My Birmingham battle scar: How I fought for life

Megan Gagliardi
Megan Gagliardi

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.

Today’s guest blogger is Megan Gagliardi.  If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.

Take one look at me and you’ll see a normal 24 year-old-girl standing before you.

Take another look and you’ll most likely notice a 9-inch scar running down my chest. It’s a constant reminder to me that I should never take anything for granted – not even the little things. It’s my battle scar showing others how hard I have fought for life.
Continue reading My Birmingham battle scar: How I fought for life →

The letter everyone in Homewood & Mountain Brook should read

Letter to Homewood & Mountain BrookBirmingham and Atlanta were about the same size in 1950.

Have you ever wondered why Atlanta grew and Birmingham stagnated?

In 1959, the Mayor of Atlanta sent us a letter spelling out how Birmingham could be a great city.

We paid no attention.

Continue reading The letter everyone in Homewood & Mountain Brook should read →

What Birmingham can learn from Ruben Studdard

Willie Chriesman
Willie Chriesman

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.

Today’s guest blogger is Willie Chriesman.  If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.

It’s hard to believe but it’s been 14 years since Ruben Studdard beat Clay Aiken to win Season 2 of American Idol.

Studdard, known as the ‘Velvet Teddy Bear,’ was memorable for his ‘205’ printed t-shirts.

Yes, a charismatic young man who grew up singing in church choirs around Birmingham and played football for Huffman High was singing the praises of Birmingham on national TV…and we loved him for it. Continue reading What Birmingham can learn from Ruben Studdard →

Mtn. Brook man thunderstruck by fun and opportunities in Birmingham

Nadav Raviv
Nadav Raviv

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.

Today’s guest blogger is Nadav Raviv.  If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.

Over the past few years, I have gone through a period of awakening.

I have been on many adventures and taken many different paths, and funny enough, I ended up right back where I began, but only in the physical sense.

My name is Nadav and I am a child of a wonderful family in Mountain Brook.  Continue reading Mtn. Brook man thunderstruck by fun and opportunities in Birmingham →

Nick Saban’s dream is Hoover’s nightmare

Nick Saban, football coach at University of Alabama
Nick Saban, football coach at University of Alabama

Okay…I’ve written about this before.

But it makes us look so DUMB that I’m going to write about it again.

And I’m going to write about it over and over until someone gets disgusted enough to do something about it.

Are we fools?

How can we be such suckers?
Continue reading Nick Saban’s dream is Hoover’s nightmare →

Birmingham about to disrupt babysitting world

Tommy Mayfield, Founder & CEO at Wyndy
Tommy Mayfield, Founder & CEO at Wyndy

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.

Today’s guest blogger is Tommy Mayfield .  If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.

Birmingham is known as the Magic City because it sprang into existence, as if by magic, in the years following the Civil War.

In many respects, the story of our city’s unlikely beginning mirrors my own, which began while I was practicing law at Maynard Cooper & Gale.

My wife Ginger and I had a crazy idea. Continue reading Birmingham about to disrupt babysitting world →

Mountain Brook builds wall—demands Vestavia pay for it!

Bridge along Jemison Trail in Mountain Brook
Bridge along Jemison Trail in Mountain Brook

A good friend and I walk the Jemison Trail every week.

The Jemison Trail is a quiet peaceful path that winds along Shades Creek in Mountain Brook.

Recently we noticed a new walking bridge had been constructed along the trail.

I remarked that the bridge must have cost a lot of money. Continue reading Mountain Brook builds wall—demands Vestavia pay for it! →

Was it worth spending $200 million on Birmingham’s airport?

Al Denson, President and CEO of the Birmingham Airport Authority
Al Denson, President and CEO of the Birmingham Airport Authority

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.

Today’s guest blogger is Al Denson.  If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.

You probably don’t remember how dilapidated our airport was.

The infrastructure was no longer able to accommodate what we needed in order to offer the public and our stakeholders a first class facility.

We desperately needed to beef up security.

And visitors to Birmingham probably thought they were arriving in a third world country.

Continue reading Was it worth spending $200 million on Birmingham’s airport? →

To begin a conversation about a better Birmingham