to the walls and ceiling . Each frog had to be recaptured .
Another episode involved a bad-tempered brown water snake she caught at Smith Lake while fishing with Gary Legg and his father Roosevelt . She grabbed the snake by its tail in the water and was swinging it over her head until Roosevelt got a bucket to put it in . She put it in a snake bag her mother had made and took it back to Auburn . Alice thought it would be okay in her snake bag in the bathtub until she could take it to the lab the next morning .
“ Unfortunately , that did not work out , and the snake got loose and tried to go down the drain ,” Alice said . “ I had to grab it by the tail , pull it out of the drain , avoid being bitten , and put it back in the bag , sealing the hole it had created ,” she chuckled .
Her life was not entirely taken over by salamanders and music , though . She went to a scout meeting in Decatur where a friend introduced her to Don Morgan . They did not like each other initially . Don dated several of her friends on double dates . Later , Alice often rode from Auburn to Cullman with Don , where her parents picked her up . Over time they developed a friendship and gradually they started dating as seniors and during graduate school .
Don studied architecture , graduated with a degree in building construction and started a master ’ s program in city and regional planning . He joined the Air Force and served five and a half years , first as an aircraft maintenance officer at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia , and later as one of 13 Air Force Liaison officers for the Boy Scouts and other youth agencies chartered by the U . S . Congress . Alice and Don were married while she was working on her master ’ s degree in animal physiology and doing research for her thesis . At the same time , Don was going through aircraft maintenance training . They have celebrated their fifty-first wedding anniversary .
Don camped with his Father ’ s scout troop before he started elementary school , and he has been involved in scouting since he was eight years old . He is an Eagle Scout and Vigil Member of the Order of the Arrow . He was trained as a professional scouter during his Air Force assignment , and also served on two regional scout staffs as a United States Air Force Liaison for the Boy Scouts of America , and he is now in his 67th year with scouting .
Don went to many national and international scouting events , chaperoning numerous scouts . He served for 10 years as a voting member of the U . S Olympic Committee representing scouting . In the early seventies the National Explorer Olympics were held at Colorado State University , and Jesse Owens was there to work with and inspire the Explorers . At the time Alice and Don did not realize Jesse Owens was from Lawrence County .
“ Later , Nancy Shelton asked me to meet with Jesse Owens family at her
Don and Dr . Alice Holt Morgan , of Cullman , in receiving line with King Gustof and Queen Sylvia of Sweden . The couple was awarded the International Lord Baden Powell Fellowship from His Majesty King Gustof 16th .
home when they were in town for the dedication of the Jesse Owens Park and Museum ,” recalled Alice .
In 1988 , they chaperoned the youth contingent to the Olympics in Seoul , Korea . “ We were able to attend the opening and closing ceremonies and numerous Olympic and cultural events arranged for the youth ,” Alice recalled .
As Liaison Officer stationed in Fort Worth , Don traveled to all Air Force bases in Texas , New Mexico , Oklahoma , Arkansas , Louisiana and parts of Colorado , Utah and Mississippi . Alice accompanied Don on many of his trips to the bases . They often had to drive more than 300 miles between one base and the next . She drove all night while he slept so that he could be at the next base commander ’ s office by 8 a . m . the next morning . Since they were on the road so much for visiting Air Force bases and Boy Scout events , they invested in a motor home . “ We put over 50,000 miles on it since we traveled two weeks out of each month ,” she laughed .
On one of their trips , Alice spotted a tarantula and had Don turn the motor home around on a two-lane Texas road . She kept the tarantula as a pet and had to catch insects to feed it .
While stationed in Texas , Alice became a docent with the Ft . Worth Zoo that sponsored a zoo explorer post . They worked with the post and zoo personnel and went on exploring and zoo activities , including collecting , hiking , camping , and visiting other zoos in the area . On one zoo trip to Reel Foot Lake with the Explorers , they found a rare Louisiana pine snake that was taken back to the zoo to be placed in the herpetology collection there . They also accompanied the Explorers and zoo personnel on backpacking trips in Big Bend , Yellowstone , Grand Tetons , Bridger Wilderness , and Rocky Mountain National Parks . In Rocky Mountain National Park , they camped in five feet of snow . Alice was the only one with dry boots since she knew to step only where someone had stepped before her .
Due to their dedication to the Scouting community , the couple was chosen to receive an award that only a handful of people have received . The honor of Baden-Powell fellows , named for the founder of World Scouting that started in England , was bestowed upon Alice and Don . It was an impressive and prestigious event . The award was presented to them by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden . This extraordinary event made a lasting impression on the couple . Having their dedication and years of service to the Scouting community recognized was indeed an honor .
In 1974 Alice started work on her PhD in anatomy at UAB , while Don was still at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth , Texas . She found a house to rent in Gardendale and began classes . Four years later , Alice started medical school . Due to her vast knowledge and experience , she was able to teach her
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