This month we celebrate Shelby County’s 192nd birthday. The Shelby County Historical Society with the help and contributions of many fine Shelby County businesses and organizations celebrated this birthday with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Old Courthouse in Columbiana.

Bobby Joe Seales and everyone involved with the Historical Society do a great job of preserving our past. If you haven’t been to the museum at the Old Courthouse lately, stop in and see all of the wonderful exhibits that have been added to the collection.

It is important for us to preserve the history of Shelby County. We all share in the belief that we live in a special place. It is the hard work and vision of the founders of Shelby County and the leaders and citizens through the generations that has made our county what it is today.

By celebrating this birthday, we honor those who came before us and built our county into this special place we call home.

One of the characteristics of our county is the compassion and generosity our residents have for one another. There has been a community wide effort underway to retire the mortgage for the family of fallen Pelham Police officer Philip Davis. The folks that work in the Probate Office participated in this effort by hosting a hot dog sale that raised nearly $4,500.

We were overwhelmed by the support of not only county employees but attorneys, businesses and people that just happened to be in the courthouse when we held the sale. Because of their generosity, we raised about three times the amount we anticipated from our hot dog sale.

In addition to the ladies in the Probate Office, I am grateful to Sav-Mor, Sysco, Flowers Thrift Store, Beverly’s BBQ, Bud’s Best Cookies, Piggly Wiggly, Schwan’s, Shelby Baptist Medical Center, Sam’s Wholesale, Southeastern Temperature Controls, the Building Services Department of Shelby County, Deputy Tim Billingsley, and attorneys Randy May and Julie Kimbrough. The assistance of these fine people and organizations allowed us to have this very successful fund raising effort.