Demopolis City Council approves MCHS’s inaugural Rooster Day
Rooster Day is approved and official after the Marengo County Historical Society (MCHS) presented their plan and had it approved at a scheduled Demopolis City Council meeting Thursday night at Rooster Hall.
The April 9th celebration will be a special day to honor the 1919 Rooster Auction held in Demopolis to raise money for the Rooster Bridge that connected Marengo and Sumter Counties.
Rooster Day will start with the “Cock’s Crow 5K” that will take the same route as the Jingle Bell run during Christmas on the River.
Registration starts at 8 a.m. with the race beginning at 9 a.m.
A top Demopolis High Cross Country runner will serve as the “Lead Rooster” for the race. Anyone who finishes the race before the Lead Rooster will receive an undisclosed special prize.
More information about the Cock’s Crow 5K will be made available closer to the event.
The city council also approved all necessary accommodations for the “Rooster Fair in Public Square” that will include art and pottery made by local artists to be sold, photography, baked goods, live music and games for visitors of all ages.
Also, students from the Demopolis Advanced Robotics Team will conduct a robotics demonstration.
Rooster Fair in the Square will last from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The final event of the day will be a “Rooster Auction” at Lyon Hall where paintings and portraits of roosters will be sold that will have special prizes associated with them.
Starting at 6:30, the auction will have both live and silent aspects and will feature a live band performance. Admission is $15 and will include food provided by the MCHS, but will also be BYOB.
In other voting actions by the council, the city paid holiday calendar was approved unanimously, including the additions of Presidents’ Day, Confederate Memorial Day and Columbus Day to the list.
The reasoning provided by Mayor Mike Grayson for adding those days to the list was because banks and the post office were closed, rendering work days on those holidays ineffective.
A Severe Weather Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday was approved by the council starting on Friday, Feb. 26 at 12:01 a.m. and lasting until midnight on Sunday, Feb. 28.
During this holiday, certain severe weather preparedness items will be free of state sales taxes.
City Attorney Bill Poole addressed complaints about two dilapidated houses on the north side of East Capital Street.
The first house mentioned has already been demolished, but debris from the demolition had not been removed from the property.
Poole suggested bringing in trucks from Tuscaloosa to remove all of the debris from the property. He mentioned he would contact the owners and provide a report on progress from the matter at the next council meeting.
The second complaint was about a house adjacent to the first house, but according to Poole he did not believe the house was in poor shape.
He believed the house needed to be painted and have debris from the first house removed from the yard.