Mountain Brook celebrates 75th anniversary all month long
This May, Mountain Brook turns 75. To mark this occasion, the city, Mountain Brook Schools, the Emmet O’Neal Library and the Chamber of Commerce are coming together for a month-long celebration.
“It’s a great birthday party with a great agenda,” said Chamber of Commerce Director Suzan Doidge.
“It’s to bring the community together,” added Project Manager Molly Wallace.
The birthday celebrations start May 7 with a kick-off event in front of City Hall from 3 to 5 p.m., which was planned with the help of Leadership Mountain Brook students Kendall Alby, Will Bundy, Matthew Bullock and Mary Louise Howland.
The event will have Mayfield ice cream and Mayfield’s Maggie the Cow, local music, cake, a kid’s zone, a bounce house and a dunk tank. While the dunk tank participants are yet to be determined, Doidge said they are hoping to include city and school officials.
“There’s plenty to do, whether you’re at the dunking tank or kids zone or listening to good music,” she said.
The Emmet O’Neal Library and the Chamber are also introducing “The Great Mountain Brook Scavenger Hunt,” which encourages residents to identify images of landmarks throughout the community, said adult services librarian Katie Moellering. The scavenger hunt is available at both the Chamber and EOL, and participants must turn in their results to EOL by May 24. Winners will be given Village Gold gift cards to use at local businesses.
“It’s not meant to be super difficult, but rather a fun way to step outside and discover the city,” Moellering said.
The winner of the Mountain Brook School’s “Why I Love Mountain Brook” essay contest, MBJH ninth-grader Tess Patton, will later cut the anniversary ribbon at the birthday celebration and shadow Mayor Stewart Welch the following day, May 8. That evening, she will take the mayor’s seat at City Council and read a proclamation.
Celebrations carry over to the quarterly Chamber Luncheon May 17 at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, which will feature Christopher Tanner as the speaker. Tanner is a quadruplet raised in Mountain Brook, Doidge said, and he has since graduated from West Point and served under Gen. David Petraeus.
On May 21, EOL will host its Summer Reading Kickoff at 3 p.m. and that evening from 6 to 9 p.m. the Chamber will present Jazz in the Park at Crestline Field. Doidge said families are encouraged to bring blankets and snacks for a picnic with great music, and local vendors will sell boxed dinners as well.
The anniversary celebrations will come to a close May 24, the official date Mountain Brook was incorporated. Cake and lemonade will be served all day at EOL, and library staff will collect the final scavenger hunt copies. Winners will be announced at 5 p.m.
“It’s going to be so fun. This is all to bring the community together,” Wallace said.
With a variety of activities throughout the month, Doidge said they hope to reach almost everyone, if not all residents, in Mountain Brook during the celebration. “We just really wanted to make sure everybody has an opportunity to participate in some way,” she said.
A rain date for the kick-off celebration is scheduled for May 21 from 1-3 p.m. in the same location. For more information about the different events, go to welcometomountainbrook.com.