POWERGRAMS

25 BAY MINETTE Bay Minee is the governmental seat of Baldwin County, stemming from a crazy couple of days when all things legal were moved by wagons up from Daphne in 1901, over the armed objection of community leaders 20 miles to the south who hoped to ignore the legislative act that permied the transfer. A romanticized mural from 1937 about the takeover graces the walls of the Post Office. Today, the new courthouse sits in the middle of the old square, surrounded by the county jail, administrative buildings and aorney shingles hanging on every corner and street in between. Unlike many small Alabama towns, Bay Minee is actually growing. Its population has steadily risen from 1,000 a century ago to nearly 10,000 today. Some streets are covered by a canopy of long-limbed live oak trees; tall pines tower over historic homes and churches. Sidewalks connect the town from one end to the other, providing an opportunity to exercise and socialize on picturesque paths. North Baldwin Infirmary is the center of healthcare services in the upper portions of the state's largest and longest county (83 miles from north to south, bigger than Rhode Island in square miles). The nonprofit hospital has 70 beds, cuing-edge medical equipment and emergency services, and an in-house academy for high school students. Local schools welcome pupils from surrounding communities, some of whom will aend a $13 million elementary academy recently approved by the school board. In turn, many of those children one day will join more than 10,000 students and 250 teachers on the sprawling Coastal Alabama Community College campus, which boasts of having the state's lowest tuition. CACC is home to Sun Chiefs baseball, basketball, golf, soball, tennis and volleyball teams and top-notch academic and athletic facilities. Two- time Masters golf tournament champion Bubba Watson is among the junior college's alumni. On the same highway, Street's Seafood Restaurant is a longtime gathering place for seniors and workers who fill its four large dining rooms aer loading plates along the expansive buffet line. Street's is beer known to out-of- towners for its menu dominated by shrimp, oyster and fish specialties delivered by the friendly staff. Downtown, Teresa's Bar-B-Que is new but so popular that patrons, including Alabama Power linemen, oen wait at the entrance for an open table, while other customers line up to retrieve phoned orders. Down the street, Danny's Southern Cooking is another new restaurant drawing crowds for its fried chicken and homestyle meals. Just across from the courthouse, Stacey's Drug Store is a fixture, sporting vintage orange Rexall window highlights with mortar and pestle logo while providing the special touches of a century-old hometown pharmacy. The Bay Minee Public Library nearby has stained glass windows, stemming from the building's origin as a century- old Baptist church. A couple of blocks away, people with car trouble trust Corley's Auto Care 'Removal of the County Seat from Daphne to Bay Minette' by Hilton Leech is in Post Office. Fried shrimp and seafood fills plate at Street's.

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