Special events and recognition are planned for each home game of the 2019 Andalusia High School football season, as the community celebrates the 100thyear of high school football and marks the 1,000thgame.
Andalusia City Schools, the Andalusia Booster Club and the City of Andalusia are planning the special events for home games, which include:
• August 23 – Andalusia vs. Saraland, Senior Night for football
• September 20 – Andalusia vs. Hillcrest, Andalusia Youth Football League players and cheerleaders who are accompanied by an adult will receive free admission to the game, and will be recognized on the field between quarter.
• Oct. 4 – Andalusia vs. Williamson, AHS will celebrate its 1,000thgame. Members of the state championship teams will be honored at a pre-game reception and recognized on the field. Official rededication ceremonies celebrating the stadium renovation also are planned.
• Oct. 18 – Andalusia vs. W.S. Neal, Band night featuring an alumni band.
• Oct. 25 - Andalusia vs. Clarke County, Homecoming, and recognition for the newest inductees in the school’s football hall of fame.
A special logo has been developed for the commemorative season. The Bulldogs will have a special decal on their helmets, and the Andalusia Booster Club has merchandise available with the logo that will be sold beginning at Thursday night’s Meet the Bulldogs event, and at each home game.
“We are excited to be a part of such a special time in AHS Bulldog history, AHS Booster Club President Merrill Davis. “We invite the entire community to join us in celebrating our 100thyear of playing football at Andalusia High School. What a time to be a Bulldog.”
Looking back at the past 99 seasons, here are some highlights:
• AHS fielded its first football team in 1920. The inaugural Bulldogs were led by Coach R.C. “Red” Brown and had a record of 6-2. Opponents that year included Luverne, Evergreen, Highland Home, Dothan, and the only two losses came against Monroe County, whom the team played twice. Interestingly, the Bulldogs ended their first regular season with a game against Palmer College.
• Since the inception of football at Andalusia High School, the Bulldogs have compiled an overall record of 564 wins, 390 losses, and 39 tie games. Andalusia has been Region/Area Champions 11 times and holds three State Championships. The longest winning streak was 21 games from August 26, 1977, until October 20, 1978. The Bulldogs also recorded 58-straight regular season games without a loss – a streak which began November 3, 1972, and did not end until October 27, 1978. The only non-win during that period was a tie game with Carroll of Ozark in 1973.
• The Bulldogs were state champions in 1958, tied for the championship in 1976, and won it again in 1977.
• AHS ranks third in the State according to the Alabama High School Athletic Association records with 121 players selected to All State. The first recorded was Hal Jernigan, the quarterback of the 1921 team, and the most recent was offensive lineman Andrew Holmes from the 2018 team. Other notable selections include: running back Charles Little who was selected in 1948 and 1949; George Gantt in 1962 and 1963; running back Bobby Johnson in 1974, 1975, and 1976; Steve Posey in 1981; Mike Patton and Grady Smith in 1988; Nico Johnson in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 (the only AHS player to be selected all four years of his high school career); Montel Lee in 2013; Jamal Hourel in 2015; Ethan Wilson in 2016 and 2017; Allan George in 2016; and BJ Anderson in 2017. The most All State selections from one team was in 1977 with eight.
• Current head coach Trent Taylor, who played for the Bulldogs in 1975, 1976 and 1977, has combined a record of 44-11 since taking the helm of Bulldog football in 2015. Those teams have played in the semifinals once, quarter finals three times, and have won three Region Championships in those four seasons.
• The longest running rivalry for AHS is the Opp Bobcats. The two teams have met 90 times with Andalusia holding a 50-36-4 record over Opp. Last season, the Bulldogs beat Opp 55-7 in the sixth week of the season.
“Andalusia has a storied history on the football field and that tradition will continue into our 100thseason,” Superintendent Ted Watson said. “We look forward to celebrating this season with all of our players, coaches and fans.”
Gulf Air Group has entered a lease agreement with the South Alabama Regional Airport Authority to operate a new division, Covington Maintenance Center, in the twin hangars at the airport.
Gulf Air Group is taking over a lease the SARA Authority had with Yulista, that was set to expire in December. Gulf Air has a five-year lease on the hangars, with options for three five-year renewals.
Tim Rhyne, president and CEO of Gulf Air Group, explained to the airport authority Tuesday that the company is opening Covington Maintenance Center at SARA.
The company has two vertical tiers related to L-382 aircraft, the civilian version of C130s. Gulf Air maintains a fleet of four L-382s with which it provides global air cargo services. Theirs is the second-largest privately-operated fleet of L-382s in the world.
At Covington Maintenance Center, the company also will provide maintenance services for L-382s.
The company expects to hire 21 to 22 full-time employees for the local facility.
“We don’t do the ebb and flow of 50 employees this week, but only 10 next week,” he said. “We want to ramp up with good, steady, well-paying jobs, and we are on a path that helps us do that.”
The company plans to host a job fair at the facility later this month.
SARA Executive Director Jed Blackwell said the company has a financial incentive in its lease agreement to hire local employees.
Rhyne said as Covington Maintenance Center hires employees, it will provide some training on site, but expects to hire people who have completed an accredited training program and/or military training.
Jamey Wismer has been named a captain and assistant chief in the Andalusia Police Department.
APD Chief Paul Hudson made the announcement Monday.
