February 1, 2022

As a city rich with cultural heritage, we celebrate February as Black History Month by commemorating many African Americans' lasting contributions and accomplishments throughout history. Through education and conversation, we will continue to raise awareness of the diversity of our great nation and all the beautiful things we can accomplish.

Winter rains and lack of undergrowth make litter highly visible. Many middle schools, high schools, and university students need to complete service hours assigned in classes and clubs. What better way to cover service hours than to get out there and make our city and county beautiful for everyone by picking up unsightly litter? Keep Florence Beautiful and Keep the Shoals Beautiful will supply volunteers with vests, gloves, litter grabbers, and bags making it easy and safe to clean up litter and make a big difference in the community.

When Wayland Balentine of Florence Middle School needed service hours for NJHS, he got supplies and cleaned up a real eyesore in his community. Wayland's grandfather, Steve, and cousin Logan Poole helped him collect 10 full bags of litter, 1 mattress, and a toilet!

To get supplies for litter cleanup, call Florence Solid Waste and Recycling at 256-760-6495 or call and leave a message at the Shoals Chamber of Commerce at 256-764-4661.

In 2008, members of the Design Committee of Florence Main Street (now Downtown Florence Alliance) were pondering an appropriate use of funds generated through the sales of calendars featuring Florence’s historic homes, churches and buildings which the committee had developed annually for several years. One of the committee members said, “How about installing a granite replica of the 1852 map of Florence [which is a copy of the original 1818 map] into a downtown sidewalk?” The suggestion was immediately accepted by the full committee. Another committee member agreed to submit a digital copy of the map to a stone-cutting firm in Russellville, Alabama, for the map to be replicated in granite. Contact was made with the Head of Florence’s Street Department, who agreed to direct workers to cut a space just the right size in the sidewalk on the southwest corner of Court and Tennessee Streets. So, when the granite map arrived (it was 2009 by now), it was deposited deftly into the sidewalk space, with no glitch whatsoever. A ceremony occurred a few days later for the Design Committee to formally present it to the City of Florence. Thus, the citizens of Florence now have a permanent gift that commemorates the founding of this great town.

--Billy Warren, City Historian

Police Officer New

• Police Department 702 South Court Street Florence
• Full Time - $35,541.93 - $56,796.51 Annually
• Category: Public Safety / Law Enforcement / Miscellaneous

Concession Stand Worker Part Time New

• Park and Recreation 2830 Darby Drive Florence
• Part Time - $11.08 Hourly

• Park and Recreation 2830 Darby Drive Florence
• Part Time - $11.08 Hourly

Support Staff Arts & Museums Part Time New

• Art Center/Museums 217 E Tuscaloosa St Florence
• Part Time - $11.08 Hourly
• Category: Administrative Assistant / Miscellaneous / Museum / Arts

• Public and community events or announcements can be in an email, Word document, PDF, or JPG file suitable for viewing on the web. Include graphics in JPG or PNG if possible.
• Along with your information, include your name, phone number, event name, location, date and time, and a brief description.
• IMPORTANT: Please submit your information no later than Tuesday of each week (preferably sooner). Submissions after the deadline will be added to the next week's publication. The newsletter is posted on Thursday afternoon.
• Send your information to media@florenceal.org or call Rachel Koonce with questions at 256-760-6494.