rsvp magazine september 2010
DESCRIPTION
Lifestyle, entertainment magazine covering Memphis MidSouth.TRANSCRIPT
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CONT
ENTS
10SIGNATURE MEMPHIS
Keith Johnson
30 STREETSEENCarol Watkins
16SPORTSBALL
Ronald Hoskins and Deborah Watson
32 STREETSEENTom Knowles
48BLUES ON THE BLUFF®
Keely Watson and Lulu McLean
42LIVE AT THE GARDENScott and Laura Motley
Cover PhotoAnna Humerickhouse and Ben Nicol
atSportsBall
Photo by Don Perry
ContentsSeptember 2010
From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Signature Memphis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Keith Johnson invited RSVP to the Fogelman Downtown YMCA, where he first maintained an
office as the president and CEO of the YMCA of Memphis & the Mid-South.
RSVP Watch List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Seeing is believing when it comes to these five got-to-have frames.
Onsites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14, 38, 40 & 46Gatherings that have earned an honorable mention.
SportsBall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Themed “Games for Grown-ups, Futures for Kids,” Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater
Memphis’ annual fund-raiser brought in a whopping 950 attendees, who contributed $150,000
to the organization.
StreetSeens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26, 30 & 32The theatre organ only touches the tip of the iceberg for this man’s musical talents. She
humbly says she’s no professional when it comes to collecting art, but that hasn’t stopped her
from swooping up valued works and promoting the local arts community. This man unexpect-
edly went from student to teacher after a pivotal fencing class. StreetSeens spotlight John
Hiltonsmith, Carol Watkins and Tom Knowles.
Vox Popular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34Q&A with Indie Memphis executive director, Erik Jambor.
Live at the Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42The legendary Al Green rocked the Memphis Botanic Garden during the nonprofit’s benefit
concert series.
Blues on the Bluff® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48The National Ornamental Metal Museum was abuzz with the sounds of the Delta thanks to
WEVL 89.9 FM’s party on the river.
RSVPhillippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52At Least Peyton’s Still Cool
Dennis Phillippi has returned to his beloved topic of American sports and athletes.
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Volume XV Number XII
September 2010
P U B L I S H E R
Roy Haithcock
E D I T O R
Leah Fitzpatrick
C O N T R I B U T I N G W R I T E R S
Jonathan DevinDennis PhillippiSuzanne Thompson
Lesley Young
A R T D I R E C T O R
Patrick Akers
P H O T O G R A P H E R S
Nathan BerryDon Perry
Steve Roberts
S E N I O R A C C O U N T E X E C U T I V E
Libby Huff
A C C O U N T E X E C U T I V E
Chris Pugh
A C C O U N T I N G
Ruth Cassin
RSVP Memphis is published monthly byHaithcock Communications, Inc. First class
subscriptions are available for $55.00 per year.Send name and address with a check to:
Haithcock Communications, Inc.2282 Central AvenueMemphis, TN 38104
For advertising information contactRoy Haithcock
Phone (901) 276-7787, ext. 101Fax (901) 276-7785
e-mail [email protected]
W E Bwww.rsvpmagazine.com
For editorial information or to request coverage of an event, pleasecontact RSVP Magazine
one month prior to the event. Call 901-276-7787, ext. 105 or fax to 901-276-7785.
e-mail [email protected]
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RSVP Memphis Magazine
Copyright 2010 Haithcock Communications, Inc.
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T here’s so much to cele-brate this month that Ihardly know where to
begin. I’ll take a stab at ashort list: cooler temps, theonslaught of party season(Zoo Rendezvous, I’vemissed you.), tailgating,Cooper Young Festival, 24hours of relaxation courtesyof Labor Day and the returnof George Clooney to the sil-ver screen in The American.
In light of celebrato-ry occasions, I can’t fail tomention that October willmark the 15th anniversaryof RSVP, which means weowe you—our loyal readers, advertisers, interviewees and non-profit organizations—a sincere thanks for supporting our maga-zine’s unparalleled coverage of Memphis’ finest. This isn’t justany anniversary either. We’ve been laying out plans for twospecial features next month to honor the subjects we do best.People, of course! Hurry to newsstands, as I know the Octoberissue will disappear even faster than normal.
Okay, back to the September issue, which was a funone to put together. Not only did our staff have several oppor-tunities to attend smokin’ summer concerts, but we got toplay like kids at the always anticipated SportsBall. As for myStreetSeen features, I was lucky enough to get an interviewwith the man behind the pre-show sound at the OrpheumSummer Movie Series (page 26), tour one of the coolest homeart displays ever (page 30) and witness a crash-demo in fenc-ing (page 32). The Vox Popular feature (page 34) allowed meto highlight one of my favorite topics, movies, and I can’t fin-ish this paragraph without saying that it was good to be backat the YMCA for the Signature Memphis (page 10), since myfirst summer job ever was working for the YMCA back home inMiddle Tennessee.
Read up, rest up and ready up because next month willbe even bigger!
P.S.-Thanks to all the creative entries we received for the firstWhere in the World is RSVP? Contest. Flip to page 49 for thewinner!
Leah [email protected]
From the Editor
Photo by Steve Roberts
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Keith JohnsonPPrreessiiddeenntt aanndd CCEEOO ooff YYMMCCAA ooff MMeemmpphhiiss && tthhee MMiidd--SSoouutthh//PPrreessiiddeenntt ooff MMeemmpphhiiss RRoottaarryy CClluubb
HHoobbbbyy:: Photography.SSttrreessss oouuttlleett:: Exercise.IIddeeaall vvaaccaattiioonn ssppoott:: Hawaii.PPeerrssoonnaall hheerrooeess:: My parents.
FFiirrsstt jjoobb:: Mowing lawns at 14.
FFaavvoorriittee aauutthhoorr:: John Maxwell.
FFaavvoorriittee MMeemmpphhiiss mmuussiicciiaann:: B.B. King.CChhiillddhhoooodd aammbbiittiioonn:: To play professionalsports.
WWoorrddss oorr pphhrraasseess yyoouu oovveerruussee:: Are youkidding me?
HHiissttoorriiccaall ffiigguurree yyoouu mmoosstt iiddeennttiiffyywwiitthh:: Ben Franklin.TThhiinnggss yyoouu ccaann’’tt lliivvee wwiitthhoouutt:: Family,
friends and faith.
LLaasstt bbooookk yyoouu’’vvee rreeaadd:: I, Alex Cross by James
Patterson.
MMoovviiee yyoouu ccoouulldd wwaattcchh oovveerr aanndd oovveerraaggaaiinn:: Young Frankenstein.OOnnee tthhiinngg mmoosstt ppeeooppllee ddoonn’’tt kknnoowwaabboouutt yyoouu:: I’m a certified scuba diver.
BBiiggggeesstt oobbssttaaccllee yyoouu’’vvee oovveerrccoommee::Dropping out of college after thinking it was the
end-all.
HHoobbbbyy:: Photography.SSttrreessss oouuttlleett:: Exercise.IIddeeaall vvaaccaattiioonn ssppoott:: Hawaii.PPeerrssoonnaall hheerrooeess:: My parents.
FFiirrsstt jjoobb:: Mowing lawns at 14.
FFaavvoorriittee aauutthhoorr:: John Maxwell.
FFaavvoorriittee MMeemmpphhiiss mmuussiicciiaann:: B.B. King.CChhiillddhhoooodd aammbbiittiioonn:: To play professionalsports.
WWoorrddss oorr pphhrraasseess yyoouu oovveerruussee:: Are youkidding me?
HHiissttoorriiccaall ffiigguurree yyoouu mmoosstt iiddeennttiiffyywwiitthh:: Ben Franklin.TThhiinnggss yyoouu ccaann’’tt lliivvee wwiitthhoouutt:: Family,
friends and faith.
