Varsity Sports Calendar

Baseball

Feb. 17-18: Prep Baseball Report Kickoff. Spartan Field.

Feb. 20: vs. Hueytown. 11 a.m.

Feb. 23: @ Pelham. 6:30 p.m.

Feb. 24: vs. McAdory. 6:30 p.m.

Feb. 28: @ Jasper. 4 p.m.

Basketball

Feb. 3: vs. Vestavia Hills. Girls at 6 p.m., boys at 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 4-11: Area tournaments. TBD.

Feb. 15-23: Regional tournaments. TBD.

INDOOR TRACK & FIELD

Feb. 4: State meet. Birmingham CrossPlex.

and becomes the first amateur to accept a special invitation since Aaron Baddeley in 2000.

Gordon visited Mountain Brook Schools last summer to discuss his experience in the school system and said. “There’s a standard of excellence and valuing school work [here],” during a podcast interview.

The 2023 Masters Tournament is scheduled for April 3-9.

– Submitted by William Galloway, Mountain Brook Schools.

Soccer

Feb. 2: Boys vs. Bob Jones. 6:30 p.m.

Feb. 4: Boys vs. Tanner. 4 p.m.

Feb. 7: Girls vs. James Clemens. 6 p.m.

Feb. 7: Boys @ Thompson. 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 9: Girls at Southern Shootout. Foley Sports Complex.

Feb. 14: Boys @ Hoover. 6 p.m.

Feb. 14: Girls vs. Albertville. 6:30 p.m.

Feb. 15: Girls vs. Huntsville. 5:30 p.m.

Feb. 18: Boys vs. Northgate (Georgia). Calera Sports Park. TBD.

Feb. 21: @ Pell City. Girls at 5 p.m., boys at 7 p.m.

Feb. 22: Girls vs. Hewitt-Trussville. 6 p.m.

Feb. 24: @ Briarwood. Girls at 5 p.m., boys at 7 p.m.

Feb. 25: Boys @ Spain Park. Noon.

Feb. 28: Girls @ Hoover. 7 p.m.

Softball

Feb. 17-18: Vestavia Hills Tournament. Liberty Park Complex.

Feb. 21: vs. Shades Valley. 5 p.m.

Feb. 23: @ Chelsea. 5 p.m.

Feb. 28: vs. Briarwood. 5 p.m.

Wrestling

Feb. 2: vs. Helena. 6 p.m.

Feb. 10-11: Sectional Tournament. Garrett Coliseum.

Feb. 16-18: State Tournament. Von Braun Center.

EMPLOYEES

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Richards, the city clerk, could have run a strong campaign for Forbes to win the award.

“Janet is such an important part of Mountain Brook,” she said of Forbes, the assistant to the city manager. “Janet has such a positive attitude and is great to work with. Janet has a strong work ethic and is very organized.”

Richards said that Forbes took a lead role in the challenges with the former garbage service provider during the past year and worked with the transition to the new provider.

“What I love most about Janet is her willingness to help others,” she said. “The way in which she listens and truly cares about the residents is something everyone should strive for in being a public servant.”

Forbes, who also serves as the city’s public information officer, thinks just as highly of Richards, listing hard-working, devoted and going the extra mile among her traits.

“She cares so much about the city,” Forbes said. “I think she's very caring, not just in what she did as magistrate supervisor but in what she's doing as city clerk, dealing with the elections like she did. There are a lot of great things that she does.”

City Manager Sam Gaston said when Forbes filled in when another staffer had surgery, she impressed him so much that he decided he would hire her when he got the chance. He ultimately hired her away from the human resources department of al.com.

“After only a few months, I was so impressed by the way she worked and her work ethic and how she caught on to things and just her demeanor working with people that I promoted her title to assistant to the city manager,” Gaston said, adding that the new title entailed more of a managerial role. “She does have a lot of say so with the department heads. She just continued to do a good job.”

Assistant City Manager Steve Boone said Richards is a highly motivated staffer who does quality work. But she outdid herself this year, he said, in handling her new responsibilities with city elections, which Boone had handled the prior two decades.

“I was there to support her but she did an excellent job,” he said. “That was probably the most challenging election — I know it was — in the 20 years I've been here. She did that, plus she was juggling her normal duties.”

Those “normal duties” included taking the lead to shore up the payroll department during a change in leadership there.

“Whatever we ask her to do, she gives no complaints,” Boone said. “She does a great job.”

Receiving the award on Jan. 25 was significant for Forbes.

