June 6, 2025 • 29 mins
Deana Thayer a Parenting Coach with Focus on the Family-how to prevent educational decline in kids during the Summer. Then Ellen Bradley SVP with Discover Boating talks about Watersports on our Alabama Waterways. Finaly Lewis Von Hermann talks about all the things people can do when they come to visit Muscle Shoals Alabama.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Summer is in full swing here in Alabama and you
can hear those air conditioners running.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
I'm John Mounts and this week on Viewpoint Alabama, we're
going to be speaking first about how to prevent your
kids from forgetting everything they learn.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
In school for the last nine months.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Over the next three also, we'll be talking about fun
things you can do, fun things on the water, and
fun things up and muscle shoals, that and more. Right now,
let's talk with Dina Thayer. She is an educator with
focus on the family. Dina, welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
Thanks for having me. I'm looking forward to the conversation.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
If we're both really quiet right now, we can hear
the calls coming from all across the Yellowhammer State.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Mom, I'm forward, what can I do?
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And now that we're into week two, parents are all
out of answer, So Dina, I'm turning to you. What
are some things parents can do to both entertain the
kids and also prevent that summer decline them forgetting everything
they've learned in the last nine months of school.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Absolutely, and this is so important. We're seeing the statistics
that are kind of crazy. Over easy. Over two thirds
of kids experience some kind of decline in mass reading,
et cetera over the summer, and that has an impact.
But what I want to encourage parents about is that
that doesn't mean you have to PLoP your kids in
front of a worksheet in the summer just to keep
(01:16):
those skills up. There can be fun ways to foster learning,
and you know, some of those can even be getting
outside out of the house. Go to the zoo and
have your kids count how many giraffes are in the habitat.
That's great for littles who are just learning to count,
learning things about colors, talk about the colors and the
patterns on the animals. Older kids. I used to love
(01:38):
trying to have my kids spell goofy animals. You know,
can you spell hippopotamus? We'd have all kinds of fun
fun with that, especially because I'm a word nerd grew
up doing spelling bees. So there's outings like that you
can do. Theater is another great one. I encourage families
to take advantage if they have local children's theater or
some places will do theater in the park in the summer,
(02:00):
you can go and see an outdoor show and if
you can find out what that show is in advance.
I encourage reading the book first. That really sparks some
fun conversation with your kids about what was different in
the play versus when we read the book. If you
have readers, encourage them to read. If you don't, you
can certainly read the book to them and then go
(02:23):
see the show. That's lots of fun. Another outing that's great,
and then I'm sure in a moment we'll talk about
things you can do at home if you don't have
the money or the time to get out and about.
But a last outing, I want to mention that really
supports critical thinking. Our escape rooms and these are cropping
up all over the place, and they really encourage kids
(02:44):
and adults alike to think outside the box and to
use logic and sequential thinking to essentially solve puzzles. And
often they're on a really fun theme, like our family
did one where we were tasked with trying to steal
the Mona Lisa and had to solve all these clues
to do so. So there's lots of fun outings you
can do that still encourage those cognitive skills and get
(03:06):
your kids.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Thinking and Dina, another thing that a lot of schools
encourage is summer reading. They'll give a list of two
three books that kids are supposed to read over the summer.
But I think if your kid doesn't have anything else
to do, two books is really not that many, and
some of the books are pretty short. There's probably a
lot of other books they could be involved in. And
I don't think it has to be something that's purely academic.
(03:27):
It could be something that's purely fiction. At least they're reading, right.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Yeah, oh, I would absolutely agree, and you're right. A
lot of schools will assign a little bit of summer reading,
but it is often a pretty anemic list. So I
encourage families to take advantage of summer reading programs at
their local library. A lot of them will even make
this into a fun contest so kids can see how
many books they can read in the summer, and that
(03:52):
gives them a lot of freedom over genre. So, just
as you mentioned, it doesn't have to be super academic
type reading. That can read fiction. They could read fantasy
if that's what's of interest to them. But it keeps
their reading skills up first of all, and also helps
with sparking that imagination. And in our current society where
there's so much screen time and entertainment coming at kids
(04:15):
from every angle. For them to read and have to
imagine in their own minds the setting and the characters.
That's really helpful cognition for them to be engaged in.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
And parents can also participate in camps. There's both day
camps where you can drop your kid off at maybe
a church. It might even be low cost or even
no cost in some cases for the community. Or there's
overnight camps for some of the older kids right.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
There are our community. In fact, our Parks and Recreation
Department had some really unique camps. So another encouragement I
would have for families who might say it's the same
old thing. They're going to do some relay races and
throw water balloons at each other and not really learn anything.
It's really no longer the case. A lot of these
camps will be maybe even around a certain skill set
(05:01):
or a sport. There's horsemanship camps for kids who want
to learn more about horseback riding and caring for animals.
My daughter was quite interested in handicrafts, and we were
able to even find a sewing and crochet camp for her,
so she got those fine motor skills. Had tons of
fun and then even brought home the things she made,
and that really brought a sense of accomplishment. And because
(05:24):
they were through parks and rec where a lot of
communities have these kinds of organizations, it keeps the costs
quite low rather than a private organization funding the camp.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Indeed, one of the things that I've been doing recently
as a single parent is I find alliances with other
parents because, let's face it.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
A lot of us still have to work.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
They're on vacation on the summertime, but I still have
to work, so I really don't have time to be
taking my kid all over town to all these different activities.
But if I can get a couple other parents who
are also needing to tote their kids around, have them
take my kid and their kid, and now reciprocate. Rather
than me do ten, maybe I do three, they do three,
and somebody else does four.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Whatever, that's for sure. I spent six years as a
single mom, and getting into some of these swaps was
essential for me surviving in the summer as someone who
was still in the workplace. That was really important. So
lean on your community, find other parents who are willing
to maybe trade days with you, or maybe you can
even trade some of the commuting. You pick the same
(06:23):
camp as a few of the neighbors in your neighborhood
and you take turns. I'll drop them off this morning,
but could you pick them up on Thursday because I've
got to work late. Those kinds of partnerships can really
help parents get through the summer months if they're also
juggling their.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Career and Dina. There's also for the older kids, there
are work, there are programs where they can do It's
not quite an internship because they're not getting class credit,
but they're just kind of work shadowing along with somebody
who's willing to let them come in and see how
the job is done. It might give them a great
opportunity to see if that's what they want to pursue
as a future career.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
That is a great way to do it. And also
I encourage those older kids who maybe are at the
cusp of that age where they're still a little bit
too young to have that summer job, check into volunteering
at places that you might be interested in working. So
if there are organizations that will allow you to shadow,
if you know you might want to be a personal trainer.
