Media

Rico Pickett chats with spectators during Decatur Youth Services' playoff games at the Aquadome Recreation Center. [JERONIMO NISA]
Two teams battle it out during Decatur Youth Services' playoff games at the Aquadome Recreation Center. [JERONIMO NISA]
On the cover: Rico Pickett surrounded by the members of one of the Decatur Youth Services' basketball teams. Front, from left, Camoris Hullett, Jaquan Sweeney and JuJu Long. Back, Antonio McCall and Trent Harris. [JERONIMO NISA]
Rico Pickett jokes with volunteer referee Ricky Barrett during halftime of one of Decatur Youth Services' playoff basketball games. [JERONIMO NISA]
Rico Pickett and Estella Davis operate the scorer's table during Decatur Youth Services' playoff basketball games at the Aquadome Recreation Center. [JERONIMO NISA]
Rico Pickett chats with spectators during Decatur Youth Services' playoff games at the Aquadome Recreation Center. [JERONIMO NISA]
Balloonist Brian Dial. [JERONIMO NISA]
Susan Hines slides a pizza in a box for a customer. [JERONIMO NISA]
Susan Hines adds a piece of wood into the oven. [JERONIMO NISA]
Elvis Presley tribute artist Bobby Hollis performs in the Hartselle High gym during halftime of a game between the home team and Decatur High. Hartselle High Principal Brad Cooper said his school's students love watching Hollis perform and will even go on stage to dance with him. [JERONIMO NISA]
Rico Pickett chats with spectators during Decatur Youth Services' playoff basketball games at the Aquadome Recreation Center. Pickett spends much of his life helping those much younger as Youth Services' sports coordinator. [JERONIMO NISA]
Rico Pickett's son, Rico Pickett II, right, volunteers to referee Decatur Youth Services' basketball games. "I teach him to give back," the senior Pickett says. [JERONIMO NISA]

Crewe O’ Ye Crooked Goat participates in the 2016 Carnegie Carnival parade. [FILE PHOTO]
Crewe O’ Ye Crooked Goat participated in the 2015 Carnegie Carnival parade. [FILE PHOTO]
Kathy Manning walks with Crewe O’ Ye Crooked Goat during the 2018 Carnegie Carnival parade. [FILE PHOTO]
Kathy Manning and Michael Manley work on Crewe O’ Ye Crooked Goat’s pirate ship. [COURTESY PHOTO]
Kathy Manning and Michael Manley install the steel frame for Crewe O’ Ye Crooked Goat’s pirate ship. The crewe rebuilt the ship last year. [COURTESY PHOTO]
Ronnie Dukes, 73, estimates he’s run between 44,000 and 48,000 miles since taking up the sport in 1979. [JERONIMO NISA]
Ronnie Dukes believes running benefits him physically, mentally and spiritually. [JERONIMO NISA]
Ronnie Dukes stretches before his morning run at Point Mallard. [JERONIMO NISA]
Ronnie Dukes says he’s learned to appreciate the beauty of nature on his runs. [JERONIMO NISA]
Carol Rea, right, and Kathy Helton prepare food for homebound seniors at Turner-Surles Community Center. [JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]
NARCOG bus driver Claude Stevenson loads meals onto his bus at Turner-Surles Community Center. [JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]
Rick Henry’s paintings fill the walls and the ceiling of his home studio. [JERONIMO NISA
Rick Henry’s paintings fill the walls and the ceiling of his home studio. [JERONIMO NISA]
Two paintings by Rick Henry hang in the home of Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling. One is of the city’s historic railroad depot (top) before its renovation, and the other (left) shows a portion of Bank Street that still has rails and bricks in the roadway. [COURTESY PHOTO]
When Rick Henry paints in his home studio, he always sits on a chair that belonged to his great-grandmother. The table on the left is where his grandchildren paint. “I use that space to encourage them to paint and to appreciate art,” he says. [JERONIMO NISA]
Rick Henry painted this view of Paris’ roofs from his hotel window during a vacation in the French capital. [JERONIMO NISA]

Wayne Holliday wraps up in his Polar Bear Plunge quilt, made out of T-shirts from past plunges. [JERONIMO NISA]
Wayne Holliday at the very first Polar Bear Plunge in Decatur 36 years ago. [COURTESY PHOTO]
Polar Bear Plunge veteran Wayne Holliday participated in the 2019 event. "It’s like taking a cold shower in the wintertime outside," Holliday said. [JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY FILE]
Wayne Holliday participated in the 2011 Polar Bear Plunge in the Tennessee River. [DECATUR DAILY FILE]
Linda Miller started decorating for Christmas when she moved into her Sherman Street home in Decatur in the 1990s. [JERONIMO NISA]
Linda Miller won first place in 2020 in Albany's Christmas With a Twist category for her Reindeer Games. [COURTESY PHOTO]
To create her tape people, Linda Miller wrapped individuals in clear packing tape, cut them out and arranged the models like they were decorating the home. [COURTESY PHOTO]
Linda Miller's Reindeer Games decorations featured reindeer skiing, sumo wrestling, playing beach volleyball, weight lifting and doing synchronized swimming. [COURTESY PHOTO]
Pat Price of Decatur provides her family with holiday memories through her baking. [JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]
Pat Price. [JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]
Pat Price's Caramel butter pecan Bundt cake. [JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]
Two Bundt cakes made by Pat Price: chocolate chip mint ice cream cake, top, and caramel butter pecan cake, bottom. [JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]
Cheese and sausage balls made with Tabasco sauce. [JERONIMO NISA]
The Festive Cheese Ball includes raisins, dates and pecans. [JERONIMO NISA]
The lines in Tiger Butter, by Christy Jordan, can be drawn with a toothpick or knife. [COURTESY PHOTO]
Mint hot chocolate truffles, by Ashley Smith, can be used for holiday gifts. [CATHERINE GODBEY/DECATUR DAILY]
Filling for the cherry blintzes, by Paula Laurita, includes sour cream and cherry pie filling. [DECATUR DAILY FILE]

With the profiles of four U.S. presidents, Mount Rushmore has become a symbol of patriotism. [CAMERON REEDER PHOTO]
The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, has a Moorish Revival facade with corncob veneer and murals formed from corn colors. [CAMERON REEDER PHOTO]

Edith Garner helps sisters Lenyx, left, and Seara Smith with their math homework at the Maxine Ellison Decatur Youth Enrichment Learning Center. [JERONIMO NISA]
Edith Garner teaches a child to read at the Maxine Ellison Decatur Youth Enrichment Learning Center. [JOHN GODBEY]
Maxine Ellison uses flash cards to help Sweyne Womack, 5, with his reading skills at the Decatur Youth Enrichment Learning Center. [JOHN GODBEY]
Maxine Ellison works with Sweyne Womack, 5, at the Maxine Ellison Youth Enrichment Learning Center. [JERONIMO NISA]
Stella Marshall helps Chloe Bumpus at the Maxine Ellison Youth Enrichment Learning Center. [JERONIMO NISA]
Stella Marshall works with Chloe Bumpus, 7, at the Maxine Ellison Youth Enrichment Learning Center. [JERONIMO NISA]

Conley Brannon. Cover photo for issue #2 of Living 50+ Magazine. [JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]

Philda Starks works in the greenhouse at her home's garden in Decatur. [JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]
Philda Starks pots some of the first flowers of the season at her home's garden in Decatur.[JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]
Philda Starks plants a bulb in her home's garden in Decatur.[JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]
Philda Starks plants a bulb in her home's garden in Decatur.[JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]
Philda Starks plants a bulb in her home's garden in Decatur.[JERONIMO NISA/DECATUR DAILY]