LLaasstt bbooookk yyoouu’’vvee rreeaadd:: I, Alex Cross by James
Patterson.
MMoovviiee yyoouu ccoouulldd wwaattcchh oovveerr aanndd oovveerraaggaaiinn:: Young Frankenstein.OOnnee tthhiinngg mmoosstt ppeeooppllee ddoonn’’tt kknnoowwaabboouutt yyoouu:: I’m a certified scuba diver.
BBiiggggeesstt oobbssttaaccllee yyoouu’’vvee oovveerrccoommee::Dropping out of college after thinking it was the
end-all.
Keith JohnsonPPrreessiiddeenntt aanndd CCEEOO ooff YYMMCCAA ooff MMeemmpphhiiss && tthhee MMiidd--SSoouutthh//PPrreessiiddeenntt ooff MMeemmpphhiiss RRoottaarryy CClluubb
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a n d s p i r i t .
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From top to bottom: Jimmy Choo, Onze Eyeglasses in Chocolate Snake-$300 at AdvancedEyecare & Optical (901-850-2366); Lafont Réèdition, Babel Eyeglasses in Panther-$300 atTotal Eye Care (901-761-4620); Lafont Paris, Borgia Eyeglasses in Red-$560 at Eyewear
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From top to bottom: Jimmy Choo, Onze Eyeglasses in Chocolate Snake-$300 at AdvancedEyecare & Optical (901-850-2366); Lafont Réèdition, Babel Eyeglasses in Panther-$300 atTotal Eye Care (901-761-4620); Lafont Paris, Borgia Eyeglasses in Red-$560 at Eyewear
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ONSITE
Amrita Dutta-Gupta with Pooja, Sohum and Kush Shah at Shell Out for the Arts
Missy Flinn, Steve Owens and Sarah Petschonekat Shell Out for the Arts
Onsite
Melinda Russell, Judy Burkett and Vera Feldmanat Le Bonheur Club Champagne Reception
Becky Halvorson and Glenda Shorb at Le Bonheur Club Champagne Reception
Alan, Nancy and Dick Barnhartat Salvation Army Fish Fry
Paula Hopkins and Maria Williams at Le Bonheur Club Champagne Reception
Shell Out for the ArtsLe Bonheur Club Champagne Reception Salvation Army Fish Fry
ArrttssMMeemmpphhiiss took their summer fund-raiser outside,specifically to the LLeevviitttt SShheellll, for a benefit calledSShheellll OOuutt ffoorr tthhee AArrttss. Before making their way to thelawn for a concert by BBllaacckk JJooee LLeewwiiss && tthhee HHoonneeyy--bbeeaarrss, guests took refuge in a VIP tent behind the stagefor dinner from TThhee BBaarr--BB--QQ SShhoopp, lots of refreshingbeer courtesy of DD.. CCaannaallee BBeevveerraaggeess IInncc.. and wine.Just shy of 100 patrons showed up for the event debut,helping ArtsMemphis exceed its fund-raising goal of$2,000.
In 1952, a group of women got together to tryto raise $2 million for a children’s hospital in theMemphis area. Almost 60 years later, the group of now300 active members of the LLee BBoonnhheeuurr CClluubb is celebrat-ing the expansion of its original project to 610,000square feet with the recent opening of the new $340million LLee BBoonnhheeuurr CChhiillddrreenn’’ss HHoossppiittaall. In June, theclub held a Champagne reception to honor membersand to celebrate the special unveiling of artwork donat-ed by DDoollpphh SSmmiitthh, one of the many local artists whocreated pieces for the hospital. Donors and club mem-bers had the opportunity to preview the facility’s manyunique features, such as motion-activated lighted hall-ways, a prayer wall and the Le Bonheur Clubroom.
NNaannccyy and DDiicckk BBaarrnnhhaarrtt invited members andguests of the SSaallvvaattiioonn AArrmmyy WWoommeenn’’ss AAuuxxiilliiaarryy totheir place for the annual SSaallvvaattiioonn AArrmmyy FFiisshh FFrryy. PPaattMMaasssseennggiillll and AAnnnneettttee PPoooollee chaired the gatheringwhere fried catfish was the favored menu selection,though chicken tenders, hush puppies, slaw andbanana pudding weren’t far behind. Themed “SSuunn,,SSaannddaallss aanndd SSaallvvaattiioonn,” the affair drew lots of fancysandal wearers, who competed in a best sandals con-test, with first place going to MMaajjoorr RRhheeaa DDaawwnnWWooooddccoocckk and second place awarded to JJooaann AAllppeerriinn.Rounding out the activities was an icebreaker question-naire that also served as a contest where attendeesstrived to get the most number of questions answered;SSnnooookkiiee GGiibbbbss and MMaajjoorr RRiicckk MMccCCoonnnniieellll were thewinners.
Story and photos by Leah Fitzpatrick and Lesley Young
Annette Poole and Pat Massengill at Salvation Army Fish Fry
Scott Smith and Tran Bui Smith with Sally and Vince Alfonsoat Shell Out for the Arts
Neil and Arlene Southernat Salvation Army Fish Fry
PhoebeBurks
BillButler
SherylCassibry
RobinFauser
GwenFlaniken
Jimmie HarderFowler
JanGordon
LaurenHarkins
WalkerHays
CarolynHooker
TomIverson
Tom KimbroughBroker
SusieSneed
CarolStout
CooperTurner
MichaelVarner
MelissaWilbanks
MigWilliams
JoyKimbrough
JanetLee
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AliceNewton
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ClairePerkins
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JudsonWilliford
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585 South Perkins at Audubon ParkOffice: (901) 766-9004
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Our East Memphis familyof Realtors will e
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SportsBall“Games for Grown-ups, Futures for Kids”E
V E N T
Chris Thomas and Joyce Millard Scott and Rachel Bendure
Ken and Mary Thorp Clarence and Juliet Carr
Kayla McCarty and Elise Veazey Dee Banta and Mike Simpson
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See all the party photos atrsvpmagazine.com Password: RSVP
Thirteen is unlucky for some, but for the “bigs” and “littles” of BigBrothers Big Sisters of Greater Memphis the number meant hightimes and games for all ages. There was definitely plenty of fun to
be had at the 13th annual SportsBall, beginning with the suggestedattire of formal wear and athletic shoes.
Big Brother Richard Glassman and his Little Brother WilliamTerrell co-hosted the affair, marking the first time in BBBS historythat one of the group’s hundreds of pairings has taken charge. Theevent was held at the urban-glam Minglewood Hall in Midtown for thesecond year, affording guests the shadowy, chic interior of its concerthall as a venue for billiards, casino card and dice games using phonymoney, video games, mechanical bull riding, basketball and more. Onstage, partygoers battled each other from atop wobbly pedestals whilewielding padded jousting sticks to the raucous encouragement ofonlookers. Others browsed quietly in an extensive silent auction.Guests of corporate sponsors were escorted to a changing area, wherethey emerged to proudly show off their new Nike athletic shoes givenby Nike, which once again sponsored the event along with FedEx,Soul Classics 103.5, Harrah’s Entertainment, WMC-TV 5 and the LawFirm of Glassman, Edwards, Wade and Wyatt.
BBBS prides itself on offering one of the few galas inMemphis that is appropriate for children and to that end, as manychildren as adults meandered through the maze of games with theirparents, all feeling like kids in a candy store. After working up anappetite shooting hoops, guests partook of handheld munchies appro-priate to the sports scene. Nibbles included hot dogs and brats loadedwith onions and peppers, barbecue nachos and a buffet of brownies,cookies, fruits and marshmallows accompanied by a streaming foun-tain of delicious Dinstuhl’s chocolate. Amidst the frivolity, BBBSstaffers wandered in and out of the crowd selling keys, one of whichopened a glass case containing a spectacular $5,000 diamond ringdonated by Mednikow.
