishing shallow water. The trailer is the big bass appeal. Tro-phy bass anglers add over sized soft plastics as jig trailers, for that added big bass appeal. Like the cray-fish your imitating with your jig combos, the bigger the trailer the better! There are loads of jig trail-ers to consider. Like any-time, experimenting with several lure trailer choices
will help you determine the best jig trailer selection on any particular fishing trip, day or night.
An angler, especially a trophy bass angler, should never be afraid of selecting too big of a jig trailer, even the biggest, most outlandish of big jig trailers! If it can be added to the jig…try it! That’s why they call them largemouth bass.
In all my forty plus years of fish-ing Alabama’s lakes, I’ve spent doz-ens of those years fishing Lake We-dowee since the first year it was opened to the public. I have fished with a lot of anglers and I’ve seen jigs adorned with the biggest of trailers, huge jig combos, that even surprised me when that huge bass hit such a monstrosity!
I’ve seen big trophy bass hit jigs adorned with added worms of all sizes, including big lizards, creature baits, beavers, plastic crayfish, twin tailed grubs, plastic shad imitations and oversized chunks of real pork.
Its that visual appeal of a “full course meal” that attracts the bigger bass bites! Spinnerbaits – The Bigger and
More Added Flash and Vibration, the Better! Whether you fish during the day or at night, a trophy bass an-gler always has an oversized spin-nerbait tied on a long rod, coupled with heavy line. Why? You may ask. Because through the sheer test of time, spinnerbaits have proven, they can fool a big trophy bass!
With Lake Wedowee’s often clear water situation during the summer months, your spinnerbait color and blade selection may vary. Like jigs, spinnerbaits can be adorned with an added plastic trailer or at times they can be fished with none.
If fishing deep water during the day, like when dropping or slow roll-ing spinnerbaits you may want to select heavier, half ounce to one ounce model spinnerbaits and keep the blades on the smaller size, with a
selection of #3 to #5 size silver wil-low leaf blades.
These smaller size blades on a heavier model spinnerbait, are for helping these heavier spinnerbaits fall faster, getting them down deeper faster. Adding a grub or other type of plastic trailer may help slow the lure’s fall, while adding a little bit of extra enticement and an added lure color.
If you do not own some of these heavier model spinnerbaits you can make one by adding a pegged bullet weight to your spinnerbait. Simply slid the bullet weight up on the fish-ing line before you tie on the spinner-bait.
Then peg the bullet weight tight to the spinnerbait by breaking off a toothpick in the bullet weight. Add-ing a half ounce bullet worm weight to a half ounce spinnerbait makes it then a one ounce spinnerbait!
During the daylight hours try fishing a 1/2 ounce spinnerbait,
sporting a white skirt with double silver willow leaf blades and an added white grub on 15-17 pound test line.
At night I suggest a black and red skirt on a 1/2 ounce spinnerbait with a single #5 to #6 size Colorado blade. Adding a single grub in contrasting colors may entice extra bites from curious bass holding down deep.
Heavy line of 17-20 pound test is suggested for night fishing with spin-nerbaits. There are a lot of lure hang-ing trees, stumps, rocks and bluffs and re-tying your spinnerbait often may be needed. Deep Diving Crankbaits (and
Swim Baits) - OK I’ve added Swim Baits to the
Crankbait category because with both lures you just cast them out and reel them in and both lures can be fished either during the day or at night on Lake Wedowee for some big, summertime bass.
Yes, crankbaits at night! To many
Lake Wedowee Life 55
anglers, this technique is odd. But if you think about it shad get eaten at night and both crankbaits and swim baits simulate shad and they very much look like a shad when retrieved! There are just some places on Lake Wedowee you just do not cast a crankbait at night and expect to get it back…like standing timber! Swim baits are medium size to
big, soft plastic shad imitations rigged on a single hook, either on a jig head or Texas-rigged with a bullet weight and big hook. Or some are hard bodied swim baits, featuring a jointed, segmented-type body. Swim baits are excel-lent lure choices for big large-mouth bass hanging around the lake’s miles and miles of standing timber, that was left here when the lake was impounded. At night during the summer
months a lot of big largemouth bass suspend just beneath the sur-face of the water, but they may be holding in standing timber that is 50 feet deep or more! Many an-glers fail to even cast for these bass. During the day in the summer,
constant boat traffic may cause these same bass to hold a little deeper in this standing timber. The use of your electronics will reveal what depth these bass are holding at both during the day and at night.
