POWERGRAMS

19 before his death in 1907. Mostly female workers produced yarn, canvas and men's sportswear in the mill before it closed in the 1970s. While the factory failed, Handley Middle School and Handley High School continue producing outstanding students, including astronaut Joe Edwards and former Birmingham Mayor David Vann. The town gained a measure of international notoriety from 1899 until 1932, when Ella Smith's factory workers made thousands of Alabama Indestructible Dolls. The toys were exhibited at the 1904 World's Fair, winning a Grand Prize for innovation. Some of the prized collectibles are in galleries, such as the Randolph County Historical Museum, located in the 1940s Post Office that after major renovations will again house area artifacts. Many 19th and 20th century mansions line Main Street, giving way to less grandiose homes as the avenues move into more modern neighborhoods. The tallest structures in town feature soaring stained glass windows and brick towers. First United Methodist Church, built in 1906, with major additions in 1958 and 2002, is across from First Baptist Church, which was organized in 1845; the current building opening in 1977 after fire destroyed the first. Roanoke's First Baptist Church (Black) was organized in 1887 and the current building opened in 1918. The Roanoke athletics complex is impressive, highlighted by a recreation center and adjacent building for older adults. Surrounding those facilities are Wright Field track and stadium, where the Handley High Tigers played on the way to winning Class 4A state football championships in 2011, 2016 and 2020. Nearby are the Handley Baseball Stadium, Lady Tigers Stadium, six softball and baseball fields and two outdoor fenced basketball courts. Roanoke's city seal notes that it is "Preserving the Past, Building the Future." Fall on Main Street last October attracted more than 5,000 people. Community organizers predict that subsequent events will build on that success. "Downtown Roanoke is coming back," says Dorothy Tidwell, the 16-year executive director of the Randolph County Chamber of Commerce, who is a Handley High alumnus. "It just gives you a calm feeling to walk through our downtown area." OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTER About 20-25 students exit a school bus every hour, five times a day for a class in which none of them appears particularly suited. They are white, Black, male and female, dressed in trendy fashions more typical of an American teenager than a farmer. But what they accomplish over the next 50 minutes, what they will learn during the next semester, or years, is agricultural acumen that will perhaps last them a lifetime. Should they not choose farming as an occupation, Jody Pike believes his students will learn enough to pay dividends every day going forward. On this day, Pike sends them into Handley High School's 60-by-40-foot greenhouse, where two boys bring 40-pound bags of potting soil to their classmates to begin planting tomato seeds. The hothouse is filled with at least 500 hanging ferns, and lots of geraniums, petunias and flowering baskets that will be sold first-come, first-served on weekends in the months ahead. What's more, when the ferns die in winter, the owners will often return plants to let students regrow them: "Pure profit." "I've always got people asking about buying the plants," says Pike, a 1994 Handley alumnus who graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor's degree in physics and chemistry. "Everything in this greenhouse will sell out." That's a green advantage for the OEC, where Pike and his students start with 5-cent plastic baskets, $200 of bagged soil and then months later have finished products worth $10-$25 each. "They sell like crazy," Pike says smiling. The students raise banana trees but, unlike most everything else on the 15-acre plot, they favor peeling over profits. Students also eat up the basic courses dealing with animal/dairy science, horticulture and greenhouse fundamentals and production. They earn career and technical education credits toward graduation. Many take more than one course; those who take part for three years are known as "completers." Alongside the greenhouse are three catfish ponds, one each for ROANOKE ROANOKE An OEC student waters hanging basket that will be sold to continue their vibrant business. Historic mansions are prominent on Main Street. Students use a tractor to prepare row crops; feed catfish; monitor beehives. PHOTOS BY BREANNA WALKER PHOTO BY BREANNA WALKER

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