Halfway through the evening, a brief presentation was madeto honor the efforts of this year’s Big Brother of the Year, DavidHamilton, and Big Sister of the Year, Allison Bloodworth, both ofwhom got involved with BBBS in 2007. Then, with bow ties comingundone and shawls and wraps left sitting on chairs, it was back togame tables for a crowd that clearly didn’t want the night to end early.
Story by Jonathan DevinPhotos by Don Perry
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Darrick and Tyronda Cole Jean Mathews and Tiffany Brimhall
Ricky and Renee Frazier Lisa Ansley and Rob Clapper
Blake Piel and Lindsay Mahoney Peggie Lyons and Eric Foster
Valerie Morris and Toni Boland Cecil and Summer Godman
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Marcus Hunter and Kela Jones
Scott and Terri Barber with Jeff Morris
Julia Gagliano and Brett Prentiss
Phyllis Brunson and Geraldine Perkins James Merriweather and Shannon Towery
Brooke Stevens and Justin Bailey Garen and Cindy Haddad
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Kelly Parrish and Alana Vernon
Deborah Ford, Charles Boone and Sally Shy
Renae and Rick Roberts
Markova Reed and Chris Anderson
Whitney Bearman, Harry Long and Cristen Hoag
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Amber Tarvin and Carla Smith
Julian Williams, Cheryl Eakins, Yacqui Peete and Chris Davis
Tyanice Jackson and Courtney Reid
Adrienne Bailey and Deuce McAllister James and Erin Mullen
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Mark Lopresti and Karen Ratcliff
Lisa Taylor and Kennedy Brown Shawn and Lana Danko Diana and Chris Conroy
Kameta Hopkins and Tiffany Collins Lauren Wong and Vincent Perryman Neira and Brian Dobbins
Evelyn Morrow and Gennora Reed
Robert and Nancy Williams
Angela and Jason Sells
Josh and Adriana San Salvador
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Charlie Nelson and Bessie Cohren
Katie Zizak and Ron Wong
Chonisa and Mikell Lowery
Shereen Myers and Chris Hrabe
Darius Montgomery and Rebekah Hart
Kristy Marter, Angie Goble and Alissa Fowler Chelsey Drobeck, Jamila Smith-Young and Janel Bonds
Joseph Birch III, Natalie Hurt, Matthew Birch and Joe Birch Jack and Pattie Bacon, Margaret Wong and Henry Nelson
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Giuseppe Verdi’s
October 7 & 9, 2010 Orpheum Theatre
MEMPHIS.org
presents
4704 POPLAR AVENUE , MEMPHIS , TENNESSEE • (901) 682 -1621 • 9–5 MON–SAT
FINE STATIONERY AND GIFTS
The Stovall Collection
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John Hiltonsmith“Pit Boss”
You probably won’t see John Hiltonsmith work-ing at a Tunica casino, but you can safely betthat the ultimate appreciator of all things the-
atre organ will be commanding attention fromthe Orpheum pit. Since 1989, he’s been the insti-tution’s primary organist during the OrpheumSummer Movie Series, playing some 15-20 timesa season before it closes in mid-September. Healso serves as caretaker for the in-house Wurlitz-er organ that was installed in 1928.
Hiltonsmith shares, “This organ actuallyfell into disrepair in the ‘60s, but it survivedbecause it was the only one in town stored on anelevator in a pit. It was later resurrected and nowhas a computerized console.”
To this day, Hiltonsmith admittedly getsanxious before a show because he says playing infront of a live audience never becomes secondnature. However, he’s taken a liking to the dra-matic entrance he makes when the pit rises upto stage level with the organ and notes that thethrill of the performance ends up overshadowinghis nerves. Just don’t expect any two engage-ments to sound alike because Hiltonsmith playsby ear. The music that comes forth dates back tothe 1930s, when his favorite organist, Don Baker,ruled New York’s Paramount Theatre.
“Baker had an upbeat, rigorous style, andI recall hearing stories about my mom and dadgoing to the Paramount and seeing Baker comeup out of the pit with the spotlight on him,” hesays.
Surrounded by a father he calls a bigbandophile and jazzophile, as well as two out ofthree brothers who played instruments, Hilton-smith’s family more than nurtured his musicinterests. By 15, he developed an appreciationfor the theatre organ and remembers his fatherbuying him sheet music for “Manhattan Sere-nade” after hearing Baker playing the song onvinyl; ironically, in later years, Hiltonsmith gotthe song’s arranger, Rosa Rio, to autograph theoriginal sheet music. Next came forays in record-ing and the pipe organ, which he studied in col-lege along with music education.
As an adult, Hiltonsmith has gone on tofeed his other musical interests by dabbling insound design for Theatre Memphis, teaching therecording arts and serving as the fine arts de-partment chairman for the Memphis UniversitySchool and overseeing the MUS a cappellagroup, Beg to Differ. He also plays a 1920sPilcher organ at Holly Springs First PresbyterianChurch every Sunday and maintains his Orphe-um gig.
“I don’t have to worry about wishingthere was something I didn’t do before I die,”Hiltonsmith figures.
Story by Leah FitzpatrickPhoto by Steve Roberts
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Tom KnowlesFencing’s Fiercest Promoter
Tom Knowles had to fulfill one physical educationcredit during his studies at the University ofMemphis, and out of all the choices he saw in
the course book, fencing was the one that stuckout. He signed up, never dreaming he would takeso well to the sword-wielding sport made famous bycharacters like Zorro. Fast forward 21 years later,and not only is Knowles teaching the same U of Mcourse where he first learned fencing, but he’s alsobusy instructing 50-60 students of all ages at theCollierville Arts Academy, an arts school he runswith his wife, Julie.
Once people find out that Knowles teachesfencing, the next logical question they ask is if heever participates in competitions. He does competesome and even qualified, along with a few of hisstudents, for the U.S. Fencing National Champion-ship in Atlanta this year, though he couldn’tattend. The teaching side just seems to draw himin more, so much so that he’s working toward get-ting a fencing program at the soon-to-open KrocCenter in Midtown and continues to coach theChristian Brothers High School fencing team,which he worked with the administration to imple-ment five years ago; this fall, Knowles estimates theteam will consist of 15-20 members and will havePeter Wetzel, the current state champion in hisweapon, the epee, returning as team captain.
He adds, “I’d really like to break in a fenc-ing team at St. Mary’s or St. Agnes.”
Proving his point that fencing isn’t solely amen’s sport, Knowles recognizes the late GraceKelly, Madonna and Catherine Zeta Jones amongthe list of famous female fencers. Even girls be-tween the ages of 11-13 are getting in on theaction, as Knowles says calls about fencing lessonsfrom this group outnumber those from men three-to-one. He has also come across an interesting dis-covery related to fencers on the other end of theage spectrum.
“It’s surprising how many grandmothersI’ve met here who have done fencing, but you haveto remember that fencing was a popular sport forwomen in high school during the 1940s and1950s,” Knowles says.
The appeal for most of his students is themix of strategic thinking and the sense that one’sreleasing his or her inner hero. Knowles comparesthe experience to a game of chess, though fasterand with swords (The three kinds used are theepee, sabre and foil.). For those who like one-on-one sports, fencing is a good choice, but Knowlesreinforces that students shouldn’t try to hurt eachother.
“When someone comes at you with a sword,a survival instinct comes out, however fencing isnot about drawing blood,” he explains.
Adopting heroic values of courage, sports-manship, integrity and humility do make the cut.En garde!
Story by Leah FitzpatrickPhoto by Steve Roberts
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i t ’ s j a z z !
