Finding the miracles at Dugger Mountain Music Hall is as easy as counting stars on a crisp Alabama night or magical notes flowing from the stage.

In an old church along Highway 9, somewhere between Rabbittown and Piedmont in North Alabama, the miracles just seem to take root. Take a look at this one. “It was a Saturday night and I went to a concert at Dugger Mountain,” explains Blake Lowry, Alabama Power‘s residential marketing representative, Eastern Division. “It was supposed to be just music. Then I met Bob McLeod.”

That’s enough for most people, meeting the man behind the music hall and the ministry called Our Father’s Arms (OFA). Low-key but passionate, heartfelt yet never seeking help, McLeod chatted with Lowry for about 15 minutes. At the end of that simple conversation, Lowry’s head brimmed with ways for Alabama Power to assist.

For starters, why not consider changing the old gas furnaces to electric? And shift the billing status from residential to commercial. Provide some energy checkups for the men’s home and, a few miles away, the women’s home under the wing of OFA (both places create a nurturing family situation for people in transition or crisis). And what about the needed insulation at the women’s facility or, for that matter, flooring for its new addition?

So much need, and the right company to understand. And act.

The actions began early with Alabama Power’s donation of about $30,000 worth of old recording and sound equipment to the Dugger Mountain cause. The energy assessments revealed ways to cut costs and, indeed, those outdated gas furnaces will be replaced by energy-efficient heat pumps. In the meantime, with $2,200 from the Alabama Power Foundation, plus man-hours and installation from Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO), the women’s home received its new vinyl flooring and insulation. In fact, 12 APSO employees donated 146 service hours to complete the project themselves, adding their own $500 in supplies. Today, Alabama Power representatives continue to contribute, guiding McLeod toward applying for future grants, like NEEP (the Alabama Business Charitable Trust Fund’s Nonprofit Energy Efficiency Program).

“It’s worth more to me than anything I’ve ever done” explains Julia Segars, vice president of Alabama Power’s Eastern Division and a key player in the process. “Anything we’ve given them has come back to us many times over. It was put in our path at the right time for the right reason.”

That’s exactly what happens. McLeod, who has never staged a fundraiser in his three decades of service, admits that things just seem to come along when they’re needed. For instance, take the Nashville friend who received divine instruction to give analog recording equipment to McLeod (who, mystified but accepting, had absolutely nothing to do with it at the time). Then, consider the call a year later from the Calhoun Baptist Association offering Our Father’s Arms a dilapidated old church building. McLeod prayerfully questioned its purpose as he said another grateful yes.

When the idea of a music hall emerged, bringing the building and the equipment together, musicians stepped forward to fill the space with bluegrass, country, and, later, even Celtic and jazz. Friends and neighbors eagerly showed up for pre-show suppers and monthly concerts. Women from the OFA home prepared the food; the OFA men, having provided their “work therapy” to restore the place, served as staff. As if it were all just meant to be.

Surely this was the achievement. But no. Apparently, an audience of some 80 people in a restored church just wasn’t enough. No one asked for what happened next but, of course, it happened anyway.

“A friend of mine said we needed to be on TV,” explains McLeod who, once again, said yes and called on Anniston’s Tom Potts and his Potts Marketing Group to tape and edit some 30-minute shows. After popular airings in the Huntsville market, the same friend called again. “He said ‘I’m part of another network called The Walk with 255 channels – mind if I shoot it to them?’ We went from 80 people once a month to 80 million homes a week in 43 states, Curacao and the Virgin Islands.”

Potts picks it up from there. “We did that for about a year and a half, then got a call from The Nashville Network (now The Heartland Network),” he says. “We suddenly added another 22 million homes, mostly in the Southeast U.S. Then, somebody told Alabama Public Television about us – and we’re on weekly.”  The estimated audience now: 115 million homes, hearing music supplied by artists who donate their time and hearts.

A generous $25,000 Alabama Power Foundation award enabled the first true sponsorship of the televised programs. Jacksonville State University matched the sponsorship (also providing video students who help produce the broadcasts); the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce and county government also sponsor.

The only “message” in the shows is a 90-second nugget from Bob McLeod himself, who explains OFA’s mission: helping every walk of life regardless of ability to pay. He calls Dugger Mountain the “high profile of a low-profile ministry” and talks of the “homes of healing and hope for individuals and families in crisis.” Then come the three key words: For more information. “Now, 100 million people have the opportunity to ask about our work,” he reflects. “If you’re not interested, then enjoy the music. No strings attached.”

That’s the way Alabama Power approaches Dugger Mountain too – with good intentions and no strings. “We helped launch them and that’s a point of pride,” Segars says. In turn, McLeod adds, “The Alabama Power family has become a part of the Our Father’s Arms family and vice versa. It has been an encouragement to see a company come forward and help. It’s humbling and a true blessing.”

Perhaps Tom Potts puts it best. “What you’ve got here is a win-win-win-win kind of thing all the way around. A bona-fide miracle.”

To attend a free taping and supper, visit duggermountainmusichall.com for schedules and contact information. Reserve your place promptly. Seats are highly sought-after and go quickly.