There are a great many diets floating around these days, each with some extreme weight-loss claims and an eating regime that involves either cutting something out or adding something totally weird to your normal meal system. However, there is one in particular that currently holds the number 1 slot,...
Cullman County Human Trafficking Task Force Chairperson Kathy Wilson, left, with Carol Berry, right (Brittany Howell for The Cullman Tribune)
What is human trafficking? That is what Kathy Wilson explained this week on Community with Carol. Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud or coercion...
Jennifer Garner must have asked me a thousand times, “What’s in your wallet?” The answer is always the same, “Nothing, absolutely nothing!” I keep hoping maybe she has put some money in there without me knowing, but no, it’s still nothing. A more pertinent question might be, “What’s under...
ODE TO BLOOMING
Stealthily, they commanded the hill,
Though no cannons nor bombs were booming.
No movement detected, all seemed deadly still.
Then, victorious as any army, all the flowers were blooming.
The earth is blooming with the joyous laughter of flowers. In my part of the world, we...
A couple of days after our recent visit to Andy Griffith’s hometown of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, we visited the home and library/museum of another famous North Carolinian – Dr. Billy Graham. I had never realized the comparisons and contrast between those two men. They both grew up in...
This is the true story of heartache, physical, sexual and alcohol abuse, love, hate, financial burdens and finally, finding joy, happiness and hope.
We trust that you will understand why the names and some of the circumstances had to be changed to protect the privacy and safety of some of...
After marching the streets of Birmingham to get their program back then watching the most successful run in school history under Bill Clark, securing a move up to the American Conference, UAB fans were treated to one of the most nonsensical hirings in sports history.
In December of 2022, after...
Romantic comedies in the 2020s don’t feel like the ones from the 1980s. I made it my mission to stop procrastinating and watch some highly recommended films. These two are my current favorites, though I do not claim they’re the best. I have a lot of inventory to sort through before coming to that decision!
“The Princess Bride”
I watched...
The doctors call it “COVID fog,” and it doesn’t get nearly as much attention as respiratory issues and ventilators. It is a very real effect of COVID-19, though, and it can be difficult to define as it strikes different victims in different ways, including striking some not at all.
This...
Where were you when the phones stopped ringing, that January day? That January day was Wednesday, Jan. 14. For roughly 10 hours that day, I and approximately 200,000 other Verizon cell phone users had no service.
Perhaps you recognized my question as a play on Alan Jackson’s hit song, “Where...
ODE TO SUMMER
My longtime favorite season is summer.
Though fall, spring nor winter is a bummer.
At 70, this thought’s not a newcomer;
It came decades ago with my first frozen rummer.
“Summer afternoon” according to American-born British writer, Henry James, are the two most-beautiful words in the...
If you are looking for American-made products this year, here are some ideas that might help you fill those stockings!
The New York Times dubbed zkano founder Gina Locklear the "Sock Queen of Alabama," and for good reason. The organic sock company is located in Fort Payne, which was known as the Sock Capital of the World until...
“Every storm, no matter how big and strong, passes eventually. Just know and remember that your spirit is much bigger and stronger than any storm that comes your way, and that all storms will fall apart long before you ever would.” These profoundly encouraging words are from author and...
“The Lincoln Highway” is Amor Towles’ third novel. His previous books are “The Rules of Civility” and “A Gentleman in Moscow.” All three are bestsellers. Set in 1954, “The Lincoln Highway” is considered by many to be his best.
The book’s style is to have each chapter told by different characters. Some readers do not like...
Following wild reports of a mystery fluid leaking from crypts at Cullman Memory Gardens, I decided to go out to investigate this peculiar claim.
Upon arriving, Ron Foust, owner of Stone Bridge Farms, was speaking with a local police officer and a former employee of the now seemingly deserted mausoleum...
In the intricate tapestry of modern pop culture, few threads have ever been as seamlessly woven as that of Taylor Swift and NFL fandom. As Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and the Kansas City Chiefs clinched their third Lombardi Trophy in just four trips over five years, it wouldn’t...
ODE TO AUTUMN
Autumn days are here, blue sky clear and dear.
Let’s harvest a bushel of joy and fall cheer.