Visit us online at wumr.memphis.eduFor underwriting information, call 901-678-2560
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Carol WatkinsArt Collector Extraordinaire
Creative expression runs the gamut from photogra-phy to scrapbooking, but for Carol Watkins, itmeans collecting and precisely arranging mostly
local-made art throughout her house, as well as exer-cising her garden know-how in the Memphis AreaMaster Gardeners. Her most public creative outlethas been helping out arts-related festivals in Mem-phis for 15 years running.
“Our city has an amazingly gifted arts com-munity,” Watkins emphasizes.
Currently, she assists RiverArtsFest as thedirector of art elements, with a focus on exhibitsand events, however her festival experience datesback to the now-defunct Arts in the Park. HowWatkins got involved with Arts in the Park is actuallya fluke: She was working for Nike at the time as anIT manager and got her employer to donate shirtsfor a children’s art project at the festival. Watkinslater became an Arts in the Park board member forfive years, serving as chairman during one of those.
After rolling off the board, she moved on tothe Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, where shedirected the Gotta Have Park Festival for two years.Though the affair catered to park activities, a smallartist market made up part of it. Then came a callfrom an old friend at Arts in the Park about a newendeavor.
Watkins tells, “Lee Askew organized a meet-ing at the Arcade of past chairmen and board mem-bers at Arts in the Park, and every person he invitedshowed up, signaling to us that the city missed it.”
Brooks Monypeny laid out plans for a festivalfollowing the meeting, and the group appointedWatkins director. All the event needed was a name,when Chuck Mitchell proposed a title befitting ofthe Bluff City event—RiverArtsFest. The group ranwith the idea and actively began operating under thesame 501(c)(3), Experience Art in Memphis, thatArts in the Park used and planned for the action totake place along the South Main Historic Arts Dis-trict.
Since the debut of RiverArtsFest in the fall of2007, it has grown to attract a base of 200 volun-teers, 25 chairmen and 80,000 visitors. More impor-tantly, just shy of 190 artists from nearly every statein the U.S. and Canada participate in this two-dayfine arts festival, scheduled for October 23-24 thisyear. Guests can also expect four stages of musicacts, an artist demo area and kids’ art activities. Andif you’re looking for a special something, Watkinsrecommends hitting up the juried artist market.
“We pick art professionals from the commu-nity to be jurors, and we rotate them each year sothat the selections always stay interesting,” she says.
Take a glance around Watkins’ house, andone gets the sense the artists and the jurors havenever let her down.
Story by Leah FitzpatrickPhoto by Steve Roberts
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Vox PopularQ&A with Erik JamborVO
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RRSSVVPP:: How do you think the experience of making a movie corre-lates with running a film festival?
JJaammbboorr:: It’s sort of interesting because I made films all throughhigh school, went to film school—I was in the first class at FloridaState University Film School—and made films coming out of school.I was actually taking a film I made after film school, which debutedin Seattle in ’96, out to film festivals and realized there are someamazing films that I wanted to bring back to my community. Myfriends would get tired of me talking about these films I would seethat they would never have a chance to check out. That’s when sev-eral of us decided to start our own festival. Three years later, we haddone our first film festival in Birmingham, which was the SidewalkMoving Picture Festival that debuted in ’99. That was a huge suc-cess from the get-go and something that kind of connected with thecommunity. For me, I wasvery excited to be able tocurate and encourage film-makers’ careers. I was alsoable to encourage people tobecome filmmakers. The festi-val will be in its 12th year inSeptember, and I was a partof it for the first eight years.
RRSSVVPP:: Do you think being thedirector/co-founder of theSidewalk Moving PictureFestival, as well as the execu-tive director of BendFilm inOregon, fully prepared you forthe executive director role atIndie Memphis?
JJaammbboorr:: Absolutely. The waymost nonprofits are is you’rewearing multiple hats anyway, so in the case of Indie Memphis, asit was with Sidewalk and Bend, you can’t really staff up as youwould like. There’s not much money to have adequate people, soyou’ve got to be able to do a lot of different things. Here, I’m doingthe Web work and the e-mail news blasts, as well as programmingthe films and trying to raise money. We’re hoping that we can getthings running to the point where we can start to increase our year-round staff because we have a lot more to do through education andworkshops for the local filmmaking community.
RRSSVVPP:: What are some of the different ways volunteers can getinvolved?
JJaammbboorr:: It’s everything from helping man community tables at
events in the off-season to working at the festival helping with linemanagement, taking tickets or passing out audience ballots. A lot ofpeople like to help out with the guerrilla marketing by putting upposters in their neighborhoods where they hang out. Sort of thebiggest trick is exposing something new like this to people whodon’t already know how cool it is. You have to think about the factthat a lot of people don’t know what independent film is, so theyreally don’t know what an independent film festival is. Then, a lotof people think the festival isn’t open to the public. What we actual-ly have is a very intimately accessible festival, which is very differ-ent from festivals like Sundance, where the only way to participateis by reading about it in Entertainment Weekly. When you come toa festival like Indie Memphis, you’re hanging out with specialguests that we invite, too. We make an effort to bring in really nicefilmmakers, and they love meeting people.
RRSSVVPP:: How many filmmakersubmissions did you get thisyear?
JJaammbboorr:: Just over 400. It wasa healthy increase. By ourmiddle deadline this year, wehad exceeded the total num-ber of submissions from lastyear. In the end, we should beable to show just over 100films, but that won’t count allthe short films.
RRSSVVPP:: How long is the reviewprocess for submissions?
JJaammbboorr:: It starts when filmsfirst come in during March,but for me, it starts as soon
as we start looking at films after the festival. I serve on the juries ofa lot of festivals and go to whichever ones I can to see what’s outthere. You find films you like, talk to the filmmakers and invitethem to submit. Sometimes you find a film that’s perfect, andyou’ve got to have it. There’s a film called Freedom Riders that wesaw open at the Atlanta Film Festival, and it’s an amazing civilrights film about the story of the freedom riders that rode busesthrough the South and got firebombed and had all sorts of trouble.In the documentary, there are all kinds of interviews with the sur-viving freedom riders. So, we’ll be showing that film at IndieMemphis. It’s sort of a great example of a film that’s letting us con-tinue a lot of ideas in our Freedom Series that we’ve been doing forthe last couple of months in different communities throughoutMemphis. This one will hopefully get a lot of those participating
In a time when movie attendance should be down, box office returns surprisingly show the opposite, even for independent film festivalslike the Indie Memphis Film Festival. Last year, the festival based in Midtown Memphis saw a record-breaking audience of 7,200 patrons,and this October 21-24, executive director Erik Jambor expects that number will be surpassed. Given his film school background and expe-
rience upstarting a successful independent film festival in his native Birmingham, Alabama, if anyone knows how to attract respected film-makers and fill seats at not-your-average movies, it’s Jambor. RSVP editor Leah Fitzpatrick met with Jambor at one of the festival venues,Studio on the Square, for a sneak peek at the inner workings of the film festival scene, only to discover that there’s a lot more to IndieMemphis than what you see at this four-day event.
Photos by Don Perry
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communities coming down toMidtown to continue a lot ofthe dialogues they had over thesummer.
RRSSVVPP:: What’s your favorite cat-egory in the festival?
JJaammbboorr:: I’m a big fan of thedocumentaries because they’rereal, and you can learn aboutsome exciting things you didn’tknow existed. For us, it’s funputting the program togetherbecause there are some reallyamazing films that couldpotentially change your life or,at the very least, become yournext favorite film. It’s interest-ing too because you could be inon the action early in a film-maker’s career.
RRSSVVPP:: How many people com-prise the festival’s jury?
