By Crystal McGough
PINSON – The historical Pinson Rock School held its Centennial Celebration on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022, and the Pinson City Council discussed the event and its turnout Thursday, Aug. 18, at the regularly scheduled council meeting.
“I think this was a very good event and everything worked well,” Councilor John Churchwell said.
The event also coincided with the annual Rock School Reunion, and Churchwell said that 246 former Rock School attendees signed in as being present, though it is likely there were more who did not sign the book.
“A lot of planning went into (the event) with the Historical Society, the library staff – Allison (Scanlan) was a great help with that,” Mayor Joe Cochran said. “Marie (Turner), Eric (Winfrey), myself, representing the city on most of that planning. Our public works guys were out there running carts; I had nothing but complements on those guys and how they represented the city … I think probably closer to the number of 500 people roamed through that facility that day and exceeded my expectations, to be honest. I think the decoration was fantastic … It was really a grand group effort.”
Pinson Historical Society President Stanley Moss attended the council meeting and shared his gratitude for the mayor and council’s involvement and support of the Centennial Celebration.
“On behalf of the Historical Society, I want to thank the city council for what you did,” Moss said. “The food, the T-shirts, I mean the transportation, it was marvelous. I heard a lot of good comments about the event (and) about the community itself, especially from those who live away from here. “
Additionally, Moss said that the city of Pinson was the first community in Alabama to celebrate a bicentennial anniversary, which occurred in 2015.
“Two hundred years,” he said. “We’re not the oldest community, as I told the Historical Commission, but they said we were the first ones to get it together.”
While the Centennial Celebration and Reunion was happening at the Rock School, First Baptist Church Pinson’s Daycare/Kindergarten 50th Anniversary Celebration was taking place at Bicentennial Park. The mayor and council attended both events.
Councilor Clinteshia Irvin announced that the final Movies in the Park will be Friday night, Aug. 18, at dusk, showing “The Jungle Cruise.”
Irvin also announced the 2022 Christmas Parade theme as “Ugly Christmas Sweater,” and sent out a special request to members of the community.
“If there are any knitters in Pinson, please contact me,” she said. “I have a special order for Mr. Mayor.”
Prior to the meeting, Mayor Cochran stated that he would not be wearing an ugly Christmas sweater for the parade unless the council were to produce an Alfred E. Neuman Christmas sweater.”
“It cannot be a sweatshirt,” Cochran said. “It has to be an actual sweater. If you can produce that, I will wear said ugly sweater.”
In other business, the council approved the following:
- Ordinance 2022-16, annexing 6121 Sunrise Drive into the city of Pinson
- Ordinance 2022-17, annexing 4397 Main Street into the city of Pinson
- Ordinance 2022-28, concerning the short-term rental of the Palmerdale Homesteads Community Center
- Resolution 22-27, declaring a public nuisance relating to overgrown grass/weeds at 4233 Walnut Street
- Resolution 22-28, declaring a public nuisance relating to overgrown grass/weeds at 4221 Oak Street
- Motion to purchase a 2022 6-seat golf cart, in the amount of $18,800
- Motion to approve additional software module from Tylertech, needed for work orders, in the amount of $6,970 (one-time fee) and a $2,299 recurring fee
Additionally, the council held a discussion regarding the potential name change of Oak Street West. Names that were suggested included Bicentennial Drive, Bicentennial Lane and Pinson Park Way. The council also discussed adding a street name at the Pinson Sports Complex. Both items will be readdressed at a future council meeting.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Pinson City Council will be Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, at Pinson City Hall, beginning at 7 p.m. A pre-council work session will take place prior to the meeting at 6:15 p.m.
To contact Crystal McGough, send an email to mcgoughcrystal@gmail.com