Our S.U.N.S. (Smile-Making, Uniting, Neighboring, Spellbinding) group this first week of fall shared joyous memories from many previous autumns and how each of us is adding joy to our life this...
Since the early part of 2020, Covid-19 has been a major element in our daily lives. It’s rare to speak to a neighbor, coworker, family member or church member that hasn’t lost someone to the Covid-19 virus. Altogether, the U.S. has had 80 million documented cases with over 984,000...
Editor's note: A post on a local Facebook page Saturday afternoon used a second-hand quote from Cullman physician Dr. Adam Harrison regarding in-person worship services without context or verification from Harrison himself. Sunday, Harris responded due to the heated debate that ensued as a result.
Below is a letter,...
Does it break your heart that Khloe Kardashian sold her house for a mere $5.49 million? Or that her net worth of $20 million allows her to purchase a new home for $7.2 million?
What is heartbreaking about this is that half of those figures could put underprivileged children through...
“If you have no charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.”—Bob Hope
HILARITY FOR CHARITY is a perfect example of S.U.N.S. (Smile-Making, Uniting, Neighboring, Spellbinding) GIVING. Now known as, www.WeAreHFC.org, Hilarity for Charity is the brainchild of 21st century comedy legend, Seth Rogen and his...
Local businessman, Cullman City Council President and Senator-Elect Garlan Gudger, Jr. is first and foremost a husband and father. This year, Father's Day will be bittersweet because of the recent loss of his dad, who was a familiar face in Cullman and a hero to his children and grandchildren. (Loretta...
ODE TO UNITING
(Dedicated to John Lennon and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
I have a dream and I’m inviting
All to end the fighting and begin uniting.
Imagine a dream of no more dividing, black and whiting;
A bit of history rewriting, one world uniting.
I have a dream of hate subsiding...
Cullman County desperately needs to vote to keep an appointed superintendent in the next election for Cullman County Schools.
I have heard so many people say they don’t have a voice or vote at all with what happens in the school system. We have a county school board where everyone...
Cullman Memory Gardens update from Rep. Randall Shedd, R-Fairview:
The situation at Cullman Memory Gardens has been a long and frustrating turn of events to say the least. Hopefully, this is the year families and the community will see the cemetery begin to return to the dignity all involved deserve.
I...
Today (Friday, March 6, 2020), when the Pickens County Medical Center closes its doors, it will become yet another sad statistic among the now 14 hospitals in Alabama that have shuttered their doors since 2011. Eight of those have been in rural communities.
There are other shocking statistics, too, about...
This is the third in a series of five. There exists formal research data that reveals that incompetent leadership is a major cause of decline in the Evangelical Church. In my work as a church consultant my observation and research confirm this to be true.
I have often been robustly...
Those silly dogs of mine will chase anything that moves and a few things that don’t. They rarely catch the things they chase except the ones that don’t move. The non-moving objects have included rocks, trees, paper someone threw down in the yard and flowers. I have actually witnessed...
“The Correspondent” is an epistolary (a story told through letters) debut novel.
The book is about Syble Van Antwerp, a retired law clerk in her 70s. Syble tends to be cranky and a little bit difficult to get along with.
The novel begins in 2012 and spans nine years. Though the letters she writes and the letters she receives, the reader learns...
A letter to the editor recently questioned Cullman Electric Cooperative’s motives behind our Community Cupboard initiative. While we welcome open dialogue, it’s important that our members and neighbors have the facts.
The Community Cupboards were not created as a publicity effort but out of compassion and a genuine desire to...
More than half the time I conduct interviews, the episode concludes with the interviewee saying one of two things (actually the same thing in two different ways):
“Make me look good, now!” And yes, most of them add the “now;” this is the South, you know.
“Please don’t make me look...
These adults are members of the Holly Pond Senior Center at the Lions Club Park in Holly Pond at their Easter Celebration. Front row, left to right are: Hoyt Drake, Karen Dunn, Louise Carr, Ellen Drummond, Janice Bean and Jimmie Carnell. On the back row are Richard Burks, Martha...
Through the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) Citizens’ Academy (CA) program, I found myself on the road recently with one of the department’s night shift patrol deputies. In accordance with CA policies, I took no pictures, and will not reveal any potentially sensitive details about cases or suspects I...
