PHOTO: KEVIN REED | COURTESY MID-SOUTH PRIDE FOUNDATION, INC.
Clayborn Grant
Summer BINGO
PHOTO: ABIGAIL MORICI
PHOTO: PATRICIA LOCKHART
THE fly-by
MEM ernet
Memphis on the internet.
MIGHTY PRIDE
Mighty Lights said the Hernando de Soto Bridge will rock rainbows for Mid-South Pride, Tri-State Black Pride, and events throughout Pride Month.
STAY GOLD
“Next time somebody asks me about the quality of Memphis City Schools I’m gonna show them this and say, ‘It’s golden,’” u/GrowMemphisAgency posted in the Memphis subreddit.
ONION
e ctional Memphis Science Center made e Onion last week: “ rough our ‘Fun With Funding Cuts’ display, children get a chance to resolve the devastating capital shortage that’s going to force us to close by the end of the year,” museum curator Colleen Gannon said while walking through the exhibit, which features a wall of spreadsheets that children can ll in via a 10-by-10-foot calculator built into the oor.
Questions, Answers + Attitude
Edited by Toby Sells
{WEEK THAT WAS
By Flyer staff
Parks, MATA, & Clayborn Temple
Memphis keeps ranking, budget adds no new service, and a new grant promises to rebuild.
MEMPHIS PARKS
Memphis kept its 70thplace ranking for parks among America’s 100 largest cities this year, according to new results from the Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore index.
e city got big points in the study for park size.
e median size here is 10 acres, far outpacing the national median of 5.4 acres.
Park spending in Memphis has more than doubled over the last 10 years, according to the study. In 2015, Memphis spent $57 per person on parks. at jumped to $163 last year and jumped again to $185 per person this year.
Memphis park spending this year was above the national average of $133 spent per person.
Investing in parks is largely responsible for Memphis’ climb in the rankings, the Trust for Public Land said in a statement. In 2021, the city ranked 95 out of 100. However, Memphis still ranked low for access to parks and park amenities.
MATA BUDGET
Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) board members approved the agency’s $59 million budget for the year last week.
MATA commissioner Anna McQuiston said the budget does not include an increase in frequency from MATAplus and other main line services. She also said there would be no signi cant dent in the debt they have.
To address this, the board has requested that the Memphis City Council increase their yearly budget to $45 million, instead of $30 million. e council previously discussed an amendment that would cut the agency’s funding almost in half to approximately $15.6 million. Council members discussed giving the agency the rest of the money when they are able to present a budget and an audit, which they have been requesting for a year.
“I think MATA’s done poor budgeting,” Councilwoman Jerri Green said during the May 21st council meeting. “I can no longer continue to write a blank check up here and feel like I’m doing my duty to the public.”
CLAYBORN GRANT
Several organizations committed a total of $1.5 million to
Clayborn Temple before the devastating re last month
rebuild the Historic Clayborn Temple last week.
e African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, Mellon Foundation, and Ford Foundation announced the grant in a news conference. ey said it is a part of a larger campaign that will launch soon and will garner support from other national foundations.
“Clayborn Temple is more than just brick and mortar,” Martin Luther King III said last week. “It’s a sanctuary of purpose, where civil rights and labor leaders came together in the fight for dignity and where community was born.”
e building was declared a “total loss” a er a re late last month. Two weeks ago, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives declared the re was arson. ey released a photo of a person of interest. But no arrest had been made as of press time.
MUS SHIRT?
In the Memphis subreddit, the eagle-eyed u/theunnamedban wondered how a Memphis University School Owls T-shirt came to be worn by a character in the movie, Adult Best Friends
Redditors had some great possibilities. Turns out the answer is not so satisfying.
“ ere is zero connection except I borrowed it from my mom’s friend who has a vintage T-shirt collection,” Delaney Bu ett, a co-writer, director, and a star of the lm, said in an email. “But amazing to know the origins of it :).”
Visit the News Blog at memphis yer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.
POSTED TO FACEBOOK BY MIGHTY LIGHTS/ ADARRYLL JACKSON
PHOTO: ABIGAIL MORICI
THEIR SHARE OF OVER $750,000
‘Big,
Beautiful’ EV Cuts {
ENVIRONMENT
By Cassandra Stephenson, Tennessee Lookout
Trump tax credit cuts could stall momentum on Tennessee’s dream of an electric future.
Congress may be poised to roll back electric vehicle tax credits and institute new annual taxes on electric vehicle owners — moves that could spell trouble for electric vehicle manufacturers in Tennessee and across the country, according to industry organizations.
e U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a revised version of President Donald Trump’s budget reconciliation.
e “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” slashes multiple tax credits available to consumers who purchase new, used, and commercial electric vehicles (EVs). It also creates a new annual tax for owners of EVs ($250) and hybrid vehicles ($100), money meant to make up for owners’ lack of gas tax contributions toward infrastructure upkeep.
e bill now moves to the U.S. Senate for consideration. Should it pass, the EV tax credits will expire on December 31, 2025, instead of the original December 2032 sunset date.
Industry advocates and analysts warn that axing the tax credits — which can save buyers up to $7,500 on new, American-made and sourced EVs — will kill the
industry’s momentum in Tennessee and put investments and jobs at risk.
Tennessee has incentivized its growing electric vehicle industry with hundreds of millions of dollars of state contributions and tax breaks over the last decade. e Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development estimates more than 20,000 Tennesseans are employed by companies with EV operations, and EV projects have injected $16.2 billion in capital into the state since 2017. In West Tennessee, BlueOval City’s EV assembly line for Ford’s new electric truck is under construction, and BlueOval SK is gearing up for battery production. e massive $5.6 billion campus is expected to reshape and reinvigorate rural West Tennessee.
e Electri cation Coalition, a nonpro t, nonpartisan group advocating for electric vehicle adoption and supportive public policy, called the move a “sledgehammer to Tennessee’s EV industry” in a statement published last week.
“It would eliminate critical tax credits that are spurring private-sector investments, supporting critical mineral supply chain development, creating American
jobs and ensuring the United States remains competitive in the global automotive market,” Electri cation Coalition executive director Ben Prochazka stated. “Removing these credits would pull the rug out from under the auto and aligned battery industries at a critical time, immediately putting Tennessee jobs at risk.”
Reached by email, the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development declined to comment on industry organizations’ concerns.
Tennessee’s electric vehicle industry has grown over the last two decades to include manufacturing plants for Ford, Volkswagen, and GM, in addition to multiple companies that produce EV batteries or EV battery components.
e state has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the electric vehicle industry over the last decade, according to records kept by the state’s Department of Economic & Community Development.
is includes a $78 million grant for the recruitment of Ultium Cells LLC, an EV battery manufacturer, to locate jobs for
State lawmakers approved a $900 million package for Ford Co.
1,300 workers in Maury County.
State lawmakers approved a $900 million incentive package for Ford’s BlueOval City campus in 2021, including $500 million in reimbursements for construction work on the campus in Stanton, Tennessee.
Some U.S. Republicans are pushing to keep energy tax credits. Tennessee lawmakers aren’t among them.
An October Washington Post analysis found Tennessee received an estimated $12.6 billion in investments in clean energy projects since the In ation Reduction Act passed in 2022.
Ford and GM did not respond to requests for comment on the potential rollback of consumer EV tax credits.
PHOTO: FORD CO.
By Jackson Baker
Shelby Dems Reorganize
It’s Simon over Etheridge in a close chairmanship race.
On its second try this year, the Shelby County Democratic Party (SCDP) — newly reconstituted by the Tennessee Democratic Party a er an abortive e ort in March — managed to elect new leadership on Saturday at the Teaching and Learning Academy on Union Avenue.
e main contestants were the same as had been the case two months earlier — Willie Simon, the ultimate winner, and Je Etheridge.
at prior occasion had broken down amid tumult and shouting, ostensibly regarding disagreement over bylaws up for adoption by the local party.
In the a ermath, the state Democratic organization revoked the local party charter, a circumstance that had also occurred in 2016. en as now, existing internal divisions loomed larger than any technical circumstance.
chair had been the similarly named Michael L. Harris.)
A er one round of voting from attendees grouped according to the 13 County Commission districts, the balloting went: Simon, 136; Etheridge, 130; and Harris, 33.
Harris was dropped for a second round, which went: Simon,149; Etheridge, 139.
It remains to be seen whether Simon can unify the local party. One measure of the di culty of that task is the fact that, as in the last prior completed vote for a party chair, in 2023, the votes were split almost 50-50.
Whether coincidental or not, the contest this year had similarly involved a white candidate, Etheridge, with support in the suburbs, and a Black candidate, Simon, whose base was the inner city.
As a reminder — inadvertent, perhaps — of the local party’s stormy history, one of the welcoming messages ashed on a large screen to the more than 300 participating delegates on Saturday was this somewhat cryptic one: “Any conduct unbecoming a Democrat is subject to removal.”
Presiding over things, in lieu of state party chair Rachel Campbell of Chattanooga, was former state party chair Hendrell Remus of Memphis and Nashville, who cautioned, “We don’t want any Republicans sneaking in here.”
Among the party luminaries on hand for the event — some voting, some not — were Shelby County CAO Harold Collins and businessman/ entrepreneur J.W. Gibson, both declared candidates for county mayor in 2026; assessor candidate Jay Bailey; Memphis Congressman Steve Cohen; DA Steve Mulroy; and numerous city council members, county commissioners, and state legislators.
A er prolonged delays, the convention got down to order, and three candidates were nominated — Simon, the erstwhile acting chairman of the local party before its most recent revocation; Etheridge, president of the Germantown Democratic Club; and one Michael O. Harris. ( e latter’s nomination occasioned some confusion inasmuch as a recent local
African Americans were overwhelmingly in the majority of those taking part on Saturday, as they are in Shelby County Democratic primary voting, generally.
It would follow, then, from the closeness of the vote on Saturday, that racial a nity was but one factor, among several, weighing on the outcome.
Other o cers elected Saturday were: Will Richardson, rst vice chair; Ruby Powell-Dennis, second vice chair; Telisa Franklin, recording secretary; and Charity Bianca, corresponding secretary.
PHOTO: JACKSON BAKER
New SCDP chair
Willie Simon
By Katie Stephenson
Fulfillment in Retirement
Understanding the four phases of retirement.
Life is made up of a series of phases, from infanthood to childhood, childhood to the teenage years, teenage years to adulthood, etc. Retirement has its own phases, and with each comes different priorities and financial requirements. Understanding the four stages of retirement can help you live a more fulfilling life throughout each one.
Phase 1: Transition
The first phase of retirement begins when you turn in your company keycard and computer and step out the door of your office for the last time. This phase can be both exciting and a little scary because it marks the end of one chapter in your life and the beginning of another.
During the transition phase, take time to celebrate by doing something special with your loved ones, such as going on a family trip or throwing a retirement party. This transition phase is also the time to figure out what your life will look like in retirement. It’s an opportunity to establish a new daily rhythm and figure out what priorities you’ll focus on in the coming years.
Retirement should feel like an exciting time, not something that creates more stress to figure out.
Financial focus — During the transition phase of retirement, it’s important to have a strategic and sustainable withdrawal strategy in place to establish a monthly stream of income. It’s also important to establish an appropriate long-term investment allocation. These strategies can set you up for success later in retirement by minimizing your taxes and allowing your investments to continue growing for the next 20 to 30 years.