Capt. Wismer, a 25-year veteran of law enforcement, will oversee investigations for APD. He most recently worked as a district manager in the Department of Pardons and Paroles. His previous work includes time in the district attorney’s office as an investigator, the Covington County Drug Task Force, and the Troy Police Department.
“We went to the mayor and council about a month ago and asked to bring someone on in this position to run criminal investigations,” Hudson said. “Capt. Wismer won’t have a personal case load, but will oversee operations and assist investigators when they need help. We thought he would be a great fit to come in and help us get prepared for the future.”
Wismer, who also has worked as a trainer in Pardons and Paroles, will help develop courses to be offered at the department’s training facility.
Wismer said in his most recent role in Pardons and Paroles, he supervised 42 employees in seven counties, and was based in Dothan.
“When I hit my 25-year mark, I wanted to get back to my community,” he said. “The majority of my work has been here, and this was a great opportunity for me to come back to my county.”
Wismer said he particularly enjoys investigative work.
“I like figuring out the justice, for the victims, and for the community,” he said. “If the suspect’s not caught, then there’s another victim.”
He also has completed the training in hostage negotiations, and has successfully neutralized several potentially deadly situations.
Wismer graduated from Opp High School, and attended LBW Community College. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Troy University while simultaneously working for the Troy Police Department.
He and his wife, Angela, are the parents of four daughters, Hannah, Emily, Maddie and Allie.
Kim and Kyle Baumgartner say they plan to embrace the nostalgia of the former Coca-Cola plant as they convert the facility for their new business and build living quarters upstairs.
The Baumgartners expect to finalize an agreement with the Andalusia City Council to purchase the Coca-Cola plant later this month. The Council had the first reading of an ordinance authorizing the sale Tuesday night.
The couple plans to open a family-friendly, upscale venue, and have worked with the City of Andalusia and architects from Concordia in New Orleans on the design for a taproom pub, The B, which will serve craft beers, wine, and new-to-Andalusia food offerings. The design includes an outdoor entertainment area, space for sidewalk chalk art, ping-pong and shuffleboard. There also is an area for food trucks.
“We plan to repurpose everything that we can in the building,” Kyle Baumgartner said. “There is a lot of historical significance here, and we want to preserve that.”
Coca-Cola products were bottled in the facility from the 1950s until 1980. The original stainless steel tank in which syrup was stored is still upstairs. Baumgartner said when demolition begins, he plans to move the tank downstairs and incorporate it into the design of the tap room.
The B also will have an area with large-screen televisions for sports events, and will regularly feature live music.
Kim Baumgartner said everything about The B will be geared toward family.
“This will be a family-friendly place because we live here,” she said. The venue will be open to the public four nights per week.
Among the things she plans to incorporate is a Beer and Bible night on Wednesdays.
“This has been very successful in Dothan, and we have already talked with a couple of ministers about doing this here,” she said.
The couple also said they hope to partner with another business in the future to share the warehouse space at the facility.
The Baumgartners expect the construction phase of the project to take six to nine months.
The city is selling the building for $145,000, and will assist with demolition and architectural services. The Baumgartners will make also make a significant capital investment in the project.”
The city will hold a mortgage on the building for its development costs, which the couple will begin paying after a one-year grace period. The B will be a part of the downtown entertainment district. The sales taxes generated on the premises by the tap house and by food trucks operating there (not including education taxes) will be used to repay the city its initial investment.
“The B will complement the other businesses that have located in the downtown district,” Mayor Earl Johnson said. “Taprooms are very popular with millennials, and frankly, we think The B, like our other downtown entertainment venues, will become a regional destination. These are super popular in the bigger cities, but we are the first city of our size in Alabama to offer something like this. ”
The proposed agreement with the Baumgartners is similar to agreements with Big Mike’s, Milky Moo’s and Clark Theatres, he said.
A vote on the proposed ordinance is set for August 20.
Barbara Tyler spent most of her career working to improve the lives of youth. She retired this week after 19 years with the City of Andalusia.
Tyler, whose background is in education, joined the City of Andalusia in 2000 as youth sports coordinator.
“My kids were playing sports, so I had an interest,” she said.
She is proud to have instituted a vote for players in the selection of all-star teams. While she was told allowing players to vote would mean each player would vote for him or herself, she found that players’ votes were generally the most honest, free from favoritism and based more on players’ abilities.
Tyler’s first foray into grant writing came in pursuit of the skate park located in Johnson Park. She later worked as grants coordinator for the city, and was a key player in the city’s efforts to secure funding for and build the Miracle League park and field.
When the City of Andalusia and Andalusia City Schools partnered to develop an after-school program, Tyler was named director of the A.P.P.L.E. The program provides a safe place for students after school where they receive a snack, have free time, are assisted with homework, and have opportunities to pursue extra-curricular activities.
“We never had to worry about the after-school program, because we knew Barbara would take care of all of the details,” Andy Wiggins, Director of Planning for the city, said. “She’s done a great job with the kids.”
Tyler was honored on Wednesday with a retirement reception at city hall. Mayor Earl Johnson read a proclamation in her honor, and expressed his appreciation for her dedication to the city.
Tyler’s degree is in education, and she taught sixth grade, kindergarten and third grade early in her career.
She and her husband, Mike, are the parents of three adult children.