With both types of lures, big deep diving crankbaits and swim baits (some swim baits are from 6 inches to almost one foot in length), the use of a long 7-8 foot rod is highly suggested. Crankbaits can be coupled with
a high speed, wide-spool reel and long rods loaded with medium to heavy monofilament line (or fluorocarbon line), of the 15-20 pound test category, or heavier line, especially at night. If fishing during the daylight
hours and you want to get a deep diving crankbait to go deeper, the use of lighter monofilament or fluorocarbon line in the 8-10 pound test category will be needed. Use braided line, only on the swim bait. Long casts are suggested for
both fishing with deep diving crankbaits and for getting swim baits long distances! Including very sharp hooks! Experiment with deep diving crankbaits, with various colors, different styles and various types like flat bodies, round bodies and short bodies, verses long-bodied crankbaits. Try crankbaits with rattles and
try fishing with some (Like Ra-pala’s Shad Raps) with no rattles, and always pay close attention to what your crankbait was doing -- like how deep it was, or what di-rection you were retrieving the lure, and in what relation to any
nearby cover the bass revealed -- when you do get it to bite! These are just five types of lures
for targeting big, trophy bass on Alabama’s youngest, man made impoundment, Lake Wedowee, during the summer season. A lake that will be 30 years young by next year! Maybe you have some of your own! There are smaller offerings that
can fool big bass as well! Experi-ment! Always pre-rig as many rods as possible! Never give up. That next cast you make could en-tice that big bass of a lifetime! Please practice Catch and Re-
lease. Let these bass go to live and
fight another day. That’s the only way we will always have trophy bass and trophy bass anglers on Lake Wedowee! Be safe and cour-teous to other boaters and anglers during the summer season (or any time), on our often very crowded lakes. It’s all ‘our” water. Thanks and Good Fishin’ Reed Montgomery, Owner of
Reeds Guide Service (205) 663-1504 www.fishingalabama.com “Guiding on Lake Wedowee
Since its Impoundment in 1983 and Other Alabama Lakes for Over 40 Years. Alabama’s Oldest, Professional, Bass Fishing Only, Guide Service”
Lake Wedowee Life 59
(Opposite Page, Top left, clockwise) Chance Meinzer, Beth Kramer, Jeana Kirby, Beth Gray, Kippie Marcum, Jack-o Bailey, Wayne Hulett, Becky Wilson, James Sears Chris May, Ron Kramer, Andy Gray, Calvin Trammell, Dr. Tow-ers, Paulette Banks chaperoned a Handley Middle School Trip to Washing-ton DC recently and made sure to bring Lake Wedowee Life along; HMS stu-dents Nikki Hodges, Destinee Sellers, Ali Pike, Katie Farr, Ashley Banks, Harli Hodges, Annie Towers, Mariah Woody, Kaley Kirby, Raygen Marcum, Reid Bai-ley, Jacob Farr, Curtis Hulett, Tristan Meinzer, Seth May, Jacob Sears, John Simons, Gabriel Gates, Justin Higgins, Bryant Gray, Josh Everett, Jordan Trammell all take a break with LWL at Mt. Vernon. Beau Causey and Marshall Smith brought LWL to Battleship Park in front of the USS Alabama in Mobile;
Helen and Tom Judd brought LWL to Budapest, Hungary; Natalie Petersen hangs with LWL poolside in Cancun, Mexico for spring break; Roger Ledford and Joe Wilkerson brought LWL Colo-rado; Melissa Hill, Keishia Foster, Robin Hodges, Vickie Cummings, April Moore, Jerri Gabriel, Shannon Anthony, April Anthony, Kelly Caldwell, Kesa Johnston Dunn, Shannan Platzek, Bubba Hudson and Stephen Fields all completed Mud Mania in Auburn with LWL. Sammy Huey visited New Orleans with LWL. (This Page) Mary Lee Cald-well, Vickie Cummings, Katie Hammond, Ann Hammond, Kelly Cald-well, Kim Ragle, Amanda Pike, Kesa Johnston Dunn, Shannan Platzek and Jenny Adams threw some color on LWL at the Atlanta Color Run. Linda and Barry Smith brought LWL to Singapore; Brian Wells brought LWL to St. Barth.
