Cullman Today, Friday, Oct. 2

0:01 Good morning, Cullman. Thank you for tuning in to Cullman Today. I'm your

0:12 host, Crystal Corley, and today is Friday, October 2nd. We have a lot to

0:17 look at in our local news today, including Octoberfest in full swing at Depot Park. Police officers from Germany

0:23 visiting Cullman, and centuries old treasures on display at St. Bernard. All this, plus sports, weather, and more.

0:29 But for now, let's dive into the top stories happening in Cullman today. Cullman Oktoberfest is officially

0:39 underway. Depot Park is decked out for the celebration with the ferris wheel and carousel up and running. Burger

0:45 Garden tables ready and plenty of room to gather with family and friends. The

0:49 festival opened yesterday and runs through Sunday with German food, live music, children's activities, vendors,

0:55 and more. You can find the full schedule at colemanctoberfestestival.com. Next up, Cullman has some special guests

1:03 in from town for Octoberfest. Six police officers from Germany are spending two weeks in Alabama as part of

1:10 the Star International Police Exchange. The program brings law enforcement officers together to learn from one

1:16 another, experience different communities and cultures, and build lasting friendships. This year's officers came from Northrine,

1:24 Westfallia, Lower Saxony, and Bavaria. They're being hosted by Cullman Police Lieutenant Eric Cole, who heads the

1:32 exchange program in Alabama, and they visited with Mayor Woody Jacobs this week. The city says it's looking forward

1:38 to hearing how Oktoberfest compares to the ones back home in Germany. To finish out our top stories, St.

1:45 Bernard Abbey and Prep School is sharing a piece of its German history for

1:49 October Fest. Two large handwritten Latin coral books are on display at St. Bernard. A museum curator dated both

1:57 books to the 1600s. The pages are lambkin and the bindings are wood and

2:02 leather. Books like these were made so an entire group of monks could sing from

2:07 one copy in the choir loft. And one page was repaired long ago with a piece of an

2:12 even older manuscript material that's more than 700 years old. St. Bernard's founder founding monk came from Germany

2:21 and founded the abbey in Cullman in 1891. The display is part of Cullman's October

2:27 Fest celebration which runs through Sunday. And that wraps up our top stories. Now we're going to take a quick

2:33 break before returning with sports.

2:51 >> >> Hello and welcome back. Now it's time to find out what's going on in the world of

3:02 sports. We start with Thursday night football. Cullman fell at Jasper last night and West Point fell at Brooks. Now

3:10 to tonight, it's a big one at Cold Springs. The unbeaten Eagles host Gordo

3:15 with sole possession of first place in class 2A region 5 on the line. Unbeaten

3:21 Addison host Bell Green. Good Hope host Sardis. Fairview host Brewer. Vinemont host Edawal. Hansville host Susan Moore.

3:30 Meek host Waterlue. And Holly Pon travels to Hoax Bluff. Kickoffs [snorts] are at 7. And we'll have a breakdown

3:37 from all the games on the next edition of Cullman Today. You can get the live

3:41 score updates from all Cullman County games at klemanscoreboard.com. West Point and Fairview will meet

3:47 Thursday for the Cullman County Varsity Football Championship after winning their semi-final matches Tuesday. West

3:54 Point swept Good Hope in three sets, 25 to 15, 26- 24, and 25-8.

4:01 Fair View outlasted Holly Pond in five sets, winning the deciding set 15-9 after the Broncos rallied from a two set

4:10 deficit. In the JV bracket, Good Hope defeated Vinemont in the three sets while Fairview swept West Point. The JV

4:17 championship between Good Hope and Fairview begins at 400 p.m. Thursday at West Point High School. West Point and

4:24 Fairview will play for the varsity title at 6. Elsewhere, Addison swept Hackleberg. Annabth Powell had 28

4:32 assets, six kills, and four aces, while Ava Bartlett finished with 16 kills and

4:38 seven aces. And that covers sports for today, but make sure to check with the

4:42 Cullman Tribune each day for the latest in sports coverage from across the area.

4:46 We'll be back after this message. >>

5:03 >> Hello and welcome back to Cullman today.

5:23 Now it's time to speed things up with a news rundown. Four stories in under four

5:27 minutes. First up, bargain hunters. The Arley Women's Club fall yard sale is

5:35 tomorrow from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Arley Recycling Center, 280 Hel Road

5:41 next to the Arley Fire Department. You'll find furniture, toys, clothing, decor, and tools, and all

5:48 proceeds stay in the community. Next, the North Alabama Agroplex Farm Kids Club is meeting some

5:55 shelled sidekicks tomorrow. Kids will learn about turtles, tortoises, and terrapens. Their diets, habitats,

6:02 and unique adaptations from 10 to 11:00 a.m. An adult must attend with

6:07 each child. It's $10 per child with a $20 max per family. Registration

6:12 is required at aglex.org. United Way of Cullman County needs volunteers for its day of action Friday,

6:20 October 16th. Volunteers can pick a project and give a few hours to

6:24 help local nonprofits, including the Margaret Jean Jones Center, the North Alabama Agrilex, Pilot Light Home,

6:32 Restoring Women Outreach, and Wallace State Cares. You can sign up on your own

6:38 or with a group. Find the sign up link on United Way of Cullman

6:42 County's Facebook page. And finally, you've probably heard of the Flying 50, but did you know the

6:49 story behind the name? In the 1950s, a group of about 47 local businessmen paid

6:54 their own way to fly to Jacksonville, Florida to convince the King Edward Cigar Company to build its new factory

7:02 in Cullman. Back home, the whole county pitched in from a fundraising cigar shack on the courthouse lawn, raising

7:10 more than $83,000 in just a few days. It worked. The factory came to Cullman,

7:16 bringing hundreds of jobs and a new chapter for a county built on farming.

7:20 And now for a quick break before we look at the weather ahead. I'll be

7:24 right back after this quick message. >>

7:51 >> Welcome back. Now, let's take a look at

8:08 today's weather forecast. Today will be mostly sunny with a high near 89. Calm wind becoming south

8:18 around 5 mph. Tonight, partly cloudy with a low around 68 and

8:23 a slight chance of showers and storms. Tomorrow, showers are likely in the afternoon and we could see a

8:29 thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy with a high near 86 and a 60% chance of

8:34 rain. Tomorrow night, a chance of showers and storms. Cloudy with a low around 67. And Sunday,

8:42 showers and possibly a thunderstorm with a high near 77 and an 80% chance of

8:47 rain. Tomorrow night sees 40% chances of showers and a low around 61.

8:53 So, if you're headed to the October Fest this weekend, run into the rain and

8:56 play, but keep an umbrella handy. And that concludes another edition of Cullman Today. Thank you for joining us.

9:07 We'll be back bright and early tomorrow morning at 6:30 a.m. But for now, I'm

9:11 Crystal Corley and this is Cullman Today. Have a good one, Cullman.