By Rubin E. Grant With the state of Alabama on lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, Sarah Ashlee Barker had to find out on Twitter that she had been awarded the most prestigious honor given to a girls basketball player in the state. Barker was named the 2020 Alabama Sports Writers Association Miss Basketball in a tweet on April 3. “They had told us they would post … [Read more...]
Food Odyssey: POP Pastor Inspires Parishioners to Deliver Food to the Homeless
By Emily Williams The phrase “food for our journey” is one that Prince of Peace Catholic Church’s the Rev. John Fallon uses consistently in reference to the Eucharist. Those words are now emblazoned on the side of a van that delivers meals to the homeless population in Birmingham. POP parishioner Kelly Harden Greene - who developed the food delivery service, Food For Our … [Read more...]
Father and Son Geese: Ghignas Partner on a Book of Poems and Paintings Expressing Childlike Wonder
By Sam Prickett Charles and Chip Ghigna joke that they’ve known each other “very well” for 31 years, but 2020 marks the first time the father-and-son duo have collaborated on a book. Charles, who also goes by the pseudonym “Father Goose,” has been a nationally recognized poet for decades, having been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, … [Read more...]
Lunch Time: Leadership Vestavia Hills Project Helps Feed Students in Need
By Emily Williams When Vestavia Hills’ Shelley Gentle and members of her Leadership Vestavia Hills small group began working on their community service project in October, they had no idea what kind of impact it would have less than six months later. “We chose to investigate hunger in Vestavia,” Gentle said, “see what is being done and can be done to help.” In conducting its … [Read more...]
Virtual Reality: BMA Director Creates Video Series to Share Popular Works with Socially Distant Visitors
By Emily Williams As a child, Birmingham Museum of Art Director Graham Boettcher read a book that stuck with him, “From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.” The story’s protagonists spend a night in the Metropolitan Museum of Art after eluding security at closing. Inspired by the story, he often imagined how cool it would be to spend a night in a museum all by … [Read more...]