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July 2025 | Volume 13 | Issue 3
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Road to prosperity How 2 boundary-crossing annexations reshaped Vestavia Hills’ map — and its identity How 2 boundary-crossing annexations reshaped Vestavia Hills’s map — and its identity.
See this year’s All-South Metro baseball and softball teams.
See pages 14, 16
Helping Hands
Brookwood Hospital seeks new volunteers.
By TAYLOR BRIGHT and TIM STEPHENS
V
estavia Hills turns 75 this year. What began in 1950 as a mountaintop subdivision of 607 residents has grown into one of metro Birmingham’s most coveted ZIP codes — a city defined by strong schools, rising property values and suburban polish. But it was two annexations — one bold, one tactical — that shaped the last quarter-century of that rise. Liberty Park and Cahaba Heights didn’t just change the map. They broke it — and redrew the future of Vestavia Hills in the process.
See ROAD TO PROSPERITY | page 22
See page 17
INSIDE Sponsors.............. 4 City........................ 5 Schoolhouse........ 6 Business..............10
Real Estate......... 12 Events.................. 13 Sports.................. 14 Community......... 17
The New Playbook: Part 2 Former local prep stars like Vestavia Hills’ Mason Maners have navigated the new, professionalized world of college sports in real time
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By KYLE PARMLEY Auburn outfielder Mason Maners (21) during a game at Plainsman Park in Auburn. Photo by Grayson Belanger, courtesy of Auburn Athletics.
For Mason Maners, college baseball was never just about stats, rankings or facilities — though he experienced all at a high level. It was about becoming the kind of man who could walk
away from the game with peace, perspective and purpose. The former Vestavia Hills High School standout began his career at Jacksonville State and ended it at Auburn, fulfilling a lifelong dream by donning the orange and blue. Now, he remains around the program in a new capacity, serving as an assistant chaplain for the Tigers — guiding others through the same pressures, expectations and growth he once faced. “Trying to describe my college baseball experience in just a few words is honestly impossible because it was simultaneously one of the greatest and most challenging seasons of my life,” Maners said. “It shaped me into the person I am today.”
See THE NEW PLAYBOOK | page 20
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