Mayor’s Minute By Stewart Welch III - August 2021

by

We love our merchants

Save the date! In Mountain Brook, we love our merchants. In a show of support, the Mountain Brook Chamber Junior Board is hosting Thursday Night Live! on Aug. 12 from 6-8:30 p.m. in the O’Neal Public Library parking lot.

This is guaranteed to be a fun event with the goal of bringing young professionals to Mountain Brook for networking and to promote and showcase our local businesses.

Activities will include:

► Samples of cuisine from participating local restaurants.

► Live music.

► Raffle prizes.

► Great opportunities to network and meet new people.

You can order pre-release tickets for $25 at https://thursdaynightlivemb.eventbrite.com.  Each ticket includes two drink tickets and one raffle ticket plus food and live music.

This is the Junior Board’s inaugural event, and here is why it is important. Many of our retailers and restaurant owners live in our area and have owned their business for many years … some, like Brombergs, for decades. We know them personally; we know their employees personally; we are long-time friends.

When the country shut down due to COVID-19, businesses across the country were crushed, and Mountain Brook was no exception. What was different was the way our residents rallied around our local business owners.

Our residents focused on shopping local. Our City Council jumped in with ordinances aimed at making it easier to shop and get curb-side food and service.

We raised money for restaurant owners to support their wait and kitchen staff through the Mountain Brook Restaurant Staff Emergency Relief Fund and later set up a donation site through our Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce website named the Mountain Brook Merchant Relief Fund.

Together we raised well over $100,000. The proceeds for this event will go the Merchant Relief Fund, providing additional support for our local businesses who are still recovering from the after-effects of the COVID-19 shutdown.

Show your support for our Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce Junior Board and our local businesses by bringing your friends to what is going to be an outstanding event. I will see you there!