(07:19):
Someday call your local YMCA or JIM. Maybe they will
let you volunteer and get some of that practical hands
on experience. If you are interested in business, find a
small business owner that would be willing to let you
pop into the office a few hours every week and
learn about Excel spreadsheets or financial planning or whatever it
might be. You gain the valuable skills, and for high
(07:42):
schoolers who have community service programs, you also get to
list that as volunteer work. It's a win win.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I was just going to point that out that there
are a lot of schools that require a certain level
of community service hours before they're able to graduate. So
this is a great time for them to pick up
those hours and not have to do it during the
school year when they're already so busy with their academic pursuits.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Absolutely, this is the time. If you've got the free
time and you're not juggling your sports and your student
government and all your homework, this is the time to
find those beautiful pockets of time where you can volunteer,
get some community service in even at your church, whatever
things interest you. Summer is a wonderful opportunity for that.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
So The bottom line is you don't have to put
just plopping down in front of the iPad or in
front of the TV and go there, there's your babysitter
for the next three months. There actually are things they
can do to both educate their feed their body, feed
their mind, and also stay up to up to speed
on stuff. Because let's face it, when you go back
to school in August in the state, when you go
back to school in August, you know there you can't
(08:39):
have forgotten all your math because now you're onto new,
more complicated math.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
Absolutely, and the stats are staggering. We don't want kids
to end up two and a half three school years
behind with cumulative summer slide. We want them to stay fresh,
and of course there may be some slight decline, but
what we want to do is incorporate just into the
activities of summer things that keep them thinking, keep them
on their toes, so they don't go to school and
(09:05):
still completely out of it in a couple months. That's
not what anybody wants.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Great all great points the affair with focus on the family.
She's a parenting coach. Let's prevent the summer slide. Let's
let the summer slide be something you do in your
front yard with the water hose and not having the kids,
just forgetting things and taking that kind of slide. Dana,
thank you so much for being on the show.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Thank you for having me. I appreciated it.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
And this is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
My name is John Mounts. And on that note, as
we talked about fun on the water, let's continue that
thought as we talk about boating our state. We love
getting out on the water. It could be on the lakes,
could be on the river, and it could be in
the Gulf of Mexico. Joining me now to talk about
this and boating, why it's fun, why we need to
(09:50):
keep it safe, is Ellen Bradley, the senior vice president
of Discover Boating.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Ellen, welcome to the show.
Speaker 5 (09:55):
Well, certainly thank you for having me. I get to
talk to you today.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Actually I'm on a boat right now.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
You're actually floating on a boat.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Well, I'm at the dock. I'm not going out just yet,
but as soon as he hang up, I'm going to
be heading out.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
You're still tied off, then, Yes, boating is something that
a lot of Alabamian's not everybody owns a boat, but
a lot of people have access to boats and access
to the water, and it's something that is a big
part of people's lives. Let's talk about first of all,
why it is. It's a great way to spend your
vacation time are your free time, because you're not necessarily
on vacation, you're your free time.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
You're kind of hitting on something that is bought on.
I mean, boating feels like a vacation, and we're seeing
more and more people turn to boating because it is
this really unique way to disconnect and I think as
a lot more people look to get away from all
the stresses on land, they're turning to boating like never before,
and they're investing in boating as an experience.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Oh and you touched on something that I know everyone's thinking.
When you talk boating, you think expense. You think the
expense of it. Because boats are not inexpensive, but there
are ways that you can afford one, and you don't
have to necessarily buy a yacht. There's plenty of smaller
craft that you can purchase that are perfectly seaworthy or
lake worthy that are a fraction of the price. But
(11:10):
even still, how do people go about affording it too.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
There's a misperception that voting is inaccessible. It's one of
those things where it's like, oh, I could must be nice,
I could never do that, or I could never afford that.
And the reality is that what people spend on a
boat in a year is a lot less than what
they would spend on a summer vacation. For example, most
people who who own boats, I should say, a lot
(11:35):
of those middle price boats, even a lot of the
entry size boats, they finance them. And what a lot
of people don't realize is that you can finance a
boat like you do a home, meaning that you can
have that loan over the course of fifteen plus years
because people can hang onto their boats for a really
long time. Boats last a really long time. And when
(11:57):
you finance that boat, you find that you can have
a payment on that every month from anywhere from three
to five hundred dollars. And that's a lot. How a
lot of people make it work and justify it because
they're using it as that meaningful investment in memories and
in time together with their family and friends, and the
wellness benefits that come from that investment in being on
(12:21):
the water.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
And ellen those boats you don't have to buy them.
It's always nice to have something brand shiny and new,
but I imagine you can buy them secondhand that are instilled
pretty good condition, right absolutely.
Speaker 5 (12:32):
And actually a lot of people get into voting for
the first time through a pre owned boat, and you'll
find a lot of boat dealerships are a great resource
for those, and it is truly there is in great condition.
Like I said, both last a really long time, and
people who vote, they generally run their boat owners, they
take care of their boats, and so you can find
(12:52):
a lot of really wonderful pre owned boats on the market.
And in fact, there are about a million pre owned
boats sold every year, you're compared to the roughly three
hundred thousand new boats that are sold every year. So
a lot of pre owned boats and a lot of
really varying price points that make it budget friendly.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
And when we talk.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
About the cost of the boat, it's not just of
course the cost of the boat itself, but also you
have to decide if you're going to keep it in
your driveway on a trailer, if so you've got to
have a trailer, or if you're going to keep it
at the lake in the water tied off to a dock,
in which case you have to pay for a place
to keep the boat tied off.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Right, that's right.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
You're going to when you when you buy a boat,
you're gonna want to think about all the costs that
come with it.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Well, and also one of those costs of operation is gas.
Boats can use quite a bit of gas. Is there
a way to calculate how much how much you're going
to be spending on gas? Because you might have a
boat with two motors, you might have a boat that
has an electric trolling motor and no, it doesn't use
gas at all.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Are there different ways that you can kind of calculate
how much that's going to run you?
