Squire Parsons of Leicester, North Carolina will be the guest singer at Riverside Baptist Church Saturday Night, July 30th at 6:00 PM. Pastor Bobby Parker, church pastor, and the church family invite everyone to attend.   

Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, will have their regular 5th Sunday Night Singing July 31st at 6:45 PM.  At 5:30 PM a covered-dish supper and fellowship will precede the singing. Everyone is invited to both.

In the obituary of Franklin Wayne “Red” Hannah, Sr., 51, of Coal City-Wattsville, which I included in this column last week an error was made in the listing of the survivors.  It was published that he was survived by a sister, Dorris Ramsey.  Actually, his surviving sister’s name is Donna Ramsey.  We regret the error and apologize to the family for the error.

Congratulations to Landon King, son of Jim and Redena King of the Pell City-Coal City area, who recently completed his first year of law school at Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, Faulkner University, in Montgomery.  He was named a Dean Scholar for 2010-2011 academic year and was a scholarship recipient.

Landon graduated from Samford University, Birmingham, in May, 2010 where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science.  He was on the Dean’s List at Samford and was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

Landon is also a pianist and he had the opportunity to record an instrumental CD in Nashville August, 2010.  His parents are very thankful for him and proud of him, his diligent work, and all of his accomplishments.  I wish to add that his grandmother, Margie Castleberry, and all of us who are his friends and members of his church family (Mt. Moriah Baptist) are very proud of him.  If you haven’t heard him play the piano or organ you have missed a blessing.  He is, indeed, a very gifted young man!

Belated happy birthday to my very close friend, Shirley Bice in Ragland who celebrated her birthday July 23rd! Shirley is the grandmother of Gabriel “Gabe” Wise whom I have written about many times in this column ever since he was born.  And she is the widow of Gene Bice who also was a very close friend to my brother, Joe “Cliff” Black and our entire family, including my parents, the late Joe and the late Orene Black.  Gene passed away December, 2010.  Shirley and all of her family continue to need our prayers.

Congratulations and happy anniversary to my friends, Randy and Regina Hurst who will celebrate August 3rd!

The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the late Mr. Lester and the late Mrs. Annie Mae “Ann” Bryant held a family reunion recently at Lakeside Park in Pell City.  Mr. and Mrs. Bryant lived in Coal City for many years and reared their children here.  Mr. Bryant served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher at Broken Arrow Baptist Church, which is in our community.  Timmy and Rita Bryant and Jack and Mary Bryant Isbell continue to live in Coal City.  Martha Bryant Nix lives in Pell City, Paul and his wife, Martha Bryant live in Cropwell and Jerry and Sarah Bryant Dismukes live in Moody.  All the other children live out-of-state.  Tom and Connie Bryant live in Oklahoma; James Bryant lives in Texas, Kate Bryant lives in Kansas; Erine and Sue Bryant Swift live in Georgia.  All of the children were present for the reunion except James.  There were about eighty in attendance from Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Florida and Alabama.  This family had not been able to get together for a family reunion like this one since their mother and grandmother, Mrs. “Ann” Bryant passed away several years ago.  Needless to say they enjoyed being able to get together and, of course, they enjoyed the great spread of food.

My paternal aunt, Myra Mabel “Mel” Black Burgess, 94, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina passed away July 14, 2011.  She was born to Ernest Clifton and Mae Savage Black October 17, 1916.  She was born and reared in Coal City.  Her siblings, Iva Adele Black Claybrook, William “Bill” Black, Mittie Black Kennedy, Richard Allen “Dick” Black, Mattie Zue Black Turner, James “Jimmy” Dale Black, Rutherford Ray Black and Joseph Emerson “Joe” Black preceded her in death.  All of her siblings also were born and reared in Coal City.

Aunt Mabel’s husband, James “Jimmy” Burgess who served in the U.S. Navy, preceded her in death.  He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery where she will be buried in September.

She is survived by two daughters, Betty Mae Burgess and Mary Velvin Burgess Bland both of Winston-Salem and three grandchildren.

Aunt Mabel was a poet.  Her poems were published in the Birmingham News.  She taught school while she lived here in Alabama.  She was a lovely person.  She will be sadly missed by all of us, her nieces, nephews and cousins.  Our prayers and condolences are with her daughters and grandchildren.