POWERGRAMS

32 32 turns to amazement at the bits and pieces of Williams' life he reveals. Could this mild-mannered man have beaten an Olympic gold medalist in a footrace, played professional baseball, spent time with the Dallas Cowboys and set Ohio Valley Conference records that still stand? "He was Bo Jackson before Bo Jackson," says Talladega High School Assistant Principal Chuckie Miller, whose father coached Williams as an All-State basketball player. "He was a world-class sprinter, and Talladega High School didn't even have a track." "He was the real deal," says Wayne Williams, who was head track and field coach at Austin Peay University before becoming the University of Alabama's top track assistant from 1978 until 1997 and then taking the top track job at Southern Miss until 2007. His star at Austin Peay performed so well that, in recent years, Johnny became the second AP athlete ever selected for the OVC Hall of Fame, but he declined the honor offered by the 13-member, 71-year-old conference. "He's as low-key a guy as you'll ever meet," Miller says. "He's just never been interested in tooting his own horn." Williams still holds the OVC indoor track and field 60-yard dash record at 6 seconds flat, set in 1976. He was the 60-yard conference champion in 1976 and 1977. He anchored the OVC record-setting 440-yard relay champions (40.44 seconds) those same years. Williams was OVC outdoor champ in 1976 in the 100-yard dash (9.4 seconds) and 200-yard dash (21 seconds) and in 1978 in the 100 meters (10.4). In 1976, Williams helped Austin Peay break Western Kentucky's 12-year streak as outdoor champions, as he won Athlete of the Year and Wayne Williams Coach of the Year honors. Muhammad Ali got wind of Williams, who had outrun Auburn University's champion sprinter Harvey Glance in the Senior Bowl Classic, and invited Williams to the celebrated boxer's track meet in California, where the athlete and coach met "The Greatest of All Time." Williams would go on to be drafted by the Cowboys, despite playing football only in his sophomore year of high school. He played professional baseball in the Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals organizations. Today he smiles and backs away when a reporter pulls out a notebook and pen. "No, no, that's all in the past," Williams says, shaking his head. Moses says special people are common customers at Dega Brewhouse, Talladega's only public bar setting. Hers and nearby unique businesses complement Courthouse Square. "This is why I love to live in Talladega," she says. "There's more than the racetrack, though we appreciate the racetrack, there's just so much more." ALABAMA POWER OFFICE Customer Service Representative Sue Patterson has been with Alabama Power for 29 years, previously working in the old Childersburg Office, Goodwater Office, Gardendale Office, Birmingham Call Center and Pelham Office. A graduate of Winterboro High School and Central Alabama Community College, she has two grown daughters, Lindsey and Kristy, and three grandchildren: Ethan (16), Hadyn (14) and Harper (3). Customer Service Representative Linda Sims has worked at the Talladega Office since 2003 and been with the company for 20 years. The Talladega High and Alabama Community College graduate has lived in Talladega all her life. She has two grown children, two stepchildren, nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Customer Service Representative Sharlea Taylor has been with Alabama Power for 3 ½ years, starting out at the Metro Central Office before moving to the Talladega Office to be closer to her 19-year-old son, Travon McClellan, who attends AIDB and makes wood stakes for Alabama Power at the E.H. Gentry Center wood shop. She and her 10-year- old daughter, Aleah, live in Odenville. "Talladega is small but it has big things," Taylor says. "I am very grateful for AIDB developing programs for all impaired people. It was a blessing for me to get transferred to this location." Williams still holds records four decades later. Sims, Patterson and Taylor at APC Office.

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