Phase 2: Active Retirement
Once you settle into retirement, you may be excited to take advantage of your newfound freedom. Many retirees experience an active phase in early retirement as they pursue hobbies, travel the world, try their hand at a new business, and spend time with their loved ones.
This time can be the most enjoyable phase of retirement, as you finally have the freedom to pursue your passions and enjoy new experiences.
Financial focus — During this phase of
retirement, many retirees are eager to live out all their life’s dreams, which can make it easy to overspend. Focus on establishing a budget that balances your desire for adventure with your future spending needs.
Phase 3: The Slowdown
As exciting as the active retirement stage can be, it typically doesn’t last forever. During the slowdown phase, many retirees settle into a slower pace. Some begin to reflect on their lives and consider the type of legacy they hope to leave for others. This phase is also marked by retirees seeking the company of a smaller group of loved ones and friends as they refocus their priorities on what’s truly important in their lives.
Financial focus — This phase can be a good time to revisit your estate plan and see whether it continues to reflect your legacy goals. It’s also a good time to revisit your healthcare plan to make sure you’ve properly documented your wishes and have a plan in place to cover healthcare expenses, which tend to rise during the latter years of retirement.
Phase 4: Stability
The final phase of retirement typically includes a renewed sense of purpose, direction, and reflection. Many people achieve a sense of stability in their daily routines, tending to stick close to home. This phase is also characterized by an increased need for medical services, such as nursing care or even long-term care assistance.
Financial focus — The stability phase represents another opportunity to revisit your estate plan and healthcare directives to ensure they’re updated and accurately reflect your wishes.
Retirement should feel like an exciting time, not something that creates more stress to figure out. Taking each phase of retirement separately and understanding considerations during each can help you to find more fulfillment as you enjoy your retirement.
Katie Stephenson, JD, CFP, is a Private Wealth Manager and Partner with Creative Planning. Creative Planning is one of the nation’s largest registered investment advisory firms providing comprehensive wealth management services to ensure all elements of a client’s financial life are working together, including investments, taxes, estate planning, and risk management. For more information or to request a free, no-obligation consultation, visit CreativePlanning.com.
Home Sweet Home
Pride 50 Pride 50 at ♥ ♥
MEMPHIS’ LGBTQ COMMUNITY
CELEBRATES A MILESTONE IN TROUBLED TIMES.
COVER STORY
By Chris McCoy
Elijah Townsend is one of seven members of the board of directors for the Mid-South Pride Foundation. A born-and-raised Memphian, he says much has changed over his lifetime. “I can remember being a boy and just not feeling safe to be who I was, with things that were inside of my mind. ese were natural instincts for me, but I could tell by the reactions of people that something was wrong. Just to be candid, people told me that I was gay before I even knew what the word was and what it meant.”
Today, we see many headlines about a resurgence of homophobic
repression. Transphobia became a major plank in the platforms which got both President Donald Trump and Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn re-elected. Local LGBTQ groups like Friends of George’s have been ghting a ban on drag performances in Tennessee, the rst such law passed by any state legislature.
But in Memphis, Townsend says, “We have teenagers who are able to exist in high school and be who they are. We have a government — as far as the mayor’s o ce — who supports our community. We have a liaison who we can call and talk to. We have restaurants and allies all around the city, spaces that are safe for us to go if we need resources or help. And so I de nitely can tell the di erence from being a young man to
a more mature man, in the spaces that have been intentionally created for us to progress in our queerness and just be able to feel free and safe.”
e biggest safe space of all is the Mid-South Pride celebration, which will take place in Robert R. Church Park on Saturday, June 7th. e celebration will kick o at 11 a.m. with a parade down Beale Street, and continue into the evening with music, education, community, and, yes, drag. is is a special year, says Mid-South Pride president Vanessa Rodley, as it marks the 50th year for the celebration in Memphis. “ is year’s theme is about honoring where we’ve been while amplifying where we’re going. Pride in Memphis began as a grassroots movement, a bold statement of visibility
Marchers parade down Beale Street at the 2024 Pride celebration.
and demand for change. Fi y years later, we stand on the shoulders of those who marched before us, and we’re carrying their legacy forward.”
Five Decades of Defiance
e modern LGBTQ rights movement began on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village. At the time, there were a few establishments in and around the city where gay and lesbian people gathered under the radar, but they generally didn’t last long, as raids by the vice squad were common and expected. e Stonewall was
PHOTO: KEVIN REED | COURTESY MID-SOUTH PRIDE FOUNDATION, INC.
a Ma a-owned speakeasy and famously the only place in Manhattan where gay men could dance. On this hot summer night, the public morals squad barged in, announcing a raid. But the patrons, some of whom were veterans of the Vietnam War, decided they had had enough. For three nights, protestors and police fought running battles on Christopher Street. When the pioneering alternative weekly newspaper e Village Voice referred to the riots in homophobic terms, protestors surrounded the paper’s headquarters (which were also on Christopher Street) and threatened to burn it down. When it was over, the Stonewall Inn had been destroyed, but a new movement was born.
e movement came to Memphis that Halloween when activist Bill Kendall organized the Miss Memphis Review in the Guild eatre, now known as Evergreen eatre. Since dressing in costume was legal for
(top) Drag performer Bruce Bui dressed as a mermaid in the 2019 Pride parade. Bui died of a heart attack in 2021. (above) e Mid-South Pride celebration attracts thousands of people from all walks of life to Robert Church Park in Downtown Memphis.
everyone on Halloween, why wouldn’t drag be permitted? Jimmy “Candace”
Cagle was crowned the rst winner, and the Miss Gay Memphis Pageant became an annual event.
In 1970, thousands marched down Christopher Street in New York City on the rst anniversary of the Stonewall riots. e celebrations spread throughout the country, and in June 1976, 35 people gathered in Memphis’ Audubon Park for Gay Day in the Park, organized by the Sexuality and Lesbianism Task Force of the National Organization for Women and the Metropolitan Community Church.
“Mid-South Pride has not always been the curator of Pride here,” says Rodley. “ ere have been many organizations. We are just the current ones — and hopefully the last ones — but it all started at Gay Day in the Park, 1976.”
e annual celebration of all things queer has evolved over the years, says
Ray Rico, publisher of Focus, Memphis’ LGBTQ magazine. “I remember when it was at Overton Park. I remember when it was a small parade in Overton Square. I remember it being at [Peabody] park over on Cooper and Central. I’ve seen the evolution of it, and I know, with the 50-year anniversary coming up, how tremendous it is for our community to have a pride that large, and to have it on historic Beale Street,” he says. “A lot of my friends and family have come over the years, just to attend. I had the honor of being grand marshal one year. It’s nice to be able to share with your community, your friends, and your family.”
In the last 15 years, Pride has grown exponentially. Rodley is a native of Los Angeles, California, who moved to Memphis two decades ago. She rst attended a Memphis Pride event in 2010. “I was at the park, and I saw how small it was,” she recalls. “I was not saying the
nicest things about it because I’d been used to a huge, three-hour parade down Main Street. e cop cars [in L.A.] have rainbow ags on ’em, and so for me it was a real culture shock. But I was talking trash, and a board member said, ‘You should really put yourself in. If you’re going to say something, you should do something.’ So we all joined up and started volunteering right then and there, and ever since we’ve been trying to grow this to something that we feel like our community deserves. We want everyone to be seen, and to do that, you have to create that environment.”
Last year’s Pride celebration drew an estimated 50,000 people to Robert Church Park, and this year, organizers expect it to be even bigger. “ ere’s not many Prides in the South until we get to this point in the year,” says Rodley. “ en, a lot of them are in June or in October because
continued on page 14
PHOTOS: KEVIN REED | COURTESY MID-SOUTH PRIDE FOUNDATION, INC.
of the weather, and also because we all can’t be on the same date. We’re one of the rst ones that go out, and we take it as a responsibility to be as loud and as proud and as visible as we can.”
Mid-South Pride remains an allvolunteer organization, and Rodley says the grassroots origins are part of the festival’s core identity. “We have people from all over the world that come to our festival, people from New York, people from Britain, Australia. e biggest compliments I get from these people is how community-centered it feels.”
The Best of Times, the Worst of Times
Ray Rico started Focus magazine in 2015. “It was the year that marriage equality became legal, and we thought that there was a place, a space, and a need for a queer publication.”
He says the last decade has been a time of tremendous change in the LGBTQ community. “We’ve gotten more resilient, I would say, than when we rst launched with Focus. at era was a good time for us to identify others, maybe even seek out people who weren’t like us. I think that’s the melting pot glory of what we’ve got going on in Memphis. You might live on a street with a millionaire, and you might live on a street with somebody who’s just getting by. It’s just a mix of folks. When it comes to the LGBT spaces, 10 years ago, I started seeing groups collaborate more, and I started feeling more support from others, from allies, from corporations, and from government even. … I’ve seen things change, some of them in good ways and some in not so good ways. I’ve seen people come into Memphis and shake things up. I’ve seen people come into Memphis and F things up, and I’ve seen people come into Memphis and leave and then come back.
“ ere’s more resilience. ere’s more support from our collaborators in the community. So instead of working against each other, we’re working with each other. We’re recognizing that we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. If we have an idea, if there’s somebody over here doing something similar, we work with them to kind of build that up.”
But this increased collaboration has come against a backdrop of increasingly aggressive actions by the Republican supermajority in the Tennessee Legislature, and the election of the most openly homophobic president in recent memory. anks to Elon Musk’s DOGE, federal grants for health organizations which provide health services the community depends on have been slashed precipitously.
“On the health side, it’s gotten a little worse,” says Rico. “ ere are de nitely some issues we’re faced with in Memphis. Our HIV rates are the worst — I think they’re number-two for new transmissions. Care for trans folks in Tennessee is terrible because of all the legislative attacks that
have come on trans folks.
“For the community, I think there are moves being made, like executive orders, that are not necessarily enforced just yet, but they’re intended to shock and awe. Each day we wake up, we’re understanding what’s di erent and what are we going to get challenged with today. It gives the community uncertainty because we’re not sure if organizations, programs, housing, medications, if these things are going to be funded or not. And these things are saving people’s lives right now! So essentially, you’re talking about not saving your neighbor or your brother or your friend.
“I am really hurt by what’s going on because I’m seeing rsthand what some of these organizations are being dealt. And I
Memphis whose voice isn’t always heard.”
In the wake of the Tennessee drag ban, ayer says, “I helped organize a meeting with the [Memphis Police Department], as well as the sheri ’s o ce, … [Congressman] Steve Cohen, and the DA, just to see how is this being enforced. How do you know if someone is in drag? How are you going to check that? How are you going to enforce that? Don’t you have other things to worry about? Where are the resources going? All these executive orders from Trump, they have to be enacted locally. Are we using local resources? Let’s talk about the real things that are going on. ey’re trying to enlist fear. All these executive orders have certain organizations having to change their website, scrubbing
know they’re having to make really tough decisions to eliminate photos, words, and likenesses of things. You can’t say speci c things and still get government funding.
“We’ve fought before, absolutely,” says Rico. “But we’re ghting so much harder now that it’s wearing us down. And I think that’s the intent.”
