Tag: Featured Stories

By Chelsea Retherford | Staff Writer After more than three decades spent troubleshooting computer problems at the University of North Alabama, Sara Huntley traded in her keyboard for boxing gloves. The longtime information technology (IT) specialist never expected retirement would lead her to the gym floor, or that she’d eventually end up helping people with Parkinson’s disease “fight back” through

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By Chelsea Retherford | Staff Writer When Jeanine Martin and her husband, Brandon, finally crossed the state line into Alabama last year, she said it felt like the end of a 30-year dream. The couple had long hoped to settle in Muscle Shoals — home to Brandon’s family and the kind of tight-knit community they’d missed while moving around for

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By Chelsea Retherford | Staff Writer For Sheffield weaver Kate Chitwood, every hour at the loom is a lesson in patience. The meticulous process is slow and deliberate, but it’s one she finds deeply satisfying. “It’s very soothing,” she said, then paused and added with a laugh, “when things are going well.” At 76, she has spent more than three

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By Chelsea Retherford | Living 50 Plus When single mom Breanna Turner walked into her new home for the first time this fall, she wasn’t alone. Standing beside her were two women who had been there from the beginning — Nell Eggleston and Jacqueline Broder, volunteers who guided her through every step toward homeownership.  For Eggleston and Broder, who have spent decades

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By Metrocreative The New Year’s Eve countdown is on, with people eagerly awaiting the opportunity to say goodbye to this year and welcome the possibilities of the year ahead. The month of January’s name was derived from the Roman god Janus, who was the god of beginnings, endings, doorways, and transitions. Symbolized by his two faces looking in opposite directions,

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By Chelsea Retherford | Living 50 Plus Nancy Ann Sherman has always measured her life by a simple question: Who can I help today? It’s the same instinct that led her, as a young teacher of the visually impaired, to dream up a summer camp where children who were blind could go sailing and build bonfires on the beach. It’s

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By Chelsea Retherford | Living 50 Plus LaSondra Stanford, 54, has spent more than half her life behind a salon chair, but she says her career in cosmetology has always been about so much more than styling hair. It’s about learning, teaching and building friendships. As her salon — Hair Divine on West Mobile Street in Florence — turned 20, Stanford

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