Painting with a Purpose

March 1, 2026By Alabaster Connection

With every canvas, artist Dawn South educates about Autism. By Katharine Armbrester Dozens of talented artists participated in the 62nd annual Bluff Park Art Show last year, which takes place in Hoover on the first Saturday of October. Several of the entrants hailed from Alabaster, but Dawn South was the only one who mentioned “Autism … Read More

Graham Bennett and the Sound of Thompson’s Success

November 2, 2025By Alabaster Connection

By Sarah Owens Photography courtesy of Alabaster City Schools “Hey, is this Graham Bennett?”  “Yes.”  “We’ve got a job opening at Thompson High School. Would you like to teach jazz music here?” The timing of that phone call still makes Bennett laugh. It came in 2019, just hours after the birth of his second daughter. … Read More

Baptist Health Shelby Hospital

July 17, 2025By Alabaster Connection

Alabaster’s own Holly Dean comes full circle  By Barry Wise Smith For Holly Dean, the CEO of Baptist Health Shelby Hospital, life has come full circle. Born at Shelby’s sister hospital Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital, Dean grew up in Alabaster before moving to Hoover and graduating high school there. So, when she took the top … Read More

Lessons for Living

July 17, 2025By Alabaster Connection

For this retired educator, learning is a way of life. By June Mathews Tommie Mowery Harrison grew up in Wilton, a tiny town about as far south in Shelby County as you can get. A family of modest means, the Mowerys never had money to spare, but Tommie’s parents, Paul and Thelma, worked hard to … Read More

Alabaster CityFest 2025

May 10, 2025By Alabaster Connection

This year’s 23rd annual festival promises to be the biggest and best ever It’s summer so it must be time for Alabaster CityFest.   To help celebrate, we’ve compiled information on the festival including interviews with two headliners along with sponsors, bios, schedules, and an FAQ, all to whet your appetite for the real thing on … Read More

Saddle Lake Farms: Country Comes to Town

January 7, 2025By Alabaster Connection

By Carmen Brown Saddle Lake Farms HOA Board President Mellissa Wiley and her husband Steve looked at more than 100 houses before they found that country feel in the city they were looking for. “We were looking for some acreage that was still in the city of Alabaster,” Wiley says. “This is still in the … Read More

Alabaster VFW Post 12185

November 12, 2024By Alabaster Connection

Placement of flags in preparation of the Memorial Day ceremony at the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo Patriotism, love of country, and sacrifice for the common good. By Lee Hurley Veterans Day is observed on November 11, whichever that day happens to fall on in any given year (Monday in 2024), but how did the … Read More

Reshad Hudson Makes a Name for Himself in Broadcast News

July 3, 2024By Alabaster Connection

By Barry Smith When Reshad Hudson was growing up in Alabaster in a single-parent family in his grandmother’s house, he never pictured himself as a national political reporter. But life has a funny way of surprising you. Raised with his older brother by his grandmother Shirley Bishop and his mother Darlene, Hudson was a shy … Read More