Speaker 5 (13:53):
Well, what's great about boating and when you're thinking about
how to budget for the fuel costs is that you
can really control that. In terms of what we'll find
is if boat price, sorry, if gas prices tend to
get a little bit higher, we'll see that people they
spend a lot more time anchored and swimming, and they're
they're not running the boat as long, and oftentimes anchoring
(14:17):
and just relaxing and hanging out on the on the
water is one of the best parts of boating versus
running back and forth. Now, if you're going to be
doing water sports and a lot of heavier activities on
the water, and where you.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Get your gas can make a big difference, because if
your boat is, say always at the lake, you might
take it to a gas station that's kind of there
on the dock, and they're probably going to charge you
more than if you're bringing bringing your boat to the
lake and you're pulling it into a gas station and
buying gas there at the at the local corner gas station.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
The one thing the benefit of filling up your boat
at the marina is that they're going to have the
best fuel for boats, and that's going to be fuel
that has the lowest f andol amount of f andol
in it, because ethanol is not great for the water
environments that marine engines operated. So when you do go
to the gas station, if you fill up your boat there,
(15:09):
you're going to want to make sure you use fuel
that is ethanol ten E ten or less.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Well, I was going to say, it's actually not really
good for any motor I know there's places like BUCkies
you can buy ethanol free gasoline that don't have that
added to it because yeah, a lot of motors don't
like that ethanol stuff, but you do pay more for
ethanol free gasoline, but you might save money in the
long run because there's can be less damage done to
your motor by running it with something that doesn't have well,
(15:34):
basically corn in your gas.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Once you get your.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Boat out there on the lake, you can't just get
behind the First of all, you got to be licensed, right.
You have to go down in just the same place
that you get your driver license. They can give you
an endorsement on that license that says you're also okay
to operate a boat. How do you learn from scratch
how to operate a boat?
Speaker 5 (15:51):
It varies by state the different boating laws, but it's
really important to be educated on the rules of the water.
There are tons of course is offered all over the country.
There are plenty throughout Alabama, certainly because you are such
a big boating date.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
There are so.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Many things, for example, making sure you have enough personal
floatation devices on board for everybody on the boat. Even
though everyone says I can swim, I don't need it,
but it's still the law in most places I know.
In Alabama, you have to have one of those floatation devices,
and it has to be an approved one for every
single soul on board of your boat.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
That is pretty much universal. You always want to have
a leugh life jackets and the right kinds of life jackets.
Like you said, there's different types of life jackets for
different sizes of people. And a safe voater at the
end of the day, a safe voater is a confident voter.
And when your boat, when you're confident, you have much
more fun and you're able to relax and enjoy your
time out on the water.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
And as much as relaxing is important out there, remember
that alcohol and driving don't mix. Alcohol and boating also
don't mix. No alcohol.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Absolutely, it's against the law no alcohol while driving a boat.
And it's really just a good idea to keep it
at a minimum if you're out on the water because
when you are outside the sun and then the heat
mixed with that is not a good combination.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Well, and let's talk about people who the boating lifestyle
is really a lifestyle for them, People who actually a
shoe living on land and they go purchase a boat
that they can live in. There's a lot of people
who do that, aren't there there.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
Are a lot of people who find ways to live aboard,
is what we call it. And now we don't have
specific data on just how many live on what we
would refer to as a houseboat. If it has a
sleeping quarters, if it has a head which is a bathroom,
and a berth which is a part of the boat,
(17:40):
the bedroom, or the galley which is the kitchen, it
can be considered like a home. And so you're finding that,
particularly during the pandemic, when more and more people were
able to work remotely, they were able to operate live
on their boats and be ending a lot more time
(18:00):
on their boats than ever from before.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
I've known people who have lived at their actual address
is a lake and they get their mail. They're on land,
but they're living on the other side of the dock.
They've got a gate kind of thing on the dock itself,
and then there's boats all along in the slips and
people they live on these six and some of them
they don't even leave dock, like maybe like once or
twice a year they take it out because it's so
big it's kind of hard to maneuver. But they live
(18:24):
on board these boats and they just enjoy the lifestyle
because it is kind of a community. And boating communities
are interesting because everybody kind of knows everyone, they're friendly,
everyone kind of wave. You know, you go down the interstate,
you don't wave to fact, you know, passing people coming
to you at oncoming traffic, maybe one fingerwave, but not
the normal wave. But in boating out you get on
lay Lake or any of our lakes around here, and
everyone's kind of friendly and they're waving to you as
(18:45):
they go by, you know, responsibly making minimum wake, but
you know, it's it's a very different kind of experience.
I think in the boating community, well, you.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
Clearly spend some time on the water, because that's one
of the best secrets about seeing out there is that
no matter if you're having a bad day or if
you think you don't have a community to be a
part of, when you go out on the water, everyone
waves at each other and you can't not have a
good day on the water. And it's truly the best
(19:15):
part of being out there is the community that you
get to be a part of.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Well, Ellen, I appreciate you joining us and talking about
some of these things that people can participate in, and
we didn't even touch the surface on no pun intended
on things you can do in terms of like getting
pooled behind a boat or you know, fishing, any of
the things you can also do off of your watercraft.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
On those legs.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
I imagine all this information is available on your website.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
What's the website again?
Speaker 5 (19:40):
The website is Discoverboating dot com and you can find everything.
We're like your friend with the boat, so discover voting
dot com. You'll find everything you need to get started
in voting.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Ellen Bradley, the senior vice president of Discover Voting, thank
you so much for joining me today on Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Thank you, and as.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Viewpoint Alabama continues, I like to encourage people to stay
in Alabama, do what they call the staycation, keep their
dollars in Alabama. And there's a little corner of Alabama
that a lot of people are not necessarily aware of.
Because we always hear about the battleship down to Mobile Bay,
we think about the beaches, we think about the rocket
up there in Huntsville, and of course the Vulcan and Birmingham.
(20:17):
But one thing that people often look over is the
shoals area of our state, in the northwestern corner of Alabama,
and it is such a great place. There's so many
things to do up there. I'm joined right now by
Lewis von Herman. He is with the Shoals Model Railroad
Club Club, and Lewis I understand that there are a
lot of cool things to see in the Shoals area,
but let's start with the railroad thing. What kind of
(20:40):
things can people see when they come up there.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Well, they can see models of the Helen Keller House,
of jfse Owen's cabin, the Tuscombia Railroad Museum, and all
kinds of things. Because our railroad layout is designed to
show the railroad from the Southern a Railroad Company from
(21:02):
Chattanooga to Memphis. So we have all the towns between
Chattanooga and Memphis that we run ran railroads trains all
over and drop off cars and pick them up and
that sort of thing. And so it's a really opportunity
to see all kinds of various scenes that we've got
to show up. For example, a local basketball goal court,
(21:26):
the game going on, and hobo tent and that sort
of thing. All kinds of things that go on that
just kind of allow people to use their imagination of
taking a railroad drive between Chattanooga and Memphis.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
So you've basically taken what would be like Google Earth,
but you've made it three dimensional and people can actually
see it and kind of like a more animated version
because you sort of work some personality, some nuances in
What scale. I've done a little mallel railroading myself. What
scale are these trains?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
It's the Ho scale. And of course there's scales all
the way from now Z all the way to g
which is the Garden train. So ours is the Ho scale.