If you have read my past reviews, you know I am a big fan of Kate Quinn. While “The Briar Club” is different from her previous historical fiction, I found her latest book captivating.
Her other novels are set during a war. This novel is set in Washington, D.C. during the Cold War...
“The Calamity Club” was one of the most anticipated books of the year. It has been 17 years since Stockett’s first book, “The Help,” was published. “The Help” was wildly successful and was a wonderful movie as well. I certainly had high hopes that “The Calamity Club” would be just as riveting as “The Help.” The new novel is set in Mississippi during the 1930s,...
There are few things that we as people seem to love less than change. The disruption to our daily patterns, motions and moments rattles us so greatly that occasionally, we break under the pressure—and why wouldn’t we? As creatures so comforted by our habits, it only makes sense that...
Like many kids in Alabama in the 2000s, I didn’t grow up in a boxing-centric household. I heard stories of Marino, Sanders and Favre - not Tyson and Foreman.
Regardless, when Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather met in September 2015, the world stood still, and like many we broke our...
TEA FOR TWO
Picture you upon my knee
Just tea for two
And two for tea
Just me for you
And you for me alone.
- Music by Vincent Youmans; Lyrics by Irving Caesar
Tea as a tonic for “joyous aging” is documented 300 years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth when a Chinese army...
I have a character flaw, one I can no longer dress up as self-preservation or strength.
When relationships fracture in my life, with family, friends, business associates or the women I have loved, my instinct is to retreat. Not to repair. Not to listen. I pause people. I shut doors....
Continued from www.cullmantribune.com/2025/06/29/column-we-made-it-to-rapid-city-but-not-rapidly
After a few hours of sleep in Rapid City, we began our journey at the drug store…Wall Drug Store. Wall Drug is more akin to a shopping mall for tourist than a drugstore, but it began as a drugstore back in 1931. There is a drugstore still...
Ah, yes it’s the time of year when politicians and those with political aspirations fill out paperwork as they prepare for the upcoming election cycle. It’s also a perfect opportunity to bring those candidates and elected officials together for traditional debates to find out where they truly stand and...
This is a theme I’ve been promoting since I arrived in Montgomery.
I firmly believe in the Christian principle, “We are to serve, not be served” and that should be the goal of elected officials and those working in public service.
Just like all businesses, restaurants, corporate America and even our...
Over the next few days leading up to Christmas, Tribune columnist Loretta Gillespie will be sharing Christmas tips with our readers. They will include recipes, craft projects, unique home decorating ideas and more.
Our countdown has included a feast for the palette, for the eyes, and now we will bring...
Christmas is my favorite season of the year. Christmas music is one of things about the season that I love so much. I love the story of the birth of our Savior, and the best Christmas music tells that wonderful story through song.
Some of the most beautiful songs that...
I LOVE LIBRARIES and I have a dream of a beautiful, FREE, public one with happy colors, patron-selected seating, art murals, craft/study/activity areas, cubbies, tall windows for lots of daylight, tech/STEM assistance, an array of books + lots of integrated programming.
This innovative library in my imagination is NOT FOR...
I wrote a song a couple of years ago that said, “I’m going to have a good day, anyway – no matter what comes my way.” I have tried to live by that declaration, but I have to tell you, last Monday tested the limits! What began with a...
CULLMAN, Ala. - Rules no longer have bearing in college football, but we already knew that.
What we didn’t know was to what extent, but we found out earlier this week after Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby won his injunction against the NCAA, ruling him eligible to play this year...
Now that I think about it, I suppose I’m a little like former President George W. Bush - though not because of his domestic or foreign policies.
“Dubya” had a reputation for giving everyone around him a nickname. Staff members, reporters, even world leaders - nobody was safe. It was just how...
Rating: R
Runtime: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Cast: Elizabeth Banks, Ray Liotta, Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Jesse Plemons
Score: 7/10
"Cocaine Bear," the latest cinematic offering from director Elizabeth Banks, takes audiences on an outrageous journey through a real-life drug smuggling incident with a bizarre twist. The film boasts a...
