By Kaitlin Candelaria The Thackerson family of Vestavia Hills has put a whole new twist on the holiday season. While some families celebrate with 12 days of Christmas, Michelle, Steve and their three children instead celebrate with 12 trees. “Every year, we add different things,” Michelle said. “We incorporate all kinds of different things like puzzles, books, videos and … [Read more...]
Jaguars Get Judicial: Spain Park Law Academy Competes Internationally
By Kaitlin Candelaria The football team isn’t the only group at Spain Park High School with an impressive record this year. Students from the high school’s Law Academy recently competed at the YMCA Youth Judicial Mock Trial Tournament in Montgomery to defend their three-year streak as the best overall team in competition. Although they didn’t leave with a fourth victory in … [Read more...]
They Have Donuts: Four Friends Cook up a Business Based on Their Favorite Food
By Donna Cornelius That thing you have for doughnuts? It’s in your genes. At least, that’s what Phil Amthor believes. “Everybody has a love for doughnuts within them from birth,” said Amthor, who started Birmingham’s We Have Doughnuts with his wife, Sara. The company just helps reawaken that primal connection, he said. The small batch, made-from-scratch doughnuts are sold … [Read more...]
Shell Game: Chef Jeremy Downey Wins Two Awards at Oyster Cook-off
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...]