ed note WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY FAVORITES AND BACK-TO-SCHOOL ISSUE

from Birmingham Parent Magazine | July-August 2023

Area Attractions/Events

According to my calculations, this is my 19th back-to-school note to you. Many of you who have followed Birmingham Parent since 2004, when we started, may now have grown children! We appreciate your faithfulness to our publication, and we are grateful you still pick up and read the magazine.

In late 2019 we moved to seven issues a year rather than 12. Little did we know it would be somewhat prophetic, with Covid around the corner next year and a nearly two-year shutdown for many businesses, schools and services. Without that change, I don't know if we would have survived the shutdowns. We will always be grateful to our readers and advertisers who stuck it out with us, not to mention the valuable employees we have had that also stuck it out, as well. While it does seem we have some degree of “normalcy” again, we hope you and your family do, too, and that you are recovering.

This issue is dedicated to two big things: Our annual Birmingham Parent Family Favorites Awards, starting on page 10, and our Back-to-School Special Section, starting on page 25. This information will be valuable to you when choosing a product or service, and in helping you ease back into the new school year, afresh and ready to go.

Please note our Family Favorites Awards are all due to you, the readers. You do the nominating, and you choose the winners. Watch for the little yellow logo in their place of business that tells you the public thought highly enough of them to vote them a "family favorite."

Our back-to-school section has a lot of emphasis on extracurricular activities this year. Research shows how vital these extra activities are to children, and how they can bring out interests they may not have even known they had. Whether it's something simple like after school sports, a dance class, taekwondo, or even swimming, depending on your budget, an extracurricular activity is just the ticket to build confidence and bring out personality in your child.

We hope you enjoy this issue. Remember that you can also read it online (including back issues) at www.birminghamparent.com. And make sure to attend the back-to-school event of the season, the Happy Healthy Kids Fair at McWane Science Center lobby on Aug. 19. Admission is FREE. There are great giveaways and even a cover kids search for babies this year! See the back cover of this issue for more information.

We still have some summer left! Please make the most of it, and Happy July 4!

Carol Muse Evans publisher/editor carol@birminghmparent.com

ABOUT THE EDITOR:

Carol Muse Evans is the publisher/editor/owner of Birmingham Parent magazine, a publication she and her husband David began in 2004. The Birmingham, Alabama-based parenting publication attracts more than 60,000 readers monthly in a four-county area and receives 10,000 hits per month on its website. The magazine has a 20,000+ print circulation, plus several thousand in readership of the digital edition online. It is the only independently audited free publication in our area. Evans is an award-winning writer and editor who has also has written for several other publications as a freelance writer since the late 80s. She is a graduate of Auburn University in journalism and is a graduate of Scottsboro High School. She is married with two grown children and lives in Clanton. Birmingham Parent is a member of the Alabama Press Association.

David & Carol Evans editor

Carol Muse Evans staff writer

Paige Townley contributors

Sarah Lyons

Rebecca Hastings

Tanni Hass, Ph.D.

Pam Moore

Cheri Gough

Dr. Amanda Bowden

Jill Morganstern

Tom Gonzales sr marketing consultant

Kayla Fricks marketing consultant

Ashley Lottes print & web production

Digtial Doo-Wop distribution

T&P Deliveries more adventure

BIRMINGHAM PARENT IS A PUBLICATION OF EVANS PUBLISHING, LLC. Publishers: Carol Muse Evans, David K. Evans Sr. Birmingham Parent (EIN20-0694149) is published monthly by Evans Publishing LLC. www.birminghamparent.com or editor@ birminghamparent.com. Birmingham Parent is © 2023 by Evans Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Editorial submissions are welcome. For back issues, please send a self-addressed 10” x 13” envelope with $4 for postage and handling.

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