By Emily WilliamsWhen Bill and Audrey Cowley talk about their 23 years living and raising their two daughters in Africa, they are all smiles.It wasn’t until a documentary was made about 1960s Nigeria that Robert Parham and Cliff Vaughan of EthicsDaily.com discovered the extent of the Cowleys’ work. The website, a division of the Baptist Center for Ethics, has honored … [Read more...]
A Day Away: Encore Ministry Gives Help, Hope to Seniors With Memory Loss and Their Caregivers
By June MathewsPatti Williams knew what she was getting into when she agreed to become program director for Encore, a respite care ministry at Canterbury United Methodist Church in Mountain Brook. She just didn’t know how great the interest would be.In a matter of months, the program has exceeded her expectations, and with its first anniversary coming up in June, … [Read more...]
Worlds Away: Long-Time BMA Patron Revisits Collection and Reconnects with Curator
By Emily Williams At 104 years of age, Helen Hudgens has traveled the world collecting art and experiences. But for her wish of a lifetime, she stayed closer to home. On March 10, Hudgens visited pieces of her own art collection that she donated to the Birmingham Museum of Art and her old friend, senior curator Dr. Donald Wood.Upon learning that Wood will be retiring … [Read more...]
Take the Lead: Competitive Ballroom Dancing Keeps Ann Rich on Her Toes
By Emily Williams Ann Rich’s relationship with ballroom dancing can’t be called kismet. The Birmingham resident didn’t start ballroom dancing until her early 50s. The first time she stepped into the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Hoover, she didn’t fall in love with ballroom dancing. In fact, it didn’t spark any kind of resounding emotion. “Initially, my husband and I went to … [Read more...]
Face the Five: Samford Students Put Focus on Mental Health With Awareness Campaign
By Annie Howard Five Samford University students are facing down the culture of silence surrounding mental health. As part of a spring semester program, the students, who are in Samford’s public relations department, were assigned the Campaign to Change Direction as a client. To promote the campaign’s message of mental health awareness, they created a campaign of their own, … [Read more...]