And it's really a neat layout. I think we've got
about several hundred feet of rail and railroad yards and
all kinds of buildings and people and cars and everything.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
And can people come in and, like say, just observe
the trains moving about on the track. Are they able
to work any of the switches or anything like that?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Yes, that'll be able to observe. Now, when we have
an operating session once a month, if people look at
our show's model Railroaders is on the Facebook page, they
can see when we're holding an operating session. That would
be when they could actually participate and run trains or
do switching and that sort of thing. But while we're
in this open house on Saturday the twenty seventh and
(22:49):
Sevy Friday and Saturday the twenty seventh twenty eighth of
June during the hellt Keller Festival, we'll be able to
ten to four and they can just observe and enjoy
the scenery and listen to things that happen. And we
even have a thunderstorm that reigns over to Sheffield. So
it's a fun opportunity.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
And while you're looking at it, you can familiarize yourself
with the other things there are to do in the area,
because there are a lot of other things to do
in the Muscle Shows area. One of my favorite things
is the music scene that you've got those two big
studios up there. Can you tell me about the difference
between the Fame Studios and the one over in Sheffield,
the Muscle Show Sound Studio.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Well, the difference is they've just a different group of
people and they're may be smaller in different ways, but
they're both produced all kinds of major music. Over the years,
we had important songs presented by Johnny cash, Cher, Wilson Pickett,
Bob Seeger, Aretha Franklin, the Rolling stones, Percy Slaves, Otis
(23:51):
Redding and the Alsman. Those are the famous people that
came to the muscle Shows area and recorded great songs
that were hits all of the United States in the world.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
And I mean even it was immortalized in Sweet Home,
Alabama muscles showless. They got the Swampers, the rhythm session
that used to perform at the sound studio.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
That was not a fame. That was the other one
right where the Swampers.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Would perform, right.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
And that's the one that's on the cover of Shares
album too, isn't it absolutely?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
And you know, of course this coming jin twenty sixth
through the twenty ninth, there's the hell In Keller Festival
at Ivy Green now and can you tour the facility there.
But there's a car show, there's a parade, there's a
walking tour of course, Keller Kids, and there's live music.
One of the more famous artists that will be performing
(24:42):
on Saturday night at eight thirty is Drew Baldridge. He's
apparently got some really good songs out right now. So
that's just one of the many things you could do
if you come up here during the Helen Keller Festival.
And follow that later this summer is the JC Handy
Festival as well.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
And if you've seen the movie about the life of
Helen Keller, you remember the scene at the water pump.
You can actually see the water pump there, the real
one that was immortalized in the movie.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Absolutely, it's right there for you to look and see
and touch doesn't work.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
I don't think it works anymore. They got wells run dry.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
That's right. But in the model Railroad Club, we have
a model of the Helen Keller home and the pump
and where Annie Salivan stayed as well.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
And that's the great thing. It really does feel like
you're stepping back in time to the post Civil War
period of about the eighteen nineties. That was when Helen
Keller was stricken with I believe it was scarlet fever
and she lost permanently lost her sense of sight and
hearing and had to learn how to read and how
to speak. And that's when they brought in Anne Sullivan,
(25:49):
her teacher, who taught her all those things.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
So it was really a great opportunity to come up
here and get history of this area as well. Of
course you got Wilson Dam and the lakes that are
up here. And there's the Alabama Music Hall of Fame,
and there's also the Frank Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House
if people are interested in architecture.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
And there's also those and I'm trying to remember the
name of them. There's these little walls that you can
see that were built by the indigenous people hundreds of
years before the Singing Stones. I feel like they even
did like a documentary about it. Am I ringing a
bell here you are?
Speaker 2 (26:25):
I'm sorry, I don't know the name of that to
the wall, but it took I don't know fifty years
for the man to build the thing, so it absolutely
has a great story. And lots of trails over of
course at TVA to walk if you like walking, riding
bike and that sort of thing. We've got trails all
over the place up here.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
And also if you want to go in the other direction,
there's a Marriotte up there. I think it's a Marriott
that has a revolving restaurant, So if you want to
do the whole luxury thing and overlook the damn you
can go up there and eat food while you're spinning around,
slowly spinning around, but spinning around and get a three
sixty view. I think, isn't it called something like the
three sixty Grill?
Speaker 2 (27:03):
It's three sixty grill and the name is now at
the Renaissance up here, but yes, it's three sixty gril.
It's a great restaurant. It's a delight to enjoy the
scenery while you get a great mail up there.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Louis, is it still owned by RSA? In other words,
like if you're a state employee, do they have discounts
and that sort of thing? Or did that did that
change with changed hands.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to that question.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
I was just curious about that. So those are some
of the great things you can do when you're in
the area. Also, there's a there's a place down there,
as I recall, and I guess it's still there. It's
been five years since I've been up there. But when
I went to Sheffield, there's a place. There's a place
it's either in Tuscambia a Sheffield called Princes and it's
an old drug store and they do all the old
drug store stuff with like the lunch counter and the
(27:50):
sodas and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
And I don't know if.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
That's still here. I haven't been there, but I know
it's still here. It's a great place to be and
there's a good ice cream parlors in the area as well,
so it's it's a treat to It is kind of
a little step back in time. It's not modernize like
most of the rest of the state, but it's neither
of sit backwards either.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
And there's the campus, and there's a campus of University
of North Alabama as.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Well, if you so, and it's a Division one school.
Now by the way, it's the Vision One will you
will be playing Auburn in Alabama over the years, so
it's going to be a stepping up in time up here.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
So bottom line, ton of things to do in the
Muscle Shoals area, and that's just one part of the state,
but it's a great place to go. You can't you
cannot do it all in a day. You're probably gonna
want to spend a weekend because there is so much
to see up there for both from a history standpoint
to a music standpoint to model railroading. And I don't
want to mis set it because I love a good
(28:47):
model railroad. So it sounds like there's so many things
that people can do. It's for all ages. If you
don't have kids, you'll be a kid yourself when you
look at the stuff, or if you have kids, they'll
enjoy it because it's like it's like a living history lesson.
So it's a great thing to do. And summertime is
a great time to get out and see all of
those things.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Absolutely and gat a great opportunity to visit here. We'd
love to have everybody come visit.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
For more information, Lewis von Herman, people should visit the
h what's the Facebook page for the shoals Maul Railroad Club.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
It's shows model railroaders and they can join and see
when we're open and see all the work that we've
done over the years and really see some videos, all
kinds of things that are on facebook page.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
It sounds like a great time. Lewis, thank you so
much for joining us today on Viewpoint, and thank you
so much you've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public
affairs program from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed
on Viewpoint Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management,
or advertisers of this station.
