By Donna Cornelius When Jeremy Downey eats an oyster, the taste takes him back to his childhood. Downey, the owner and chef of Bistro V in Vestavia Hills, grew up in Bayou La Batre on the Alabama Gulf Coast. “Our next door neighbor was an oyster guy, and he’d bring us a big old sack and say, ‘Here’s 50 pounds of oysters,’” Downey said. “Sometimes he’d just drop them on our … [Read more...]
Crowning Achievement: Jags End Hoover Streak, Head to Championship Game
By Lee Davis There will be a Class 7A state champion football team in 2015. It just won’t be the Hoover Buccaneers. The new trophy holder may be living a short ways down the road. Hoover’s bid for a fourth consecutive crown ended Nov. 20, when cross-town rival Spain Park upended the Bucs 7-6 in the semi-finals. The Jaguars move on to meet McGill-Toolen of Mobile at the … [Read more...]
Early to Rise: Compton and Lady Rebels off to a Strong Start
By Lee Davis Although it’s been more than four years since Jessica Compton played in her first varsity basketball game at Vestavia Hills, the senior guard remembers the event as if it were yesterday. “We were playing Homewood and when we went out for warm-ups, I had never been so nervous in my life,” she recalled. “I was so nervous, I was nearly in tears. Once the game … [Read more...]
Dynasty Denied? Hoover Loss Doesn’t Mean End of Dominance
By Lee Davis For Hoover fans, the Bucs’ 7-6 loss to Spain Park in the Class 7A football playoffs Nov. 20 came down to a good news/bad news scenario. The bad news is that Hoover will not be the 2015 Big-School Class football champion for the fourth consecutive year. The good news is that the streak had to end sometime, and the Bucs are far from finished. Admittedly, it wasn’t … [Read more...]
Chandler’s Giving Back
By Lee Davis If you’re looking for someone who is living their dream, former Oak Mountain soccer star Chandler Hoffman is a good choice. Hoffman, a former Over The Mountain Journal Athlete of the Year, earned all-state honors as an Eagle before moving on to play at UCLA. After being named to All-American and all-conference teams as a Bruin, Hoffman was taken by the … [Read more...]