Congratulations to the 2018 LadyBUGS Scholarship Winners: Sonya Mansilla, Kayla Dawson, Kayla Riggs and Giovanna Hernandez. Sonya and Giovanna are from Leeds High School and Kayla Riggs and Kayla Dawson are from Moody High School. Each girl received a $1000 scholarship for the school of choice. Three of the girls were able to attend the June LadyBUGS meeting. 

The Leeds/Moody LadyBUGS organization is a professional women’s service organization with their primary focus to raise money for these annual scholarships.  LadyBUGS is an acronym for “Ladies Believing, Understanding, Guiding and Serving.”  This group meets the second Tuesday of each month at noon for lunch with a guest speaker and hosts an annual fashion show luncheon in April at Cedar Grove Baptist Church as their main fundraiser.  For more information about LadyBUGS, please visit their Facebook page or contact Donna Coates, LadyBUGS President, at 205-577-8445.

Breakfast for the Brave will be served at 9 a.m. Thursday, June 21 at the Leeds River Campus of Eden Westside Baptist Church.  If you are a policeman, fireman, EMT or other first responder in the greater Leeds Area, please come by for a FREE breakfast and fellowship.  For more information, please visit www.EdenWestside.org.

The Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce will host their chamber luncheon at 11:45 a.m. today, June 21 at Leeds First United Methodist Church Family Life Center.  Guest speaker is Mayor Tony Kennon from Orange Beach who will speak on tourism.  Lunch is $12 with RSVP to Sandra McGuire at 205-699-5001 or Sandra@LeedsAreaChamber.com.

The Miss Leeds Area Pageant is scheduled for 7 p.m. this Saturday, June 23 at Leeds High School Auditorium.  Miss Leeds Area was founded in 1980 and is an official preliminary to the Miss Alabama Scholarship pageant.  The Miss and Outstanding Teen pageants are open pageants.  Application packets and information is available at www.missleedsarea.net.

Moody City Council will meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 25 at Moody City Hall.

Tuesday, June 26 is Forgiveness Day.  Wow, wouldn’t the world be a better place if we could be just a little more forgiving?  Did you know when you hold a grudge that it hurts you more than the other person?  Forgiveness creates peace of mind.  Health benefits of forgiveness include healthier relationships, less anxiety and stress, improved mental health plus much more.  Life is too short to be mad at people.

The Leeds Jane Culbreth Library will host a “Libraries Rock” event, 80’s Music Trivia, on Saturday, June 30 from 12 p.m. until 2 p.m. for ages 12 and up.  To register your team of 2-4 people, please call 205-699-5962 or visit www.LeedsLibrary.com/events.

The Leeds Arts Council will present their summer musical, “Hunchback of Notre Dame”, which is a new musical based on the Victor Hugo novel and songs from the Disney film.  Produced by Sandi Nicholson and directed by Cliff Keen, Jr., the show dates are July 13-15, 20-22 and 27.  Tickets are $15 and may be purchased by calling 205-699-1892.  You will not want to miss this powerful event with the retelling of Victor Hugo’s epic story of love, acceptance and what it means to be a hero.

Thought for the Week:  “Worry is a total waste of time.  It doesn’t change anything.  All it does is steal your joy and keep you busy doing nothing.” ~Unknown

 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.