Summer is in full swing here in Alabama and you
can hear those air conditioners running.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
I'm John Mounts and this week on Viewpoint Alabama, we're
going to be speaking first about how to prevent your
kids from forgetting everything they learn.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
In school for the last nine months.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Over the next three also, we'll be talking about fun
things you can do, fun things on the water, and
fun things up and muscle shoals, that and more. Right now,
let's talk with Dina Thayer. She is an educator with
focus on the family. Dina, welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
Thanks for having me. I'm looking forward to the conversation.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
If we're both really quiet right now, we can hear
the calls coming from all across the Yellowhammer State.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Mom, I'm forward, what can I do?
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And now that we're into week two, parents are all
out of answer, So Dina, I'm turning to you. What
are some things parents can do to both entertain the
kids and also prevent that summer decline them forgetting everything
they've learned in the last nine months of school.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Absolutely, and this is so important. We're seeing the statistics
that are kind of crazy. Over easy. Over two thirds
of kids experience some kind of decline in mass reading,
et cetera over the summer, and that has an impact.
But what I want to encourage parents about is that
that doesn't mean you have to PLoP your kids in
front of a worksheet in the summer just to keep
(01:16):
those skills up. There can be fun ways to foster learning,
and you know, some of those can even be getting
outside out of the house. Go to the zoo and
have your kids count how many giraffes are in the habitat.
That's great for littles who are just learning to count,
learning things about colors, talk about the colors and the
patterns on the animals. Older kids. I used to love
(01:38):
trying to have my kids spell goofy animals. You know,
can you spell hippopotamus? We'd have all kinds of fun
fun with that, especially because I'm a word nerd grew
up doing spelling bees. So there's outings like that you
can do. Theater is another great one. I encourage families
to take advantage if they have local children's theater or
some places will do theater in the park in the summer,
(02:00):
you can go and see an outdoor show and if
you can find out what that show is in advance.
I encourage reading the book first. That really sparks some
fun conversation with your kids about what was different in
the play versus when we read the book. If you
have readers, encourage them to read. If you don't, you
can certainly read the book to them and then go
(02:23):
see the show. That's lots of fun. Another outing that's great,
and then I'm sure in a moment we'll talk about
things you can do at home if you don't have
the money or the time to get out and about.
But a last outing, I want to mention that really
supports critical thinking. Our escape rooms and these are cropping
up all over the place, and they really encourage kids
(02:44):
and adults alike to think outside the box and to
use logic and sequential thinking to essentially solve puzzles. And
often they're on a really fun theme, like our family
did one where we were tasked with trying to steal
the Mona Lisa and had to solve all these clues
to do so. So there's lots of fun outings you
can do that still encourage those cognitive skills and get
(03:06):
your kids.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Thinking and Dina, another thing that a lot of schools
encourage is summer reading. They'll give a list of two
three books that kids are supposed to read over the summer.
But I think if your kid doesn't have anything else
to do, two books is really not that many, and
some of the books are pretty short. There's probably a
lot of other books they could be involved in. And
I don't think it has to be something that's purely academic.
(03:27):
It could be something that's purely fiction. At least they're reading, right.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Yeah, oh, I would absolutely agree, and you're right. A
lot of schools will assign a little bit of summer reading,
but it is often a pretty anemic list. So I
encourage families to take advantage of summer reading programs at
their local library. A lot of them will even make
this into a fun contest so kids can see how
many books they can read in the summer, and that
(03:52):
gives them a lot of freedom over genre. So, just
as you mentioned, it doesn't have to be super academic
type reading. That can read fiction. They could read fantasy
if that's what's of interest to them. But it keeps
their reading skills up first of all, and also helps
with sparking that imagination. And in our current society where
there's so much screen time and entertainment coming at kids
(04:15):
from every angle. For them to read and have to
imagine in their own minds the setting and the characters.
That's really helpful cognition for them to be engaged in.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
And parents can also participate in camps. There's both day
camps where you can drop your kid off at maybe
a church. It might even be low cost or even
no cost in some cases for the community. Or there's
overnight camps for some of the older kids right.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
There are our community. In fact, our Parks and Recreation
Department had some really unique camps. So another encouragement I
would have for families who might say it's the same
old thing. They're going to do some relay races and
throw water balloons at each other and not really learn anything.
It's really no longer the case. A lot of these
camps will be maybe even around a certain skill set
(05:01):
or a sport. There's horsemanship camps for kids who want
to learn more about horseback riding and caring for animals.
My daughter was quite interested in handicrafts, and we were
able to even find a sewing and crochet camp for her,
so she got those fine motor skills. Had tons of
fun and then even brought home the things she made,
and that really brought a sense of accomplishment. And because
(05:24):
they were through parks and rec where a lot of
communities have these kinds of organizations, it keeps the costs
quite low rather than a private organization funding the camp.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Indeed, one of the things that I've been doing recently
as a single parent is I find alliances with other
parents because, let's face it.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
A lot of us still have to work.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
They're on vacation on the summertime, but I still have
to work, so I really don't have time to be
taking my kid all over town to all these different activities.
But if I can get a couple other parents who
are also needing to tote their kids around, have them
take my kid and their kid, and now reciprocate. Rather
than me do ten, maybe I do three, they do three,
and somebody else does four.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Whatever, that's for sure. I spent six years as a
single mom, and getting into some of these swaps was
essential for me surviving in the summer as someone who
was still in the workplace. That was really important. So
lean on your community, find other parents who are willing
to maybe trade days with you, or maybe you can
even trade some of the commuting. You pick the same
(06:23):
camp as a few of the neighbors in your neighborhood
and you take turns. I'll drop them off this morning,
but could you pick them up on Thursday because I've
got to work late. Those kinds of partnerships can really
help parents get through the summer months if they're also
juggling their.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Career and Dina. There's also for the older kids, there
are work, there are programs where they can do It's
not quite an internship because they're not getting class credit,
but they're just kind of work shadowing along with somebody
who's willing to let them come in and see how
the job is done. It might give them a great
opportunity to see if that's what they want to pursue
as a future career.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
That is a great way to do it. And also
I encourage those older kids who maybe are at the
cusp of that age where they're still a little bit
too young to have that summer job, check into volunteering
at places that you might be interested in working. So
if there are organizations that will allow you to shadow,
if you know you might want to be a personal trainer.
