I f you heard it in the beauty parlor, it might be fodder for this year’s Red Garter Review, which opened at LBWCC’s Dixon Center last night to great laughs.

It was the Andalusia Junior Woman’s Club’s 30th annual show, themed “Sweet Home Alabama.”

“If you don’t know what the heck you’re doing, somebody else sure does,” co-host Hannah Merrell said as she introduced a skit set in “JayKay’s Beauty Salon” where Amy Dugger, a la Olympia Dukakis in “Steel Magnolias” pitched plans for her mayoral campaign. Tara Dalton’s character said good hair is important for a campaign.

“The DA, well he has those long, luscious locks. Judge Short has good hair. And Judge McGuire. Well, he used to have hair,” she said.

If District Attorney Walt Merrell ever had any secrets, his wife and co-host told them, including the story of when she fell in love with him.

“You know he was a long snapper in high school,” she said of an early date at the University of Montevallo. “I guess he was trying to impress me, because he told me to get way back and he’d snap the ball to me.”

She said that, like Andalusia, Montevallo is a small place where people know each other’s business.

“And everybody knew Walt went commando,” she said.

Just before the man who would be her husband snapped the ball, she said, the crotch of his khaki shorts ripped.

“It was love at first sight,” she said.

Tickets to the show, which runs again at 7 tonight, Sat., March 9, are $12 for general admission and $15 for reserved seating. Tickets are available at the door or from Ansley Place or Harold’s.

- Andalusia Star News 

Red Garter Review begins tonight at 7, at the LBWCC Dixon Center.

This year’s theme is Sweet Home Alabama, and will feature performers, jokes and more.

Tickets are $15 for reserved and $12 for general admission.

- Andalusia Star News

Eat better, feel better, that’s what Tropical Smoothie Café hails as its slogan, and soon Andalusia residents will have the opportunity to try the menu.

Skip Enzor, of the local Little Caesars/Tropical Smoothie Café, said the menu boasts fresh, healthy and flavorful food and smoothies.

The menu includes toasted wraps, sandwiches, flatbreads and gourmet salads made fresh with high quality meats and cheeses and serves them with fresh produce and appetizing sauces.

“We’ll always have fresh food,” he said. “Our truck will run twice a week, so nothing will sit on the shelf for very long. We want the freshest quality we can give our customers.”

There’s also a kids menu with wraps, cheese quesadillas, salads and cheese pizza.

Another feature Enzor said people may not know is that they have an all-day breakfast menu with items such as wraps, sandwiches and bagels ranging in price from $1.59 to $3.99.

And smoothies are a big part of the business with kids’ smoothies, supercharged smoothies, indulgent smoothies, and low-fat smoothies.

Supplements such as energizer, ground flax seed, vitamin-C immune complex, multi-vitamin, weight management, whey or soy protein and whole grain oats are available.

Smoothie flavors range from Sunny Day, which is a mango, banana, orange and kiwi combination, to Triple Berry Oat, which is a strawberry, blueberry, cranberry, multi-vitamin, ground flax seed, whole grain oats, whey protein and Splenda combo.

And for those in a hurry, orders should never take more than six minutes, Enzor said.

But what Enzor said will set Tropical Smoothie Café apart is the customer service.

“We will definitely be customer service-oriented,” he said. “It will be different in that you will be able to get consistent customer service. We’re going to have a plan more like Chick-fil-A, and we’re only going to keep those who have good customer service.”

The new café will open in the old Subway location next to Little Caesars on the West Bypass.

Opening day is March 14, and business hours will be Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m., and from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Sunday.

- Andalusia Star News

Get ready to “Relay” the message – the Andalusia Police Department will host its fourth annual “Arrest A Friend” on April 5.

The event is one of the most attended Covington County Relay for Life fundraisers and will be featured again on the Court Square in Andalusia.

“Warrants” can be signed Mon., April 1, through April 4 at 4 p.m. at the APD, located at 102 Opp Avenue, and on April 5 on the Court Square the day of the event. Price per warrant is $2 and a minimum bond of $10 has been set. Maximum bond amounts are not set; however, it is asked that you only sign “warrants” for reasonable amounts. The event will run from 8 am until the last warrant is served that Friday.

Officers will pick up the “suspects” and transport them to the holding facility located on Court Square where they can bond out or sit in jail until they can collect the money needed for their bonds.

The city’s Relay team will also be holding their annual hamburger/hotdog cookout the same day.

- Andalusia Star News