“That's my anniversary coming here,” said Forbes, a Mountain Brook resident. “The day of the luncheon [was] seven years.”

Richards has worked for the city for 10 years. She becomes emotional as she talks about Mountain Brook.

“My family and I live in Trussville but, in a way, I feel like Mountain Brook is my home too,” she said. “I truly love this city and always strive to put Mountain Brook and its residents first above all else while in my position.”

HALL OF FAME

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Working with his wife, Mouron fixed up homes before buying his first commercial property, allowing him to move out of accounting.

Several decades later, Mouron’s love of real estate has landed him in the Alabama Business Hall of Fame. Mouron was inducted as part of the class of 2022 in November.

“It’s obviously a tremendous honor,” Mouron said.

Working as the head of development for a Montgomery company, Mouron began in the field of student housing. “Kiddie condos,” as they were known at the time, were condominiums intended for students or parents of students on or near college campuses. Mouron realized, after examining the financing, that apartments would be easier and wrote a letter outlining the possibilities of changing student housing, making it a better investment for parents and a better opportunity for students.

He purchased a property near Athens, Georgia, the home of the University of Georgia. The rest, as they say, is history.

Mouron was recruited back to Birmingham to develop student housing for Polar BEK in 1985 before forming his own company, Capstone Development, in 1990. Since then, they have introduced student housing in roughly 100 markets coast to coast.

“Capstone has a national footprint,” Mouron said.

Working all over the country has been interesting, Mouron said.

“Campuses are often a fun place to work,” Mouron said. “Usually, universities are pretty places.”

In 2012, at the age of 62, Mouron recognized it was time to transition both himself and Capstone, and he broke the company into four separate companies and put division heads in charge, while he retired. Ten years later, Mouron said all four companies are doing really well.

While Mouron has had a national impact through his business, he has also played a major role in local development in Homewood, even after his official “retirement.” Mouron has developed the Valley Hotel, Edgar’s, Little Donkey and Rodney Scott’s BBQ on 18th Street South. He is also responsible for the renovation of Trustmark Bank on 29th Avenue South and the new Robertson Bank on 18th Place South, as well as the CAPTRUST on 27th Avenue South.

In the future, Mouron is bringing a new Italian restaurant, Luca, to the former Valley Mall location, which will be accompanied by

SouthPoint Bank and the new home of Hero Doughnuts.

Businesses that have moved after Mouron purchased the space have almost all stayed within Homewood, something he’s proud of, along with his relationship with city officials.

“When you do things well, they begin to trust you,” Mouron said.

Mouron said he believes his work has “changed Homewood for the better.” He said he hears from neighboring business owners that the Valley Hotel has positively impacted their business.

To see 18th Street renovated with several new businesses is “emotionally rewarding,” Mouron said.

“It’s creation of job opportunities,” Mouron said.

The success of the businesses are proof that the incentives given by the city are effective, he said.

Mouron said the hotel especially has drawn people from all over, leading them to spend money not just on the hotel but on food and retail as well.

In his native Mountain Brook, Mouron renovated and leased out the space now occupied by Little Hardware. Growing up in Mountain Brook was a positive experience for him, he said.

“It’s just a great place to grow up,” Mouron said.

Mouron said he has long-term friendships that stem from his time in Mountain Brook and at the

University of Alabama.

In his several decades in real estate, Mouron has seen plenty of changes, he said. Real estate used to be developed by people investing their own money who would retain ownership, he said. Now, the sources of money are usually thirdparty and developers often do not retain ownership. Mouron tries to retain ownership as much as possible. He is a managing partner and has a third of the ownership stake in the hotel and is a 50% owner of Robertson Bank and CAPTRUST. He owns Edgar’s, Rodney Scott’s and Little Donkey.

Mouron and his wife were recently awarded the “William and Virginia Spencer Outstanding Philanthropist Award” by the Alabama Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and they also serve as co-chairs of Rising Tide, a $1.5 billion capital campaign at UA.

It’s an example of what Mouron hopes to continue in the future.

“I will continue to try and bring my experience and capital … to do good things, both capitalistic and philanthropic,” Mouron said.

Good development might be harder in the future as land and capital costs are increasing everywhere. It may require cities to find more effective ways to incentivize development, he said.

“Development is very complex,” Mouron said. “It’s not easy to read. Cities need to try and be smart.”

Mouron admitted he has no hobbies, making it easy for him to keep working at the job he loves.

“Luckily, I enjoy what I do,” Mouron said. “It’s intellectually challenging and keeps me in touch with a lot of people.

“I don’t ever plan to quit working,” he said.