Krista Wright ayer is one of those ghting back. She’s the advocacy chair for the Mid-South LGBT Chamber of Commerce, as well as a member of the Focus Mid-South Advisory Group. “I guess it started back when the governor took money away from Tennessee for HIV prevention, and that really red me up. We went to Day on the Hill in Nashville to talk with the legislators, show them that they were wasting money by not giving money to HIV treatment and surveillance. We showed them how much money they were wasting because the diagnosis cost way more than the prevention. It was good conversations with a lot of legislators, and ever since I’ve been an advocate for those in
transgender community is 1 percent, and that’s not the ones you need to be worried about. ey’re not the ones keeping you from having good education, not the ones upping the charge on eggs and gas, when that’s the very thing [Trump] ran on saying you would not have to pay for those things! People are so far in, and you know what I’m talking about when it comes to his followers, they’re so far in, they still can’t see it. I want our community to know we don’t have to run scared. We’re going to be okay. And some people may disagree with me on this, but as much as they try to throw shade on us, our joy shines through so much more. eir jealousy of not being able to live out loud speaks volumes.”
Meeting the Moment with Pride
“My mood is perseverance,” says Townsend. “ is is not the rst battle we’ve had. It won’t be the last. And, yes, we’ve come so far, but also we still have to continue to work for those who are going to come a er us, and make sure that they continue to have a space where they feel heard and seen.”
For Townsend, the reward for all the hard work it takes to put on a giant festival is intangible. “It’s a feeling when you can look out and see all of these varieties of people, men, women, him, her, them, however people identify. You can see the joy they are having just being in the park and feeling free.”
Rodley says safety is her biggest priority. “We hire our own private security team, and that’s who polices the park. We try to make everyone feel safe. It can feel dark sometimes, but we are going to try to bring that light, and that’s why we have a hundred percent no hate in the park, and we charge $3 so we can protect that.”
things o the website that refer to LGBT or even Hispanic culture! In one way, I understand they want to preserve their funding, but in another way, he’s just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. You can say, no, he cannot do this. ere are attorneys involved; there are legislations. And although the judges can’t move as fast as he’s moving with all these executive orders, how you ght back is resistance, right?
“Another type of resistance is joy. We’re not going to be running around in fear. Fuck you. We’re going to be as resilient as we need to. We’re going to do what we need to do. And that’s not bowing down to this fake fascism.”
ayer says MAGA’s attempts to whip up votes with transphobia are meant to distract. “As Laverne Cox said, people are worried about the wrong 1 percent. e
On this momentous occasion, Rodley feels the weight of history. “It’s very climactic for me,” she says. “One thing I’ve learned living in the South is that history is so important, and hitting that milestone here and at this time, I feel, is very important because we who are a little older, we know that we have not had rights before, and we’ve had to work hard to get them. e younger generation kind of grew up with rights, so they’ve not really had that feeling of having to ght for them. So it’s kind of bridging that gap between us and bringing to light that we can still ght, we can still gain back.”
“What’s important about Pride is, it brings that community back together,” says Rico. “ at’s the important thing about Memphis. It’s a big small town. ere’s a lot of folks here, but it’s also pretty close-knit. … It’s a celebration of folks who have stood before us, people who are not here anymore. People we’ve lost through violence, people we’ve lost through HIV. It’s a celebration of those folks, too.”
For all of the changes and growth and setbacks, one thing has remained constant. “It is a ght for our rights,” Rico says. “It always has been.”
PHOTO: COURTESY FOCUS Focus magazine founder Ray Rico and friend celebrate Pride.
WITH YOU EVERY MILE
ALMOST E LTON JOHN
FRIDAY JUNE 6 7PM
THURSDAY JUNE 5
KEVIN & BETHANY PAIGE 6PM
FRIDAY
JUNE 6
ALMOST ELTON JOHN 7PM TILT 9:30PM
SATURDAY
JUNE 7
EARLY BIRD DANCE PARTY FT.
DJ A.D. 901 5PM AQUANET 9PM SUNDAY
JUNE 8
JOE RESTIVO 4 12PM
FRIDAY
JUNE 13
AMBER MCCAIN BAND 6PM THE BREAKFAST CLUB 9:30PM
SATURDAY
JUNE 14
RICE DREWRY COLLECTIVE 5PM
SUNDAY JUNE 15
JOE RESTIVO 4 12PM THE NEW PACEMAKERS 9PM
FRIDAY JUNE 13 9:30PM
steppin’ out
We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews
Fiesta!
By Abigail Morici
Last year, FILAMemphis Inc., which has celebrated and preserved the Filipino heritage in Memphis since 1977, hosted Memphis’ rst-ever Philippine Fiesta, and now, it’s ready to bring it back — even bigger than the rst.
“It is our way of showcasing the richness and diversity of Filipino heritage, not just for Filipinos, but for the entire Memphis and Mid-South community to enjoy,” says Roy Alinsub, FILAMemphis’ president. “It’s, at its core, essentially, a heartfelt thank you to Memphis, a city that has welcomed and embraced Filipino Americans over the years.”
e day will be a “full sensory immersion into Filipino culture,” Alinsub says. “Once the gates open, [festival-goers] will be welcomed with aroma of traditional Filipino street food. Our food vendors are serving authentic avors out of the grill or fryer, just like what you can nd in the Philippines.”
Get a taste of Filipino culture this weekend.
At 12:30 p.m. and again at 5 p.m., the esta will have its signature parade of higantes, papier-mâché puppets; dancers; and performers. Following will be more cultural performances like tinikling, bamboo dance; a traditional fashion show; live music; and live presentations representing the di erent regions of the Philippines. At the end of the day will be a dance party, also known as a diskoral
Guests can also look forward to a balut-eating contest, photo booth with props, cultural displays, arts and cra s, ra es, games, kids’ corner, and karaoke. “Filipinos are known for karaoke,” Alinsub adds. “Everyone will be invited to share their talent.”
For Alinsub, the Philippine Fiesta is more than an event. “It’s really like a homecoming,” he says. “It’s celebration of identity and is actually a rare chance for multiple generations, from our elders to adults to youth, to come together and share our heritage proudly with others and to connect with other cultures. And it’s a way of saying that we’re here, we belong, and we’re proud to be part of Memphis.
“And this time, we made it bigger because we saw that it was well-received by the community, so it will be something to look forward to.”
Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance at tinyurl.com/yu7ap3k8.
VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES June 5th - 11th
32nd Annual Memphis Juneteenth Festival
Medical District Park, Madison Avenue and South Dunlap Street, Friday-Saturday, June 6-7, free Celebrate the 32nd Annual Memphis Juneteenth Festival! is vibrant event honors the rich cultural heritage of the Black community with a dynamic lineup of activities, including live music and dance performances showcasing local talent. Engage in a thoughtprovoking political round table, speeches honoring local elder men, and a fun run-walk promoting health and unity. Enjoy the avors of Memphis with local food trucks o ering everything from Southern cooking to vegetarian delicacies. is free event is perfect for the whole family, so get ready to celebrate culture, freedom, and love in the heart of Memphis.
Go to memphisjuneteenth.com for more information and a schedule of events.
We’re hosting a free, fabulous, fun, family-friendly, and locals- rst shopping event at the Crosstown Concourse Plaza and Atrium. Join us for a beautiful day in Midtown Memphis, shop local makers and artists, and enjoy delicious local cra beers.
Literatini
Novel, 389 Perkins Extended, Saturday, June 7, 7-11 p.m. Support Literacy Mid-South at the 11th annual Literatini. Your ticket includes some of Memphis’ nest
cocktails, food, music, and more. Each purchase directly supports your fellow Memphians — from young children to adults — in achieving the critical literacy skills needed to thrive. Get yours today: literacymidsouth.org/ literatini-2025.
Memphis Ice Cream Festival
Broad Avenue, Sunday, June 8, 2-5 p.m., $10
Cool down at Memphis’ rst Ice Cream Festival. With a $10 wristband, enjoy unlimited samples from local ice cream makers who cra their frozen treats in-house, plus one full scoop of your choice. Whether you love rich chocolate, fruity swirls, or unexpected avors, discover your new favorite scoop at the rst-ever Memphis Ice Cream Festival.
2ND ANNUAL PHILIPPINE FIESTA, THE CORONET, 5770 SHELBY OAKS DRIVE, SATURDAY, JUNE 7, 11 A.M.-8 P.M., $10.
PHOTO: ENGIN AKYURT | UNSPLASH
MUSIC By Alex Greene
Sonic Explorers
Memphis Concrète brings musical innovators of all stripes to its annual festival.
hen Memphis Concrète was founded eight years ago, it raised a lot of eyebrows. One sometimes had to explain that its name was a play on the musique concrète genre, founded on the principle that anything can create a meaningful listening experience, from industrial noises to pre-recorded sound e ects. Nowadays, though, as the Memphis Concrète Experimental Electronic Music Festival 2025 approaches, the two-day event’s purview is clear to most music fans: It’s the place to be for anyone interested in stretching their sonic boundaries.
Yet when I call founder and organizer Robert Traxler to learn more, the rst thing he wants to talk about isn’t technically part of the festival at all. e uno cial kicko event is actually two days prior to the festival proper, when Traxler’s Memphis Concrète Scrap Metal Orchestra will provide a live score to a classic lm, e Terminator, at Crosstown eater on ursday, June 5th. As he puts it succinctly, “You get to watch Arnold Schwarzenegger do his thing. And, you know, people banging on metal.”
ere could be no purer expression of the musique concrète aesthetic, and it will clearly transform one’s perception of the 1984 sci- warhorse and its erade ning star. But how does one create a new score for a lm with the original audio baked in? “I take the movie, extract the sound, remove the music as much as I can, and then put it back into the movie,” Traxler explains. “I do it manually, pushing the volume up and down. You might get a little bit [of the original soundtrack], but it’s not usually too noticeable. It works pretty well, I think, especially because our music kind of blends in. If music comes in as a low drone, it kind of blends. It’s fun!”
e Memphis Concrète Experimental Electronic Music Festival gathers artists who defy expectations, like Suroor (top), Logan Hanna and Art Edmaiston (middle), and Janet Xmas (bottom).
And, to be sure, he’s not kidding about the scrap metal. “I’ve got nine people, all playing and banging on a di erent piece of metal. I got the metal from a friend who had taken apart an old furnace. ere are these four things that look like radiator shapes, one drum-looking piece, and one person’s playing a couple of … tubes.”
While it sounds cacophonous, it actually grows out of Traxler’s very musical appreciation of the lm’s original audio. “I’m very much taking
inspiration from the original score of the movie. It’s one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. So we’re taking the weird things about it and kind of pushing them even more out there. For most of it, I thought it would be fun to have di erent parts, where each part is in a completely di erent time signature. e technical term would be polymetric. So one person is playing in 5/4, another in 11/8, another in 7/4, and you get some interesting rhythms.” at’s just a small sample of what will be on hand at the festival, of course, which will take place at e Green Room at Crosstown Arts on Saturday and Sunday, June 7th and 8th. And that won’t necessarily be a synthfest either, as the whole event embraces “electro-acoustic” instruments. Reed man Art Edmaiston, for instance, will make an appearance from the “free jazz” universe. “We did a show with him last year, and he kind of did an electro-acoustic thing then, where he was running his saxophone into
some electronic stu and creating these soundscapes,” says Traxler. “He’s a really incredible musician who has a lot of range and a lot of space to explore di erent sonic textures. And for this show, he’s playing with Logan Hanna, who plays incredible soundscape guitar. So, like with the festival, I never have a hard ‘electronic is all you know’ approach, right? Because, you know, even with a microphone, you’re getting an electronic signal out of that.”