If you travel, be sure to take Lake Wedowee Life along with you. Take a picture at a landmark and send it back to us at [email protected]. Please be sure to tell us where you are in the photo and who is with you!! Thanks and happy travels!
One of the new-est busi-nesses in Randolph County wants to supply the area with fresh pro-duce at reason-able prices.
Ger-son's Garden Produce and Country Store, lo-cated at 908 Main Street in Downtown Roanoke, is owned by Bill and Siri Wil-kinson and opened in early May.
"Our original plan was to open a pro-duce stand closer to our house," Siri said. "But, we had this commercial store-front and we believe in the importance of revitalizing down-town so this made much more sense."
Gerson's Garden, named after Bill's grandfather, offers a vari-ety of produce and eventually will offer locally grown produce from area farmers including the Wilkinson's own garden.
"As our vegetables come in, we will offer them in the store
and we are making contact with our local farmers to add to our inventory," Bill said. "And, then we also supplement our stock with produce from the Atlanta Farmer's Market."
Gerson's Garden also of-fers a lit-tle more than just fresh fruit and vegeta-bles. "We have an eclec-tic mix of prod-ucts," Siri said. "And, we will con-stantly change things because we are trying to
find the right mix." Some of the inventory at the moment includes vintage Pyrex mixing bowls, handmade aprons, local art as well as local honey. "We have a store that will constantly evolve depending on the sea-sons and our other in-ventory will change as well," Siri said. The couple moved to
area six months ago but Bill is not a newcomer to East Ala-bama.
"I grew up in Clay County until my parents and I moved to Delaware when I was in sixth grade," he said. "They moved back a while ago and honestly I thought I never would come back. But, I guess we all have to
News to Know By Kelly Caldwell
60 Lake Wedowee Life
Local Growers open Gerson’s Garden
Bill and Siri Wilkinson moved from Delaware in November of 2011 to be closer to his family. The couple opened Gerson’s Garden Produce and Country Store in May.
Lake Wedowee Life 61
eat a little crow some-times."
The Wilkin-sons' be-gan talk-ing in ear-nest about moving to Alabama in Decem-ber of 2010 and things fell into place. They bought their com-mercial building (located across the street from First Baptist Church) in August 2011 and this store is only the beginning of their plans for the space.
"We are excited about being business owners in Downtown Roanoke," Bill said. "We want to do our part here and what better way to do that than open a pro-
duce stand with the benefit of air condi-tioning." Gerson’s Garden is open Tuesday through Friday 9 a.m. un-til 5 p.m. and Sat-urday morn-ings 9 a.m. un-
til noon. Produce changes with the sea-
son call 334.863.7679 to ensure availability.
