Alabama's annual sales tax holiday for school-related items started today, Friday, July 17, and continues through Sunday, July 19.
Instituted in 2006, the sales tax holiday originally fell in August, but was moved to July in 2017.
From 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 17, until midnight, Sunday, July 19, the state waives its four-percent sales tax on school-related supplies and clothing. More than 300 cities and counties throughout Alabama waive their local taxes as well. Andalusia and Covington County are waiving sales taxes on school items that weekend, as are Opp, Florala, and Red Level.
Limits on exempt items have expanded and include:
School supplies up to $78 per item Computers & equipment up to $1,173 per purchase Textbooks up to $47 per bookFor a full list, visit revenue.alabama.gov.
A number of special events are planned in Andalusia for the Independence Day holiday as America celebrates the country's 250th anniversary.
The Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce's 2026 JulyJamz series begins on Thursday, July 2, with a patriotic theme. Headlining "America Night" will be Shane Owens. Opening for Owens will be Jared Harden and Preston Hoffman.
Gates to Springdale, located on East Three Notch Street, open at 5:30 p.m., with music starting at 6. The event will close with fireworks.
On Friday at 6 p.m., the third annual "Andalusia Reads the Declaration" will be held in the Andalusia City Hall. Dr. Steve Hubbard organizes the event, based on a similar one hosted by NPR, in which local residents read the Declaration of Independence aloud.
The reading will immediately be followed by a patriotic musical, "I Love America." Organized by Sue Bass Wilson for the DAR, the musical, first performed in Andalusia in 1976 for the Bicentennial, will be performed by a community choir.
The DAR also will provide refreshments at Friday night's events.
On Saturday, the DAR's Fourth of July parade will roll as always, but with a special focus this year. The local chapter event was chosen as the official Independence Day event for the Alabama Daughters of the Revolution, and a number of special guests are expected.
The parade will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 4, with lineup in the First Baptist Church parking lot beginning at 9 a.m. Registration is not necessary, but anyone with questions can direct them to Carol-Ann Mullins at (912) 312–6628.
Following the parade, the Covington Veterans Foundation (CVF) will stage a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of Andalusia City Hall. The Foundation's float will be the final entry in the parade, and several historic characters will disembark for the reading.
CVF has engaged youngsters in period attire to distribute copies of the Declaration to the crowd that gathers for this event, and Foundation members will have souvenir challenge coins to share with the community.
That evening, the City of Andalusia will host its annual gathering on the Kiwanis Fairgrounds, which will open at 5:30 p.m. Free watermelon slices will be available, and there will be water slides set up for children.
The popular area band 55 South will entertain, beginning at 6 p.m., and a bigger-than-ever, professional fireworks show is set for dusk.
Another special event being held in Andalusia that weekend is the reunion of students who attended Covington County Training School, Bethune Junior High School, Ralph Bunche, and Woodson High School. The weekend-long event, which is held every other year, is centered at the Kiwanis Community Center. For additional information, contact Dorothy Johnson at (334) 892-6732.
YouTube and social media influencers Jack and Paige Aynsley spent their Fourth of July holiday in Andalusia, and their host says the couple couldn’t have been more pleased.
Andalusia native Steadman Glenn and his wife, Marley, first met the British couple, who have been traveling the United States and documenting their experiences, in a random encounter at a Tuscaloosa-area lunch spot.
“They first came to Alabama around August or September of last year,” Steadman Glenn said. “They started in Birmingham and made videos in both Mobile and Birmingham. I watch a lot of YouTube, so I saw their videos and started watching that channel.”
Fast forward to October of 2025, when the Aynsleys were the red-carpet guests of the University of Alabama for the Tide’s rivalry game against Tennessee.
“I saw them Friday before game,” Glenn said. “They were in Northport, going to City Café, and I saw them in passing. I stopped them and invited them to come tailgate with us.”
The Aynsleys showed up at the Glenns’ tailgate on the Quad that Saturday.
“That was the first time we met them,” Glenn said. “There were a lot of Andalusia people in that video from game day.”
The two young couples hit it off and have kept up with each other since October. When the Aynsleys returned to Birmingham in May, they reached out to the Glenns.
