Tag Archives: Carolanne Roberts

Annual Gathering, Annual meeting, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Birmingham Historical Society, BOOK, Book Sale, Book Signing, Cake Contest, Food History, Publications

Photo Highlights from the Annual Meeting

First the PROGRAM! Birmingham boosters Stewart Dansby and Tom Cosby had the audience enthusiastically participating in a “Birmingham IQ” quiz highlighting the many superlatives that make Birmingham a great place to live. Did you know…? WOW! The audience was impressed by stats and amenities that are often overlooked by Birmingham natives.

Birmingham Historical Society President Wayne Hester begins the annual meeting as the audience reviews multiple choice answers to the “Birmingham IQ” quiz by Tom Cosby and Stewart Dansby.

Stewart Dansby and Tom Cosby created a list of multiple choice answers to test Birmingham’s knowledge of their city.

Group of five individuals posing for a photo at an event, with one person holding a tote bag that says 'Monet to Matisse'.
Pictured left to right: Stewart Dansby, Maury Shevin, Jennifer Chandler (Vulcan Park & Museum), Graham Boettcher (Birmingham Museum of Art), and Tom Cosby. Maury Shevin was the winner of the Birmingham IQ test. Jennifer and Graham donated prizes along with prizes from Lyric Theater, Rickwood Field, and Birmingham Historical Society.

Next the BOOK!

Birmingham Historical Society members all received a copy of Birmingham by the Book: A Guide to the Magic City, a definitive guide of over 50 years of research by Marjorie White about her adopted city. Tasked with directing the organization as a newcomer, one of her first goals was to create a guide and many years and over 70 publications later, this is the not-to-be-missed result. A book signing by Marjorie White followed the meeting.

Available locally at Thank You Books, Shoppe, Birmingham Museum of Art, and at Birmingham Historical Society.

After the quiz, Birmingham Historical Society VP, Rick Sprague, reported on the progress of the society since a survey produced a strategic plan that was published in 2020. He noted that ALL goals have been achieved and in some cases surpassed!


Followed by the CAKES! In recognition of the guide book’s history, all of the cakes entered used recipes that were over 50 years old with some interesting stories to accompany them.

A round, frosted cake with a smooth white icing and small red flecks, placed on a decorative glass cake stand.

And finally many thanks to the JUDGES! Three members of Les Dames d’Escoffier Birmingham agreed to judge the cakes. Christiana Roussel, Sonthe Burge, and Charbett Cauthen. We were delighted to have their expertise and share in their enthusiasm for all things culinary!

Three women smiling together at a table with desserts, including cakes and a potted plant, at an event.
Two women engage in conversation at a table filled with various desserts and snacks during an event, with a large cake prominently displayed.
A decorated table featuring several cakes and desserts, with greenery accents and decorative place settings. Three women are engaged in conversation nearby.
A pecan meringue torte displayed on a glass plate, partially sliced to reveal its interior layers. The dessert is on a yellow serving platter alongside a knife and a rolled cloth napkin. A yellow award ribbon reads 'Best Visual Presentation.'
Judges left to right: Christiana Roussel, Sonthe Burge, and Charbett Cauthen. BHS Trustee and cake contest organizer, Carolanne Roberts, chats with Christiana.

Thank you to all who participated and especially to all who attended!

Annual Gathering, Annual meeting, Birmingham Historical Society, Cake & Pie Contest, Cake Contest, Favorite Pie & Cake Contest, Food History

All About Chocolate!

A much anticipated part of Birmingham Historical Society’s annual meeting is the cake and/or pie contest featuring members’ historic recipes. Cakes are judged and prizes are awarded each year based on creativity, taste, memories, and presentation.

This year’s contest was all about chocolate! Conceived each year by BHS Trustee Carolanne Roberts, this year’s theme was “The Great Chocolate Cake Contest” – the richer and more decadent, the better! Lots of participants meant that there were not enough prizes so new awards were invented to properly acknowledge all the hard work of this year’s bakers!

A tasting followed this year’s speaker, Gerald Watkins, Director of Friends of Rickwood, who gave an enthusiastic history of Birmingham’s own Field of Dreams!

Annual Gathering, Annual meeting, BOOK, Book Sale, Cake & Pie Contest, Cake Contest, family history, Favorite Pie & Cake Contest, Food History

Fruity Wonders on Display!

The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Birmingham Historical Society featured an array of ‘Fruity Wonders‘ cakes from participants as young as 14, as well as entries by four different members of the same family who love to bake. Yum! Thank you to all who participated. Winners in multiple categories were announced at the meeting.

Always a popular annual event, this year’s entries included one cake which gave a nod to the speaker’s topic on Ancient Life in Alabama and was crawling with dinosaurs instead of fruit. The young baker explained that the dinosaurs were eating the fruit layer because it came into being during the age of dinosaurs! A special thanks to Trustee Carolanne Roberts who organized this event.

photo by Louise McPhillips
Birmingham Historical Society, Book Sale, George Ward, Research, Vestavia

Alabama NewsCenter shares Mayor George Ward’s story

Many thanks to the Alabama NewsCenter division of Alabama Power for sharing the story of George Ward’s contributions to the City of Birmingham with their customers. In their interest of highlighting ”…entrepreneurs doing innovative things, communities that make our quality of life so much better, and people doing things both great and small that make all the difference”, Alabama NewsCenter is helping the Birmingham Historical Society spread the word about a soon to be released book on Birmingham Mayor George Ward’s contributions, entitled Birmingham: The City Beautiful, compliments of G. Ward.

The NewsCenter article includes several photos of parks (courtesy of the City of Birmingham Parks & Recreation Board) envisioned by Ward in the early 19th century that are still being used today. However, his best known park was his residence on Shades Crest Mountain in Vestavia which no longer exists, but is now memorialized by the Temple of Sibyl.

You’re invited to attend a talk about the book to be released November 1st, 2021 at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The book may be purchased there or from the Birmingham Historical Society.

Annual meeting, Birmingham Historical Society, Cake & Pie Contest, Shades Creek

Ross Bridge – Remnants of the Civil War Era

The 2020 annual meeting focused on a portion of Shades Valley originally developed for the South & North Alabama Railroad which is now in the Ross Bridge community. A beautifully designed stone culvert, c. 1864, which bridged Shades Creek is all that remains of the original railroad causeway designed to bring iron ore from the Oxmoor Furnaces to Confederate arsenals.

A project of one of Birmingham’s important pioneers, John T. Milner, his railroad led to the founding of Birmingham in December of 1871. Several descendants of Milner’s attended the meeting along with an audience of over a hundred. The history of the area was presented by BHS Director, Marjorie White, and the construction of the bridge was illustrated and discussed by Birgit Kibelka.

The meeting began with a presentation of the strategic plan for BHS by Joe Limbaugh, and was followed by a ‘taste testing’ of eighteen cakes and pies based on a memorable family recipe, organized by Carolanne Roberts. Each entry was accompanied by a family history or story, and many had been baked annually for special occasions or presented as gifts for years!