$12,500 Youth Recreation Gift Bolsters Local Park Programs
De Armanville, AL · September 17, 2026
Clouds are sitting low over the ridge this morning, though that won't keep the plant sale crowd from arriving early at the botanical gardens. Grab an extra bottle of cold water before heading out the door.
The Lead
A three-decade tenure in public office concluded this week with an enduring personal boost for area youth programs. Wrapping up 32 years representing District 32 in the Alabama House, Dr. Barbara Boyd presented a final contribution of $12,500 dedicated entirely to the municipal Parks and Recreation Department. Boyd, who also spent over 45 years in local classrooms teaching high school students, directed the funding toward community center athletics and neighborhood enrichment initiatives serving young residents across the valley.
The gift arrived alongside formal council action establishing stricter operational hours across neighborhood parks to curb after-hours trespassing and improve evening park security. Parks staff will allocate the newly donated funding across upcoming fall athletic clinics, after-school programs, and equipment refreshes at community centers, with full activity schedules rolling out before the end of the month.
Local Pulse
Valley Leaders Seek Federal Outdoor Legacy Grant Parks City leaders authorized grant filings to fund trail enhancements and playground additions across the three-hundred-acre Choccolocco sports complex.
Sheriff Urges Neighborhood Watch After Break-Ins Safety Deputies ask rural residents to secure outbuildings, check trail cameras, and report suspicious evening vehicles to county dispatch.
Today's Outlook
- High 92°F · Low 68°F — Overcast
- Expect thick cloud cover all afternoon, but keep plenty of water handy in the heat.
What's On Around Town
Today
Third Thursday Plant Sale & Workshop Longleaf Botanical Gardens (920 Museum Dr), Anniston, 10:00 AM · Free Native greenery, garden ornamentals, and seasonal flower-drying demonstrations.
Free Basic Computer Class The Learning Center (426 Mulberry Ave), Anniston, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM · Free Patient, hands-on digital navigation instruction for all adult experience levels.
Youth PARD Football League Choccolocco Park (954 Leon Smith Pkwy), Oxford, 5:30 PM · Free Cheer on young valley athletes under the lights in regular-season play.
Tomorrow
- Ramble Tamble: The CCR Experience Oxford Performing Arts Center (100 Choccolocco St), Oxford, 7:00 PM · Paid
Saturday
- Alabama Cars and Coffee Oxford Exchange (1150 Oxford Exchange Blvd), Oxford, 8:00–11:00 AM · Free
- USSSA Youth Baseball Tournament Choccolocco Park (954 Leon Smith Pkwy), Oxford, 9:00 AM · Paid
- Pearls and Ivy Foundation Annual Gala Anniston City Meeting Center (1615 Noble St), Anniston, 6:30 PM · $49
Spotlight & Story
- Daniel D. Spaulding
- As curator of collections at the Anniston Museum of Natural History, he spent decades documenting regional flora, establishing a Calhoun County herbarium in the 1980s that now safeguards more than 17,000 cataloged plant specimens pressed and archived along Museum Drive.
De Armanville Daily Digest — compiled from local sources as of 6 AM. For breaking updates, follow your local newsrooms.
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