The City of Andalusia will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 24 and 25, for the Christmas holiday.

Tuesday's and Wednesday's garbage routes will be picked up on Thursday, Dec. 26. 

Thursday's and Friday's routes will be picked up on Friday, Dec. 27. 

The City of Andalusia will be closed on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in observance of the New Year holiday. 

However, public works crews will work on New Year's Day, and the garbage schedule will not be interrupted. 

We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday, and look forward to all that the New Year holds. 

The City of Andalusia will be closed on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 28 and 29, in observance of Thanksgiving. 

Thursday's and Friday's garbage routes will be picked up on Monday, Dec. 2. 

Tuesday's and Wednesday's routes will be picked up on Tuesday, Dec. 3. 

The holiday shopping season is officially under way this week, and City of Andalusia officials are encouraging residents to shop local, especially on Saturday, which is known nationwide as “Small Business Saturday.”

“The holiday shopping season is critically important for the success of retailers, especially for our locally-owned businesses,” Mayor Earl Johnson said.

To encourage local residents to support local businesses, the City has purchased 1,000 reusable shopping bags which it is providing local retailers to begin using this weekend.

“It is our hope that Andalusia shoppers will use these bags as a reminder of the importance of local retail to our economy,” the mayor said.

The City promotes shopping at home every holiday season, but decided to put an extra spin on it this year with the bags.

“We track our retail sales month-to-month and year-to-year,” the mayor said. “We can see, analytically, how important these sales are to local business owners. These businesses support the local teams, bands, and special events that make our community so special, and I want to encourage you to support them in return.”

Local retailers who haven’t received shopping bags to distribute this week should call Michele Gerlach at 428-1143.

The mayor said that local retail sales and lodging have been on an upward trend in December in the past 11 years.

“We know that retail sales in the month of December grew 35 percent in the first 10 years we partnered with the Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce to present Christmas in Candyland,” Johnson said. “This event brings thousands of people to our community, and helps our retailers and restaurants have successful seasons.”

Last year, there were more than 65,000 visits to Candyland, which opens this year on Friday, Dec. 6.

Lt. Col (ret) George Judson (Jud) Whitlock, a former pilot of Marine One and Marine Two, will be the guest speaker for the 2024 Veterans Day ceremony.

The ceremony is hosted by the City of Andalusia at the Covington Veterans Monument immediately following the Chamber of Commerce’s 10 a.m. Veterans Day parade.

Whitlock is a native of Memphis who was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps after graduating from Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis.

After completing The Basic School (TBS) in Quantico, Va., he reported to flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, where he was designated a naval aviator in 1977.

Whitlock spent 22 of the next 24 years in the cockpit, and accumulated 5,300 accident-free hours in eight different aircraft.

Highlights of his career included selection to command two squadrons, one a tactical, Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462 (HMH-462) at MCAS Tustin, CA, and one a training, Marine Helicopter Training Squadron 301 (HMT-301) at MCAS Kaneohe Bay, HI.  Additionally, he was selected to be assigned to Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1), where he became a White House Aircraft Commander and was a Marine One Co-Pilot and Marine Two Pilot during the Reagan/Bush administration. While assigned to HMX-1, one of his primary duties was as White House Liaison Officer (WHLO), and he was honored to perform advance work for Pope John Paul II’s trip to Los Angeles.

He performed various other flying assignments including Standardization Officer, NATOPS Model Manager, and multiple assignments in both the Operations and Maintenance Departments of tactical and training squadrons.  He was the Executive Officer of HMH-462 during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, commonly called the first Gulf War.

Staff assignments included two tours at Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC) in the Manpower and Reserve Affairs Division, where he served as the Head of Officer Career Counseling and the Head of Prevention and Education Programs. 

He retired from the Marine Corps in January of 2000 with more than 24 years of service. Personal decorations include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal (two gold stars), Navy Commendation Medal (two gold stars), Air Medal (strike /flight numeral 3), Presidential Service Badge, Sea Service Deployment ribbon (with three stars), and the Kuwait Liberation Medal. 

After retiring, Whitlock used his experience in Marine aviation at Headquarters Marine Corps, Training and Education Command (TECOM), as a contractor supporting the Aviation Standards Branch (ASB) in Quantico, Virginia.  During this time, his extensive background in the Training and Readiness (T&R) process for training aircrew led to the design, development, and fielding of the Core Competency Resource Model (CCRM), an analytical process/model that objectively links training standards and readiness reporting levels to resource requirements. For the past 16 years, the CCRM Flight Hour Module has been the Marine Corps sole source justification tool for submission of Marine Corps flight hour budget, a $6.0B requirement. 

He and his wife, Gayle, moved to Andalusia in 2014. They are the parents of Dr. Shannon (Ronnie) Levitzke, Kyle Whitlock, and Megan (Matt) Brady, and the grandparents of 8 Jocelyn, Tyler, Mia, Abby, Claire, Paige, Molly, and Harrison.

Whitlock said his retirement goals include spoiling his grandchildren and reducing his handicap in golf.