JJaammbboorr:: Our jury is made up of12, where we have three peoplein each category. The jury onlyreviews the films selected forcompetition. There is sort ofan at-large community that iseven right now reviewing films.We’ve got the Black LodgeVideo guys set up, and peoplethat are on the committee areable to go over there and checkout the films. They score themonline and bring them back.That helps us weed througheverything because what we’retrying to do is run things thatappeal to a lot of tastes.Because we have so manyscreens showing movies at onetime, we can have an overallprogram that is very broad.One of the things I like to talkabout is that the key word inthe Indie Memphis FilmFestival is “festival,” whichmeans it’s more than just sit-ting in a dark theater andgoing home. It’s really aboutthe experience of the eventitself and connecting withother people in your own com-munity, out-of-town filmmak-ers, local filmmakers and see-ing the special guests.
RRSSVVPP:: Why do you think theIndie Memphis Film Festivalwas named one of the “25Coolest Film Festivals” byMovieMaker Magazine lastyear?
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JJaammbboorr:: It’s that intimate piece that really con-nects with folks. It’s really important to me tofind ways that our festival is part of the commu-nity. That’s why being here in Midtown is so keybecause it’s such a unique part of Memphis. Wecan easily point to things within a couple ofblocks that have all this historic background,whether it’s Ardent Studios or the old Playhouseon the Square. Having all this uniqueness is real-ly nice to have because the filmmakers are goingto leave having had this experience they can’tmatch at other festivals.
RRSSVVPP:: How do you think the public will receivethe festival being narrowed down from a weekinto four days?
JJaammbboorr:: I think they’re going to find a morevibrant, exciting festival because we’re basicallytaking the energy of eight days and focusing itinto four. What happened was that all the out-of-town filmmakers, guests and VIPS would come infor the weekend because everyone had day jobs.For those in town who saw our posters and camedown on Tuesday night, it didn’t really have thatfestival feeling. It just felt like some screeningswere happening. Now, with fewer days for the fes-tival, it makes us a little more focused andchoosey in a way.
RRSSVVPP:: What are you aiming for the attendance tobe this year at the festival, since I know attend-ance records were broken last year?
JJaammbboorr:: We were up 80 percent in the last twoyears. I don’t expect those numbers to keep goingup at that projectory, but I do think we’ll be able
to break 8,000 attendees this year. I think thatPlayhouse will help us draw in some additionalfolks who might not otherwise come to the festi-val because they know Playhouse and its culturalsignificance. We’ll also be using three screens atthe Malco Studio on the Square, as well as theMemphis Brooks Museum of Art. The film sched-ule will be posted at indiememphis.com and in afour-page guide in the Memphis Flyer.
RRSSVVPP:: If you could improve anything about theIndie Memphis Film Festival, what would it be?
JJaammbboorr:: I think the first thing we would like tosee is for a larger part of the community to par-ticipate. The people that want to see 100 films ina weekend have been coming for years, and everyyear we’re adding more of the casual filmgoers tothe experience. We want to be in everyone’s mindlike the Beale Street Music Festival or Blues onthe Bluff®, where even if you don’t go, you knowit’s happening. It’s also important for people torealize this is an affordable experience. Wehaven’t set the ticket pricing for this year, but it’smore approachable than normal movies, and per-sonally, my favorite way of seeing a film is with-out the expectations that come with giant market-ing campaigns. We’re working on some ideas thatI think will make it easier for people to just trystuff. Maybe if you don’t like a certain film, youcan just go out and try another one. We want peo-ple to understand it’s kind of like a music festi-val, where each screen is like a stage with differ-ent stuff happening at different times, but it’slow-key and not as sweaty.
RRSSVVPP:: Can you highlight some of the other pro-grams that Indie Memphis puts on throughoutthe year?
JJaammbboorr:: The Global Lens Film Series was a bigone for us this year. It’s something we’d donethree years prior, but it was a part of the festivalthen. The program itself showcases 10 interna-tional narrative features from countries you don’tnormally get to see cinema from, like Algeria,Vietnam and Uruguay. It kind of kept getting lostin the festival because we’re already running morethan 100 films. If you had to pick between one ofthese six films, then these international onestended to lose out. With the help of the FirstTennessee Foundation, we were able to get withthe Brooks and spin it off to be a separate seriesthat took place over three months. Each film wasalso able to run twice, and the attendance forthose films more than tripled. We always workwith Memphis in May, which is a lot of funbecause we’re teaming up with them to find cine-ma from their featured country. The only way todo a lot of these year-round events is to do thesecollaborations with organizations like the Brooksand Memphis in May.
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ONSITE
Alden, Heather and Josh Wannerat COMEC Treasure Hunt
Sophie and Shawn Sandyat COMEC Treasure Hunt
Onsite
Sonja Lavender, Tamika Cole-Peck, Earline Montgomery and Natia Norrisat Girls Inc. Celebration Luncheon
Kristin Budzak, Robin Enck and Nina Nashat Girls Inc. Celebration Luncheon
Andrienne Hare, Ashley Clanton and Stacey LaRussoat Golf Ball
Cindy Brewer, Jennifer Dow, Amy Beth Dudley and Melissa Grimesat Girls Inc. Celebration Luncheon
Golf Ball COMEC Treasure HuntGirls Inc. Celebration Luncheon
Golfers who attended the first GGoollff BBaallll at PPaarrmmaasstteerrsswere treated to the pleasure of their favorite sportwithout the sweltering heat. This event was a precursorfor the BBooyyss && GGiirrllss CClluubbss ooff GGrreeaatteerr MMeemmpphhiiss 16thannual GGoollff CCllaassssiicc, held June 21 at TTPPCC SSoouutthhwwiinndd.The event featured a Taste of Memphis with samplingsfrom TThhee HHaallff SShheellll, IIttttaa BBeennaa, WWhhoollee FFooooddss and NNaappaaCCaaffee. Golfers competed for prizes in skills competi-tions, such as a putting contest, miniature golf and along drive contest.
If you’ve ever wondered who issues AMBERAlerts for missing children, that would be the CCoommmmiiss--ssiioonn oonn MMiissssiinngg aanndd EExxppllooiitteedd CChhiillddrreenn, a nonprofitthat recently put on the CCOOMMEECC TTrreeaassuurree HHuunntt for itsyounger counterparts. Held inside and on the groundsof the PPiinnkk PPaallaaccee MMuusseeuumm, the party for “pirates” hadall aboard for an afternoon of fun: face painting byPPaarrttyy wwiitthh PPiicckklleess, photo ops with “Backyard Friends”from IInn CChhaarraacctteerr PPrroodduuccttiioonnss and action heroes andfairytale characters from WWiisshh!! MMeemmoorriieess, as well asperformances by TThhee BBuuccccaanneeeerrss oonn tthhee MMiissssiissssiippppii,CCoolllliieerrvviillllee AArrttss AAccaaddeemmyy, MMiidd--SSoouutthh BBuuccccaanneeeerrss andSSttuuddiioo BB. SShhaawwnn SSaannddyy, COMEC board president, andDDeeiiddrraa SShhoorreess, NBC Today Show kid correspondent,emceed the hunt.
