It is beautiful day as I look out over fields of Alabama red clay. Around me spring is in bloom the lavender shades of Red Bud speckle the tree lines and white Dogwood blooms dot the newly emerged shades of bright green coming from the branches of Maples, Oaks, Tulip Poplars, and Birch trees.
This is Alabama the Beautiful, called so because of its land and biodiversity. There are families who have called this land in Madison County home for centuries, one of those families is The Hays.
In April 1814 under President James Madison, the Hays legacy of land began. The first property was over 160 acres purchased at the corner of Drake and Triana. This began the business of buying and selling land.
On this day John Hayes, Jimmy Hayes, and Jeff Enfinger sit down to talk about their land, their family, and memories of growing up on the farm.
John Hays begins by saying, "In all we do we believe in providing park land for the people." This is evident in their Hampton Cove development with the Hays Nature Preserve and now their 850 acre Hays Farm master planned community with over 500 acres reserved for park land and gifted to the city of Huntsville. Jeff Enfinger details, "The park plan is made up of three different kinds of parks, a passive park with walking trails, a recreational park, and an urban park similar to Big Spring Park."
John says, "Another way to say it is that the people in this Hays Farm community live inside a big park."
In 1906 L.G. Hays bought the property that is now Hays Farm and 5 generations have lived on that farm, that has always been a working farm from cotton to soy beans to cattle. In fact the infamous bovine Lily Flagg was raised on Hays Farm.
This working relationship with the farm and with this community is carried on in everything the Hays family does. "Our family believes in education of children, quality of life for the community, and protection of habitat," John reads part of the family's mission statement. Enjoyment of the land by this community is what the Hays family thrives on. For families to walk the trails, picnic in the green spaces, fish in the water, and simply breathe fresh air is the top goal in each development.
John, Jimmy Hayes, and Jeff each experienced this symbiotic relationship with the land growing up as part of the Hays family. As they begin talking about their childhood, Jimmy remembers family dinners with lots of conversation. "Mother would say if anyone started talking about other people, 'We all have our feet under the table and this shall go no further.' and of course what she was saying was any gossip goes no further than this table." He continues, "She would also tell us 'Anything we say needs to be in the best interest of all concerned.' "
John remembers when his dad ran the first telephone to the farm. "At that time the only telephone service was in downtown Huntsville and daddy decided he wanted telephone service at the farm. So he himself dug and set the poles connecting the wiring to the two farm houses, so we could have telephone service and talk back and forth."
When asked about favorite memories of growing up on the farm John immediately says, "Hunting, we've always been a big hunting family. When I was little we would quail hunt and for whatever reason in the 50s and 60s we had an influx of ducks in the area, so I remember waking up early with our dogs and going wig hunting."
The mention of their retrieving dogs brings up lots of memories. Jimmy begins to tell a story of an early morning hunt with a group of black Mallards. "The sun had heated up the ice and before we knew it we were all the way in the water, we eventually made it out and made it home thankful we didn't freeze to death."
Jeff reminisces, "I lived away but would come here at holidays. I guess I began visiting every year when I was 10 or 12." He laughs, "I think it was colder in the 60s, and John and Jimmy would always give he their boots to go duck hunting. Well the boots they would give me to go hunting in would always have holes in them. And of course being the young one I wasn't allowed to complain!" Jeff remarks, "Even with frozen feet those memories on the farm are some of my favorites."
When asked what is the craziest thing they have ever found on a development site, Enfinger replies, "A Mammoth tooth that was bigger than my hand."
The legacy these three men have left on this community cannot be measured. And it speaks volumes in everything their hands touch. John ends our conversation remarking on this legacy of land, "Through education people improve their lives, with an improved quality of people are happier, and of course through wildlife and wildlife habitat protection we get to experience this earth through mother nature."
In 1814 under President James Madison, the Hays legacy of land began.
In all we do we believe in providing park land for the people.