Another electro-acoustic experience will be the performance by Ipek Eginli. “She’s a pianist from Atlanta,” says Traxler, “and she combines true acoustic piano with modular [synth] stu that is absolutely phenomenal. And she also plays jazz, pretty free, and when she performs she’s really intense, her hands just attacking the keys.”
Some of the artists are even harder to capture with mere words. On social media, for example, Memphis Concrète describes Liars Serum as “acid-cult mood music that puts da-da lotion on your skin. Puppy-core IDM, industrial chamber-wave, dystopian azul-grasshouse.”
Another notable out-of-towner will be Janet Xmas, who combines her music with a kind of gymnastic, interpretive dance. Traxler explains that in her videos, “she’s climbing a ladder hooked up to contact mics
and is writhing around and all kinds of crazy, crazy stu . It’s kind of like a sound sculpture. She’ll have minimal tape loops, and then the contact mics are set up so when she’s moving and bumping against the ladder, they’re picking up the noises. And those are run into e ects and delays and things. So it’s kind of this visual sculpture, and sonically, the sculptured thing reacts to her movements.”
Naturally, there will be plenty of purely electronic sounds on hand as well, as with the synth group led by Lamplighter Lounge co-owner Chuck Vicious, Noir Walls, and many more. But whatever is making the sound, the point of the festival will be the sense of exploration brought to the event by all of the artists. ere’s so much to explore, in fact, that another “prefestival event” will be held before the festival, a collaborative improv session at the H&S Printing Co. on Friday, June 6th at 7 p.m. “Schae er Mallory of Drop Ceiling has organized that,” says Traxler, “and he’s invited a bunch of other people who are playing the festival, so there’s going to be a really big band!”
e Memphis Concrète Experimental Electronic Music Festival 2025 starts at 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 7th, and runs until 9 p.m. on Sunday, June 8th, in e Green Room at Crosstown Arts. For the full lineup and other details, visit memphisconcretemusic.com.
PHOTOS: COURTESY MEMPHIS CONCRÈTE
Earl “The Pearl” Banks
Tuesday, June 10, 7 p.m.
BLUES CITY CAFE
Eric Hughes
ursday, June 5, 7-11 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
Flic’s Pics Band
Led by the legendary Leroy “Flic” Hodges of Hi Rhythm.
Saturday, June 7, 4 p.m. |
Sunday, June 8, 2 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
FreeWorld
Friday, June 6, 7-11 p.m. |
Saturday, June 7, 7-11 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
FreeWorld
Sunday, June 8, 8 p.m.
BLUES CITY CAFE
Soul Street
Wednesday, June 11, 7-11 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
Sunday Evenings with Baunie and Soul Native Memphians who play soul, blues, R&B, and party music. Sunday, June 8, 7-11
p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
The B.B. King’s Blues Club Allstar Band
Friday, June 6, 8 p.m. |
Saturday, June 7, 8 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
Tuesday night Live Music
Looking for something to do on a Tuesday night? Visit Blues Hall on Beale Street and enjoy some live music.
Tuesday, June 10, 7-11 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE BLUES HALL
Vince Johnson
Monday, June 9, 6:30 p.m. |
Tuesday, June 10, 6:30 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
Murder, She Wrote
Jim Cornfoot, pianist, and Patrick Jones, baritone, present a concert of folk songs, arias, and art songs all about true crime. Sunday, June 8, 3 p.m.
ST. MARY’S EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL
Punk Rock with The Limewires
ese talented high schoolers from Gainesville, Florida, will be performing original music and your favorite punk (and other genres) cover songs.
Friday, June 6, 7-8 p.m.
OFF THE WALLS ARTS
Sunset Jazz at Court Square
is week: stellar singer Lisa Nobumoto. Free. Sunday, June 8, 6 p.m.
COURT SQUARE PARK
AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule June 5 - 11
Giovannie and The Hired Guns
Friday, June 6, 9 p.m.
ROOSTER’S BLUES HOUSE
Interwoven: PRIZM
International Chamber Music Festival
Founded by Grammy Award-winning violinist
Keiko Tokunaga, Interwoven brings together world-class musicians committed to celebrating cultural diversity through music. $20/advance, $25/at the door. Friday, June 6, 6-7:30 p.m.
SHADY GROVE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
John Williams & the A440 Band
$10. ursday, June 5, 8 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
Memphis Rhythm Revue Sunday, June 8, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S POPLAR
Rhythms & Reflections: PRIZM International Chamber Music Festival
PRIZM Summer Camp
faculty present an evening of bold rhythms, heartfelt melodies, and vibrant musical storytelling, celebrating chamber music through a multicultural lens. $20/ advance, $25/at the door.
ursday, June 5, 6-7:30 p.m.
SHADY GROVE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
The Deb Jam Band
Tuesday, June 10, 6 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
Van Duren e singer-songwriter, a pioneer of indie pop in Memphis, performs solo. ursday, June 5, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
MORTIMER’S
Gerry Finney Group Wednesday, June 11, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S POPLAR
Almost Elton John & the RocketMen
Friday, June 6, 7 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Blind Adam and The Federal League
With Blanket of M, ree vs e Turnpike, Missed Dunks @ Summer League [Small Room-Downstairs]. $13.50. Friday, June 6, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Bryan Martin
$27.60/general admission. ursday, June 5, 8-9:30 p.m.
MINGLEWOOD HALL
Corey Lou & Da Village + Savannah Brister (Orion Free Concert Series)
Two local artists who are making a splash with their unique sounds. Free. Saturday, June 7, 7:30 p.m.
OVERTON PARK SHELL
Dallas Ugly
A ddle- lled entry in the current band-with-guitar renaissance. With Cyrena Wages. $20/advance, $25/at the door. Friday, June 6, 7:30 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS
Deborah Swiney Duo ursday, June 5, 7-10 p.m.
THE COVE
Devil Train
Bluegrass, roots, country, Delta, and ski e. ursday, June 5, 9 p.m.
B-SIDE
Glixen
With Cherry Smoke, Figurine. Tuesday, June 10, 8 p.m.
GROWLERS
Hail the Sun
$36.40/general admission. Saturday, June 7, 7-8:30 p.m.
MINGLEWOOD HALL
Jazz Jam with the Cove Quartet
Jazz musicians are welcome to sit in! Sunday, June 8, 6-9 p.m.
THE COVE
Jazz Saturdays
Join the Memphis Jazz Workshop on the rst Saturday of every month for an experience the whole family will enjoy! $15/general admission. Saturday, June 7, noon-2 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Joe Restivo 4 Guitarist Restivo leads one of the city’s nest jazz quartets. Sunday, June 8, noon.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Korroded
With Deliriant Nerve, Domestic Bliss [Small RoomDownstairs]. Wednesday, June 11, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Level Three
Wednesday, June 11, 10 p.m.
LOUIS CONNELLY’S BAR Malfunction Junction Double IPA Beer Release feat. Rice Drewery
Friday, June 6, 5 p.m.
CROSSTOWN BREWING COMPANY
Memphis Concrète
Experimental/Electronic Music Festival 2025
With the Corrupting Sea, Dinosauria+pdr, Drop Ceiling, Art Edmaiston, Ipek Eginli, Fosterfalls, Hater Group Chat, In nity Stairs, Liars Serum, Marianne, Suroor, Janet Xmas, neon glittery, Noir Walls, post doom romance, Strooly, and the Memphis Concrète Electroacoustic Chamber Ensemble. $40/two-day pass, $25/one-day pass. Saturday, June 7-June 8.
THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS
Pants Tour 25
With El Chavos, HEELS, Wicker. $8.50. Saturday, June 7, 7 p.m.
HI TONE
Restriction Plate
With Crown Vic, Incineration, Internal. Tuesday, June 10, 8 p.m.
Special guest Reverend Charles Hodges, a pianist and organist best known for playing behind Al Green, will share his insights as a key musician in O.V. Wright’s touring and studio band.
Wednesday, June 11, 6 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Java Trio
Sunday, June 8, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S SOUTHAVEN
Live In Studio A Summer Series with 926 Stax Music Academy Alumni Band
Ross Johnson & Chuck Vicious Birthday Show
With Nature Boys (Japan), Turnt. ursday, June 5, 9 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Saaneah (Orion Free Concert Series)
Saaneah has graced stages all over the country with her unique blend of R&B, jazz, funk, hip-hop, and blues. Free. Friday, June 6, 7:30 p.m.
OVERTON PARK SHELL
Sounds of MemphisWyly Bigger
Experience the soulful sounds of Wyly Bigger and his band as they bring you a captivating blend of blues and rock-androll originals. $15. ursday, June 5, 6-8 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
S. Reidy
With Shamothy [Samosage].
$5. Friday, June 6, 8 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Steve Poltz (Orion Free Concert Series)
Poltz’s music has crept into pop culture via collaborations with everyone from Jewel and Billy Strings to Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, Nicki Bluhm, Oliver Wood, and even the late Mojo Nixon. Free. ursday, June 5, 7:30 p.m.
OVERTON PARK SHELL
Steve Sings Sid
Steve Selvidge will be singing the songs of his father, the late Sid Selvidge, legendary vocalist and songwriter, folkie, rocker, and founding member of Mudboy & the Neutrons.
Sunday, June 8, 5 p.m.
BAR DKDC
The Dead Deads
With Valley of e Sun, Stay Fashionable [Big RoomUpstairs]. $18.50. Monday, June 9, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
The Phantom A.D.
With Wagoner, Los Psychosis.
$10. Sunday, June 8, 8:30 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Head over to the Stax Museum this June for live music and fun! Free admission for Shelby County residents. Tuesday, June 10, 2-4 p.m.
STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC
The Isley Brothers e iconic group tops a legendary night of R&B with special guests Lyfe Jennings and Keke Wyatt, hosted by comedian George Willborn. $64.50. Friday, June 6, 8 p.m. LANDERS CENTER
Webb Wilder
Saturday, June 7, 6 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Benton Parker & The Royal Reds
Wednesday, June 11, 5:30 p.m.
HUEY’S MILLINGTON
Concerts in The Grove with Scott Sudbury Kids under 18 are free. $9. ursday, June 5, 6:30-8 p.m.
THE GROVE AT GERMANTOWN
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Duane Cleveland Band
Sunday, June 8, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S MILLINGTON
Jad Tariq Trio
Wednesday, June 11, 5:30 p.m.
HUEY’S CORDOVA
Luna Nova Music
Concert of Latin American Music
A ernoon concert of music by Astor Piazzolla, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Jan Bach, and Ben Minden-Birkenmaier. Free admission. Free. Sunday, June 8, 3 p.m.
ALL SAINTS’ EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Steve & Shannon
Sunday, June 8, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S OLIVE BRANCH
Tequila Mockingbird
Wednesday, June 11, 5:30 p.m.
HUEY’S GERMANTOWN
PHOTO: COURTESY PRIZM Interwoven
CALENDAR of EVENTS: June 5 - 11
ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS
“2024 Accessions to the Permanent Collection”
is series honors the new additions to the museum’s permanent collection. rough Nov. 2.
