Who Is Behind Sweetwater Mansion? (A Re-Blog from O.B.)

Yesterday O.B.'s Corner blogged concerning some personal attacks the writer received from Sweetwater Mansion's Social Media Adviser Dot Bowers, aka D. J. Bowers. Since we are about to begin a multi-part expose' written by a former volunteer at Sweetwater, we are publishing slightly edited parts of O.B.'s comments as an introduction:

I just wanted to share a couple of the things I had gotten in messages and let you judge for yourself. I cannot make your minds up for you but it is my belief that the house is not in good hands. That has been my whole purpose in trying to let people know about what is going on. Apparently some people either do not care or are just so wrapped up in the history, they are blind or brainwashed.

With that said…here are a few snippets and my personal response to them. You can click on the snippets to enlarge them.

I took this as a personal threat from Sweetwater. Real classy.

First of all, I don’t blog on Ripples. Although I have commented on it. And in this case, the promise is nothing more than a threat wrapped in toilet paper. And me taking the fall? That and back off are two more threats as far as I’m concerned. But Dorkus Jane is correct, I don’t know her. Nor do I want to.

I have never posted her mother's name on my blog. Matter of fact I didn’t even know it. This is the only blog I do. People need to get their facts straight before running off at the mouth. Oh, and Ms. Drama? I have a life and a job. Thanks anyway for your concern.

So you see? This is what is leading the Sweetwater/Weeden mansion. This is the kind of people that are overseeing the goings on at the historical home that continues to lie in shambles. Would you want your child or yourself for that matter to be associated with this kind of temperament? Only you can answer that for yourself. I’ve been accused of trespassing there and even knocking on one of the volunteer's door. Amazing.

And yet again…I get accused of something. I have never mentioned SW having a Twitter account. This is just more of the same garbage these people spew. A hate group? That’s laughable.

I wasn’t going to even blog this today. I was going to delete the whole thing and just let it go. But I think the public needs to know what the leadership at Sweetwater is doing.


You may click on any image to enlarge.

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What is the leadership at Sweetwater doing? Apparently very little according to the reports that have reached us. It was and still is our belief the old house and property will be sold if the owner receives what she considers the right offer. We will assume Susan Leigh Smithson would consider much less than the nine million asking price of record.

Most of the volunteers at the ostensible renovation/restoration of Sweetwater are college and high school students. Tomorrow we'll publish Part I of one such volunteer's experiences working with the current Sweetwater Committee.



Shoalanda

Meet Larry Fisher: Real Person, Real Hero

Larry Fisher is a Shoals native, US military veteran, retired retailer, political activist, and Southern gentleman. It's the latter attribute that catapulted him into a situation he never anticipated.

Born in the Shoals, Larry enlisted in the Air Force after finishing school. After eight years of serving his country, he worked in retail for 38 years. His career in sales was varied; at one time Larry owned seven clothing stores in Mississippi. Most recently he worked as a retail consultant from 2000 to 2004, traveling around the country overseeing going-out-of-business sales.

Since 2004, Larry and his wife of 49 years have been retired and living in Shreveport, Louisiana. The couple have three successful children: His daughter is a banker in Texas; one son is an attorney in Florida, and another son owns a mortgage company in Shreveport. Larry proudly states he has four grandchildren, ages 18, 14, nine, and two.

If you think Larry is now content to rest on his accumulated laurels, nothing could be farther from his current life. Larry has become a political activist and isn't shy about voicing his opinions, political or otherwise. A niece who resides in Muscle Shoals describes Larry as "very political, and opinionated and outspoken."

It was a mixture of Larry's activism and genteel upbringing that recently caused the former Shoals resident some egregiously unfair criticism. On the morning of September 27th, Larry logged onto Facebook and began to read the posts since his last visit. A video from Sweetwater Mansion caught his eye, and after watching the brief clip, Larry felt he had to comment. In today's world of Paris Hilton soft porn hamburger commercials and airwaves filled with words that were unmentionable a generation ago, the video may have seemed innocuous to most, but to Larry Fisher, a clip involving synchronized pelvic thrusts seemed totally out of place coming from an "ante bellum mansion," a home whose renovation he was encouraging others to support.

Sweetwater promptly answered Larry, stating she thought the clip would be viewable by only a select few, but offered no apology. Larry took umbrage to the message, and thus began a surprising battle between the Sweetwater Mansion Facebook page and the retired retailer. Below are some remarks from Sweetwater's media coordinator and Florence Neighbors.





Larry would like for everyone to know that he has only one personal Facebook page, he is indeed male, he doesn't live in Tuscumbia, and he's about as real as they come. As far as his being a narcissist, we will have to ask his wife if he spends too much time in front of the mirror.

We'll add that we're unsure to what threats Ms. Bowers is referring, but Sweetwater is not a Federal landmark. The vulnerability of Sweetwater Mansion to developers is the primary reason we wish to see it safely in the hands of a legal public or private organization that will ensure future generations may enjoy it, as well as ensure all funds designated for restoration are indeed used for such.

Many have been so impressed by Larry Fisher's attitude and insight that they have created a Facebook Fan page for the former Shoals resident. You can become a fan of Larry at:

Larry Fisher Fan Page

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You may also wish to become a fan of Larry's political page:

Democrats, Liberals and Other Idiots

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Shoalanda



Connecting October 7th. This time we mean it!