Langley to continue as Historical Society president

The Hoover Historical Society recently installed Jim Langley as president of the group for a second year and honored him with the Jack Crouch Service Award given to the outstanding volunteer of the year.

The society also installed Carolyn Kolar as first vice president, Linda Joseph as second vice president, Edna McWilliams as treasurer, Arnold Singer as assistant treasurer and Deborah Burtnett as correspondence secretary, and gave special recognition to Inez McCollum, who retired as docent for The Folklore Center in Bluff Park in November.

Langley has taken the society on numerous historic tours, ranging from the German Prisoner of War Camp Museum in Aliceville to the famous “face in the courthouse window” in Carrollton, the Jack Warner Museum in Tuscaloosa, three historic plantation homes that belonged to founders of the Birmingham area, and a Christmas visit to American Village in Montevallo.

He also conducted numerous tours of Hoover, sharing the history of the Native Americans who dwelled in the area, stories of early settlers such as the Tyler, Patton and Hale families, and the history and contributions of William Hoover, the city’s namesake.

Langley served active duty tours with the U.S. Army in Alaska, Korea and Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and retired from the Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel with 23 years of service. In his civilian career, he took an early retirement from BellSouth Communications.

McCollum has served the society in a number of roles, including president and several times as secretary. She also is a past recipient of the Jack Crouch Service Award. She and her late husband, Mack, came to Hoover as he finished his pastoral training at Samford, and they raised three sons.

McCollum has had stories frequently published online by Alabama Pioneers. Recent ones have included “What is the Strangest Thing You Ever Ate?” and “Have You Ever Seen the Cahaba Lily in bloom? You Shouldn’t Miss It This Time!”

She is involved in her church and other civic organizations, has traveled the world with a group called Friendship Force, has hosted people from other countries and every February participates in the “Great Backyard Bird Count.”