POWERGRAMS

31 the past 20 years working on airplanes and helicopters. Flying machines from across the country line the floor of the former Tuskegee Airmen metal hangar that was moved to Clanton in 1948. The massive, historic structure dwarfs the brick-walled hangar next door built through the Works Progress Administration in 1937, but the smaller hangar holds haunting memories of a tragedy 65 years ago on Gragg Field. On June 30, 1954, the WPA hangar was packed for a Peach Festival concert by the Blackwood Brothers Quartet. Because the runway was unlighted, minutes before he would take the stage, James Blackwood decided to fly the group's Beechwood Model 18 around the airport. The founder/lead singer took bass singer/copilot Bill Lyles up to "get the lay of the field." They were joined on the spur of the moment by Airman 2nd Class Johnny Ogburn Jr., 20, the son of the festival founder. Most of the huge crowd watched the plane take off as darkness fell on the field. Blackwood circled overhead several times, then missed his first aempt at landing. On the second aempt, his twin- engine plane bounced off the runway, went into a vertical climb, hung momentarily high in the air and flipped, diving into the runway and bursting into flames. Rescue aempts were futile. "At first, I thought it was some kind of prank, but all of a sudden people were running out of the hangar onto the landing field," says Billy Joe Driver, Clanton's nine-term mayor who witnessed the crash. "We just couldn't believe what had happened. It didn't seem real." The Blackwood Brothers would soon reorganize with new members, earn the admiration of Elvis Presley (singing at his funeral) and become synonymous with gospel music, continuing today performing with new members. Blackwood family members oen visit the granite monument alongside the runway that honors the trio killed in the crash. For Chilton Countians who were alive in 1954, the catastrophe brings a reaction similar to what later Americans would feel about the Kennedy assassination or 9/11, recalling exactly where they were when they heard the bad news. "It's one of those things you try to forget but can't," says Driver, who went to the crash site aer the wreckage cooled and picked up a couple of melted Blackwood Brothers records he has at home. "It's still hard to believe. It was beyond imagination." The airport has survived the tragedy and thrives as never before in its 82-year history. "For many years the airport was not only for transportation but was the social center of Clanton, the site of county fairs and the Peach Festival," says Billy Singleton, a commercial pilot who is president of the Chilton County Chamber of Commerce and secretary of the Airport Authority. "The airport has essentially evolved into something that provides benefits for all the citizens of the county. We are now generating revenue for operations that we don't have to ask taxpayers to support." Rent comes from airport hangars that store 30 airplanes, as well as from Gilliland's B&G Flying Service, which employs seven mechanics. Airport facilities have been modernized but Singleton is seing his sights on runway lighting improvements and a 1,000-foot-long extension that would allow corporate jets to land in Clanton. He expects the safety upgrades to be made within two years. ALABAMA POWER OFFICE Business Office Manager Van Forrester at the sprawling Clanton Operating Center is responsible for smooth customer service operations in parts of Autauga, Chilton and Coosa counties. He's held his current post for more than five years of his 38 with Alabama Power. Forrester is married to Diane, a Clanton native, and they have two grown children, Tara and Casey, and five grandchildren: Maddi, Lauren, Adam, David and Chandler. Active in the community, Forrester is chairman of the Chilton County Industrial Development Board, on the Education Workforce Development Council, and the Jefferson State Community College Community and Corporate Advisory Board. In 2015, he was president and in 2016 chairman of the board of the Chilton County Chamber of Commerce. Forrester started with Alabama Power in the Southern Division Call Center, moved to the Montgomery District Office, then to the Alabama Science Center, returned to the Montgomery District, and before his current job was a technical representative in the Southern Division Marketing & Major Accounts Automotive Segment. Forrester first came to Chilton County as a 10th Two of the five original Blackwood Brothers died in crash. PHOTO COURTESY BILLY SINGLETON Chilton County Airport opened 82 years ago.

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