(07:19):
Someday call your local YMCA or JIM. Maybe they will
let you volunteer and get some of that practical hands
on experience. If you are interested in business, find a
small business owner that would be willing to let you
pop into the office a few hours every week and
learn about Excel spreadsheets or financial planning or whatever it
might be. You gain the valuable skills, and for high
(07:42):
schoolers who have community service programs, you also get to
list that as volunteer work. It's a win win.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I was just going to point that out that there
are a lot of schools that require a certain level
of community service hours before they're able to graduate. So
this is a great time for them to pick up
those hours and not have to do it during the
school year when they're already so busy with their academic pursuits.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Absolutely, this is the time. If you've got the free
time and you're not juggling your sports and your student
government and all your homework, this is the time to
find those beautiful pockets of time where you can volunteer,
get some community service in even at your church, whatever
things interest you. Summer is a wonderful opportunity for that.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
So The bottom line is you don't have to put
just plopping down in front of the iPad or in
front of the TV and go there, there's your babysitter
for the next three months. There actually are things they
can do to both educate their feed their body, feed
their mind, and also stay up to up to speed
on stuff. Because let's face it, when you go back
to school in August in the state, when you go
back to school in August, you know there you can't
(08:39):
have forgotten all your math because now you're onto new,
more complicated math.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
Absolutely, and the stats are staggering. We don't want kids
to end up two and a half three school years
behind with cumulative summer slide. We want them to stay fresh,
and of course there may be some slight decline, but
what we want to do is incorporate just into the
activities of summer things that keep them thinking, keep them
on their toes, so they don't go to school and
(09:05):
still completely out of it in a couple months. That's
not what anybody wants.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Great all great points the affair with focus on the family.
She's a parenting coach. Let's prevent the summer slide. Let's
let the summer slide be something you do in your
front yard with the water hose and not having the kids,
just forgetting things and taking that kind of slide. Dana,
thank you so much for being on the show.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Thank you for having me. I appreciated it.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
And this is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
My name is John Mounts. And on that note, as
we talked about fun on the water, let's continue that
thought as we talk about boating our state. We love
getting out on the water. It could be on the lakes,
could be on the river, and it could be in
the Gulf of Mexico. Joining me now to talk about
this and boating, why it's fun, why we need to
(09:50):
keep it safe, is Ellen Bradley, the senior vice president
of Discover Boating.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Ellen, welcome to the show.
Speaker 5 (09:55):
Well, certainly thank you for having me. I get to
talk to you today.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Actually I'm on a boat right now.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
You're actually floating on a boat.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Well, I'm at the dock. I'm not going out just yet,
but as soon as he hang up, I'm going to
be heading out.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
You're still tied off, then, Yes, boating is something that
a lot of Alabamian's not everybody owns a boat, but
a lot of people have access to boats and access
to the water, and it's something that is a big
part of people's lives. Let's talk about first of all,
why it is. It's a great way to spend your
vacation time are your free time, because you're not necessarily
on vacation, you're your free time.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
You're kind of hitting on something that is bought on.
I mean, boating feels like a vacation, and we're seeing
more and more people turn to boating because it is
this really unique way to disconnect and I think as
a lot more people look to get away from all
the stresses on land, they're turning to boating like never before,
and they're investing in boating as an experience.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Oh and you touched on something that I know everyone's thinking.
When you talk boating, you think expense. You think the
expense of it. Because boats are not inexpensive, but there
are ways that you can afford one, and you don't
have to necessarily buy a yacht. There's plenty of smaller
craft that you can purchase that are perfectly seaworthy or
lake worthy that are a fraction of the price. But
(11:10):
even still, how do people go about affording it too.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
There's a misperception that voting is inaccessible. It's one of
those things where it's like, oh, I could must be nice,
I could never do that, or I could never afford that.
And the reality is that what people spend on a
boat in a year is a lot less than what
they would spend on a summer vacation. For example, most
people who who own boats, I should say, a lot
(11:35):
of those middle price boats, even a lot of the
entry size boats, they finance them. And what a lot
of people don't realize is that you can finance a
boat like you do a home, meaning that you can
have that loan over the course of fifteen plus years
because people can hang onto their boats for a really
long time. Boats last a really long time. And when
(11:57):
you finance that boat, you find that you can have
a payment on that every month from anywhere from three
to five hundred dollars. And that's a lot. How a
lot of people make it work and justify it because
they're using it as that meaningful investment in memories and
in time together with their family and friends, and the
wellness benefits that come from that investment in being on
(12:21):
the water.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
And ellen those boats you don't have to buy them.
It's always nice to have something brand shiny and new,
but I imagine you can buy them secondhand that are instilled
pretty good condition, right absolutely.
Speaker 5 (12:32):
And actually a lot of people get into voting for
the first time through a pre owned boat, and you'll
find a lot of boat dealerships are a great resource
for those, and it is truly there is in great condition.
Like I said, both last a really long time, and
people who vote, they generally run their boat owners, they
take care of their boats, and so you can find
(12:52):
a lot of really wonderful pre owned boats on the market.
And in fact, there are about a million pre owned
boats sold every year, you're compared to the roughly three
hundred thousand new boats that are sold every year. So
a lot of pre owned boats and a lot of
really varying price points that make it budget friendly.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
And when we talk.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
About the cost of the boat, it's not just of
course the cost of the boat itself, but also you
have to decide if you're going to keep it in
your driveway on a trailer, if so you've got to
have a trailer, or if you're going to keep it
at the lake in the water tied off to a dock,
in which case you have to pay for a place
to keep the boat tied off.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Right, that's right.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
You're going to when you when you buy a boat,
you're gonna want to think about all the costs that
come with it.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Well, and also one of those costs of operation is gas.
Boats can use quite a bit of gas. Is there
a way to calculate how much how much you're going
to be spending on gas? Because you might have a
boat with two motors, you might have a boat that
has an electric trolling motor and no, it doesn't use
gas at all.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Are there different ways that you can kind of calculate
how much that's going to run you?
