Great Community Spirit by John Dersham

There are many things that contribute to making Fort Payne a very special city. We are a city of wonderful community spirit and unity. I have found the people of our town work together with a wonderful sense of caring about each other and share a genuine concern for our town, and our county. This can easily be seen in the multitude of civic and social organizations that thrive in Fort Payne. Considering our relatively small size we have unusually well developed long term community organizations that have been in existence for many years. In my position as Director of Tourism I have had the opportunity to be the guest speaker from time to time at our local organizations. I always come away from these meetings so very impressed with the sincere effort each of these organizations and their individual members make toward the humanities. I also find this community spirit to exist in our city and county government and in this newspaper. It is a blessing to work with city and county leaders who are focused on maintaining and improving the quality of life for everyone. I have found a genuine concern for our citizens is the norm in our community and not the exception. Every where I go I find people are guided by strong deeply rooted religious, moral and ethical values. The presence of these things has become the foundation of our outstanding quality of life. We are blessed with the happiest friendliest people you will find anywhere. This fine attitude emanates from our rich religious and cultural background. For those of you who are new to our area or are not familiar, here are a few of our local organizations of which you may want to inquire; The Rotary Club, The Lions Club, The Kiwanis Club, The Master Gardeners, Fort Payne Garden Club, The Culture Club, Landmarks (history), Big Wills Arts Council, Mentone Area Arts Council, Altrusa International, DeKalb County Amateur Radio Club, DeKalb County Council of the Alabama Homemakers and Community Leaders Club and Duos and Solos Square Dancing. Many of our other DeKalb County towns have excellent civic organizations and clubs. For more information about these or others you can call the DeKalb County Tourist Association at 845-3957.

More Community Spirit:

The DeKalb County Tourist Association has been honored by receiving a beautiful landscaping job by Lee Buffington at Turf Tamer and a host of volunteers and donors whom provided this beautiful new look under a community project called Project Green Shape. Many, many thanks to all involved. I also want to thank the Master Gardeners and the DeKalb County Commission for our gardens and the maintenance of our property.