Over 200 people gathered at Eden Westside Baptist Church River Campus to celebrate the future of as they celebrated their 4^th anniversary of a church that was once closed down for 18 months.  Dr. Chris Crain, the Birmingham Metro Baptist Association Executive Director, called it a “modern day Lazarus story of a church being brought back to life.” 

The celebration event began with an open house for visitors to come in and see what the church now looks like.  The latest update to the church building was a $17k renovation to enclose the basement porch and create a children’s worship center.  The church set up a large tent with heaters and big screen televisions for the overflow with a special celebration service that followed the open house. 

Guest speakers included Dr. Rick Lance, Alabama State Missionary and Executive Director; Lamar Duke, Alabama State Board of Missions, Dr. Chris Crain and Leeds Police Chief Jim Atkinson.  Michelle Kennamer, a church member, gave her personal testimony of what God has done in her life and the life of her best friend, Melanie Nava, through the ministries of this church campus.  The main focus of this event was about what God is going to do in the future.  The offering received will be donated to Leeds Outreach.  For more information about Eden Westside Baptist Church and their Leeds River Campus, please visit www.EdenWestside.org or call 205-338-7711.

The Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce High School Diplomats and the Moody Area Chamber of Commerce High School Ambassadors teamed up this week to travel to the Chick-fil-A headquarters in Atlanta.  Both organizations share the cost of a charter bus and Leeds Chick-fil-A sponsors this event so these students along with chamber chaperones are able to take this tour.  This is a very important event for these students to learn more about leadership and a bigger picture of what it takes to grow a large successful company.  We thank our local Chick-fil-A for making this trip possible.

Happy Home Baptist Church hosted their Valentine’s celebration for the youth and children of the church this weekend. The children spent the day playing games and building crafts. The church was blessed with a lot of participation from many of the older Sunday School classes to help create a memorable Valentine’s for approximately 40 children. Congratulations to their 2019 Valentine Youth King and Queen, Cody Rudd and Harlee Blackmon.  Happy Home hosts Wednesday night meals and classes for children and teens starting at 6 p.m. and transportation is available upon request.  For more information, please check out their Facebook page. 

The Leeds Arts Council honored the Leeds High School Artists with an opening reception on Sunday at Leeds Theatre and Arts Center.  Participating artists were Scott Adams, Jade Cifalo, Evan Cole-Tyson, Jasmine Cooper, Rebecca Denno, Raven Dozier, Jackson Harrigan, Brooke Kilgore, Lydia LaCruz, Bayleigh Ledbetter, Mackenzie Lockridge, Jackie Martinez, Jocelyn Martinez, Jay Megehee, Noah Peace, Gyrani Rogers, Hayden Underhill and Isabella Weldon.  These talented students are taught by Melissa Kirkpatrick.

Their artwork will be on display through March 2.  The arts center gallery will open one hour prior to performances of the comedy-mystery, “The 39 Steps”, on Feb. 15-16 and 23 for 7 p.m. show time and Feb. 17 and 24 at 2 p.m. show time. 

Moody City Council will meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb 11 at Moody City Hall. 

Leeds/Moody LadyBUGS Professional Women’s Organization is scheduled to meet at Noon on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at the Livery Event Center.  Lunch is $10 and RSVP to anneglidewell@yahoo.com.

The Central Parliamentary Unit will meet at 11:30 a.m. in Leeds First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall.  For information, please call Grady Sue Saxon at 205-699-2440.

Moody Area Chamber of Commerce will host their monthly lunch meeting at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 14 at Moody City Hall.  Lunch is $12 with RSVP and $15 without RSVP or non-members.  Please make your reservations by calling 205-640-6262.

The Alzheimer’s Dementia Support Group is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 14 at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany.  For more information, please call 205-884-1111.

Don’t forget Ann’s New Life Center Volunteer Training event this Friday, Feb. 8 from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. at the Brook Besor located at 4204 Martin Street South, Cropwell with a suggested donation of $10 per person.  This event is to train volunteers for both their Leeds and Pell City office in the capacity of Advocates/Mentors, Receptionist, Church Ambassadors, Baby Boutique Team and Cleaning Crew.  For more information and to register, please call 205-702-6500 for Leeds or 205-338-4580 for Pell City. 

Leeds Chick-fil-A will host a Daddy Daughter Sock Hop this Saturday, Feb. 9 from 5 p.m. until 8:45 p.m.  You can purchase tickets direct from Eventbrite for this special event.  Tickets include dinner, party favors, Ice Dream Sundae Bar, photo booth and guest appearances from their Chick-fil-A Cow.  Reservations are required and 50’s attire is encouraged. 

St. Theresa Catholic Church is hosting a Valentine’s Dinner and Dance this Saturday, Feb. 9 from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. in their family life center.  The meal will be catered by Carrabba’s Italian Grill with live music provided by The Second Chance Band.  For ticket information and reservations, please call 205-382-6042.

Moody Elementary School will host their Spring Color Run on Saturday, March 2, which will include a 5k and Fun Run at Mood Park.  All proceeds will benefit Moody Elementary School to help replace and repair playground equipment.  Sponsorships are available.  For more information, please email Lance Cisco, Assistant Principal, at lance.cisco@sccboe.org.

The 5^th Annual Miracles in Motion 5k is set for Saturday, March 9 to continue raising money for field replacement with Moody Miracle League.  So far, they have raised over $7k toward their goal of $150k to replace their 16 year old field once the goal is reached.  This year, their race course has been certified with USA Track & Field which should help increase the number of individuals who will participate in the race.  Different corporate sponsorships levels and t-shirt sponsorships are available.  You can now register as a participant in the 5k, 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk/Roll and Sleep In for Miracles in Motion at https://bit.ly/2CxV4M6.  For more information, please call 205-225-9444.

I truly appreciate each of you who read my column and I really love sharing news so please send your Leeds and Moody news to me at leedsmoodynews@gmail.com.