POWERGRAMS

26 onto a main thoroughfare at midday. They linger until a car horn honks, prompting them to slowly move out of the street. As the world turns, Georgiana is just Hank-ing on. This tiny town in south central Alabama has changed in many ways since its most famous son lived here for a few childhood years in the early 1930s. Georgiana was a bustling railroad and lumber town then, stemming from its 1855 origins. It looks much the same today but time has not stood still for most of the businesses and 1,700 residents. A new bypass diverts many outsiders around the outskirts of town. There's a Fred's and Subway and several other new businesses on the revised route. Longtime businesses almost a stone's throw to the north no longer see much of the former beach traffic. Kendall's BBQ has been a fixture at the Interstate 65 exit for nearly 20 years. On a breezy aernoon, heat from the pit rushes through one of two windows on the small metal building as a UPS driver and an Alabama State Trooper place their orders. The smoky aroma of pulled pork oen lingers on satisfied customers. Folks who choose to follow the road 2 miles into Georgiana will find no traffic lights. Most houses are modest, one-story, well-kept with manicured lawns and gardens, reflective of the blue-collar background of the original homeowners. Downtown is divided by three side-by-side railroad tracks, one of them suddenly occupied by a long series of freight railcars speeding through. For any pedestrian who dares, a steel and wood walkway built in 1916 provides a path over the trains. On the south side of the tracks, Feed, Seed & Farm Supply closes, as in the old days, at noon on Wednesday, and all day on the Sabbath. Nearby at Lowery Sales and Service, a metal mailbox with a small lock is aached to an outside column for aer-hour payments. Cuts & Curls by Erica welcomes patrons on the corner. The First United Methodist Church the next block over is, perhaps, the town's most impressive building, highlighted by tall stained-glass windows within the red brick walls that on one corner rise to a large turret and at the opposite end to a higher steeple. Next door is the log cabin home of the Georgiana Garden Club founded 68 years ago. City Hall on the north side of the tracks holds down one end of a city block adjacent to the Ga-Ana Theatre, where young Hiram Williams watched Westerns on Saturdays and made his local stage debut in 1939 as a 16-year-old performing with the Driing Cowboys. The theater closed in 1959 and was set for demolition before J.C. Sims bought and renovated it in 1999. A lile farther back is Food Giant, the town's grocery store, and not too far down State Route 106 is the new Trustmark bank. But the wholly unexpected aspect of downtown is the dominance of its medical community. Building aer building is occupied by healthcare businesses: DCI Georgiana dialysis center, Reliable Home Health, Butler Primary Care, Alabama Wellness and Prevention Center, Georgiana Medical Clinic, Emergency Medical Services, Ivy Creek Clinic, Stabler Clinic and, a few blocks away, Georgiana Health & Rehabilitation. Georgiana Hospital With about 880 fewer beds than University Hospital in Birmingham, Georgiana Hospital is one of Alabama's smallest medical facilities, if not the smallest. Administrator Pai Cook is quick to point out that doctors and nurses in Georgiana meet the same state and federal standards as those at UAB and other nationally prominent facilities. Two mutts meander GEORGIANA

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