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Legendary Alabama Senator Jimmy Holley, retired, and Steve Flowers, political columnist and author, were honored at the Pioneer Museum of Alabama during the annual “Ole Time Christmas” celebration.

A short ceremony in the main exhibition area featured a sign and plaque presentation by Jeff Kervin, chairman of the museum board; Barbara Tatom, museum director; and Julia Farmer Scruggs, board member and daughter Curren Farmer, founder of the Pike Pioneer Museum, now the Pioneer Museum of Alabama.

Holley and Flowers were generous in securing funding for several new additions and projects at the museum including the Charles Henderson exhibit and a 1947 Rolling Store that originally serviced the Union Springs area, Kervin said.

Holley is a 44-year institution in the Alabama Legislature. He represented the 31st distinct as senator and representative.

His retirement on November 9, 2022, marked the end of an era Flowers said. Holley represented Coffee, Dale, Pike and Covington counties in the Senate for six terms and served from 1974 – 1994 in the State House of Representatives.

“Jimmy has been my close friend for more than 40 years,” Flowers said. “We served together and sat next to each other for 16 years in the House of Representative. We represented adjoining counties. I have never seen a more diligent and capable legislator. Jimmy has spent over half his life as a lawmaker.

Flowers said Holley was a mentor and confidante for incoming state senators.  He was generally considered the most knowledgeable person in the Senate when it came to parliamentary procedure and the rules of the Senate.

“Jimmy Holley was a role model for incoming members of the legislature and a measuring stick for seasoned members,” Flowers said. “When most legislators would simply show up to vote and, then, enjoy the nightly social events hosted by lobbyists and associations, Jimmy would go back to his hotel room and study legislation and sharpen up on the rules.

“Jimmy is an institution in the Alabama Senate and the Alabama Senate will not be the same without him. I further appreciate the decades of service he has given to his district and our state in his long tenure in the Senate. I am grateful for the wisdom and experience he has shared with our membership. Jimmy Holley has a place in Alabama political history as one of the all-time legendary state lawmakers.”