Upcoming Events for October 20-26

Festivals, fairs and other activities and events continue throughout Mobile County this week, from Chickasaw to Dauphin Island and points in between.  

For a good, hearty breakfast, members of Citizens for a Better Grand Bay present their Last-Saturday Community Breakfast Saturday, October 25, 8:30 a.m., at Grand Bay Community Center, 11610 Highway 90 West in Grand Bay.  Kimon Brown and his fellow chefs turn out some mighty tasty omelets, cooked to order; if you're more into scrambled eggs, they whisk those before your eyes, too.  The wait is never long and the ambiance is friendly, sort of like an old Mobile boarding-house meal.  The suggested donation is a minimum of $5, which benefits the future library of Grand Bay. 

The 5th Annual Shirley Looney Memorial Car Show at Dauphin Way Baptist Church, 3661 Dauphin Street at I-65, is Saturday, October 25, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m.  Some 200-300 antique and classic vehicles will be on display and about 30 vendors will be on site showing and selling their wares.  Proceeds from this annual event will benefit the DWBC youth department's projects, programs and missions.  For information, call Gene Looney, 665-1290.

Chickasaw's 68th Founders' Day celebration is Saturday, October 25, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at McConnell (Chickasaw) Civic Center/Paul Devine Park, 224 Grant Street.  Chair Janice Chitty numbered among the many activities arts and crafts (think Christmas ornaments and wreaths, crocheted jewelry, paintings); vendors' products, such as Scentsy; entertainment, including Lee Correon of Chickasaw; a children's Halloween costume contest and parade; a book sale at Ina Pullen Memorial Library; lots of food and an exhibit at St. Thomas Catholic Church, outlining the history of the parish from 1947-1957. 

Call Chitty at 456-7406 for information on participating in or attending this every-other-year observance of the incorporation of Chickasaw.

Also on Saturday, October 25, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. is the Coden United Methodist Church Annual Fish Fry and Fall Bazaar to benefit the church building fund.The church at 14943 Coden Belt Road North was founded in 1889 and, though damaged by hurricanes and flooding over the years, has continued to flourish.  Plans are, however, to build a new church on higher ground.

This annual event will feature arts and crafts, a fish dinner, an activity area for children, a Coffee and Sweet Shoppe and an Old-Fashioned General Store.  For information, call Donna Bradley, 824-7395.

Kathleen Cooper reports that a Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mobile Volunteer Open House is scheduled for Tuesday, October 21, 9:30 a.m. and Thursday, October 23, 5:30 p.m. The hope is that after seeing all that's going on at the facility at 1626 Springhill Avenue and the Family Rooms inside USA Children's & Women's Hospital, attendees will be eager to volunteer a few hours each week to help RMH continue to provide a supportive home environment offering care, compassion and hope to families with seriously ill and injured children.  RMH phone is 694-6873.

Don't forget to visit your neighborhood church Pumpkin Patches for fun, gourds and pumpkins, food and photos.  Dauphin Way UMC, corner of Dauphin and Catherine streets in midtown Mobile, will have a free Fall Festival on Sunday, October 26, 2:30-4:30 p.m.  They are featuring games, hayrides, jumpies and snacks. Call Wanda Carlberg at 471-1511 or  visit www.dauphinwayumc.org/pumpkinpatch for more details.

Fall Festival at Tanner Williams UMC Pumpkin Patch, 1550 Grand Bay Wilmer Road, is Saturday, October 25, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.  A pulled-pork dinner will be available for purchase from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., and during the rest of the time, visitors can take part in games and contests, eat, drink and be merry.  Call 776-0283 for information.

October 24-25 is the 31st Annual Renaissance Festival Gatalop 31 at Fort Gaines Historic Site on Dauphin Island.  Hosted by the Society for Creative Anachronism, the event features life in the Middle Ages, with knights in armor, lords, ladies, sieges and melees, artists and medieval merchants.  Call 861-6992 for information.

Chickasaw Recreation Department is offering a Halloween Pumpkin Painting Party Wednesday, October 22, 3:30 p.m. at Chickasaw Civic Center.  This free fun afternoon activity is for children aged 6-12 to design and paint their very own Halloween pumpkin.  Registration by Monday, October 20 by calling 452-6462 is required.

There's no need to take little goblins out for door-to-door Trick-or-Treating.  On Saturday, October 25, Chickasaw UMC is hosting Trunk-N-Treat at the Chickasaw Housing Authority parking area.  Cars and trucks will be decorated and treats will be distributed.  Fun and fellowship for all ages is the theme of the party.

The older generation in Chickasaw is not left out of the Fall fun.  On Tuesday, October 21, seniors are invited to go on an afternoon hayride to view the beautiful sights in Bill Brooks Park.  Then, there'll be a cook-out, games and fellowship with friends.  Call 452-6464 for transportation and 452-6462 for reservations.

The Annual Retired Teachers' Brunch for teachers, principals and counselors who have retired from Semmes, Allentown, Turner, Tanner Williams and Wilmer elementary schools, Semmes Middle School and MGM High School is planned for November 18, 9:30 a.m. at Allentown Elementary.  Certified retirees from other schools who live in the Semmes area communities are also invited.  For information, contact Toni Davis, 649-5931 or Sandra Hillman, 649-2897.

Among the many people who give their time and talent to making life easier or more fun for others is Tom Neal of Semmes.  Retired from his job as Chief Building Inspector of Mobile County, Neal has discovered that he has a talent, completely unrelated to his profession.  And he's found a way to share that talent with others.

A couple of years ago, Neal joined a crochet class at the Connie Hudson Mobile Regional Senior Community Center.  But, he said, arthritis in his fingers made learning the art difficult.  

He didn't give up, though.  He bought a circular knitting loom and taught himself to use the same wool yarn he'd have used to crochet an afghan to fashion woolen caps, the kind skiers wear on the slopes in Aspen.  And along with fellow enthusiast Harriet Nihart, he began teaching others to make the caps and other items every Thursday, 1 p.m., at the Senior Center on Hillcrest Road.

Neal isn't satisfied with just teaching.  In the past year, he's created about 200 hats, donating them to USA Children's & Women's Hospital, breast cancer survivors, homeless veterans' programs and church bazaars to be used in fundraisers.  "I like to make other people happy," Neal said.

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