On April 13, a crowd gathered at Mountain Brook Baptist Church to celebrate the life of an influential member of the congregation and community, Mary Anne Glazner.
Though Mary Anne passed on April 7, her giving spirit lives on through the impact she has had on countless members of the Mountain Brook and greater Birmingham community.
Though a resoundingly strong presence in the community through her (now Crestline Village) store, Smith’s Variety, I first knew Mary Anne as my preschool music teacher.
Nearing the twilight of my twenties, I can still recall a fair amount of early memories. Anything past five is good as gold, but I have to dig a little deeper for my three- and four-year-old self.
One of the sharpest of those memories is of Mrs. Glazner’s music class, located at the former Blue Roof Church on Montclair, now a community of grey roofed homes. Our chorus of 4-year-olds sat “crisscross, applesauce” on the floor learning a new song. For the sake of the story, I’ll pretend we were learning my favorite, a song where we pantomimed daily activities as we sang. Making a popping noise with our tongues as we “opened a milk bottle” was a real crowd pleaser.
While singing the song at just about mid-morning, I noticed a ringing in my right ear beginning to drown out the sound.
My toddler’s memory, akin to that of a goldfish, made every illness seem like the end of the world. So, I began to cry uncontrollably. I was going deaf. I was sure of it. No more popping noises for me.
Luckily, Mrs. Glazner was there. She held a kind hand to my flaming outer ear and spoke softly. I listened to everything she said and once I put two and two together – if you can hear teacher, you probably are not deaf.
The story is easy to recall as I had the pleasure of having it recounted by Mrs. Glazner herself this past November when I found myself interviewing her for an article.
Once she had finished helping the line of customers awaiting her particular assistance, Mary Anne called me by name. She asked me if I remembered Pilgrim, recounted a few of her memories of toddler Emily.
I would have given her some of the highlights of adolescent Emily and post-graduate Emily, but she seemed to be up to date. Perhaps my grandmother hit her with the main points as they waited out the first moments of the Snowpocalypse together at Smith’s.
Before I left she hugged me and gave her signature, “Love you!” as I made my exit.
Whether you sat alongside her at West End High School, studied with her at Howard College, learned from her in preschool, received an Easter basket reminder from her, worshipped with her at Mountain Brook Baptist, or volunteered alongside her in the community, Mary Anne Glazner loved you and told you without hesitation.
It’s people like Mary Anne who can make a town of any size seem a bit smaller, allowing a feeling of home to extend beyond a person’s immediate family and friends.
In a tribute to a tradition Mary Anne created and continued, supporting community members and causes by selling large bows to be displayed on mailboxes and street signs, Smith’s is handing out free black and white bows. In addition, the store is accepting donations for Children’s Harbor and Smile-A-Mile, two organizations that were close to Mary Anne’s heart.
— Emily Williams
