VillageLivingOnline.com
May 2013
Village Living Volume 4 | Issue 2 | May 2013
Grateful graduates
As Mountain Brook High School seniors prepare to bid adieu, three still have one more big moment ahead – their graduation speeches. Learn about MBHS’ top students inside.
School House page 23
In the know
neighborly news & entertainment for Mountain Brook
Echoes of explosions Now safe at home, residents who ran Boston vow it won’t be their last race By JEFF THOMPSON
Happy Mothers’ Day If there’s one thing Mountain Brook moms are good at, it’s everything. Inside, sons and daughters share some of the wisdom their mothers were gracious enough to pass on.
Special page 10
INSIDE Sponsors ........... 4 Celebrations ...... 5 Business ............ 6 Food ................... 8 Community ....... 12 School House.... 22 Sports ............... 26 Faith .................. 29 Calendar ........... 30
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As Cecile Franklin rounded the last corner of this year’s Boston Marathon, she was abruptly stopped. With about a mile to go, she and runners around her found themselves face-to-face with a “phalanx of Boston police officers.” “Walk back, walk back,” was all that police shouted, she said. So, she did as she was instructed. Officers moved her group away from the finish line, and after two blocks they were halted there and blockaded. “We knew nothing, and that was a good thing,” Franklin said. “I just remember everybody thinking something bad must have happened. We just didn’t know what.” At that time, approximately 4:30 p.m. on
Mountain Brook runners Cecile Franklin, right, and Kenneth Harkless pose together before the 2013 Boston Marathon on April 15. Both returned safely from the event, which was marred by tragic bombings near the finish line. Photo courtesy of Cecile Franklin.
April 15, Franklin was one mile from the site of two explosions that killed three and injured more than 170. Both were caused by bombs placed near the Marathon finish line, somewhere in between her and her friend, Kenneth Harkless. Harkless finished the race approximately 40 minutes before the bombs detonated and was already on a train back to his hotel. He had
waited for his friends, other runners from the Birmingham area, at the finish line before the cold began to set in and he elected to make his way toward the subway. “At that point, I didn’t have a (cell phone) signal,” said Harkless, 61, student assistance counselor at Mountain Brook High School. “But
See BOSTON | page 28
Man of the Year: a family’s fight against blood cancer By MEGAN SMITH Brothers Tom and David Reich shared a passion for sailing that brought them together despite their 10-year age difference. They traveled across the Southeast with the Birmingham Sailing Club and spent time together in various other activities. That is, until Tom passed away at 33 from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma blood cancer. “It was devastating,” David Reich said. “I was reared on his knee. He was my best friend and my brother.” Reich and his family have stayed active with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) since Tom’s passing 27 years ago. His favorite event has been the Leukemia Cup Regatta, an annual event sponsored by the Birmingham Sailing Club. Sailing in the Regatta brings him back to the times he spent with his brother, and it also raises money for the LLS. He’s even been the live auctioneer for the past three years.
His participation with the Regatta and LLS earned him a nomination from the Alabama/Gulf Coast Chapter for 2013 LLS Man of the Year Award. As a nominee, he has pledged to raise a minimum of $20,000 by May 16. “Tom gave a lot of himself during treatment,” Reich said. “Now we’re giving back.” With only 10 weeks to campaign and raise the money, Reich rallied his family together for help. His wife, Lisa, manages the team, and his sister Liz Pittman, a former LLS Woman of the Year candidate, has also joined. Every dollar earned
See CURE | page 29 Left: David Reich, Mountain Brook resident and candidate for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Man of the Year Award, is pictured with his daughter, Lucy, who organized a fundraiser to assist his campaign. Photo courtesy of David Reich.