With National Gopher Tortoise Day around the corner, the Andalusia Public Library children’s program brought in two special guests Friday.
Charlotte Petre taught the children all there is to know about different turtles and tortoises. She also taught the differences between the two.
“Turtles like to live in water,” Petre said. “As opposed to tortoises that live on land.”
Petre talked about the burrows that the gopher tortoises make and what can be found in them.
“There are several things that make their homes in gopher tortoise burrows,” Petre said. “Black pine snakes, eastern diamond back rattlesnakes, gopher crickets, gopher mice and gopher frogs as well. And they all coexist with each other.”
Along with this lesson, Emily Brooks, the children’s program director, had an arts and crafts project for the children.
They meticulously worked on their own gopher tortoise burrow made out of construction paper and a paper bag, and decorated around the burrow with different types of things found in that habitat.
The second special guest that came to the program was a red foot tortoise named “Dude.” He belongs to Library Director Karin Taylor.
“My daughter bought me him for Christmas this year and he has been a real joy,” Taylor said. “I absolutely love animals and I always told myself that when I grew up I would either work at a zoo or be a librarian.”
Red foot tortoises come from South America, so the humid, rainforest type climate that is in south Alabama is a great place for the tortoise.
“I think that bringing Dude here today was important to the kids,” Taylor said. “Children have so much curiosity, but they are only seeing things online these days. I think it is very important to immerse these kids in hands on activities like this so they can see what is out there, not just what is on a screen.”
The Andalusia Public Library also rents telescopes and microscopes for hands-on activities.
“Another thing we do is rent bird watching kits,” Taylor said. “It comes with everything they need and a log book so they can write down which birds they see. I honestly think technology is a great thing for kids, of course, but it is always nice to get back to the basics.”
Students in the A.P.P.P.L.E. after-school program had the chance to showcase their artwork at the Lower Alabama Arts Coalition Gallery yesterday.
The walls were covered with watercolor paintings, photography and canvas paintings all done by students.
“It is our second year doing this,” Gallery director Sheila Ray said. “It is just wonderful to have all of these young artists’ work on display.”
Alice Whitworth, who teaches art at the A.P.P.P.L.E. program, had a show last spring for a week and Barbara Tyler, program director, said that it did so well that they wanted to extend it to a month.
“The kids have a lot of fun with these projects,” Tyler said. “It also gives an opportunity to know what this place is and gives them an experience to have their work in an art exhibit.”
The children also had to title their work, which helped them have a sense of pride in their paintings, Tyler said.
Twelve-year-old Catrice Jackson ad two paintings on display.
Jackson always wanted to be a farmer. She remembers watching her grandmother in the garden planting, and spent a whole week painting a farm on canvas to capture the feeling she had when she was watching her grandmother.
“I can’t plant stuff, so I always watch in admiration as my grandmother gardens,” Jackson said.
Jackson also had a self-portrait that was on display. She painted herself holding a snake plant.
“I spent about a week on this portrait as well to get the highlights right,” Jackson said. “I just thought that the snake plant would be a good choice because it felt right whenever I painted it.”
Jackson said that the most important thing about painting is to teach others.
“Every time I paint, I look around and see what other people are doing,” Jackson said. “If they are struggling then I see it as a chance that I get to encourage them and help them.”
The APD has several free programs including Child I.D. kits, Project Safekeeping and Civilian Firearm Safety Classes.
“We are excited to offer these to the community while we raise money for a great cause,” Hudson said.
The Child I.D. kits will include taking a child’s fingerprints and a photo.
“The photo may change of a child,” Hudson said. “But a set of fingerprints will never change. It is something we can keep on file in case something terrible does happen.”
Project Safekeeping will be offered for free to the community and it will include a form for people to write down their valuable items’ serial numbers and it will also be kept on file.
“Most people don’t think about writing their serial numbers down,” Hudson said. “They forget about their guns mostly, but they can write down the TV serial number, playstation or anything else they hold valuable and we will keep it in a file.”
Hudson said that serial numbers are very important in their search for stolen items.
“We can’t enter anything in the National Database without a serial number to verify it is the right thing,” Hudson said. “We just want to help them in the best way that we can.”
The APD will also have free sign-ups for the Civilian Firearm Safety Classes. There are two dates available in May for the Firearm Safety Class with 20 participant limit per class, participants must be 18 or older and each participant must bring their own weapons and ammunition. The first class will also be women only.
“We will teach people how to hold their firearm, shoot it and the laws that go along with it,” Hudson said. “In this job we are trained how to use a firearm, but if civilians don’t know how to use it, it increases the danger. It will take your life if you don’t know to operate it.”
Hudson said that these classes will be the best way to prepare the community for handling a firearm.
This will be the first year that the APD will be doing a car wash as their Relay for Life fundraiser. In the past, they have done a fundraiser called Arrest a Friend.
“We can’t ever do enough for cancer research,” Hudson said. “You never know when it’s going to be you or someone in your family, so we are happy to do this.”
The car wash will be on Sat., April 7, from 7:30 a.m. until noon, and it will cost $10. All of the proceeds will go to Relay for Life.
The reconstruction of South Three Notch was 85 percent done as of Tuesday morning, Mayor Earl Johnson told council members Tuesday night.
“They’ve still got to finish the sidewalk,” he said. “And they have to install the decorative lighting on the downtown side of the project. Our utilities crews will do that.”
The State of Alabama awarded Andalusia an $8.6 million ATRIP grant in 2013 for the repairs to the southern entrance to the city. The project required a $2.1 million local match. ATRIP is a program then-Gov. Robert Bentley designed in which future federal dollars were pledged against a bond issue to fund current projects.
Wiregrass Construction won the bid for the project, which is being managed by the State Department of Transportation.
The project was in the planning and design phases from 2013 until November of 2016, when work began.
Working speedily through a light agenda, the council agreed to spend $5,000 for new furniture at the Andalusia Public Library, purchasing employee desks and some comfortable furniture.
Recently, city crews have built a new circulation desk, painted and installed new carpet in the facility. Bathrooms also have been repaired and updated.
The planning and development department for the City of Andalusia will be holding a plant sale for Relay for Life on Thursday and Friday, April 5 and 6, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
“We have a bunch of plants that we are hoping to sell,” Wendell Dyess, an employee of the city, said. “The forecast doesn’t look too bad either, so it should be a beautiful day for a sale.”
Some of the plants that will be available include day lilies, plumbagos, banana trees and loropetalums.
The price range for the plants will be from $6 to $30.
“The most expensive plants that we will sell will be up to $30,” Dyess said. “And those will most likely be the crepe myrtles.”
All of the proceeds from the plant sale will go to Relay for Life.
“This is the City of Andalusia’s planning and development team’s Relay for Life fundraiser,” Dyess said. “So I hope a lot of people will come out and support a great cause.”
The forecast for Thursday is sunny with the high being 75 degrees and Friday it will be partly cloudy with the high being 80 degrees.