Speaker 5 (13:53):
Well, what's great about boating and when you're thinking about
how to budget for the fuel costs is that you
can really control that. In terms of what we'll find
is if boat price, sorry, if gas prices tend to
get a little bit higher, we'll see that people they
spend a lot more time anchored and swimming, and they're
they're not running the boat as long, and oftentimes anchoring
(14:17):
and just relaxing and hanging out on the on the
water is one of the best parts of boating versus
running back and forth. Now, if you're going to be
doing water sports and a lot of heavier activities on
the water, and where you.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Get your gas can make a big difference, because if
your boat is, say always at the lake, you might
take it to a gas station that's kind of there
on the dock, and they're probably going to charge you
more than if you're bringing bringing your boat to the
lake and you're pulling it into a gas station and
buying gas there at the at the local corner gas station.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
The one thing the benefit of filling up your boat
at the marina is that they're going to have the
best fuel for boats, and that's going to be fuel
that has the lowest f andol amount of f andol
in it, because ethanol is not great for the water
environments that marine engines operated. So when you do go
to the gas station, if you fill up your boat there,
(15:09):
you're going to want to make sure you use fuel
that is ethanol ten E ten or less.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Well, I was going to say, it's actually not really
good for any motor I know there's places like BUCkies
you can buy ethanol free gasoline that don't have that
added to it because yeah, a lot of motors don't
like that ethanol stuff, but you do pay more for
ethanol free gasoline, but you might save money in the
long run because there's can be less damage done to
your motor by running it with something that doesn't have well,
(15:34):
basically corn in your gas.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Once you get your.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Boat out there on the lake, you can't just get
behind the First of all, you got to be licensed, right.
You have to go down in just the same place
that you get your driver license. They can give you
an endorsement on that license that says you're also okay
to operate a boat. How do you learn from scratch
how to operate a boat?
Speaker 5 (15:51):
It varies by state the different boating laws, but it's
really important to be educated on the rules of the water.
There are tons of course is offered all over the country.
There are plenty throughout Alabama, certainly because you are such
a big boating date.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
There are so.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Many things, for example, making sure you have enough personal
floatation devices on board for everybody on the boat. Even
though everyone says I can swim, I don't need it,
but it's still the law in most places I know.
In Alabama, you have to have one of those floatation devices,
and it has to be an approved one for every
single soul on board of your boat.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
That is pretty much universal. You always want to have
a leugh life jackets and the right kinds of life jackets.
Like you said, there's different types of life jackets for
different sizes of people. And a safe voater at the
end of the day, a safe voater is a confident voter.
And when your boat, when you're confident, you have much
more fun and you're able to relax and enjoy your
time out on the water.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
And as much as relaxing is important out there, remember
that alcohol and driving don't mix. Alcohol and boating also
don't mix. No alcohol.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Absolutely, it's against the law no alcohol while driving a boat.
And it's really just a good idea to keep it
at a minimum if you're out on the water because
when you are outside the sun and then the heat
mixed with that is not a good combination.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Well, and let's talk about people who the boating lifestyle
is really a lifestyle for them, People who actually a
shoe living on land and they go purchase a boat
that they can live in. There's a lot of people
who do that, aren't there there.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
Are a lot of people who find ways to live aboard,
is what we call it. And now we don't have
specific data on just how many live on what we
would refer to as a houseboat. If it has a
sleeping quarters, if it has a head which is a bathroom,
and a berth which is a part of the boat,
(17:40):
the bedroom, or the galley which is the kitchen, it
can be considered like a home. And so you're finding that,
particularly during the pandemic, when more and more people were
able to work remotely, they were able to operate live
on their boats and be ending a lot more time
(18:00):
on their boats than ever from before.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
I've known people who have lived at their actual address
is a lake and they get their mail. They're on land,
but they're living on the other side of the dock.
They've got a gate kind of thing on the dock itself,
and then there's boats all along in the slips and
people they live on these six and some of them
they don't even leave dock, like maybe like once or
twice a year they take it out because it's so
big it's kind of hard to maneuver. But they live
(18:24):
on board these boats and they just enjoy the lifestyle
because it is kind of a community. And boating communities
are interesting because everybody kind of knows everyone, they're friendly,
everyone kind of wave. You know, you go down the interstate,
you don't wave to fact, you know, passing people coming
to you at oncoming traffic, maybe one fingerwave, but not
the normal wave. But in boating out you get on
lay Lake or any of our lakes around here, and
everyone's kind of friendly and they're waving to you as
(18:45):
they go by, you know, responsibly making minimum wake, but
you know, it's it's a very different kind of experience.
I think in the boating community, well, you.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
Clearly spend some time on the water, because that's one
of the best secrets about seeing out there is that
no matter if you're having a bad day or if
you think you don't have a community to be a
part of, when you go out on the water, everyone
waves at each other and you can't not have a
good day on the water. And it's truly the best
(19:15):
part of being out there is the community that you
get to be a part of.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Well, Ellen, I appreciate you joining us and talking about
some of these things that people can participate in, and
we didn't even touch the surface on no pun intended
on things you can do in terms of like getting
pooled behind a boat or you know, fishing, any of
the things you can also do off of your watercraft.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
On those legs.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
I imagine all this information is available on your website.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
What's the website again?
Speaker 5 (19:40):
The website is Discoverboating dot com and you can find everything.
We're like your friend with the boat, so discover voting
dot com. You'll find everything you need to get started
in voting.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Ellen Bradley, the senior vice president of Discover Voting, thank
you so much for joining me today on Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Thank you, and as.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Viewpoint Alabama continues, I like to encourage people to stay
in Alabama, do what they call the staycation, keep their
dollars in Alabama. And there's a little corner of Alabama
that a lot of people are not necessarily aware of.
Because we always hear about the battleship down to Mobile Bay,
we think about the beaches, we think about the rocket
up there in Huntsville, and of course the Vulcan and Birmingham.
(20:17):
But one thing that people often look over is the
shoals area of our state, in the northwestern corner of Alabama,
and it is such a great place. There's so many
things to do up there. I'm joined right now by
Lewis von Herman. He is with the Shoals Model Railroad
Club Club, and Lewis I understand that there are a
lot of cool things to see in the Shoals area,
but let's start with the railroad thing. What kind of
(20:40):
things can people see when they come up there.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Well, they can see models of the Helen Keller House,
of jfse Owen's cabin, the Tuscombia Railroad Museum, and all
kinds of things. Because our railroad layout is designed to
show the railroad from the Southern a Railroad Company from
(21:02):
Chattanooga to Memphis. So we have all the towns between
Chattanooga and Memphis that we run ran railroads trains all
over and drop off cars and pick them up and
that sort of thing. And so it's a really opportunity
to see all kinds of various scenes that we've got
to show up. For example, a local basketball goal court,
(21:26):
the game going on, and hobo tent and that sort
of thing. All kinds of things that go on that
just kind of allow people to use their imagination of
taking a railroad drive between Chattanooga and Memphis.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
So you've basically taken what would be like Google Earth,
but you've made it three dimensional and people can actually
see it and kind of like a more animated version
because you sort of work some personality, some nuances in
What scale. I've done a little mallel railroading myself. What
scale are these trains?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
It's the Ho scale. And of course there's scales all
the way from now Z all the way to g
which is the Garden train. So ours is the Ho scale.