The WWiillssoonn AAiirr CCeenntteerr on Winchester Road nor-mally houses charter planes, but it recently served as avenue for the 20th annual GGiirrllss IInncc.. CCeelleebbrraattiioonnLLuunncchheeoonn to further remind the organization’s partici-pants and supporters that “The sky’s the limit” for theyoung women of Memphis. While luncheongoers atequiche, salad and strawberry cake prepared by HHaarrrraahh’’ssEEnntteerrttaaiinnmmeenntt’’ss PPaauullaa DDeeeenn BBuuffffeett, the girls openedthe ceremony with a version of R. Kelly’s “I Believe ICan Fly.” Local businesswomen and philanthropistsGGaayyllee RRoossee, LLyynnnn EEvvaannss and MMaarryy VV.. RReelllliinngg were pre-sented awards for setting the example of being “SSttrroonngg,,SSmmaarrtt aanndd BBoolldd”—a message of Girls Inc. in its commu-nity. Girls Inc. members were also recognized, includ-ing AAlleexxiiss WWiilllliiaammss for GGiirrll ooff tthhee YYeeaarr, VVeerrnneecceellyynnAAlllleenn for the SShhee’’ss oonn tthhee RRiigghhtt TTrraacckk AAwwaarrdd and RRaaee--JJeeaann DDaavviiss for the CChhaalllleennggeerr AAwwaarrdd.
Story by Leah Fitzpatrick, Suzanne Thompsonand Lesley Young
Photos by Tran Bui, Suzanne Thompsonand Lesley Young
Mario Bertangna, Hyun Cho and Dustin Krugelat Golf Ball
Allison, Brooke (baby), Terri and Aidan Smith with princesses and superheroes from Wish! Memoriesat COMEC Treasure Hunt
Beth and Ben Buffington, Guy Phatop and Andy Mathesat Golf Ball
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Jack Green, Darlene Loprete, Bette Ackerman and Henry Kurtzat “A Summer Celebration”
Liz Wilson McKee and Rae Lyn Hartleyat Mint Julep Cup
ONSITE Onsite
Bonnie and Jason Shelbyat Mint Julep Cup
Merry Moore, Cathy Ross, Frankie Morris and Inetta Rogersat Groovin in the Garden
Dr. Louis G. Britt, Bell Sehnert and Genie Ashworthat Mid-South Transplant Foundation 40th Anniversary
Vanecia Kimbrow, Carolyn Bishop and Darla Mayesat Groovin in the Garden
“A Summer Celebration” Groovin in the GardenMid-South Transplant Foundation 40th Anniversary Mint Julep Cup
The NNaattiioonnaall KKiiddnneeyy FFoouunnddaattiioonn ooff WWeesstt TTeennnneesssseeeeheld “AA SSuummmmeerr CCeelleebbrraattiioonn” at RRiivveerr OOaakkss RReessttaauu--rraanntt. Supporters of the NKFWT, along with kidneydonors and recipients, enjoyed a five-course dinner pre-pared by Chef JJoosséé GGuuttiieerrrreezz which included culinarydelights like potato lace shrimp with gazpacho, a scal-lop ceviche with apple caviar and beef tenderloin withbacon smashed potatoes. A live auction, hosted byEEaarrllee FFaarrrreellll, featured items such as a “Key to MyHeart” silver chain bracelet with charm donated byRRoobbeerrtt IIrrwwiinn JJeewweelleerrss, a catered dinner by AAlliiccee MMaannttiiaaand several pieces of gold jewelry donated by KKiinnggFFuurrss.
Members and guests of TThhee LLiinnkkss,, IInnccoorrppoorraatteeddreturned to the MMeemmpphhiiss BBoottaanniicc GGaarrddeenn another yearfor its annual GGrroooovviinn iinn tthhee GGaarrddeenn. As the eventname implies, “groovin” came in the way of music byTThhee WWiillll GGrraavveess BBaanndd and jazz violinist JJaassoonn MMiillttoonn,but there was also a special silent auction that featuredoriginal artwork created by artist DDaannnnyy BBrrooaaddwwaayy. Anonprofit volunteer service organization, The Links,Inc. also used the occasion to present a $1,000 dona-tion to the SSttaaxx MMuussiicc AAccaaddeemmyy.
DDrr.. LLoouuiiss GG.. BBrriitttt was the man of the hour atthe MMiidd--SSoouutthh TTrraannssppllaanntt FFoouunnddaattiioonn 4400tthh AAnnnniivveerrssaarryyheld at BBrriiddggeess. Honored for his service to the founda-tion as its president and for performing the first kidneytransplant in Memphis 40 years ago, Dr. Britt receiveda warm response from fellow physicians, friends andfamilies involved with organ donation. Other awardswent to EErrsskkiinnee GGiilllleessppiiee, CChhaarrlleess MMiilllleerr and MMaarryyHHoobbssoonn, whose husband was Memphis’ first kidneyrecipient.
Women donned their best sundresses and hatswhile their male counterparts broke out their sportcaps and shades for the debut of the MMiinntt JJuulleepp CCuupp. Abenefit polo match and tailgating party hosted by theMMeemmpphhiiss PPoolloo CClluubb, the Sunday-afternoon affairattracted a crowd of 200 adults and children, whoenjoyed pony rides throughout the game while theirparents competed in hat and tailgating contests.Proceeds totaling $4,200 will benefit GGiirrllss IInnccoorrppoo--rraatteedd, a nonprofit that provides a variety of positiveprogramming for high-risk girls in underserved areas.
Story by Leah Fitzpatrick and Suzanne ThompsonPhotos Submitted and by Rodney Jeffery
and Suzanne Thompson
Erskine Gillespie and Lovie Lumpkinat Mid-South Transplant Foundation 40th Anniversary
Harold Byrd, Keith Alderman, Judge Lorrie Ridder, Susan Stralka and Ken Jobat “A Summer Celebration”
Robert and Ingrid Bolding with Paul and Dianne Wesphalat “A Summer Celebration”
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LIVE
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E V E N T Live at the Garden
With Al Green
Tom Corona and Christy Foster with Bonnie and David Thornton
Sarah Stramel and Sherry Misner
Doug Collins and Kathy McFall
Elizabeth and Ron Hickman
Ernie and Lynn Mellor
Melissa and John Gwin
Ursula and Jeff Jones
Cannie Forsyth and Lyndsay Adams
Kem and Norma Wilson
After touring all throughout Europe, Al Green was glad to sing forthe folks back home, gauging by the performance he gave to8,000 enthusiastic audience members at the Memphis Botanic
Garden during its 10th annual Live at the Garden series. Following an energetic and tight set by Robert Randolph and
the Family Band, who drew their own gathering of devotees, Greenhit the stage wearing a suit and bearing armfuls of long-stemmedroses, which he personally handed to screaming female fans through-out the night. After shedding his jacket, he continued to strut,shake, sing and shout in an emerald green vest and tie while blow-ing away the crowd with his classic hits like “Let’s Stay Together”and “Love and Happiness.” Green also delivered several short coversby some of his associates, including Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye,whom he described as “a brother.”
“He was just 100 percent on,” said event coordinator SherryMisner of the sold-out show. “It totally exceeded our expectations.He was on fire. It was great.”
Not only was Debbie Browne, who drove in from Jackson,Tennessee, pleased with Green singing all of her favorites, she washappy to see a performance again. “I saw him in college a long timeago, and I knew he stopped performing to be a minister, so I neverthought I’d see him again,” she said. “I guess somehow he got acalling to come back to the stage. I’m so excited.”
Browne and her friends took advantage of the VIP ticketoptions, allowing them access to a luxuriously decorated and air-con-ditioned tent, provided by Classic Party Rentals, and a spread ofdelectables provided by A Moveable Feast near the stage. “We start-ed out a few years ago bringing lawn chairs and sitting in the grassyarea, then we got wind of what was going on up this way,” saidBrowne’s friend, Leslie Underwood, also of Jackson. “This is great.The accommodations are quite fabulous.”
“It’s another wonderful way to listen to music in Memphis,”said attendee Pamela Marshall.