15 years ago, Joe Curry and his late wife Diana were doing some family research in Green Turtle Cay Bahamas. Mr. Curry, a Key West native, has ancestry that ties back to the Bahamas. While he was at the Albert Lowe Museum he saw a model schooner and original photograph of a well known boat “The Carpenter’s Re-venge” on display. This schooner belonged to his sixth great grand-father Gideon Lowe. “My great grandfather built it, captained it, and sailed all over the Caribbean; Cuba, Florida, Bahamas and West Indies delivering goods.” Curry took a photo of the schooner and went home with the mindset to build. 150 hours and five to six months later, he completed his first ever model schooner. “I drew the blueprints myself. I
have never had an interest in building models of any kind, so this was all very new to me.” “I have sold a few but I get very at-
tached to them. My daughter has 3, my brother has one, and I have 6 here.” One of those include a schooner he built for his son. “They do float. I’ve never floated one personally, but I have one here that I built for my son. He was in Hurricane Katrina, and had went home to check on things. In knee deep water, he lost everything, but this boat was floating in the middle of the living room. I don’t build them to float, but I’m glad this one did.” He also has built a model of Schooner Western
Union. This schooner was the last that was built in Key West back in 1939, also the year that Joe was born. This ship repaired and maintained undersea telegraph cable throughout Key West,
Local Man Recreates Family History
News to Know by Amanda Causey
Joe Curry, a Key West Conch, holds his very first model of his Great Grandfather’s schooner “The Carpenter’s Revenge.”
This boat was the only thing that survived in his son’s home after Hurricane Katrina.
Lake Wedowee Life 63
Cuba and the Caribbean, and has only recently been named a Florida State Monument that will be converted in to a maritime museum.
After losing his wife to a brutal battle with cancer, Mr. Curry had lost interest in building but has recently started again. “I’m like an artist or author; you kinda have to be in the mood to build. This is the first one I have started in quite a few years.”
“I just look at the pic-tures, draw them to scale and build them.” He is currently working on a small sailboat. He uses balsa wood and builds each part by hand. His tools are what some
would call vintage but those tie him back to his ancestry of how things were not built with power tools…only by man power. Mr. Curry, a retired educator, has written a how-to guide to building schooners. “After I wrote the book, I went back and built a model step by step, so I know that whatever ex-perience you have you will be able to follow this book and build a schooner with no prob-lem.” Building a Model Schoo-ner (Using Balsa Wood) is available for purchase and has many photos and tips perfect for beginners. If you would like to contact Joe Curry please email him at [email protected]. Mr. Curry works on a sailboat, his first model in
several years.
64 Lake Wedowee Life
Index of Advertisers 4th of July Boat Parade 31
Alabama 100.7 23
A & E Metal 46
Affordable Tire & Repair 22
Alabama Power 7
Art on Median 41
Bank of Wedowee 57
Bledsoe Painting 61
Brian Morris 50
Chad Lee, Attorney At Law 39
Charles Thompson Construction 19
Clay County Automotive 60
Corson Tree Service 39
D & S Marine 17
Docks Plus More 52
Dr. Michael Edwards 17
Fiberglass Unlimited 43
Fishing Alabama 23
H& M Drugs 39
Halls Propane 14
Hill Top Store 43
Kesa Johnston Dunn, Attorney at Law 29
Lakeview Auto Service 37
Lake Wedowee Construction 29
Lake Wedowee Property Owners 63
Lake Wedowee Rentals 61
Lake Wedowee Summer Jam 9
Lakeside Grill 3
Mac McKinney Properties 49
Main Street Animal Hospital 43
Norton's Floor Covering 61
Perryland Foods 59
Randolph County Cooperative 50
RE/MAX Lakefront Grady & Linda Stone 18
RE/MAX Lakefront, Caldwell Team 2
REMAX Lakefront 47
Scott Hewitt, Attorney at Law 43
Sheppard's Jewelry 46
SmallTown Bank 17
Southern Restoration 15
Southern Union State Community College 41
State Farm Insurance 29
Steele Chiropractic 42
Summer Sizzle 29
Summit Storage 56
Sunset Point 34
Superior Gas 37
Tallapoosa River Electric Coop 63
W & M Grocery 67
Wedowee Building Supply 55
Wedowee Lake and Lands 37
Wedowee Lake and Lands, Gene and Ramonda
Crouch 15
Wedowee Marine 27
Williamsburg Manor 39
* More than 80 surveys were returned to Lake Wedowee Life
