The ‘shot heard around Cullman’ revealed that Jaxson and Lauren Earwood are expecting a baby boy, whom they have named Foster Kole
CULLMAN, Ala. – It was a nice Sunday afternoon when the family of Jaxson and Lauren Earwood came out to celebrate with the young couple. The Earwoods, expecting their first child, welcomed 75 family members to The Little White Room venue on Bolte Road in southeast Cullman, all of whom were anxious to find out if the bundle of joy would be a boy or a girl. Little did they all know that the baby’s gender would be revealed to all of Cullman.
The “gender reveal” is a fairly recent cultural phenomenon, with expectant parents opting to find creative and entertaining ways to let everyone know if pink or blue is in their future.
“We had a small bucket of Tannerite,” said dad-to-be Jaxson Earwood. “Then we put a cardboard box full of powder on top of it. Then we shot it with a shotgun and blew it up.”
Added Lauren Earwood, “It’s a legal explosive!”
At around 3 p.m. Sunday, calls and messages started coming into The Tribune asking, “What was that noise?!”
Tannerite is an explosive used in commercial blasting, product testing and special effects. The blast was heard, and even felt, by many in southeast Cullman. The Earwoods weren’t frightened by the boom, but they soon learned others were quite concerned.
Said Jaxson Earwood, “We were expecting it, but the neighbors weren’t.”
Cullman Police Chief Kenny Culpepper said at the time that his department had dispatched an officer to try to locate the source of the boom.
Lauren Earwood continued, “I actually saw a police car drive by on one of the streets, but I didn’t think anything of it. On our way home, a friend sent me a screen shot of someone who said there was a loud boom and I thought, ‘Oh! OK, so I guess the cop was driving by because of that. That makes sense!’”
The “shot heard around Cullman” revealed that Jaxson and Lauren, from the north Walter community, are expecting a baby boy, whom they have named Foster Kole. Baby Foster is due May 21.
They said they haven’t ruled out “Boomer” as a nickname.
“We definitely have a good story to tell him,” laughed his mom.
When asked about future children gender reveal plans, Jaxson Earwood chuckled, “Probably not Tannerite. We’ll probably just let the doctor tell us.”
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