Lake Martin Magazine

We interviewed Kathryn E. Holland Braund, the new president of Lake Watch Lake Martin and Hollifield Professor of History at Auburn University.

Lieutenant Colonel R. E. “Bo” Jordan of Eclectic is a rare commodity. At 92 years old, he is one of our country’s last living World War II heroes. We visited the pilot-turned-boat-maker at his farm outside of town to talk about the war, the marine business he operated on Lake Martin for 50 years and what really matters after nearly a century of walking the Earth.

Lake Martin’s Randy Baker is married to Sharon Baker and has five children and three grandchildren. “I am a life long resident of Alexander City, who in my 58 years has seen many changes in our city and surrounding area,” Baker says. “But one thing remains the same: we have one of the most beautiful lakes in the U.S.”

Brian Bice, owner of Bice Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Alexander City, is married to Ellen Ferguson Bice from Signal Mtn., Tenn. (this May will be 15 years) and they have 7-year-old twins Mary Elizabeth and Robert. He attended Auburn University and graduated from AUM, but has always been an Alabama fan. As a teenager, Brian was a competitive water skier who won the state championship three years in a row.

Barry Holdridge was born in 1941 in an industrial town in the state of New York. Six years later, he moved to the Sand Mountain area of North Alabama. There, with his parents and grandparents, he lived on a farm for three years. The family then moved to Fort Payne, Ala., where Barry graduated from Fort Payne High School.

Allison Wetherbee works as the Community Relations Director for Camp ASCCA Easter Seals. Originally from Camden, Ala., Allison graduated from Auburn University in Montgomery with a master’s degree in counseling. She became a mental health therapist in 1996 and worked in that profession for 11 years in Russellville, Ala.

A lifelong journalist, Bill Brown worked as a reporter or editor for several newspapers in the Southeast, including The St. Petersburg Times and The Montgomery Advertiser. He and his wife, Adelaide, live on the lake in Dadeville. They have two grown children and six grandchildren.

Robert Gunn’s Lake Martin roots run deep. He’s a third generation Alexander City resident who returned home after graduating from Auburn University. He’s the director of events and social media for Russell Lands On Lake Martin. He and his wife, Linda, live in Alexander City and have two grown children, Hayden and Carlisle.

Dana Rickman is the director of marketing communications for Alabama’s Special Camp for Children and Adults (ASCCA), which serves people with physical and mental disabilities on a campus on the northern end of the lake. Dana and her husband, Matt, who is camp director, live at Camp ASCCA with their children, Zach and Andie. Dana [...]

Alexander City residents Deano and Janene Vopal have traveled a long way from their native Wisconsin.