Pictured above with the group of youth and their chaperones from Spoke ‘n Revolutions, on the front right is Pickensville Mayor Mary Fuseyamore. Mayor Fuseyamore and Paulette Newberns hosted the group on Sunday morning when they stopped at the Stage Coach Inn and Methodist Church. The group learned about the history of these 2 buildings as it relates to the Underground Railroad. The youth also had breakfast during their stop.

The group spent the night in Aliceville and had supper at Gates Restaurant. Charlie Wilson met the group and hosted them.

Spoke ‘n Revolutions Youth Cycling (SnR) is a youth focused cycling group that re-introduces student-cyclists to the joys of an active life by having their own cycling adventure. SnR cyclists are thoughtful, smart high-school students who enjoy physical challenges, but don’t often find themselves on competitive teams, such as football, basketball and soccer. This group of students, who began their Spoke ‘n Revolutions training as sophomores, built their own bikes through working with The ReCYCLEry, NC, a 501c3 bicycle coop. Learning good bike mechanic skills was the first step along the successful path to confident riding. The students have been training for over a year to prepare for a ride of a lifetime.

Spoke ‘n Revolutions Youth Cycling’s mission is to create a challenge for student-cyclists to think outside of traditional methods of excelling while encouraging them to find ways to contribute to their community in environmentally positive ways. This also gives students in our community an opportunity to experience the natural world from the seat of a bike. A perspective most people have never seen.

This summer, which is the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Spoke ‘N Revolutions Youth Cycling will be taking a group of high school students on an 1800 mile ride along the Underground Railroad Trail.  The journey from Mobile, Ala., to Niagara Falls, New York, follows the route that many enslaved people used to escape to freedom. The students who complete this ride will surely be deeply affected by the things they see and learn during their trek.

The theme for the 2011 cycling adventure is “Freedom.” The desire to be free is innate within all people, from the very beginnings of our country, through the 18th century for the enslaved Africans who traveled the Underground Railroad, to today’s current struggles. From right here in this country to the Middle East, Asia, Africa and all across the globe men, women and children are demanding their right to Freedom and justice. The taste of Freedom is the most delicious in the world, perhaps second only to Love. And like a great bike ride, the taste of Freedom leaves one euphoric, uplifted and unbound.

Here the same group of ladies reminisce about going to the ice house and growing up without electricity and refrigeration.

The Alabama Blues Project (ABP) is partnering with internationally renowned bluesman Willie King to present a six-week long Blues in the Schools Artist Residency at Aliceville Middle School in Pickens County, Alabama. The teaching team is completed by blues singer/guitarist, Debbie Bond, and keyboardist and harmonica player, Rick Asherson, both members of Willie King’s band, “The Liberators.”

Bond says, ”It is so wonderful that these children from Pickens County can learn first hand from an outstanding blues artist, from their own back yard, like Willie King. He is someone who has truly lived the history we are teaching, starting with his early experiences of sharecropping and a homemade, one-string guitar. He is an inspiration…”

For more information see here.

Recently, seven or eight of us got together and made music for a couple of hours.We had a great time playing hymns and bluegrass music. We have set a date for a second pickin’ on the Pickens Courthouse Square in Carrollton at 7pm. It will be Saturday, September 22nd. For all locals: bring your instrument; bring a lawn chair. If more than 15 or 20 show up, we will form a second group. Several of the pickers had enjoyed similar events in places like Mountainview, Arkansas. It just seems appropriate for us to do something like this in Pickens. Should the weather not be good, we can move the music back into the Baptist Association building. So, if you like to pick, blow a harp, or sing along, plan to participate.

Craftsmen from miles around donated their weekends to gutting out the burned interior of Dancy First Baptist Church in the winter and spring of 2006. It was hard and dirty work as the volunteers stripped out smoke and water-damaged insulation, drywall and wiring. After successfully killing off the lingering stench of smoke, they reconstructed the interior and added an educational wing. The church was more than filled for its rededication on June 25th, 2006, and has returned to its ministry stronger than before.

This sign at the church captured the sentiment of the church members. They continue to pray for the arsonists and minister to their families.

Dancy is only one of about 150 congregations located in our county. Most are well-connected to the community which they serve and welcome visitors and new members.