Weekly Update

January 14, 2021

City of Florence Municipal Offices will be closed, Monday, January 18, in honor of Martin Luther King Day. Garbage & Recycling Services will continue on normal routes next week.

A snowy day didn't stop the Street Department's Leaf Collection Team from cleaning our beautiful 'Tree City USA'!

Click here for an updated schedule.

(Remember, the date in red shows the last area completed)

Congratulations to the University of North Alabama, faculty, students, and residents of Florence!

Today President Kitts officiated a ribbon-cutting for the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions at the newly opened Harrison Hall. At the ceremony, Charles Anderson announced that the Anderson family would be gifting the Anderson College $3.2 million for undergraduate and graduate students scholarships. Roar Lions!

CALL FOR ENTRIES – Artistic Renderings of Youth

The deadline for entry in Artistic Renderings of Youth is February 19. This is a juried exhibit of artwork open to 7th through 12th-grade students from Colbert, Franklin, and Lauderdale counties. The exhibition opens March 1 and runs through March 31 at Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts in Florence.

Area art teachers coordinate the exhibit and competition. Schools may participate, or students can enter individually. Each student can enter up to three original works. Entries are juried and, if accepted, are eligible for ribbons awarded in different grade level groupings. Works must be original and can be in any medium. All 2-dimensional entries must be matted or framed. Framed pieces and canvases must have hanging wire attached on the back.

For more details on entry rules, call Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts at 256-760-6379.

Event: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Location: Norton Auditorium

Dates: Feb 6th at 7:00pm & Feb 7th at 3:00pm

Tickets: ShoalsSymphony.org or 256-710-1623

Choreographer David Justin returns to Florence bringing professional dancers from the Northwest Arkansas Ballet Theatre to grace the stage as ballet and symphony perform to Mendelssohn’s rapturous music inspired by Shakespeare’s fairy tale play. Each performance offers socially distanced seating no more than 50% capacity.

The grand experiment known as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began in 1933 as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, his ambitious project designed to create jobs during the Great Depression. With TVA came emphasis on hydroelectric power as it was given authority over Wilson Dam, which had been completed eight years earlier. TVA's second emphasis -- transforming huge nitrate plants into experimental fertilizer plants -- brought an influx of interesting, well-educated professionals to the Shoals. One of them was Miss Bertha Klenova, a Russian lady who was fluent in several languages. She was hired to translate documents -- primarily written in German -- for TVA's soil scientists. Arriving in Florence in 1939, Miss Klenova grew to love the city and the Shoals even though she had lived in major metropolitan areas in various countries. She continued to live in Florence after retiring from TVA until her death in 1984.

(Next Week: Miss Bertha Klenova, Part 2)

--Billy Warren, City Historian

The Mayor and Council members will hold the next council meeting on

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

4:00 p.m. Work Session

5:00 p.m. Council Meeting

City Auditorium

103 South Pine Street

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Email: abetterton@florenceal.org
Website: florenceal.org
Location: 110 West College Street, Florence, AL, USA
Phone: (256)760-6400