I could feel it when I saw this huge sign atop a hill along the road in south central Alabama:

Here’s the thought: “Somewhere in town there will be a big sign proclaiming this place to be the ‘City of Opportunity.’

Right?

Well…yes, finally, but almost not.

During my search, I found this:

And this really nice farmer’s market, all decked out for the holidays:

And finally, the one thing I’d been looking for:

There it was, the slogan I’d been seeking. From the obvious age and condition of this huge mural I suspect the “City of Opportunity” slogan had been used for many many years some long time ago and the place just got weary of it and moved on.   This was the only use of that slogan I found around town.

According to Wikipedia, the city’s slogan is indeed “The City of OPPortunity” but there’s no mention of that on the city website or Facebook page.    The Chamber of Commerce, however, comes through with this logo:

It’s the hometown of three NFL players, Tim Jessie, James Logan and Lamar Rogers, and also of Alberta Martin, believed to be the last surviving widow of a Confederate soldier.  She died at age 97 in 2004.

She married 81-year-old veteran William Jasper Martin in 1927, when she was 21.  At the time, the healthy Civil War pension checks were said to be a motive for many younger women marrying older, often widowed, veterans.  She was one of four such women known to have survived into the 21^st Century.  The last of them died just five years ago.