The annual Alabaster Police Appreciation Dinner is far more than food.
By Barry Wise Smith
Dena Bedsole’s idea for starting the Alabaster Police Appreciation Dinner was born from a tragedy in Texas, when in 2016, four police officers were ambushed and killed at a community parade. Bedsole, a nurse anesthetist by trade whohas been married to a law enforcement officer for almost 30 years, felt moved to do something to recognize and celebrate the police officers in Alabaster where she and her family live.
Bedsole approached the owner of Champy’s, a local Alabaster restaurant, about hosting the event. “I wanted it to be fun,” she says. Bedsole and her husband Russell—a former Alabaster City Councilor, Chief Deputy of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, and the Alabama State Representative for House District 49 since 2020—offered to have the officers come to dinner with their families and anonymously pay the bill the next day.
“The first year, only about 50 percent of the officers came,” Bedsole says. “I put a donation box at the front of the restaurant so other diners could contribute if they wanted to. I got to the penny what I owed. I thought ‘well it didn’t cost a thing, so we’ll do it again.” In 2017, the same thing happened with community donations covering the restaurant bill, and more officers came. “From 2018 on, I started soliciting giveaways so we could really show the officers how important they are to our community,” she adds.
In 2019, Cultivate Church came to Bedsole and told her “as long as you do this event, we will pay the bill,” and since that time the church has paid for the annual dinner. Champy’s began providing appetizers and adult beverages at no cost. And these days, 90 to 95 percent of the officers attend. “The buy in is real,” Bedsole says. “We have to transform the restaurant to make sure everyone fits.”
These days, Champy’s closes to the public the night of the dinner—the Tuesday night in June after City Fest—and it’s packed to the rafters with Alabaster officers and their families. Officers enter on a blue carpet that is lined with Thompson cheerleaders and athletes and other community members cheering their arrival. “We treat them like celebrities,” Bedsole says. This year, every officer received a gift bag with $100 of gift cards and other goodies, with the total value of the 2026 dinner in June estimated at $30,000. Officers that are on duty during the dinner get to-go plates, and everyone, including working officers, are entered into drawings for cash prizes drawn during the dinner. “This year, at the end of the night, we gave away envelopes of cash,” she says.
Bedsole continues, “I’m a police officer’s wife, so it put me in a unique position to be able to do this for them. I have a heart for the wives because I’ve been there. I’ve lived it. In that first year, I could never have dreamed the dinner would become what it has.”
In addition to dinner and the blue carpet arrival, officers enjoy live music provided by Champy’s, a 360° camera for family photos (“we have kids dressed in matching outfits for holiday pictures,” Bedsole says with a smile), bounce houses for the kids complete with teenage babysitters so the parents can enjoy dinner uninterrupted, and every year since the first, the Frios ice cream truck brings sweet treats for everyone.
“I dream really big,” Bedsole says. “My dream next year is to give away $60,000.” Event sponsors are recognized through social media posts, and lists of sponsors are put in every gift bag and on every table during the dinner. In 2026, over 80 individuals and businesses provided donations for the dinner.
“Everybody out there wants to give, but they might not have the avenue,” Bedsole says. “This gives them the avenue.”
To find out more about the Alabaster Police Appreciate Dinner or to become a sponsor, contact Dena Bedsole at 205.369.3939.
Sponsors for the 2026 Alabaster Police Appreciation Dinner
- 30 Air Services, LLC
- A to Z Auto Inc.
- Academy Sports + Outdoors Hoover
- Adam West Media
- Alabama Adventure & Splash Adventure
- Alabama All-Game
- Alabama Guns & Outdoors
- Alabaster Art Council
- Alabaster Beard Co.
- Alabaster City Schools
- Alabaster Florist and Gifts
- Alabaster Sports and Entertainment Foundation
- American Drilling Crane Division
- Am First of Calera
- Ashley West- Alfa Insurance
- B&A Warehouse
- Ben Fuller For District Judge
- Blaising Fire & Water
- Big Bad Breakfast- Pelham
- Bobby Harris
- Brother Paul’s BBQ
- Buff City Soap – Alabaster
- Buffalo Wild Wings
- Bullet Coffee
- Cam Ward
- Central State Bank
- Champy’s
- Chick Fil A – Alabaster
- Chipotle Mexican Grill
- Chorus
- Christine Chilton Carr
- Community Baptist Church
- Creams & Cones
- Crys Tees Shirts and More
- Cultivate Church
- Edgar’s Bakery & Cakes – Pelham
- Edwards Chevrolet 280
- Eric Hagan of Keller Williams
- Etch Ya Cater
- Faith Seed Tees
- Frios Gourmet Pops
- Frou Frou
- Girl Scouts Troops 28212
- Glitz & Gowns
- Half Shell Oyster House
- High Point Climbing and Fitness Birmingham
- Tron City Entertainment
- Tron City Rentals
- Jamie Cole Alabaster Councilman Ward 5
- Jarred Welborn for Shelby Co. District Judge
- Joe’s Italian
- Kenneth Paschal State Representative District 73
- Lara McCauley Alvis
- Lighthouse 115 (Vesta Ard & Freddy Ard)
- Cori Weidenbach
- Made Especially for you by Judy
- Mary H. Harris Circuit Clerk Shelby County
- Mere’s Cakes
- Mike Myers, Alabaster City Council Ward 1
- Neuro Spa Alabama
- Pearce & Associates
- Porch Pride Door Hanger
- Redland Rifle Co.
- Representative Corley Ellis
- Representative Leigh Hulsey
- Representative Russell Bedsole
- Representative Susan Dubose
- Rock ‘N Mow Landscaping
- Scott Brakefield, Mayor of Alabaster
- Senator April Weaver
- Sheriff John Samaniego
- Siluria Brewing Company
- Specification Rubber Products
- Taco Mama
- The Cheesecake Factory
- The Copper Train
- The Loft Boutique
- The Taste of Alabaster
- The Whiskered Pig
- Therapy South – Alabaster
- Tim Mitchell- eXp Realty
- Todd Pearson, Keller Williams
- WZAŁ 99.9 The Country Road