Continued from www.cullmantribune.com/2025/07/20/column-from-dinosaurs-to-devils
Have you ever seen one of our presidents? On June 6, 1991, on the 47th anniversary of D-Day, I saw and heard President George H.W. Bush in Atlanta, at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.
In 2007, I saw George W. Bush when he spoke at...
“Open Season” is the 40th book in the Dr. Alex Delaware book series by Jonathan Kellerman. The main characters are Delaware, who is a child psychologist, and Detective Milo Sturgis, a homicide lieutenant with the LAPD.
When the series began, Delaware is working with seriously troubled children and teens at a children’s hospital....
No candidate secured more than 50% of the vote in the State House District 12 Special Primary Election on July 15. That means Republicans Cindy Myrex and Clint Hollingsworth will face off in the State House District 12 Special Primary Runoff Election on Aug. 12.
Before that, however, both Republican...
Well, I hear that mailman coming, he’s rolling around the bend, and I ain’t seen a letter, since 2010. That’s because the mail doesn’t deliver personalized letters and cards like it once did. I miss that. That’s not the mail carrier’s fault, but the mail sender’s fault.
I’m not necessarily...
Every Feb. 14 arrives with the same confidence, dressed in red, trailing balloons, chocolate and the unmistakable belief that it is doing the Lord’s work.
It is not.
Valentine’s Day does not ask how you are doing. It does not check whether love is complicated this year or whether your heart...
Alabama Rep. Randall Shedd, R-Fairview
Winning football coaches tell their teams to celebrate victory for 24 hours then get back to work.
We're ready to get back to work in Montgomery!
As I make my plans for the new legislative term, I have three number one legislative goals in no particular order;...
Iraq veteran and commander of Cullman VFW Post 2214, Brian Monk, and wife, Rachel Monk, president of the VFW Auxiliary, pick different dates and locations every year to collect Buddy Poppy donations for the VFW. The money raised goes back to helping veterans in need.
We set up at Warehouse...
Longtime readers of David Baldacci know that he released a new character and series last fall.
The first book, “Nash Falls,” introduces the main character, Walter Nash, a hardworking investment banker who follows the rules — though some might consider him a bit boring. His wife, Judith, frequently refers to him as an "Eagle Scout," while their 19-year-old daughter,...
CULLMAN, Ala. - In its April 2022 term, the Grand Jury of Cullman County issued felony and misdemeanor indictments in 257 cases with a total of 492 counts. Several defendants have multiple cases, and many cases include multiple counts. Here is a breakdown of the counts for each of...
Our Congressional Representatives and Senators were called back last week and briefed before the fall session starts. They will have to decide whether to support Obama’s call for a military attack on Syria. I shudder when I think about this whole process. I remember that just before the invasion...
Any time you open a new book, you are introduced to a world of endless possibilities. There are a thousand--no, a million different places that stories could take you. As local libraries begin to reopen at full capacity and access to hands-on literature becomes available again, let us not...
Dear Supporters,
On Oct. 1, 2019, Cullman County Bosom Buddies Foundation, Inc. held the (inaugural) Little Pink Dress (LPD) Benefit. It was a huge success! From that event, and because of your contributions, the Foundation raised over $22,000.
We are very grateful to you for making this event such a big...
Jean and I just spent three days on a magnificent mountain that has, or is near, beautiful bluffs, gorgeous gorges, carved canyons, cavernous caves, wonderful waterfalls, wide waters, babbling brooks, crooked creeks and at least one rambling river that runs on top of a mountain. All of this is...
Ross Harrison, left, with Carol Berry, right (Brittany Howell for The Cullman Tribune)
This week on Community with Carol, I continued my interview with Ross Harrison, the PTO president at Sacred Heart School. The history that Sacred Heart has in our community was too much for one interview. (See part...
This will be a cross between a sports story and an opinion
piece. When you first start reading, you may ask, “Why is this in this
paper? This isn’t about a local sports player.”
Read to the end, I think you will understand…..
Kaetlyn McGriff is a volleyball player from Huntsville
Junior High School...
A Follow-Up on Fort Hood
Last week a horrible event repeated itself. A lone gunman attacked the army base of Fort Hood, killing three and injuring 16 others. This was less than five years after Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 people and injured another 32. Both events involved...