METAL MUSEUM
“4.44 Kickback Pop Up”
Experience the Rough Feathers clothing brand and celebrate the birthday of founder Antonio Jones. Free. Saturday, June 7, 5-11 p.m.
ARTIFACTS ART GALLERY
Alaina NJ: “Bird Sanctuary”
Notes NJ, “ is series aims to bring together vivid gardens and happy birds, in layers of bold color and texture. Each piece intends to capture a moment where nature feels abundant and intimate.” rough June 30.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
ARTSmemphis: “GRANTEDTime Exhibition”
An exhibit curated by Brittney Boyd Bullock, a visual artist working ber, mixed media, and abstraction. rough Aug. 5.
ARTSMEMPHIS
Bartlett Art Association
Exhibition: “Summer Arts Fest”
Works by members of this nonpro t organization chartered in 1988 to encourage, educate, improve, exhibit, and support ne art. rough June 29.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Becky Ross McRae: “All About Color” McRae’s high-resolution photos are printed on metallic paper, mounted on aluminum, and covered with a thick layer of acrylic, giving them a threedimensional e ect. rough June 29.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.
DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENT LISTINGS, SCAN THE QR CODE OR VISIT EVENTS.MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL.
PHOTO: COURTESY METAL MUSEUM
Seattle-based fabrication artist Leah Gerrard is the Metal Museum’s newest Tributaries artist.
“Bleeding Together – A Correspondence”
A collaboration between Andres Arauz, who specializes in photo collage, design, and photography, and Abby Meyers, a visual artist, poet, and award-winning lmmaker. rough Sept. 14.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE
“Building a Bright Future: Black Communities and Rosenwald Schools in Tennessee”
e Tennessee State Museum brings this award winning temporary exhibit into every part of Tennessee. Davies Manor is thrilled to host this exhibit the farthest west it has ever been. rough July 31.
DAVIES MANOR HISTORIC SITE
“CBU Spring 2025 BFA Exhibition”
Christian Brothers University is proud to present these works by graduating seniors in the department of visual arts. Free. rough July 11.
BEVERLY + SAM ROSS GALLERY
Colleen Couch and Dolph Smith: “Walk in the Light” “Walk in the Light” traces the arc of Smith’s work, presents new pieces by Couch inspired by Smith, and highlights recent collaborations between the two. rough June 29.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
“[Fe]ATURED AR[Ti]STS”
Works created and curated by sta members of the Metal Museum. Just as elements are the building blocks of artists’ materials, the museum is built on creativity, collaboration, and tradition. rough Sept. 14.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE
Jin Powell and John Powell: “Fusion”
An exhibition featuring the work of artists Jin Powell and John Powell, who blend wood and metal in compelling and unexpected ways. rough June 6.
ANF ARCHITECTS
“Landshaping: The Origins of the Black Belt Prairie”
Learn about the geologic event known as the Mississippi Embayment and its e ect on this region. Fossils and farm tools will be displayed alongside photographs by Houston Co eld. rough Oct. 12.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
Leigh Sandlin Solo Exhibition
e works include vibrant abstract paintings in cold wax, linoleum, and mono prints, as well as encaustic collages. rough June 26.
GALLERY 1091
Leslie Holt: “The Sound of Your Own Wheels”
Abstract impressionism blends with intriguing text and wordplay in this artist’s work. rough June 21.
DAVID LUSK GALLERY
“Light as Air”
Explore the beauty in tension: a balance of forms, the contrast between heavy and light, and the signi cance of negative space. rough Sept. 7.
METAL MUSEUM
“Overcoming Hateful Things”
e exhibition contains over 150 items from the late 19th century to the present, including items from popular culture and images of violence against African American activists. rough Oct. 19.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
“Speaking Truth to Power: The Life of Bayard Rustin” Exhibition
“Speaking Truth to Power” explores Bayard Rustin’s powerful messages of nonviolence, activism, and authenticity.
$20/adult, $18/senior, college student, $17/children 5-17. rough Dec. 31.
NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM
Summer Art Garden: “A Flash of Sun”
Immerse yourself in the radiant spirit of summer with these geometric sculptures that cast vibrant hues in the shi ing sunlight. rough Oct. 20.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
“Summer Break”
A new group exhibition featuring work from Justin Tyler Bryant, Sai Clayton, Coulter Fussell, Carl E. Moore, and Melissa Wilkinson. ursday, June 5-July 26.
SHEET CAKE
Tad Lauritzen Wright: “Zen on the Installment Plan”
Contemplating humanity, nature, and repeated histories through photo abstractions and sculptural works constructed from salvaged wood. rough Sept. 14.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE Tributaries: Leah Gerrard’s “Longline” Seattle-based fabrication artist Leah Gerrard, the museum’s newest Tributaries artist, shapes ethereal steel forms, blending basketry, jewelry, and large-scale pieces. Sunday, June 8-Sept. 14.
METAL MUSEUM
and try the
1225 Madison Ave., Midtown Medical District 901-722-3250 eyecentermemphis.com
continued on page 20
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ART HAPPENINGS
Reception and Artist Talk for Tributaries: Leah Gerrard’s “Longline” Seattle-based fabrication artist Leah Gerrard, the museum’s newest Tributaries artist, shapes ethereal steel forms, blending basketry, jewelry, and large-scale pieces. Free. Sunday, June 8, 3-5 p.m. METAL MUSEUM
BOOK EVENTS
Marlee Bush: Whispers of Dead Girls
The author discusses her new work about a woman dogged by a scandal that ruined her childhood and killed her sister, with Courtney Miller Santo. Wednesday, June 11, 6 p.m. NOVEL
CLASS / WORKSHOP
Export 101: Booked and Busy
Ready to book your next tour but want to make sure you’re doing it right? Attend this workshop to learn more. Free. Tuesday, June 10, 6-7:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS MUSIC HALL OF FAME
Lunchtime Meditations
Visit the Dixon for free meditation sessions every Friday. Friday, June 6, noon-12:30 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
MUSE Creative Gathering:
Art Therapy + Meditation
An art therapy exercise with meditation led by Virginia Erholtz, LMSW. $10. Monday, June 9, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
BAR DKDC
Oil Painting with Judy Nocifora
A class with one of the city’s most respected artists. $250. Thursday, June 5, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Roots & Remedies
Workshop
Discover the folklore behind plant names, learn about traditional herbal remedies, and explore how plants have been used through the ages for healing and wellness. $30. Saturday, June 7, 10 a.m.-noon.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Super Saturday - Andy Warhol Prints
Celebrate Pride Month by creating a print inspired by the iconic works of Andy Warhol. Saturday, June 7, 10 a.m.-noon.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Vibrational Art Workshop: Transmuting Energy into Expression
Explore the profound connection between creativity and healing in this immersive workshop. $115/general admission. Saturday, June 7, 2:30-4:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
CALENDAR: JUNE 5 - 11
Summer
COMEDY
Open Mic Comedy Night
A hilarious Midtown tradition. Tuesday, June 10, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Small Room Improv Experience improv comedy at its finest. $10/general admission. Thursday, June 5, 7:30-9 p.m.
HI TONE
Thank You Five: An Evening of Comedy
Your host Zach Williams is back with four new comics ready to make you laugh with “cleanish” stand up comedy! $30/VIP full-service seating, $15/reserved admission. Saturday, June 7, 7:30-9 p.m.
GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY THEATRE
COMMUNITY
Block Party
Featuring live music, an art show, chalk competitions, Mempops, and more. Saturday, June 7, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
PARADOX AT PECO
Kink Pride
Polly Popjoy and Hoist offer safe sex resources, hands-on kink demos, and a few tricks of the trade — all designed to spark both learning and laughter. Thursday, June 5, 7-10 p.m.
HI TONE
Memphis Music Strategy
Reading Room
Dive into the Memphis Music Strategy’s 25 recommendations and identify actionable priorities. Tuesday, June 10, 6-8 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Mid-South Pride Celebration
A parade down Beale Street followed by music, education, community, and, yes, drag. Saturday, June 7, 11 a.m.
ROBERT R. CHURCH PARK
National Trails Day
Volunteer Event
Help with some trail repairs in the Old Forest after a spring full of rain and flooding. Saturday, June 7, 9 a.m.-noon.
OVERTON PARK
Macon Road Flea Market
Featuring vendors selling items from arts and crafts to jewelry, antiques, vintage clothes, and collectibles. Free. Saturday, June 7, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. THAT 70S SHOPPE
FESTIVAL
Anime Blues Con
Featuring fan events for all ages celebrating the arts and culture of Japanese anime (animation), manga (comics), and cosplay (costume-play). Friday, June 6-June 8.
RENASANT CONVENTION CENTER
International Art Festival: A Celebration of Cultures
Get ready for a global feast of creativity. Sunday, June 8, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
HILTON GARDEN INN OLIVE BRANCH
Memphis Crafts & Drafts Festival: Summer Market
Raleigh Community
Health Wellness and Safety
Resource Fair
Featuring free services and info.
Free. Saturday, June 7, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
RALEIGH SPRINGS CIVIC CENTER
Rhythm of Life Cancer
Survivor’s Celebration
Baptist Cancer Center is hosting a free event to celebrate Mid-South cancer survivors and promote cancer screenings in celebration of National Cancer Survivors Day. Thursday, June 5, 5:30-8 p.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Theirs, Hers, and Hymns!
A Beer & Hymns Event
A night of music, singing, dancing, and fun. Free. Friday, June 6, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
EVERGREEN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Weed Wrangle
Help remove invasive species. Free. Friday, June 6, 9 a.m.-noon.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
DANCE
Now That’s What I Call Queer
More than just a dance party, it’s a celebration of queer joy, community, and nostalgia. $16.90/ general admission. Saturday, June 7, 8-11:45 p.m.
MINGLEWOOD HALL
Satellite Dance Party
Dance in space. Friday, June 6, 8 p.m.-midnight. OFF THE WALLS ARTS
EXPO/SALES
Cazateatro Yard Sale
Find deals and support this bilingual theater and its arts education programs. Saturday, June 7, 8 a.m.-1 p.m.
CAZATEATRO OFFICE
Farmer’s Market Grand Opening
Features live entertainment, prizes, and a Food Truck Rodeo. Saturday, June 7, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
AGRICENTER INTERNATIONAL
A free, fabulous, fun, familyfriendly, and locals-first shopping event. Saturday, June 7, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
CROSSTOWN CONCOURSE
Tupelo Elvis Festival
With concerts, competitions, pop up art shows, and a 5K run. Wednesday, June 4-June 7.
TUPELO FAIRPARK
FILM
A Minecraft Movie
Thursday, June 5-June 11, 3 p.m.
MEMPHIS MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY
Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
An intimate and compelling portrait of Rustin’s life, his activism, philosophy, personal sacrifices, and enduring impact, with panel discussion. The free event includes exhibit visit beforehand. Free. Thursday, June 5, 6-8:30 p.m.
NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM
The Terminator With an original live score performance by The Memphis Concrète Scrap Metal Orchestra. Thursday, June 5, 7 p.m.
