POWERGRAMS

30 and voting place, then in 1980 restored to its pioneer condition by descendants of the builders. The small, rough-hewn lumber building, which sits on split-log pedestals, has simple pews still used by visitors on special occasions. While some people picnic beneath pine trees on the grounds of the first church, Ozark has no shortage of parks. The town has few equals in public recreation, with facilities spread citywide, emanating from the 16,000-square-foot Ozark Civic Center that seats 3,600. Next door in the former Emma Flowers School is the new 501-seat Flowers Center for Performing Arts, which fronts Eagle Stadium. Behind the civic center is the Perry Recreation Center founded in 1938, and the Ozark-Dale County Senior Center. Just down Peacock Parkway is Steagall Park with picnic pavilions, a playground, splashpad, Kidzone, lighted softball and baseball fields, eight tennis courts and a basketball court, which are all lighted. Across one street is Fuqua Park, home to the youth football and baseball fields; across another street is Hodnett Nature Trail. Just down from the Alabama Power Office, Oben Everett Park has lighted basketball courts, a playground and covered pavilion. The old town charm and happenings are most likely lost on travelers along U.S. 231, which is a major thoroughfare traveled through the years by people headed to Panama City Beach and other Florida Panhandle vacation spots. That four-lane highway is home to much of modern Ozark, lined by national chain hotels, restaurants and businesses. Vacationers may recognize the half-buried pink VW in front of Our Place Diner, which opens at 6 a.m., closes at 11 p.m. and is known for "Alabama's Best Burger." Most passersby are familiar with the jet and helicopter mounted in front of the Alabama Aviation College and Ozark Airport - Blackwell Field. Since Fort Rucker opened 77 years ago, Ozark has supported Army aviation through skilled workers at the post and local factories, such as Bell Helicopter. Many residents are active or retired military, or contractors at Fort Rucker. The Bell facility in Ozark employs 170 people for helicopter maintenance and refurbishing but could add another 100 workers if the Navy chooses Bell's 407 GXi as its next training copter. Bell officials said in April the helicopter will be built in Ozark if the Navy contract is signed. BRAUER AEROSPACE It's a wonder Mike Brauer hasn't sprouted wings or a rotor. He grew up rebuilding airplanes with his dad, a design engineer who worked for Cessna and at Fort Rucker. The son graduated from Aviation College in Ozark, then got an aerospace manufacturing degree from Troy State University. As the younger Brauer talks to a visitor, there are six airplane frames stacked to his right, a World War II plane frame behind him and on his left, a German Fokker VIII World War I fighter plane with twin machine guns. Those are hobbies he will return to, he says, if he ever finds the time. Behind his desk at Brauer Aerospace, the company he started with a $400 loan in 1983, Brauer has new contract orders stacked several inches high that will take his workers through 2022. At his back are blueprints and U.S. patents that have kept Brauer and his employees busy and profitable since he decided to create a better version of the helicopter skid shoes his dad designed. He knew copters frequently — and dangerously — wear through their long, thin landing limb bottoms, so he combined tungsten and other "secret ingredients" into a thin pad that can be easily clamped onto worn-out skid shoes. Brauer initially couldn't afford to advertise but Rotor & Wing magazine, the gold standard industry publication, Dowling-Steagall House was also Ozark's first hospital. Steagall Park includes a popular Kidzone. Brauer checks world-famous helicopter skid shoes.

• Cover