And it's really a neat layout. I think we've got
about several hundred feet of rail and railroad yards and
all kinds of buildings and people and cars and everything.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
And can people come in and, like say, just observe
the trains moving about on the track. Are they able
to work any of the switches or anything like that?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Yes, that'll be able to observe. Now, when we have
an operating session once a month, if people look at
our show's model Railroaders is on the Facebook page, they
can see when we're holding an operating session. That would
be when they could actually participate and run trains or
do switching and that sort of thing. But while we're
in this open house on Saturday the twenty seventh and
(22:49):
Sevy Friday and Saturday the twenty seventh twenty eighth of
June during the hellt Keller Festival, we'll be able to
ten to four and they can just observe and enjoy
the scenery and listen to things that happen. And we
even have a thunderstorm that reigns over to Sheffield. So
it's a fun opportunity.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
And while you're looking at it, you can familiarize yourself
with the other things there are to do in the area,
because there are a lot of other things to do
in the Muscle Shows area. One of my favorite things
is the music scene that you've got those two big
studios up there. Can you tell me about the difference
between the Fame Studios and the one over in Sheffield,
the Muscle Show Sound Studio.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Well, the difference is they've just a different group of
people and they're may be smaller in different ways, but
they're both produced all kinds of major music. Over the years,
we had important songs presented by Johnny cash, Cher, Wilson Pickett,
Bob Seeger, Aretha Franklin, the Rolling stones, Percy Slaves, Otis
(23:51):
Redding and the Alsman. Those are the famous people that
came to the muscle Shows area and recorded great songs
that were hits all of the United States in the world.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
And I mean even it was immortalized in Sweet Home,
Alabama muscles showless. They got the Swampers, the rhythm session
that used to perform at the sound studio.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
That was not a fame. That was the other one
right where the Swampers.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Would perform, right.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
And that's the one that's on the cover of Shares
album too, isn't it absolutely?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
And you know, of course this coming jin twenty sixth
through the twenty ninth, there's the hell In Keller Festival
at Ivy Green now and can you tour the facility there.
But there's a car show, there's a parade, there's a
walking tour of course, Keller Kids, and there's live music.
One of the more famous artists that will be performing
(24:42):
on Saturday night at eight thirty is Drew Baldridge. He's
apparently got some really good songs out right now. So
that's just one of the many things you could do
if you come up here during the Helen Keller Festival.
And follow that later this summer is the JC Handy
Festival as well.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
And if you've seen the movie about the life of
Helen Keller, you remember the scene at the water pump.
You can actually see the water pump there, the real
one that was immortalized in the movie.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Absolutely, it's right there for you to look and see
and touch doesn't work.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
I don't think it works anymore. They got wells run dry.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
That's right. But in the model Railroad Club, we have
a model of the Helen Keller home and the pump
and where Annie Salivan stayed as well.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
And that's the great thing. It really does feel like
you're stepping back in time to the post Civil War
period of about the eighteen nineties. That was when Helen
Keller was stricken with I believe it was scarlet fever
and she lost permanently lost her sense of sight and
hearing and had to learn how to read and how
to speak. And that's when they brought in Anne Sullivan,
(25:49):
her teacher, who taught her all those things.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
So it was really a great opportunity to come up
here and get history of this area as well. Of
course you got Wilson Dam and the lakes that are
up here. And there's the Alabama Music Hall of Fame,
and there's also the Frank Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House
if people are interested in architecture.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
And there's also those and I'm trying to remember the
name of them. There's these little walls that you can
see that were built by the indigenous people hundreds of
years before the Singing Stones. I feel like they even
did like a documentary about it. Am I ringing a
bell here you are?
Speaker 2 (26:25):
I'm sorry, I don't know the name of that to
the wall, but it took I don't know fifty years
for the man to build the thing, so it absolutely
has a great story. And lots of trails over of
course at TVA to walk if you like walking, riding
bike and that sort of thing. We've got trails all
over the place up here.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
And also if you want to go in the other direction,
there's a Marriotte up there. I think it's a Marriott
that has a revolving restaurant, So if you want to
do the whole luxury thing and overlook the damn you
can go up there and eat food while you're spinning around,
slowly spinning around, but spinning around and get a three
sixty view. I think, isn't it called something like the
three sixty Grill?
Speaker 2 (27:03):
It's three sixty grill and the name is now at
the Renaissance up here, but yes, it's three sixty gril.
It's a great restaurant. It's a delight to enjoy the
scenery while you get a great mail up there.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Louis, is it still owned by RSA? In other words,
like if you're a state employee, do they have discounts
and that sort of thing? Or did that did that
change with changed hands.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to that question.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
I was just curious about that. So those are some
of the great things you can do when you're in
the area. Also, there's a there's a place down there,
as I recall, and I guess it's still there. It's
been five years since I've been up there. But when
I went to Sheffield, there's a place. There's a place
it's either in Tuscambia a Sheffield called Princes and it's
an old drug store and they do all the old
drug store stuff with like the lunch counter and the
(27:50):
sodas and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
And I don't know if.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
That's still here. I haven't been there, but I know
it's still here. It's a great place to be and
there's a good ice cream parlors in the area as well,
so it's it's a treat to It is kind of
a little step back in time. It's not modernize like
most of the rest of the state, but it's neither
of sit backwards either.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
And there's the campus, and there's a campus of University
of North Alabama as.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Well, if you so, and it's a Division one school.
Now by the way, it's the Vision One will you
will be playing Auburn in Alabama over the years, so
it's going to be a stepping up in time up here.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
So bottom line, ton of things to do in the
Muscle Shoals area, and that's just one part of the state,
but it's a great place to go. You can't you
cannot do it all in a day. You're probably gonna
want to spend a weekend because there is so much
to see up there for both from a history standpoint
to a music standpoint to model railroading. And I don't
want to mis set it because I love a good
(28:47):
model railroad. So it sounds like there's so many things
that people can do. It's for all ages. If you
don't have kids, you'll be a kid yourself when you
look at the stuff, or if you have kids, they'll
enjoy it because it's like it's like a living history lesson.
So it's a great thing to do. And summertime is
a great time to get out and see all of
those things.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Absolutely and gat a great opportunity to visit here. We'd
love to have everybody come visit.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
For more information, Lewis von Herman, people should visit the
h what's the Facebook page for the shoals Maul Railroad Club.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
It's shows model railroaders and they can join and see
when we're open and see all the work that we've
done over the years and really see some videos, all
kinds of things that are on facebook page.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
It sounds like a great time. Lewis, thank you so
much for joining us today on Viewpoint, and thank you
so much you've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public
affairs program from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed
on Viewpoint Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management,
or advertisers of this station.
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