Living Democracy 2019

I remember my first drive through Elba.  I drove around on a quick tour for 15 minutes. I was shocked because it seemed that I had seen the whole town on that short drive. This first impression set in as I realized I would be spending my summer in a small Alabama town.

Sunday, Aug. 11, was my final day in Elba and the 70th day of my Living Democracy Internship. I drove to Elba on June 3 and covered my first story there the next day. In the intervening weeks I wrote a total of 34 stories for The Elba Clipper and took 1,115 pictures. I covered two City Council meetings and one shockingly strategic bridge club. I ate dozens of quesadillas at Monterrey's and Los Corrales and even more chicken sandwiches at the Rabbit Hole.

Phillip Box can remember the uneasy combination of emotions that he felt when he woke up early on Christmas morning of 2015 in Elba. "We knew that there was a high chance of a flood risk," Box recalled. "Right after we began to unwrap presents, I got a call that the water was rising, and we needed to prepare."