Story by Lesley YoungPhotos by Nathan Berry
See all the party photos at rsvpmagazine.comPassword: RSVP
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Vicki Olson, Jessica Olson and Jeanie Gundlach
Demetri Patikas, Margaret Jabbour and Josh Hammond
Kristi Hammond and Amy SuzorLaci and Tristan Jackson
Greg Wright and Stacy TaylorMaricela Lou and Antwon Ingram
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Gina Webb with Michael and Joanie Lightman
Danny and Soheila KailDavid and Sandra Hallford
Denise Watts and Beverly MullikinVickie and Larry Laurenzi
Ann Gray and Carol PtasienskiAngela Hammond and Bill Huddleston
15th Annual
Friday Sept. 10, 6-9PM
To purchase tickets go to www.dixon.org or call 901-761-5250 Admission includes beer, food, art, and musicMust be 21 to attend
Beer provided by:Bluff City Brewers & Connoisseurs, Boscos, Budweiser, Coors Light, Dos Equis, Ghost River Brewing, Heineken, Miller Lite
Food Provided by:Bardog Tavern, Jim ‘N Nicks Bar-B-Q, L’École Culinaire, McAlister’s Deli, Pa Pa Pia’s Italian Restaurant
Live music byMean Green Music Machine
4339 Park Avenue, Memphis, TN
Memphis’ original beer tasting with a fine art flair
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Jill Wadsworth with Teresa and Eric Bottom
Wendy Payton, Josh Acheson and Michelle Reed
Louis Jehl with Lisa and Marcus Hodges
Gail Staples with Myra and Reggie Crenshaw
swatchesfine fabrics • furniture • baby
2132 West Street • Germantown, TN 38138(901) 759-0971 • (901) 624-3339 Fax
Located on West Street between Poplar and Poplar Pike - South of Saddle Creek
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Shiela White and Marilyn Hughesat Hope House Girls Night Out
Victoria Bloodworth Smith, Terri Dean and Elsie Bloodworthat Hope House Girls Night Out
ONSITE Onsite
Karen and Julia Gephartat Echoes of Truth Silent Auction
Mark Harris with Taylor and Patrick Chandlerat Echoes of Truth Silent Auction
Rose Rubin and Ellen Watsonat Stage Door Soiree
Michael Mosby, Betty Burton and Ali Rohrbacherat Echoes of Truth Silent Auction
Echoes of Truth Silent AuctionStage Door Soiree Hope House Girls Night Out
Friday night meant hitting the town, or rather HHooppeeHHoouussee, for the group of women who attended thenonprofit’s GGiirrllss NNiigghhtt OOuutt. The eve of pamperingbegan with margaritas and wine and included facials,massages, pedicures and shopping. Local singersVVaalleenncciiaa RRoobbiinnssoonn and MMiicchhaaeellaa CCaaiittlliinn also enter-tained partygoers, who threw change in for a chance towin raffle prizes like jewelry and paintings. More than$2,000 was raised for the HHooppee HHoouussee EEmmeerrggeennccyyFFuunndd, which provides emergency assistance to theyoungest victims of the AIDS epidemic.
The OOrrpphheeuumm gave guests of the SSttaaggee DDoooorrSSooiirreeee an all-access pass to its backstage area to gener-ate funds for the theater’s education programs. As evi-denced by the number of attendees who lined up fortours and the signature Bellini cocktail of the evening,the unique behind-the-scenes ticket was a smash.MMaajjeessttiicc GGrriillllee provided the nibbles to satisfy the after-work crowd’s appetite, and a video voting session of theOrpheum’s Star Search contestants appeased musicaltastes.
Another happening at the Orpheum this sum-mer included the EEcchhooeess ooff TTrruutthh SSiilleenntt AAuuccttiioonn, bene-fiting MMeemmpphhiiss CCiittyy SScchhooooll’s award-winning summerarts program EEcchhooeess ooff TTrruutthh. An estimated 1,400patrons graced the doors and bid a total of $8,800 onstudent-created art that revolved around the program’stheme of Memphis music. From chairs to paintings,the range of items up for grabs was endless, and bid-ders weren’t the only ones excited. “This is my fourthyear to participate,” exclaimed artist AAllii RRoohhrrbbaacchheerr.Festivities concluded with an original musical per-formed by students on the Orpheum stage.
Story and photos by Leah Fitzpatrick
Bill Burtch, Rick Bartl, Peter Raccasi and Tom Cliftonat Stage Door Soiree
Marianne Olson, Jessica Cox, Betty Dupont and Maddie Ryanat Hope House Girls Night Out
Betsy and Kinzie Birdat Stage Door Soiree
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BROADWAY SEASONTICKET PACKAGES START AT JUST $111.50
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BLUE
S ON
THE
BLU
FF®
E V E N T Blues on the Bluff®
WEVL’s Party on the River
Melissa and Scott Elsholz with Buddy and Pam Chapman
Debra and Reid Dulberger
Lisa G and LeRoy Hodges
John and Kathy Brewster
Joan and Jacob Biddle
Will and Elise Griffin
Larry Franks and Diane Tonelli
Jeff Sanderson and Jackie Young
Yves Beauvais and Judy Dorsey
Metal Museum Drive proved a hotbed of activity one recent sum-mer night as hundreds of WEVL 89.9 FM supporters clamoredto hear one of the region’s favored music genres—the blues. Now
in its 22nd year, Blues on the Bluff® still manages to bring down thehouse, and the unobstructed view of the Mississippi from theNational Ornamental Metal Museum grounds can’t be matched.
Local musician Nancy Apple emceed the benefit concert thatkicked off with a set from Last Chance Jug Band. The group isknown for its rekindling of the sound of Memphis’ jug bands fromthe 1920s-1930s, which resonated well with band member DavidEvans’ daughter, Chloe Evans O’Hearn, who hula hooped the nightaway to the beat. Next up was The Bo-Keys, who began the secondperformance with a dedication to the “people we lost since the lastBlues on the Bluff: Willie Mitchell, Alex Chilton and Jim Dickin-son.” The band then began playing “Cleo’s Back,” while musiclovers responded by kicking off their shoes and dancing. As the suntraveled beyond the horizon, the temps got a little cooler, but themusic got a little hotter thanks to a finale by the Eric Deaton Triowith Kent Kimbrough.
New this year was the incorporation of a silent auction intothe festivities. Around 30 businesses and organizations embraced theopportunity to raise funding for WEVL and contributed offeringsfrom gift certificates to concert tickets. Volunteer Mary-Alice Taylorsaid she didn’t know anywhere else where someone could get suchdiverse items, giving reference to gift certificates from Whole Foodsand tattoo shop Underground Art.
Laura Marzahl, another volunteer, joked, “You can even geta WEVL tattoo with the Underground Art gift certificate if youwant.”
In addition to auction bids, all proceeds from the sales atCentral BBQ’s onsite stand and the purchase of tee shirts and WEVLmemberships went toward helping WEVL continue its some 60 vol-unteer-run weekly programs. The show will definitely go on withmore than $23,000 raised by 900 attendees who know how to throwin listener support and, of course, rock the bluff.
Story and photos by Leah Fitzpatrick
See all the party photos at rsvpmagazine.comPassword: RSVP
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E V E N T
BLUE
S ON
THE
BLU
FF®
Kristen and Nick Doing
Randy Alford and Randy Meeks
Christian Brannan, Casey Fly and Matthew Brannan
Cindy Ware, Wilhelmina Alfonso and Virginia Weber
Jessica and Paul LaFrain
Carol and Patrick Austin
Congratulationsto the 2010 Where in the World is RSVP? Contest Winner
Betty Kirkland
“Even when I’m in beautiful Hong Kong, China,I cannot stop reading my RSVP!”
