March 2026 | Volume 16 | Issue 12
MOUNTAIN BROOK’S COMMUNITY NEWS SOURCE VILLAGELIVINGONLINE.COM | STARNESMEDIA.COM
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The height of success
Beekeeper Ginger Clark of Mountain Brook bottles home-grown honey through her business We Bees Working. Photo by Kelli S. Hewett.
Mountain Brook Community Church pianist balances life and faith as a CFO and the world’s smallest professional piano player
Buzz, bloom and bottles of gold: Ginger Clark’s passion fuels a growing beekeeping community
By KELLI S. HEWETT
A
t 3 feet 8 inches tall, Jon Michael Ogletree of Hoover is accustomed to being noticed. As a certified public accountant, a CFO and the world’s smallest professional piano player, he has built a life where numbers and music intersect with a message of faith. Ogletree balances a high-level corporate finance career with an international reputation as a concert pianist. He has traveled to more than 30 countries — most of them for work as a musician and often as a cruise ship entertainer for the luxury cruise line Explora Journeys. “I’m not a little person who just happens to be good at the piano,” said Ogletree, 41. “I am a skilled pianist who just happens to be a little person. I don’t feel 3 foot 8 inches.”
By KELLI S. HEWETT She doesn’t claim to be a “bee charmer,” but after nearly 25 years of tending honey bee hives, enduring stings and losing colonies, Mountain Brook beekeeper Ginger Clark still can’t imagine life without the low, thrumming chorus of her bees. And as the weather warms up, so does local bee season. Clark’s journey began when she transformed an old backyard tennis court into a lush vegetable and fruit garden, determined to boost pollination. A beekeeping course at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens led to her first hive — and a series of hard, often comical lessons that taught her just how much care goes into keeping bees alive. Today, her small business, fittingly named We Bees Working, has grown to eight hives and a devoted following that believes her bees produce honey as nuanced as a fine wine.
See BEEKEEPER | page A18
Joseph Braswell Owner of Guin
See OGLETREE | page A16
At 3’8”, Jon Michael Ogletree is known as a the world’s smallest professional piano player. Photo by Kelli S. Hewett.
INSIDE
Sponsors............... A4 City......................... A5
Business................ A8 Real Estate.......... A12
Schoolhouse......... B4 Sports................... B10
Events................... B12 Life........................ B15
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Real Estate
Summer Fun
See the latest sales and trends in Mountain Brook real estate.
Explore summer camp options in the 2026 Summer Camp Guide.
See page A12
See page B8
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