It’s a small town, but everywhere I went was bustling like an impossibly friendly city. I was raised mostly in small towns, and my husband lived in the same small town for most of his life, but Cadiz ramps up that “everyone knows everyone” vibe by, like, 10 million percent.

Hancock’s Market was packed in the afternoon and all the checkout people knew their customers and chatted with them and their neighbors as they priced their groceries. John L Street Library was a constant stream of in-and-out and people meeting and greeting. I laughed at myself at one point thinking I had found “the mall”, with all the young people interacting.

Even East End Cemetery: I wandered its rows for two days, spread over five different two hour shifts, and I don’t think I was alone for more than twenty minutes at any time. Sometimes it was maintenance people, but mostly it was loved ones visiting the site to talk a bit or place another memento. The drive by visits really had me smiling to myself. A car would pull up to an area, then the driver window would go down as the operator anxiously scanned their designated headstones and, assuming all the little statuettes, flags, flowers and what-nots were all as they should be, the window would go up and the car would move on.

I have never seen a more decorated cemetery. I took over a thousand pictures, only documenting about a third of the entirety, and almost every headstone had a little something on or next to it. Many had so many decorations that you couldn’t see any information on the stone. I was constantly bending to gently lift the edge of a flower arrangement or nudge a hanging plant to sneak a snapshot of the data buried under the gifts of remembrance.

There was no Home Depot, no Wal-Mart, no Best Buy, and no Kroger. At first it hit me as, “yep, this is a small town!” but even the smaller towns (population wise) that I and my husband were raised in had a major chain store or two. After wandering and watching, and after reading some of the old newspapers in my research efforts, I came to the conclusion that there will never be any of those big box stores in Cadiz. I believe they are very purposeful in what they allow into their community and that they believe in their community supporting each other.

Overall, it was like stepping into an alternate reality for me. I know I was in a small country town, but I easily obtained everything I needed during my visit and there was abundant technology around, including wi-fi hotspots everywhere I needed one and laptops and cell phones being used all around me. The number of people around me at all times continually astonished me. Then count in the complete lack of chain stores and neon presentation of consumables, the fact that it’s a dry county, and the continuing real interactions between human beings every where you look and it just seems like a place of contradictions that couldn’t possibly exist.

I know there are aspects of the place that I could never truly appreciate, like the dry county part – I enjoy a good glass of wine and my husband loves his specialty beers – but I sure envy them their sense of community and wonder what Madison, AL could be like with a bit more of that.

Details on all the fun to be had can be found at the Still Serving Veterans website.

Veterans that would like to attend with their families need to RSVP to Still Serving Veterans no later than 31 March 2010:

Helen McAlister
phone: 256-883-7035
email: hmcalister[at]stillservingveterans[dot]org

Volunteers are needed to help set up the picnic, serve the veterans and their families, and offer assistance during the course of the day. If you’re interested in volunteering, contact HandsOn-Huntsville:

Mona Foroughi
phone: 256-539-7797 ext. 11
email: mona[at]volunteerhsv[dot]org

A slightly worn Larkin Grant greeted me distractedly in the open area of the Care Assurance System for the Aging and Homebound (CASA) office this past Thursday. As she settled us into a conference room shared with other tenants of the United Way building for a little privacy, she smiled, shrugged and said, “Some days get a little hectic around here.”  My guess is that it got hectic enough to completely forget about our pending interview, but she didn’t bow out.

Animation appeared once we started talking about the growing needs in our community for home bound assistance. Larkin can and did rattle off statistics and projections that would intimidate the less than committed non-profit worker. CASA’s three permanent and four part-time staff serve as one of only two major providers of assistance to Madison County aged and home bound, lending a helping hand to almost 1,400 needy souls. Medicaid Waver, the other provider in the area, maintains 400 slots for all of North Alabama.

Just the facts, ma’am.

In the past two years, the number of Madison County elderly and home bound citizens calling CASA for assistance grew by 31%. Their current number is expected to double in the next ten years as the Madison County population ages. CASA’s average client is 75.4 years old, with an income of $500 per month. 89% of their clients fall below the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty level, and 29% live alone. CASA receives no reimbursement from the Government or insurance agencies. They are 100% funded through grants and private donations and the services they provide are 100% volunteer labor.

Are you nervous, yet?

A little, I think. I ask how the CASA garden is going. That’s the project that I’m most familiar with because I’ve participated in both planting and harvesting events with them over the years. It’s great fun, especially if you sign up with a group of coworkers or help out a school group. 100% of the produce grown in this community garden goes straight to local home bound who can’t afford fresh produce from a grocery store.

Larkin’s grin gets huge for a moment. She brags on volunteers who have turned the patch of ground just south of the Huntsville Botanical Garden into a year ‘round vegetable producer. She tells me how wonderful it feels to be on the receiving end of all the grateful smiles on delivery day. Three pound sacks of varied produce are delivered to as many people as can be provided for. Then she tilts her head for a second and mentions that she really wishes they could expand the lot size. Not all CASA clients get a bag. There isn’t enough to go around. That fact leads to admitting to just how bad it feels to have to tell the “lucky ones” that they won’t be getting a second bag of vegetables this year.

Aren’t there other local sources of food?

You bet. Madison County is blessed with The Salvation Army, Manna House, and several other local food banks. The only problem is that these services require that you go to the food. Home bound elderly can’t take advantage of these programs. We also have Meals on Wheels. Unfortunately, they have a limited number of slots, they don’t deliver on weekends or holidays, and their routes are restricted. Many of our poor and home bound live out in the County, beyond their reach.

How are the other CASA programs coping?

Despite the efforts of the many wonderful and giving volunteers that power everything that CASA accomplishes, backlogs are growing and waiting lists are getting longer.

CASA is grateful to the many Madison County volunteers who provide:

• Transportation services to and from doctor appointments (some TRAM tickets are purchased for these trips, but they are pricey and have to be kept to a minimum)
• Grab rails and access ramps that allow some elderly a taste of freedom from their home bound interiors.
• Weather proofing for homes to lower heating and cooling bills.
• Visits and telephone calls with elderly that have little to no other human contact in their lives.
• Yearly “be Santa to a senior” packages of treasured and most often requested gifts, including: canned food, deodorant, hand towels, sheets and the occasional heater.
  And much more.

See the CASA website for volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups of all ages. CASA provides the materials for most projects. You do the work.

So grab a hammer, push a wheelbarrow, drive a van, or just sit and talk for a bit to make a home bound person’s life a lot brighter and a bit more dignified. You are needed. Larkin Grant has the numbers, and the callers, to prove it.