“We took them out for an Italian dinner,” Glenn said. “We had such a good time. So they invited to us to the SEC baseball tournament to watch Alabama play.”
When the Aynsleys decided to spend Memorial Day at Lake Martin, they invited the Glenns again.
“Marley and I went with them to Lake Martin and stayed the weekend,” he said. “They did a fantastic video handing out at the lake and cooking out, all kinds of fun stuff.”
That was the weekend Glenn made his second appearance on the YouTube channel, shocking his parents when was featured in the segment plunging into Lake Martin from Chimney Rock.
It was a marvelous weekend, Glenn said, but the couple was then off to Montgomery to do a video before visiting several other states. At some point, they came back to Birmingham.
“It all comes back to Birmingham,” Glenn said. “They really love Alabama because the people are so friendly. We went to a country music concert, and after that, did not know when we would see them again. It was a sad night, because we’ve had the best summer ever.
“I told them, ‘Listen, y’all are more than welcome to come to Andalusia and spend the Fourth of July with us.’ I didn’t really press them on it, just left it at that.”
The Aynsleys had many invitations for the Fourth from all across America.
“They could have done virtually anything they wanted to do,” Glenn said. “But Thursday, July 2, rolls around and Jack called me and said they thought they would much rather enjoy spending it with us and seeing Andalusia because we have talked about it so much.”
Glenn’s grandmother, Sue Bass Wilson, had already offered up her house, so when Jack and Paige asked where they should stay, Steadman and Marley said, “Don’t worry about it, you’re staying with us.”
The Aynsleys left Atlanta headed toward Andalusia Friday and documented their trip down, as well as Andalusia’s Semiquincentennial events. They were in the City Hall audience Friday night for “Andalusia Reads the Declaration,” and the musical “I Love America.” Steadman Glenn, his brother Hampton, his mother and grandmother were all part of the choir that performed the patriotic music.
Glenn said that was his favorite part.
“That is the epitome of America,” he said. “No country has greater appreciation for its history than America does, in my opinion. The amount of people there was uplifting.”
In the segments of that program included in the 55-minute YouTube video, Jack Aynsley looks shocked as the crowd sings, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”
“I didn’t know Americans had their own words for our national anthem,” he joked.
During the course of the weekend, the Aynsleys rode with the Wynne and Shannon Glenn’s family members in the Fourth of July parade; ate a traditional lunch featuring ribs, burgers and all the trimmings at Sue and Jimmy Wilson’s annual gathering; played in the pool and on a water slide; and shot fireworks at the end of the day. They documented all of it for their more than 400,000 YouTube subscribers and million-plus Facebook followers.
Glenn said he believes his friends found what they were looking for the Fourth of July.
“If you go back and watch their other videos, they’re not in touristy places. They like to get to know local people.”
“Any time they can sit down and have conversations with local people, it’s authentic,” Glenn said. “They stay in Alabama because they love it, but also the people are so friendly. They’ve been in California, Utah, Nevada, Colorado … in all of those places, they were very displeased with their videos because nobody would talk to them. Those episodes are just them seeing the sights. But as soon as they got into the Southeast, they were able to get the type of content they and their viewers enjoy.”
Steadman and Marley have become regular characters on the YouTube channel, but whether or not they become regulars depends upon the Aynsleys’ plans.
“They’ll be at two Alabama games with us,” Glenn said.
And in a bit of quid-pro-quo, Jack and Paige will show Steadman and Marley around Jack’s hometown when the Glenns visit the UK next year.
“We’re going to start in Ireland and meet them there,” he said. The two couples will travel by train, and the itinerary includes Jack’s hometown of Newcastle, in northern England.
“I think people can tell from the video, these are our friends,” Glenn said. “We consider them very close friends. We talk to them every day and keep up with their travels. They are the most genuine people ever. They love our country, our state, and our also hometown, now that they’ve seen it.”
That’s special for Glenn, he said.
“I’m proud of Andalusia, and our family’s role in it,” he said.
The City of Andalusia will be closed on Friday, July 3rd, in observance of the Independence Day holiday.
Friday's garbage routes will be picked up on Monday, July 6, along with Monday's routes.