Honorable Mentions Honorable Mentions
Debbie O'Neal Haltom and Donna O'Neal Monroein Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Aldon Brooksin Orlando, Florida
Nathan Harmeierin Montego Bay, Jamaica
Larrie Rodriguezin Honolulu, Hawaii
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E V E N T
BLUE
S ON
THE
BLU
FF®
Bob and Deb CameronDonna and Andy Roberts
Keller and Mark CaldwellMaria Cole and John Fox
Melissa Blackard and Jon BorgognoniMatthew and Laura Eison
Christina Cornett and Lisa HallRichard Caldwell and Catherine Rogers Jonsson
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By Dennis PhillippiRSVP
HILL
IPPI
AT LEAST PEYTON’S STILL COOLIt’s often said in sports that we build upour heroes just to tear them down. It’s afair knock—I’ve had a hand in tearing
down plenty of them—but lately it’s be-come more of a “How can we tear themdown if they keep insisting on doing it forus?” situation. From Favre to LeBron toTiger, the fun goes out of character assas-sination when the characters insist onassassinating themselves.
By the time you read this, BrettFavre will probably have announced thathe is unretiring for the third time. Thiswould make him the second most retiredathlete in history, passing Michael Jordanand still chasing Muhammad Ali. He has alot of records, but this one may be moreembarrassing than his record of ending histeam’s seasons with a disastrous bonehead-ed interception. I hear the tapping outthere, don’t even bother sending the e-mail, Favre Honk, it would just go in thestack with the rest.
Look, I like Favre, I really do. He’sa good Southern guy, seems like he’d be afun hang and has got a laser cannon foran arm, which is particularly impressiveconsidering he’s almost as old as me, butthis act has worn as thin as a 10-year-oldpair of Wrangler jeans. Personally, I won-der if he is really wrestling with the deci-sion every year or just grooves on theattention. If the former is true, then he’skind of a girl, and if the latter is true, heis a girl.
As far as LeBron James is con-cerned, I didn’t even want to address it,but with all these athletic legends pilingup in the questionable behavior camp, Ican’t lay off him. It’s pretty well docu-mented that I had a longtime man crushon LeBron. He was so cool. He came outof high school and was every bit as adver-tised. He dominated. He was funny. Hestayed in Cleveland. I’ve been to Cleve-land. I didn’t stay. And now, neither hashe.
Any time you start hating onMemphis, imagine for a second living inCleveland. The Cavaliers had the bestrecord in the regular season last season,and then LeBron disappeared in the play-offs. In the off-season, LeBron campaignedto have Chris Bosh come play for Cleve-land, so he’d have someone else to blamewhen they faded in the play-offs this com-
ing season. Bosh passed, and they botheventually ended up in Miami. Boshwouldn’t go to Cleveland to play witharguably the best player in the league…andhe had been playing in Toronto. TheRaptors were the punch line to a joke thatwasn’t funny, and he still wouldn’t leavethere to go to Cleveland. I understand hisnot wanting to move there, and I under-stand LeBron not wanting to stay there,but LeBron is from there. Well, he’s fromAkron, but that’s like saying you’re notfrom Memphis, you’re from Cordova. Heburned his hometown, and it smells awful.The burning, not his hometown. Clevelandhas a lot of downside, but it doesn’t smell.
That was the end of the man crushon LeBron.
Then there’s Tiger Woods. I won’tbelabor the year he has had, but we can allagree it’s been bad. Before we found outabout Tiger’s many, many dalliances, thesqueak in our shoe about him was that hewas too perfect. It wasn’t about race, orthe fact that he tended to curse in front ofadoring kids when his second shot wentinto the drink; it was that he was a ma-chine. He was a robot, who married a ro-bot, and they appeared to be in the busi-ness of making more robots. If he was inthe hunt on Sunday, whoever was likely towin if he wasn’t there wouldn’t. He wouldcome tearing up behind them in that redshirt, and they’d faint like Scarlett O’Hara.It was annoying, just because he was the
only guy. If someone sidled into secondplace, he would grind them until theysnapped. He broke David Duval. He madeErnie Els a footnote. He was on his way tomaking Phil Mickelson his WashingtonGenerals. It wasn’t fun to watch.
Then, the other stuff happened,and we found out that Tiger is not onlyhuman, he’s a deeply flawed human. Sud-denly he’s not only a rat and a bad hus-band, but a pretty weak golfer as well. Ioften said before the wheels came off thatthe only thing standing between Tiger andevery record in the book was boredom. Ihad no way of knowing that Waffle Hutwaitresses could do so much damage. Whoknows, it’s a few weeks between the time Iwrite this and the time you read it, somaybe he somehow pulled it together andmade a showing in the PGA Champion-ship. From where I as a sports fan sitright now, that seems about as likely asseeing the announcement of the openingof the Lady Gaga Theater in Branson.
Obviously, Tiger needs help. Hefired one coach and looks to have pickedup a new one. He needs one. He probablycould use some coach time with a goodtherapist, too. But, his big solution?Growing a goatee. How is that going tohelp? He went from a clean-shaven quasi-heroic Terminator to a kind of sinisterlooking version of himself. Of course, any-one who has ever watched an episode ofany “Star Trek” show knows that a goateeequals an Evil Twin. Evil Twins are alwayssporting a goat. This isn’t Tiger. It’s hisdemented doppelganger.
So, I didn’t get to help bring anyof these guys down, they did it for us. Butone of the great things in writing aboutsports is even if I didn’t knock them down,I can still kick them while they’re there.Ah, sweet schadenfreude.
I demand extra bonus points forworking doppelganger and schadenfreudeinto the same column.
Who should really get extra bonus pointsis Brett Favre, LeBron James and TigerWoods if each knows what “schaden-freude” means. Somehow, from Phillippi’sassessment of the current shenanigansinvolved with American athletes, I’m surelocating a dictionary is the least of theirworries.
OOff ccoouurrssee,, aannyyoonneewwhhoo hhaass eevveerr wwaattcchheeddaann eeppiissooddee ooff aannyy““SSttaarr TTrreekk”” sshhooww
kknnoowwss tthhaatt aa ggooaatteeeeeeqquuaallss aann EEvviill TTwwiinn..
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URS After Hours
A photo collage of the latestbusiness happenings
JAMES DAVIS ANNUAL FISH FRY
R.C. Johnson and Van Weinbergat James Davis
Sara Beth Raab and Donny Grangerat Mrs. Post Fine Stationery
Natalie Chang and Lindsey Crossat Mrs. Post Fine Stationery
Dana Cross and Sheridan Crossat Mrs. Post Fine Stationery
Larry and Omari Porterat James Davis
Glynn Cyprien with Van and Bo Abbayat James Davis
Michael Rea and Cami Krablinat James Davis
MEDNIKOW GIRLS NIGHT OUT FEATURINGNANIS ITALIAN JEWELS
Jay Mednikow and Designer Laura Bicegoat Mednikow
Meghan Kirby and Christina Moranat Mednikow
Holly Bronson, Tiffany Brimhall and Anne Robertsat Mednikow
Jennifer Ventre and Joanna Fosterat Mednikow
Dr. Susan Murrmann, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Barbara Robinsonat Dr. Oz Talk at Memphis Botanic Garden
METHODIST LE BONHEUR HEALTHCARE & UT HEALTHSCIENCE CENTER HOST DR. OZ TALK AT MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
MRS. POST FINE STATIONERY GRAND OPENING
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An Evening with a Baseball LegendRSVP
AST
1988
The night prior to Trump’s Castle Hotel and Casino Riverboat Party on the Mississippi, the casino’s high rollers gathered fora private celebration at Folk’s Folly. Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Willie Mays was the celebrity host at the kick-off andagreed to have his picture taken with Ernie Barrasso, who represented Trump’s Castle for four years and served as the skipperfor the riverboat party.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ERNIE BARRASSO
If you have a past photo you would like to share with RSVP readers, please contact Leah Fitzpatrick at 276-7787 ext. 105or e-mail the photo and caption to [email protected]
All photos will be returned promptly.
