Too Many Dogs, Too Many Weeds

As Community Services Director, Todd Nix oversees both the Florence Animal Shelter and the Florence City Cemetery. These adjacent entities lie in the southeastern quadrant of downtown and share similar problems--too little to deal effectively with too much.

Apparently a local breeder recently chose the overnight hours to drop off several miniature Doberman Pinschers. The Florence-Lauderdale Shelter, already teeming with seasonal puppies and kittens, now faces the unwanted task of disposing of the additional overflow. MinPins are extremely intelligent dogs and make excellent house pets due to their temperament and compact size. We urge anyone seeking a new canine-American companion to visit the shelter first.

One would think an abundance of grass would be easier to bring under control, but according to Nix and Florence Cemetery Sexton Frank Townsell, lawns that need to be mowed every four days are now cut on the average of every nine. Some months ago we personally spoke with cemetery workers concerning shrubbery that had encroached on the graves of a prominent early Twentieth century Florence family. These groundskeepers reported they did not usually trim or prune shrubs or trees, leaving that to the families of those buried there.

After returning to the cemetery, lopping shears in hand, we remembered an anecdote heard in childhood. The Florence City Cemetery Sexton of that era was a teetotaling Baptist who, much to the chagrin of his wife, was each Christmas flooded with bottles of Scotch and similar potables by the surviving families of those who had fallen under the sexton's care. Perhaps such an offering today might just encourage the mower's wheels to turn a little faster.


What's up with this: A ShoalsInsider article from yesterday questioned whether the TimesDaily Forums were still up and running. While they are still very much with us, they do seem to be on life support.

Shoalanda