Shall I expand? How about you?
Downtown Fort Payne is looking incredible right now, so I encourage you to drive through and look at the Christmas decorations.
Fort Payne takes on an amazing vibe every Christmas. We attract a lot of attention because of that song by Alabama called “Christmas in Dixie.”
The lyrics go…
“Christmas in Dixie, it’s snowin’ in the pines
Merry Christmas from Dixie, to everyone tonightAnd from Fort Payne, Alabama
God bless why’all…We love ya…Happy New Year…Good night… Merry Christmas tonight!”
– Jeff Cook / Mark Herndon / Randy Owen / Teddy Gentry
Now’s the time to listen to holiday songs, watch Christmas movies (“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a requirement for me), play board games and relax.
I hope you all have a great day and make good choices to avoid spreading this COVID-19 virus around any more than it already is.
Due to the continuing public health emergency, our family opted out of doing the traditional dinner. It’s tough saying No to momma in times like these, but she understands that it is for her protection.
On a personal note, I felt a bit under the weather yesterday with a fever and headache. Just to be safe, I went to Encore Medical here in Fort Payne, just to make sure I did not catch the coronavirus.
I tested negative. I’ve become a regular there after having to test after people in my orbit got it. This was the first time I went due to me feeling crappy myself. I was diagnosed with an old-fashion garden variety sinus infection and given antibiotics.
Already feeling better. It was a bit of a scare, I won’t lie. I am so ready for this pandemic to ease up. I saw far too many people at the recent Fort Payne Christmas Parade out in public neither wearing masks or social distancing. We must do better!
Dude, I have gotten WAY off my Merry Christmas message, haven’t I? Forgive me. It’s been a traumatic year, but only 7 more days remaining.
I can’t say that 2020 has been ALL bad. I did get this amazing promotion at the newspaper, which I am doing my best to be successful at.
I enjoyed watching the Fort Payne Fireworks celebration Thursday evening. Due to the need for social distancing, the city skipped the usual on-site entertainment, which I think was the right call considering how rapidly the coronavirus is spreading right now.
I went with my daughter and watched from the parking lot of the Wills Valley Recreation Center.
I haven’t really publicized it before, but it’s worth noting that I am serving on a couple of boards for local organizations that are near and dear to my heart. It is my hope that by mentioning them to anyone following this blog, our membership ranks can grow as we set out to do some pretty amazing stuff.
Read More
Landmarks of DeKalb, Inc., brought the Alabama Shakespeare Festival to DeKalb County this week. I was at Saturday’s show in the Fort Payne Opera House. What a remarkable performance by these talented actors. We were so fortunate to have ASF visit our county, speak to kids at local schools and share their hard work for our entertainment.
Read More
I created this “group photo” of the cast of the dinner theater play “Deliver Us From Mama” at the request of director Amber Norman McPherson. It shows all 30 characters played by 11 cast members by combining them in a composite of several carefully choreographed different photos of various groupings following costume changes.
I just finished “The Rise of Skywalker” and the little boy who fell in love with these movies 42 years ago is happy with the way it ended.
No spoilers, except to say that some characters don’t make it, and there’s a major plot twist. Duh.
Maybe you should stop reading if you want to go into it with your own fresh take.
I’d like to invite you to my hometown of Fort Payne, Alabama for the annual Boom Days Heritage Celebration.
Sept. 20-21: Boom Days Heritage Festival in downtown Fort Payne.
Read More
