Many children look forward to the first day of school. They have their new notebooks, backpacks and pencil boxes, but not all families can afford these items. Each August, hundreds of children start the school year without the basic school supplies needed to succeed academically. Shepherd Supply focuses on providing those critical supplies to children who are most in need, allowing them to concentrate on their studies and build self-esteem. To meet the demands of community needs, the City of Moody is partnering with Shepherd Supply to collect back-to-school supplies for area students. Drop off boxes are located at Moody City Hall, Moody Library and the Splash Pad. Here is a list of supplies needed: bank bags, mechanical pencils, #2 pencils, bottles of glue, graph paper, crayons, three-inch binders with sleeve in front, larger erasers, packs of tab dividers with pockets, glue sticks, 8 X 10 spiral sketch pads, packs of drawing pencils, plastic folders with pockets & brads, flash drives, hand sanitizer, paper towels, Clorox wipes and Kleenex tissue.

The Moody Lions Club presented Certificates of Appreciation to the St. Clair Sherriff’s Department, the Moody Police Department and Moody Fire Department. These certificates were presented by Lions Club President, Larry Golden, and accepted by Chief Investigator Tommy Dixon, Lt. Freddie Turrentine, Moody Police Chief Thomas Hunt and Moody Fire Chief Joe Nobles. We truly appreciate the hard work of these departments that keep the greater Moody area safe.

The Sears Hometown Store in Leeds will be doing their soft opening on Thursday, August 11 so please plan to stop in to see all of the appliances and products. Appliances and products are being delivered, unpacked and will have a showroom full of household appliances such as refrigerators, washers, dryers and dishwashers. They will also carry lawn tractors, Craftsman tools and more. The store is located in the Leeds Commons Shopping Center next to Right Stuff Bargain Center and Farmers Home Furniture.

The Moody Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Moody hosted a Ribbon Cutting last week celebrating the grand opening of the new office of Edward Jones with Steve Sink, Financial Advisor who is located in the Moody Professional Building on Moody Parkway. There was plenty of great food all day long and a great crowd to celebrate with Steve including his wife, Edward Jones affiliates, clients and area Moody professionals. If you haven’t stopped in to see his new office, please do so. He is located on the first floor in Suite 101.

These two new companies in the Leeds and Moody are just more examples of the awesome business growth in the area. We have so many wonderful companies that bring high quality products and services with a huge convenience of being able to shop locally. Let’s save time and money by shopping locally to support our local businesses.

Leeds Lions Club will meet at 1 p.m. on Thursday, August 4 at the Leeds Masonic Lodge Building.

Leeds Masonic Lodge Community Breakfast is scheduled for 8 a.m. on Saturday, August 6. Breakfast is free, but donations would be appreciated to help with Leeds community involvement programs. Please contact T.V. Weaver at (205) 699-6742 for more information.

I spoke with Kim Bridges this week and some misinformation was sent out about the Moody Civic Complex grand opening and ribbon cutting. As mentioned, the complex nears completion, but the grand opening and ribbon cutting will not take place this weekend and will occur later in August, possibly as early as August 21, but more than likely will be Sunday, August 28. Stay tuned for the official news.

The Moody City Council will meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, August 8 at Moody City Hall.

The Leeds-Moody Professional Women’s Business Group – LadyBUGS will host their monthly luncheon meeting at noon on Tuesday, August 9 at The Livery Event Center in Leeds. Lunch is $10. Send your RSVP to m.k.davis2010@gmail.com.

The Central Parliamentary Unit is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, August 10 in the First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Please contact Grady Sue Saxon at (205) 699-2440 for more information.

The Moody Area Chamber of Commerce will host a Political Forum at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 11 at Moody City Hall. This is an opportunity to learn more about candidates that are running for local office in the upcoming election. Candidates for Moody Municipal Election include: Mayor – Joe Lee, Place 1 – Linda Crowe (incumbent), Place 1 – Clyde M. Jones, Place 2 – Lynn Taylor (incumbent, unopposed), Place 3 – Matt Morris, Place 3 – Larry Snyder, Place 4 – Jeff Green (incumbent), Place 4 – Nick Rutledge, Place 5 – Ricky Parker (incumbent, unopposed). Please send your questions for the candidates to chamber@moodyalabama.gov or call (205) 640-6262. To attend the forum, an RSVP is required. Lunch is $10 for Chamber Members and $15 for Non-Members.

The Leeds Arts Council is proud to announce the appearance of Alan Tedders and Terry Padgett as Willie & Waylon and Elvis performing at 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 13 at Leeds Theatre and Arts Center. The Outlaws and the King are back! Since February 2014, Terry and Alan have performed several times as the legends’ duo in Alabama and Tennessee. Most recently and notably, they’ve performed in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee at the Cyrus Family Theatre, The Tribute Theatre off Stoplight #3 in Pigeon Forge and at Wears Valley Music Barn in Sevierville. Tickets are $20. Seating will be around tables with eight people seated at each table. You may purchase individual tickets at $20 each or purchase a table for $160. Reservations are recommended but not required. Come dressed in your best western apparel and ready to have some fun! For reservations, call (205) 699-1892 or email leedsartscouncil@windstream.net.

The Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce will hold a city wide Political Forum at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, August 16 at Leeds First United Methodist Church Family Life Center for all local candidates that are running for Mayor and City Council seats. Tiffany Bittner will be their moderator for the evening and she will direct the questions to the candidates. No questions from the audience will be allowed. Questions for the candidates should be submitted to the chamber office by August 12 by email to Sandra@LeedsAreaChamber.com or send via mail to P.O. Box 900, Leeds, AL 35094. Names will be held in confidence of those submitting questions. Each candidate will be allowed to give a three minute Opening Remark Statement, followed by questions to the 4 Mayoral candidates and the District 5 candidates. The Council Seats that are unopposed will not be asked to respond to questions. Qualified Candidates are: Mayor – John Dawson, Devoris Roscha Ragland-Pierce, John Patterson, David Miller; District 1 – Kenneth Washington – unopposed; District 2 – Eric Turner – unopposed; District 3 – Johnny Dutton – unopposed; District 4 – Ryan Bell – unopposed; District 5 – Linda Miller, Opal Ramsey, Stacy Tawbush.

Children and mom’s consignment sale is scheduled for September 23-24 hosted by First Baptist Church of Moody. They are currently registering those interested to be a consigner. For more information, please visit: fbcclosetconsignment.weebly.com/.

Community Kids Closet is also accepting new and returning consigners for September 22-24 sale dates at Community Presbyterian Church in Moody. For more information, please visit communitypca.net.

Moody Oktoberfest is right around the corner so local businesses, arts and crafts vendors, and entertainers; it’s time to get involved! Moody Area Chamber of Commerce is currently accepting Oktoberfest corporate sponsorships, applications for vendor booth space and looking for awesome talent for entertainment spots. For more information, please contact Andrea Machen, Executive Director, at (205) 640-6262 or chamber@moodyalabama.gov.

Plans are also underway for the Sixth Annual C & C Motor & Carpenetti’s Car Show in conjunction with Moody Oktoberfest so go ahead, save the date for Saturday, October 1 and plan to spend the entire day enjoying the car show and festival!

Job Openings: Great Beginnings is looking for experienced Preschool teachers. Please contact Tonya Kerr at (205) 699-1023 for more information.

Quote for the Week: “Never ignore a person who cares for you, because someday you will realize you’ve lost a diamond while you were busy collecting stones.” ~Unknown.

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