CROSSTOWN THEATER
FOOD AND DRINK
Canoes + Cocktails
A guided sunset paddle on the lake followed by specialty cocktails provided by Old Dominick, snacks from Cheffie’s, yard games, and music. A “cocktails only” ticket omits the paddling part. $35-$80. Friday, June 6, 6 p.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Food Truck Garden Party
With Rockin Rodney’s, Good Groceries Mobile Diner, Hot-nHeavy Dogs, Snowbirds Frozen Treats, Mr. Casas Japanese & Mexican Food. Live music from Jeff Hulett and the Handmedowns. Free. Wednesday, June 11, 5-8 p.m.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
PHOTO: COURTESY MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
is in full swing with the Memphis Botanic Garden’s Food Truck Garden Party.
Inaugural Downtown Memphis Brew Hop
A week-long celebration of local beer, music, and summer fun happening across nine breweries and bars. Each brewery will offer its own lineup of events and features. Whether you’re a craft beer connoisseur or just looking for a fun way to explore Downtown, the Brew Hop is for you. Monday, June 9-June 15.
DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS
Literatini 2025 Memphis’ biggest party and cocktail competition. Your ticket includes some of Memphis’ finest cocktails, food, music, and more. $100/ general, $150/VIP. Saturday, June 7, 7-11 p.m.
NOVEL
Spice Krewe Annual Crawfish Boil
An all-you-can-eat meal of boiled crawfish and sides, seasoned with Spice Krewe’s signature blends. $32.50. Sunday, June 8, 11 a.m.
HI TONE
LECTURE
Munch and Learn: Curating the Expanded African Art Gallery at the Art Museum of the U of M
Hear from Adriana Dunn, assistant director of the Art Museum of the University of Memphis (AMUM). Wednesday, June 11, noon-1 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
PERFORMING ARTS
Hot As Hell
Sapphic Memphis and @QUAC invite you to wear devilish attire, meet your community, enter a raffle, dance to DJs, and watch burlesque and drag. Saturday, June 7, 6 p.m.
HI TONE
Juneteenth Memphis Matters
A celebration and commemoration of the liberation of enslaved Black people in America, and a celebration of the African Diaspora. This unique performance will feature an all-Black ensemble and will be presented exclusively for an audience of Black, Indigenous, and people of color, with a focus on uplifting and celebrating their stories. $20/regular ticket. Saturday, June 7, 2-3:30 p.m.
HARRIET PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Pride in the Night
Celebrate Pride Month with a high-energy show featuring royalty from the Mid-South Pride court and some of the most dynamic performers in the region. Saturday, June 7, 9 p.m.
DRU’S BAR
Supreme Pride 2025
Celebrate Pride Month with oodles of seductive performers. Sunday, June 8, 7 p.m.
HI TONE
The Magic Link
Bentley Burns and Brian Reaves present a family-friendly magic show. $15/general admission. Friday, June 6, 7-8:30 p.m.
LINK CENTRE
SPORTS
Discover the Greenway 5K
A 3.5-mile run/walk supporting the preservation of the Greenway. Saturday, June 7, 8-10 a.m.
WOLF RIVER GREENWAY EAST
First Saturday Wolf River Paddle
A below-street-level traverse of the urban Wolf River from Germantown Parkway to Kennedy Park. $25. Saturday, June 7, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
WOLF RIVER CONSERVANCY
Get Outside Fitness - Body Combat
An energy-packed mix of martial arts moves that will get you fit, fast and strong – and leave you feeling fierce and empowered. This is entirely non-contact and no experience in martial arts is needed. Wednesday, June 11, 9-10 a.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Lucky Dog Barrel Race
On Friday, wear red to remember everyone deployed. Friday, June 6-June 8.
AGRICENTER INTERNATIONAL
Memphis Redbirds vs. Indianapolis
Indians
Thursday, June 5, 7 p.m. | Friday, June 6, 7 p.m.
| Saturday, June 7, 6:30 p.m. | Sunday, June 8, 1 p.m.
AUTOZONE PARK
Morrighan’s Bluff, Amtgard of Memphis
A medieval/fantasy live action roleplay game. Join the adventure. Saturday, June 7, noon.
W. J. FREEMAN PARK
THEATER
Ain’t Misbehavin’
This musical celebration of the legendary Fats Waller evokes the delightful humor and infectious energy of an American original. Five performers are featured with rowdy to risqué songs that reflect Waller’s view of life as a journey meant for pleasure and play. $38.25. Friday, June 6, 7:30-9:30 p.m. | Saturday, June 7, 7:30-9:30 p.m. | Sunday, June 8, 2-4 p.m.
THEATRE MEMPHIS
ELMWOOD CEMETERY CALENDAR: JUNE 5 - 11
A Particle of Dread (Oedipus Variations)
As a young man, Oedipus is told by a seer that he will grow up to kill his own father and marry his mother. He flees from home to avoid this fate, but there is no escape from this dreadful prophecy. $25/adult tickets, $20/senior and student tickets. Friday, June 6, 8-10 p.m. | Saturday, June 7, 8-10 p.m. | Sunday, June 8, 2-4 p.m.
THEATREWORKS @ THE SQUARE
C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters Spend an evening in hell in with the witty, engaging Screwtape, a senior tempter working to capture the soul of an unsuspecting human on earth. A faithful, wickedly funny adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ classic novel about spiritual warfare from a demon’s point of view. $65-$99 (best seats in the house). Saturday, June 7, 4-5 p.m.
ORPHEUM THEATRE
I Want My Daddy
A stage play about people wrestling with unanswered questions like: Who will walk me down the aisle? Who will teach me how to be a man? As they navigate life’s challenges of loss and neglect, they take you on an emotional roller coaster that will have you laughing, crying, and thoroughly entertained. $44-$65.30. Saturday, June 7, 2:30 p.m.
THE HALLORAN CENTRE
ACROSS
1 Selling point
5 Extra in 2009’s “Public Enemies”
9 Pain in the ass?
14 Dawn of the Space Age?
16 Primer libro del Nuevo Testamento
17 Subjective evaluation
18 Crowdsourced compendia
19 Autumn “invader”
21 Delta deposit
22 Swamps
23 Live
25 Party mixers
28 Ado
30 Stunted growth
32 Big Ten school
34 Slightly
Crossword
36 Welcomed
37 What one doesn’t have in an emergency
40 Protested, in a way
41 Half of a longrunning Vegas show
42 Prepare, as scallops
43 Not permanent
45 Scamper
47 “Inside the N.B.A.” channel
48 Go ape
50 Lake on the Arizona/Nevada border
52 Email folder
53 Dutch craze of 1636-37, considered the first major speculative bubble
58 Actress Knightley
60 Start running off?
61 Has left
62 Fail to come to?
63 Core belief
64 Make a homey home
65 Fruity coolers DOWN
1 Spa option
2 Zap lightly
3 Major thing in the heavens?
4 Fill positions in
5 It’s paid by polluters
6 Gets into a fistfight
7 Stat
8 Site of one of Hercules’ labors
9 “Freude am Fahren” (“The joy of driving”) sloganeer
10 Movie theater purchase
11 Early 2000s low-carb fad
12 English author of “Stardust,” “American Gods” and “The Graveyard Book”
13 “If thou ___ marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry”: Hamlet
15 Builds anticipation for 20 Tease
The Boy Who Kissed the Sky
Inspired by the early life and influences of musical icon Jimi Hendrix, we see a young Black boy conjure his creativity as a budding guitarist. More mythology than biography, this is a celebration of our muses and the forces that pull us to be who we are. Told with vibrant music and daring imagination. Friday, June 6, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, June 7, 2 p.m. | Saturday, June 7, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, June 8, 2 p.m.
HATTILOO THEATRE
TOURS
Stayin’ Alive: A Triumphant History
Tour
Cats have nine lives. These Elmwood residents did, too, surviving epidemics, earthquakes, and having their horses shot out from under them. Whistle past the graveyard and learn the stories of the proverbial lucky ducks of Elmwood Cemetery. $20/general admission. Saturday, June 7, 10:30 a.m.-noon.
Massage deeply
Five-time Pro Bowler with the Chicago Bears
Briton who wrote “A Fish Called Wanda” 27 Mild topping for a burger 29 Rose on hind legs, with “up” 31 Like helium
33 Original title of Shakespeare’s “Henry VIII” (the latter not used until the First Folio in 1623)
35 Blows up
38 ___ Reader
39 Subject to discipline after misbehavior
44 “Scram, you!”
46 Presses down
49 Gently pull
Legal advocate: Abbr.
PUZZLE BY JOE DEENEY
We Saw You.
with MICHAEL DONAHUE
With the cool temperatures on Friday, May 30th, attendees at Memphis Italian Festival experienced how it would feel if it was held in fall instead of spring. Marquette Park was jam-packed at the second night of the festival, which began May 29th and ended May 31st.
On Friday night, teams were judged on the theme of “Anything Italian.” Saturday’s competition was for “Spaghetti Gravy” — or “sauce” for the neophytes.
James Larue, a member of the Ciao Y’all team, made spaghetti carbonara as one of the entries for “Anything Italian.” His fact sheet describes it as “a Roman masterpiece cra ed with artisanal spaghetti, enveloped in a velvety embrace of farm fresh eggs and aged pecorino romano. Sizzling guanciale, crisped to golden perfection, imparting a wisp of smokiness, while a delicate dance of cracked black pepper awakens the senses. Each forkful is a symphony of rustic elegance, harmonizing tradition with sublime simplicity.”
I tried it. It was delicious, and I couldn’t have described it any better.
MICHAEL DONAHUE
above: Kira Willis, Jennifer West, and Cole Glemser circle: Kymberli Allen and Paula Raiford below: (le to right) Anna Kate Romer, Brendan Jacobs, Casey Riordan, and Lydia Jackson; Evelyn, Olivia, and Austin Merryman; Robert Teems and Auburn Underwood bottom row: (le to right) Jared Boyd, Munirah Jones, Kirsten Davis, and Mark Davis; Davis Linder, Wilson May, and Charlie Tyler; Karie, Drew, and Andrew Ticer
PHOTOS:
above: Vicki, Angela, Michael Jr., and Michael Ralph Sr. below: (le to right) Vickie and Lily Ransom; Brian and Johnny Fleming; Matthew and Jason Abis; Lacey, Hazel, Logan, and Richard Hudman right row: (top and below) Rob Bosi, Hallie Woodward-Hylander, and Blythe Hylander; Dave, Jacob, and Gayle Woloshin bottom le : Lauren Dra n and Ross, Grace, and Sophia Vego
FOOD By Michael Donahue
More Opas for Biftekia
Popular Greek Fest fare is headed to pop-ups.
Bi ekia fans can shout, “Opa!” e popular meat item sold each year at Memphis Greek Festival will now be available at pop-ups during select times throughout the year.
e rst pop-up will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 28th, at High Point Grocery at 469 High Point Terrace.
“Opa” is a Greek word I heard a lot at this year’s festival, which was held May 9th and 10th at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church.
According to Google, “opa” is “an exclamation that signi es a range of emotions, primarily enthusiasm, joy, celebration, and sometimes an expression of surprise or relief.”
So I guess I was subconsciously saying “opa” a er I tried bi ekia for the rst time at the recent Greek Fest. My buddy, Patrick Koplin, one of the owners of Brother Juniper’s, was helping man the bi ekia booth. He gave me a free sample. en I asked for another free sample. Along with more tzatziki, a Greek sauce made with cucumbers, garlic, and yogurt — something I could easily eat with a spoon.
