You see his work all over town. From the Cedar Creek Merchandise mural depicting the county’s logging and turpentine history, to the “in the works” murals on the Pirate Graphics building, Wes Hardin is using his talent to tell the story of Andalusia’s roots.
Hardin, of Dothan, said he has been in the mural business since 1978, the year he graduated from high school.
“I had my first mural commission when I was 18,” he said. “It was for a local junior college.”
Hardin said that painting is something he enjoyed doing as a teenager and it just took off from there.
His favorite murals to paint are those in which he can find a personal story.
“I enjoy being out on location, and having someone stop by who was actually part of the story,” he said. “It makes it a really worthwhile experience.”
Hardin said in Andalusia’s case, it’s about telling a stories of the city.
He is currently working on a three-panel mural on the side of the Pirate Graphics building facing East Three Notch, which will depict early utilities in the county.
Hardin said he is using photographs supplied by a local electric company for the murals.
“Chances are someone is going to ride by and realize that’s his grandmother or that’s her grandfather,” he said. “Perhaps even a mother or father or aunt or uncle. It’s a personal history for those folks.”
“I try to do my best to capture what it was really like for the people in the murals,” he said. “Hearing the stories really brings it to life.”
Beginning Aug. 15, 2011, the Andalusia Social Security office will be open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. – a reduction of 30 minutes each weekday.
A press release from the agency stated that the changes are in response to Congressional cuts to the Social Security budget. While employees will continue to work the same number of hours, the statement said, the changes should reduce the amount of overtime.
Most Social Security services do not require a visit to an office. For example, anyone wishing to apply for benefits, sign up for direct deposit, replace a Medicare card, obtain a proof of income letter or inform us of a change of address or telephone number may do so at www.socialsecurity.gov or by dialing the agency’s toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213.
Road work is under way on the Bypass in Andalusia, and Department of Transportation officials are urging motorists to use caution in the next couple of weeks.
As part of the project, the strip of highway from River Falls Street to east of Woodland Street on the Bypass will receive new planing, resurfacing, traffic striping and traffic lights.
Project manager Chris Canant said he expects the majority of the work to take between two and three weeks to be completed, depending on the weather.
“With the intersections we have, it may be three weeks at the longest, and that’s with no rain delays,” he said.
Canant said motorists can help by taking alternate routes, when possible.
“We had to cut off doing any asphalt on Tuesday because we had so much congestion at Hwy. 84 and Hwy. 55,” he said. “Any way people can reroute to their destination would be helpful.”
Thursday was a Disney-themed grandparents day at the Adult Activity Center, complete with costume contest, piñatas, and a cupcake walk before the covered-dish lunch and Disney cakes for dessert.
Above: Dorien Davis got an early “happy 7th birthday” from Mickey and Minnie.
A report by the state education department shows the Andalusia City School System could save an estimated $446,000 in staff and utility costs by closing the middle school as an education facility.
However, superintendent Ted Watson said those savings would not be immediately seen and would probably “come closer to $300,000” by eliminating the duplication of staff and services.
On Monday, board members approved a capital plan that will close Andalusia Middle School as an education facility, sending sixth graders to the elementary school and seventh and eighth graders to the high school.
There is no exact date set on when the plan will go into effect, but the earliest would be the 2013-2014 school year.
Watson told board members that a new state department of education analysis report said that by reassigning the students onto two campuses, it will save between $300,000 to $400,000 a year.
However, Watson said that though the eventual savings would be $400,000 annually, the change will be “gradual.”
According to the analysis report, there are some $330,319 in duplicated staff costs.
Among those are locally funded certified staff, support staff, principal, assistant principal, secretaries, bookkeepers and other staff.
However, Watson said that those positions would not be immediately cut and would be eliminated through means of attrition once the changes are made.
Additionally, the state’s plan includes a savings of $116,039 in facility operating costs, such as $3,000 for telephones; $500 for postage; $65,602 for electricity; $10,000 for natural gas and $3,000 for sewerage and water.
However, as part of the capital plan, the AMS building would become a new home for the board’s central office, serve as a professional development facility for staff, provide additional storage and possibly a preschool or Head Start facility.
“You have to remember that in doing this, we won’t have the present central office open,” he said. “So that will alleviate some of the utility costs.”
Still, there will be construction costs for a new kindergarten early learning center at the elementary school and a seventh and eighth grade wing at the high school.
Watson said the cost would be significant to build the new facilities, but said he did not have an estimate at the present time.
Watson said that the system’s current long-term debt for the elementary school will be paid off in 2014, and that there are financing options for the new facilities.
“We can also sell bonds to help pay for the new facilities,” he said. “I think the time is right for this project.”
Watson said the greatest concern of the administration and the school board is the students.
“We want to afford them the best opportunities possible,” he said. “We think by doing this it will allow us some flexibility in doing that.”