John Tashie, another friend and member of the cooking team, described bi ekia for me. “It’s traditional Greek dish that consists of ground beef,” he says. “And it can be mixed with lamb and pork.”
ey use grass-fed ground beef along with onion, garlic mixture, and “di erent Greek seasonings,” Koplin says.
“It’s a labor of love. … So much work goes into such a simple product that tastes so good.”
“We’ve been doing it at Greek Fest for about 15 years,” Tashie says. “It’s mostly a Balkan cuisine item, and that includes Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Syria, and Serbia. Everybody has their own little take on it.”
Instead of forming the mixture into patties, which is the traditional way of making bi ekia, Tashie and his team make meat sticks. “We wanted to mix it with pita bread. It’s hard to put pita bread on with a patty and quick-serve it, so we hand roll every one of them.”
Alex Ierides, another team member, grew up eating bi ekia in his hometown in Cypress. “It’s very common back home,” he says.
It’s served on skewers like souvlaki,
PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE
Alex Ierides, David Tashie, Patrick Koplin, John Tashie, Dimitri Staursky, and Sarah Tashie at the bi ekia booth at Memphis Greek Festival
another popular Greek item, Ierides says. e way they make it at the Greek Festival is “very similar” to how they do it in Greece. “Sometimes we combine it with potatoes or other ingredients. It’s very common to eat it with a piece of pita bread or dip it in tzatziki.”
Bi ekia is served on skewers on the streets in Greece. His grandmother used skewers with the meat, which was “more like the size of meatballs.”
Ierides moved to Memphis in 2018 to play soccer for the University of Memphis. He met Sarah Tashie. “We started dating four or ve years ago. I have a reason to keep returning to Memphis.”
John Tashie learned how to make bi ekia while visiting Greece. He tried it at “little stands by the beach,” he says. “It was just delicious. I couldn’t get enough of it.”
He began making it a er he got back to Memphis. He had to gure out the right ratio of “how much meat with the right amount of seasoning. You could say it’s a concoction we experimented with over and over.”
eir bi ekia was a hit when he and the late Nick Vergos of Rendezvous fame served it for the rst time at the Memphis Greek Festival. ey grilled it under a
tent where they grilled the souvlaki and served it along with Greek wine and beer.
“Every year people were requesting it,” John says. “ ey asked, ‘Where can we get this throughout the year? Why do we have to wait a year to try this?’”
So, this year, they decided to go for it and start selling their bi ekia at pop-ups. “John and I want to make this available once or twice a week instead of once a year,” Koplin says.
ey want to start selling their seasoning, too. “John and I have this down to a science. It’s something we’re going to start doing in the future.”
And, John says, “We thought about doing some Greek sea salt. ere are about seven di erent Adriatic salts. All have their own particular salt avors depending on where we are. We’ve sold our Greek salt mixtures on occasion.”
Cooking bi ekia each year at the twoday Memphis Greek Festival isn’t easy, Koplin says. “It’s a labor of love. I’ll put it like that.”
Everything is made from scratch. “So much work goes into such a simple product that tastes so good.” is year, they sold more than 1,500 bi ekias a day during the festival. at’s about 300 pounds of meat.
Kathy Zambelis, who, along with Maria Moore, co-chaired this year’s Greek Festival, is a bi ekia fan. “I thought it was very popular,” she says. “ e lines were long for it because people really, really like it. And this year you could make a bi ekia gyro, where you could add onion and tomato along with the tzatziki sauce, meat, and pita.
“I love it. I just think it’s something di erent that people don’t have, and they just prepare it so deliciously.”
I asked Koplin and John about their bi ekia sign at the festival. It reads, “Made with Ancient Recipe from Alexander the Great’s Grandmother.”
at’s a joke. John says Alexander the Great is a popular gure in Greece. “He’s kind of like Daniel Boone is here.”
e High Point Grocery pop-up will be their rst bi ekia pop-up, Koplin says. ey want to donate a portion of their proceeds to the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church. “We want to make sure we’re highlighting how much they do for the community. ey raise so much money for the [Mid-South] Food Bank.
“We want to raise awareness for a good community church we’ve been a part of.”
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication
Saw That Coming
Hey, they say you shouldn’t let coming into money change you, right?
On April 28, James Farthing, 50, of Kentucky, was presented with an oversized check for winning the $167.3 million Powerball jackpot. The next day, Farthing was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges after an incident at the TradeWinds Resort in St. Pete Beach, Florida, that included kicking a sheriff’s deputy in the face and attempting to flee. The Smoking Gun reported that Farthing, an ex-con whose record includes convictions for theft, drug trafficking, and engaging in an organized criminal syndicate, got into a drunken argument with a male patron at the resort and punched that man in the face, then assaulted the deputy as he attempted to break up the fight. The police report said Farthing “appeared very intoxicated and was yelling, screaming, and making incoherent statements.” The newly minted millionaire’s bond was set at only $10,000, but he remains behind bars on felony and misdemeanor charges for violating his parole.
Shell on Wheels
When staff at the Museum of Natural History in Halifax, Nova Scotia, recently noticed that Root, a wood turtle who has been in captivity for 20 years, was beginning to show signs of wear on his bottom shell after years of walking on a front leg that is missing a foot, it was time to get creative. CBC/ Radio-Canada reported that’s when naturalist interpreter Tessa Biesterfeld, inspired by a recent Lego exhibit at the museum, crafted a wheeled platform made of Legos to fit under the turtle and enable him to tootle around while saving wear and tear on his underside. “We thought that’d be so great because we know it’s nontoxic,” said Biesterfeld. “We know that we can replace the parts as we need, and should his shell change or grow, we can change the shape and size of that. It’s very modular.”
Tough Cookies
As Kristen Savage was walking her dog near her home in Sanford, Florida, on April 25, the pair were beset upon by a black bear, WKMG News 6 reported. While the bear made every effort to snatch Ringo, a
13-pound Chihuahua mix, away from his owner, Savage spun around, dangling Ringo in the air, and fell to the ground before using the only weapon she had at hand: a bag of cookies she had just been given by her mother, who lives down the street. “I whacked the bear across the face with it, and then I threw it,” said Savage. “She put her head down and sniffed the cookies and we ran to the front door.” Both owner and pet — as well as the bear — were safe after the run-in. Bear encounters are fairly common in Savage’s Markham Woods neighborhood, with more than 300 reported so far this year; Savage herself has doorbell video of a bear on her front steps. “From now on, I will always carry something,” Savage said. “An air horn, whistle, something that can scare her off.”
Déjà Vu
Ewan Valentine, 36, of Solihull, England, was devastated to discover on the morning of Feb. 28 that his beloved black 2016 Honda Civic TypeR had been stolen overnight. Determined to replace it with an identical ride, Valentine told the BBC that he searched until he found a perfect match — same color and year, even the same custom exhaust system, but obviously a different VIN number — for sale from a Honda garage, and shelled out $26,000 for it. But as he drove it home, he noticed several familiar artifacts in the car, including candy bar wrappers and a tent peg; investigating further, Valentine found that the car’s GPS had logged stops at his home and those of his partner, his parents, and his partner’s parents. Technicians at a Honda dealership were able to confirm that the VIN was fake and that Valentine had, in fact, purchased his own stolen car. The police are working with Valentine’s insurance company to straighten the whole situation out.
Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): You have had resemblances to cacti in recent days. It hasn’t always been pleasant and cheerful, but you have become pretty skilled at surviving, even thriving, despite an insufficiency of juicy experiences. Fortunately, the emotional fuel you had previously stored up has sustained you, keeping you resilient and reasonably fluid. However, this situation will soon change. More succulence is on its way. Scarcity will end, and you will be blessed with an enhanced flow of lush feelings.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I foresee abundance emerging from modest sources. I predict breakthroughs arising out of your loving attention to the details of the routine. So please don’t get distracted by poignant meditations on what you feel is missing from your life. Don’t fantasize about what you wish you could be doing instead of what you are actually doing. Your real wealth lies in the small tasks that are right in front of you — even though they may not yet have revealed their full meaning or richness. I invite you and encourage you to be alert for grandeur in seemingly mundane intimate moments.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Acclaimed Cancerian poet Lucille Clifton published 14 books and mothered six children. That heroism seems almost impossible. Having helped raise one child myself, I know how consuming it is to be a parent. Where did she find the time and energy to generate so much great literature? Judging from the astrological omens, I suspect you now have access to high levels of productivity comparable to Clifton’s. Like her, you will also be able to gracefully juggle competing demands and navigate adeptly through different domains. Here’s my favorite part: Your stellar efficiency will stem not from stressfully trying too hard but rather from good timing and a nimble touch.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): One of the seven wonders of the ancient world was the Colossus of Rhodes, located on a Greek island. Symbolizing power and triumph, it was a towering statue dedicated to the sun god Helios. The immediate motivation for its construction was the local people’s defeat of an invading army. I hereby authorize you to acquire or create your own personal version of an inspiring icon like the Colossus, Leo. It will symbolize the fact that the coming months will stimulate lavish expressions of your leonine power. It will help inspire you to showcase your talents and make bold moves. PS: Be alert for chances to mobilize others with your leadership. Your natural brilliance will be a beacon.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s biggest structure built by living things. Lying
beneath the Coral Sea off the east coast of Australia, it’s made by billions of small organisms, coral polyps, all working together to create a magnificent home for a vast diversity of life forms. Let’s make the Great Barrier Reed your symbol of power for the next 10 months, Virgo. I hope it inspires you to manage and harness the many details that together will generate a robust source of vitality for your tribe, family, and community.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): One of my favorite poets, Arthur Rimbaud, wrote all of his brilliant work before he became an adult. I suspect that no matter what your age is, many of you Libras are now in an ultra-precocious phase with some resemblances to Rimbaud from age 16 to 21. The downside of this situation is that you may be too advanced for people to thoroughly understand you. You could be ahead of your time and too cool for even the trendsetters. I urge you to trust your farseeing visions and forward-looking intuitions even if others can’t appreciate them yet. What you bring to us from the future will benefit us all.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Blacksmiths still exist. They were more common in the past, but there are many 21st-century practitioners. It’s a demanding art, requiring intense heat to soften hard slabs of metal so they can be forged into intricate new shapes. The process requires both fire and finesse. I think you are currently in a phase when blacksmithing is an apt metaphor. You will need to artfully interweave passion and precision. Fiery ambition or intense feelings may arise, offering you raw energy for transformation. To harness it effectively, you must temper your approach with patience, restraint, and detail-oriented focus.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): JeanPaul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir were two feisty, independent, strong-minded French writers. Beauvoir was a trailblazing feminist, and Sartre was a Nobel Laureate. Though they never officially married, they were a couple for 51 years. Aside from their great solo accomplishments, they also gave us this gift: They proved that romantic love and intellectual equality could coexist, even thrive together, with the help of creative negotiation. I propose we make them your inspirational role models for now. The coming months will be a favorable time to deepen and refine your devotion to crafting satisfying, interesting intimate relationships.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Over 2,600 years ago, ancient Babylonian astronomers figured out the highly complex cycle that governs the recurrence of lunar and solar eclipses. It unfolds over a period of 18 years and 11
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): It’s time for your Uncle Rob to offer you some fundamental advice for living. These tips are always worthy of your contemplation, but especially now. Ready? Being poised amidst uncertainty is a superpower. You may attract wonders and blessings if you can function well while dealing with contradictory feelings, unclear situations, and incomplete answers. Don’t rush to artificial closure when patience with the unfinished state will serve you better. Be willing to address just part of a problem rather than trying to insist on total resolution. There’s no need to be worried or frustrated if some enigmas cannot yet be explained and resolved. Enjoy the mystery!
days. To analyze its full scope required many generations of researchers to carry out meticulous record-keeping with extreme patience. Let’s make those Babylonian researchers your role models, Capricorn. In the coming months, I hope they inspire you to engage in careful observation and persistent investigation as you discover meaningful patterns. May they excite your quest to discern deep cycles and hidden rhythms.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I invite you to try this visualization exercise, Aquarius: Picture a rosebud inside your body. It’s located in your solar plexus. Imagine it’s steadily and gently opening, filling your body with a sweet, blissful warmth, like a slow-motion orgasm that lasts and lasts. Feel the velvet red petals unfolding; inhale the soft radiance of succulent fragrance. As the rose fully blooms, you become aware of a gold ring at its center. Imagine yourself reaching inside and taking the ring with your right hand. Slip the ring onto your left ring finger and tell yourself, “I pledge to devote all my passionate intelligence to my own well-being. I promise to forever treat myself with tender loving respect. I vow to seek out high-quality beauty and truth as I fulfill my life’s mission.”
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I foresee the arrival of a living fossil, Pisces. An influence you thought was gone may soon reappear. Aspects of your past could prove relevant to your current situation. These might be neglected skills, seemingly defunct connections, or dormant dreams. I hope you have fun integrating rediscovered resources and earmarking them for use in the future. PS: Here’s a lesson worth treasuring: While the world has changed, a certain fundamental truth remains true and valuable to you.
FILM By Kailynn Johnson
Loving the Alien
Lilo & Stitch gets the Disney live-action treatment, and holds up well.
Ithink I’ve finally gotten to the root of Disney’s obsession with live-action remakes. The problem stems from an integral component with any relationship — even relationships when money and entertainment are involved: the element of trust.
It’s clear that Disney doesn’t trust audiences to keep their legacy titles alive. My theory dates back to Walt Disney’s tradition of giving theatrical re-releases to some of their most popular films prior to the VHS era. The advent of the Disney Channel even made the classics more visible, such as when a film would run after a highly anticipated episode of Hannah Montana or That’s So Raven
Perhaps the phenomenon of streaming complicated this further. Even with Disney+, beloved titles have to fight to be chosen over Bluey. The executives have seemingly decided the only way to keep their legacy intellectual properties alive with newer generations is to turn them into liveaction remakes. Never mind that no one asked for them.
The latest film to get the live-action treatment is a favorite of mine, Lilo & Stitch. Unlike Snow White, I came into my viewing experience with a soft spot for the original film from 2002, as it was an essential assist to long childhood car rides. In fact, the group chat where my family keeps in touch with my god-niece is named “Ohana,” which further negates the idea that Disney legacy is lost on younger audiences. But Disney knowing that would require them to actually be in touch with their audience.
Lilo & Stitch hits the main beats of the original film. Nani Pelekai (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong) is struggling to
make ends meet as the guardian of her 6-year-old sister Lilo (Maia Kealoha) after their parents died. Nani tries to balance the relationship between guardian and sister, as she’s also working to appease their social worker, Ms. Kekoa (Tia Carrere), so they aren’t split up, with Lilo put into a foster home by social services.
As Nani grapples with being the perfect guardian and placing her dreams of being a marine biologist on the back burner, Lilo struggles with loneliness. Lilo’s longing for a best friend seems to be answered when, while volunteering at the animal shelter, she notices a peculiar looking dog, which turns out to be Experiment 626, also known as Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders, who also co-directed the original), an alien masquerading as a canine.
Stitch is on the run from his creator, Dr. Jumba Jookiba (Zach Galifianakis), who has recently been imprisoned by the United Galactic Federation for creating Stitch as a biological weapon. Jumba is paired with Earth expert Agent Pleakley (Billy Magnussen), whose mission is to retrieve Stitch from Earth and return him to the Federation.
As Lilo and Stitch grow closer, their bond is threatened not only by Kekoa, Jumba, and Pleakely, but by Agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance) from the CIA, who poses as a social worker with intentions to gain intel on Stitch.
The movie still infuses the themes of family that the original harked upon.
I’m not totally anti-live-action — in fact I think some films like Alvin and the Chipmunks actually did a really nice job bringing a beloved property to screen and inviting new audiences to the franchise. However, this Lilo & Sitch lacks the charm — and dare
I say wit — of its hand-animated predecessor.
My biggest disappointment was the erasure of Pleakely’s disguises. In the original, so-called Earth expert Pleakely’s lack of knowledge about Earth cultures is part of the joke. The live-action incarnation does away Pleakely’s unbelievable disguises and instead he and Jumba take the form of humans when on Earth. While the film pays a light homage to some of the memorable bad costuming, it takes away from what made the original film unique and ingenious.
Other important elements are still there, such as Lilo’s affinity for Elvis and turning Stitch into a record player to show his usefulness. Adding more layers to the characters seems to be meant to fill the running time left open when the filmmakers removed some of the more fantastical and whimsical elements that animation offers. After all, what works
in animation doesn’t always work in live action, and vice versa.
I think the movie is fine, especially for a child who has never seen the original, superior Lilo & Stitch, but with that assessment comes a bit of disappointment, as some people won’t grow up with the same Lilo, Stitch, Nani (and Pleakely!) that made the franchise a mainstay for so many.
But this could’ve been a part of Disney’s plan all along. After watching the 2025 version I was inspired to rewatch the 2002 version the next day. I now have a more profound understanding of the movie — so much so that I had to wonder if this was the same story I loved as a child, or if I am now able to comprehend it better as an adult.
Lilo & Stitch (2025)
Now playing Multiple locations
Lilo & Stitch (2025), starring Maia Kealoha, Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, and Chris Sanders as the voice of Stitch
Our critic picks the best films in theaters.
The Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson’s latest stars Benicio del Toro as Zsa-zsa Korda, a 1950s “businessman” whose questionable dealings have led to an assassination attempt via airplane sabotage. After a vision of the afterlife provides clarity, he decides to clean up his act and reconcile with his daughter (Mia Threapleton), who is a nun. Anderson’s impeccable casting includes Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Richard Ayoade, Scarlett Johansson, and of course Bill Murray as God.
Ballerina
Ever wondered what if John Wick were a woman? Thanks to the magic of movies,
you can see! Ana de Armas stars as Eve Macarro, the ballerina introduced in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, who must train in the assassin’s way to avenge her father. Keanu Reeves and Ian McShane also make an appearance, as the John Wick fight choreography crew makes the inevitable transition to a dance picture — and I mean that in a positive way.
Sinners
Ryan Coogler’s blues-infused masterpiece is still in theaters. Michael B. Jordan stars the Smokestack twins, enforcers for the Capone mob who rob their bosses and flee from Chicago to Clarksdale to open the juke joint of their dreams. The music is so powerful that it attracts a coven of ancient vampires. Stop procrastinating and go see this film on the big screen!
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SELL, TRADE
THE LAST WORD
By Patricia Lockhart
Summer BINGO
A fun way for teens to balance structure with freedom while school’s out.
It’s summertime! School is out, and my teens’ stomachs have o cially kicked into overdrive. ey’ve been ready for summer break since the day state testing ended. I’ve got an 11-year-old girl, twin 13-year-old boys, and a 16-year-old boy — fresh out of 6th, 7th, and 11th grades. And let me tell you, they are so done with structure (unless it involves snacks). Parenting teenagers requires a unique set of skills. ey want independence but also want you close by. ey get bored quickly, but if you suggest something to do, it’s met with side-eye. eir moods can ip faster than a TikTok trend.
My teens span from procrastinators to the do-everything-now-and-at-once personalities. I have teens who remember what day it is and those who live in the feral world of technology. Half of my teens prefer to do their chores in the morning, so they can spend the rest of the day chilling, while the other half prefers to complete their chores in 15 segments, taking them most of the day to nish. (And they inevitably complain that they’ve been “working” all day.)
Beyond home chores, the kids still also have academic responsibilities: required readings, online math courses, and ACT prep. e twins will be taking algebra I next year, so they must complete coursework for pre-algebra as assigned by their teacher on Khan Academy. Our rising 7th grader can strengthen her math foundations, too, by completing free online courses at Khan Academy. A few lessons a day really help to ght against the summer slide. ( at’s the phenomenon where students forget instructional concepts over the summer and regress in their knowledge.) My eldest son recently got a 33 on the ACT. He’s aiming for a 36!
All four of my teens have required reading from their school, and only one has actually taken the steps to obtain their necessary books. Am I going to remind the other three? Absolutely not! Ha! ey get the same emails I get from their teachers, and I think this is a perfectly safe opportunity to learn “Prior Proper Planning Prevents a Poor Performance.” May the odds be ever in their favor.
But I don’t want summer to be all work. I want my kids to enjoy their friends, family, and each other — and maybe even look back and say, “It was a’ight.” (I know better than to hope for more enthusiastic reviews.) Since all their personalities are so di erent, I needed something exible but motivating. So I gami ed it: Summer BINGO! It gives them structure and freedom, which is key when working with teens.
Here are some things they can nd on their BINGO Card.
• Fix or enhance something around the house
• Host a summer party
• Attend a music concert
• Write and mail a letter to ve people
• Initiate “ e Talk” with Mom or Dad
• Have a “low interaction” day
• Attend a festival
• Cra something new (IRL!)
• Visit a museum
• Sit with an elder
• Go on a nature walk
• Conduct 10 random acts of kindness
• Eat pizza for breakfast
• Learn a TikTok dance and teach it to someone
e rules:
1. Black-out BINGO! All of the activities must be completed!
2. No doubling-up. Each activity must be its own separate episode in a season. For example, your “Enjoy a Fun Outdoor Activity” cannot also be “Go Swimming” or “Visit a Farmers Market.”
3. Document the moment! You can document using pictures, video, or journaling! (Random acts of kindness can be exempt from this rule.)
4. No loopholes. is is a traditional BINGO, not a Gen Z or Gen Alpha remix.
5. One square per day! is BINGO should take a minimum of 25 days to complete.
6. Prize: is BINGO must be completed by July 31st. e winners will receive a “Yes” token. is token can turn a “no” or “maybe” into a “yes”! (Cannot be redeemed on “hell naws.”)
While summer always seems to y by, I’m hoping this BINGO challenge helps to break up the monotony and add a little intentional fun to the chaos. It’s also a sneaky way to cut down on the nagging — a win for me! And honestly, I’m sure I’ll end up having a few unexpected adventures of my own. I’ll be sure to keep you all posted on how the teens are doing. Wish us luck!
Patricia Lockhart is a native Memphian who loves to read, write, cook, and eat. By day, she’s an assistant principal and writer, but by night … she’s asleep.
PHOTO: PATRICIA LOCKHART Here’s to Summer BINGO!
The Hot Tamale Capital of the World invites you to enjoy an eclectic collection of events and entertaining stops.
» MAY « Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Festival, including Frog Fest and Leland Craw sh Festival LelandChamber.com
Future Tour Golf Championship
» JUNE « Delta Soul & Celebrity Golf Event facebook.com/DeltaSoulGolf
Lake Washington’s “Straight O The Lake” Music Festival
