Ever since Back to the Future was released in 1985, people have been saying I look like the wild-haired Dr. Emmett Brown played by Christopher Lloyd.
That’s almost a 40-year span. I used to hate when people said that, but now that I’m older than Lloyd was when he made the movie, it’s sort of a compliment. According to Google, Lloyd was 46 when he made Back to the Future.
So, the first attraction I see at Zoo Rendezvous, which was held June 4th at the Memphis Zoo, was a DeLorean time machine with a Dr. Emmett Brown impersonator played by Jonathan Whistler. With Whistler’s wild hair (his was a wig), I believe we both said at the same time we had to have our photo taken together. Jinx.
The 1980s was the theme of this year’s Zoo Rendezvous, so the movie and the automobile fit perfectly.
The car belongs to David Peel, owner of Memphis Time Machines. It’s exactly the same model as the one used in the movie, Peel says. “DeLorean only made one model,” he says. “It was called the DMC-12. It stood for DeLorean Motor Company.”
His DeLorean was made in 1981, Peel says. “They made them in ’81, ’82, and I think they had a model they called ‘’83,’ but by ’83 they were no longer being made.”
Six thousand DeLoreans were imported to the country from Ireland, Peel says. “Nobody knows exactly how many are on the road today, but it’s believed it’s less than 2,000.”
An accident lawyer, Peel decided he wanted to do something else besides practice law. Once his three kids were out of the house and he became a grandfather, he said, “What do I want to do on the side?”
He thought, “I’d love to have a couple of old cars and play with them.”
And, he thought, “It’d be great to have cars I really like that people would effectively pay me to own.”
Peel specifically wanted ’80s cars. “Like these that were on my wall growing up. The Alpine [sound system] poster with the [Lamborghini] Countach.
“The DeLorean was originally owned by a friend of mine in Arlington,” he says. “I bought it from him and added a lot of functionality and lights and various things to it.”
Peel then bought a replica of a Lamborghini Countach, which he found in Illinois. He described the car, the same type used in the movies Cannonball Run and Speed Zone, as “a very unique animal.”
He rents out the cars for parties, reunions, conventions, fundraisers, and trade shows. “Trade show booths are a big one. If you have a DeLorean blowing smoke, people are going to come over and take pictures.”
In addition to Whistler as Brown, Peel’s daughter Megan played Jennifer Parker (Claudia Wells) from the movie. Caleb Stoneking played the star — next to the DeLorean — Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox).
After the visit and photos with the DeLorean, I was ready to eat.
The first food station I stopped by was the one manned by Patrick’s Restaurant. I’ll have to say, that Cajun prime rib slider on a sweet sourdough bun is one of the most delicious sandwiches I’ve eaten. And this wasn’t just something offered at an event, says Patrick’s Restaurant owner Mike Miller. It’s “every day at Patrick’s,” he says.
I can’t wait to get another one. I ate four or five of the sliders at Zoo Rendezvous. I also had a few little bowls of their banana pudding.
The Hot Fudge Pie from Westy’s is one of my all-time favorite Zoo Rendezvous food items, but I almost didn’t get one. I stayed in the same area two hours taking photos and visiting with old friends. Finally, when I ventured deeper into the zoo to fine one of the Hot Fudge Pies, someone told me the Westy’s booth had shut down. But then an old friend, Alex Abdo, suddenly rounded the corner with one of the desserts for me. He said he snagged one of the last ones. I devoured it quickly as that oh-do-delicious ice cream mixed with brownie melted.
Hot Fudge Pie from Westy’s (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Before I left, I ran into another old friend, Memphis Wrestling promoter/wrestler Dustin Starr. They had just finished putting on live Memphis Wrestling “as part of a feature for Zoo Rendezvous,” Starr says, in an actual ring set up in front of the zoo’s Cat House Cafe. Memphis Heritage champion Mike Anthony was holding the Memphis Heritage championship belt, which they let me hold. It’s actually heavy.
Mike Anthony at Zoo Rendezvous (Credit: Michael Donahue)
“Memphis Wrestling is held every Saturday at noon on CW30 Memphis,” Starr says.
This was the first year Zoo Rendezvous, which features live music and numerous food and drink stations, was held in the spring. It’s usually held in September.
Kathy and JW Gibson at Zoo Rendezvous (Credit: Michael Donahue)Vannette Myers and Angela Kneeland at Zoo Rendezvous (Credit: Michael Donahue)
They originally were going to hold Zoo Rendezvous last September, says Memphis Zoo chief marketing officer Nick Harmeier. “When the new variant popped up in fall, we didn’t feel like it was very responsible for us to put on a mass event like that, so we pushed it off to spring,” he says. “I think our plan is to bring it back to fall in 2023.”
But Harmeier, as well as other people I talked to, liked this year’s event in spring. “It got darker later,” Harmeier says. “So, you could walk around and see everybody. I just felt like it enhanced the experience, walking around and seeing everyone during the daylight.”
And people really got into Zoo Rendezvous’s ’80s theme. “I don’t think we’ve ever had that much participation with people dressing up like the theme.”
Part of using a 1980s theme was “a hat tip to Rendezvous and Huey’s, who started the event back in the 1980s.”
I suggested maybe they could do two Zoo Rendezvous events — one in spring and one in fall.
And to rewrite a 1981 Hall & Oates song title, I’ll add, “I Can Go for That — Yes Can Do.”
Michael Donahue, Quaneshia Farris, and Dennis Midgett at Zoo Rendezvous Rodney Baber, Sally Gentry, and Tom Hutton at Zoo Rendezvous (Credit: Michael Donahue)Jonathan Laredo and Sophia Bufalino at Zoo Rendezvous (Credit: Michael Donahue) We Saw You
Racers take off from the starting line at the Kick It 5K. (Courtesy: Kosten Foundation)
The Kosten Foundation announced that registration for the annual Kick It 5K benefitting pancreatic cancer research and support is now open. The event will take place October 30th at Shelby Farms Park beginning at 1 p.m.
The Kick It 5K is presented by Baptist Memorial Health Care. Runners, walkers, or anyone who would like to support the race can register on the event’s website at kickit5k.raceroster.com.
“We are thrilled to host our 12th annual Kick It 5K on October 30th to kick off November’s Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month,” said Alan Kosten, Chairman of the Kosten Foundation. “The community has always been incredibly supportive of our work battling pancreatic cancer and we are looking forward to seeing everyone running, walking, and enjoying their time together at the race.”
Registration is $30 to participate in person or virtually, and all proceeds from the event go toward funding pancreatic cancer research. The Kick It 5K is the Kosten Foundation’s largest fundraising event, and at its best-attended, the race has included more than 2,500 participants. Last year’s race raised more than $150,000.
Those interested in learning more about the Kosten Foundation’s mission, or in sponsoring the Kick It 5K can find more information at kostenfoundation.com.
Top: Amy Weirich (3rd from right) at endorsement ceremony.
Bottom: Worth Morgan (front and center). (Photos by Jackson Baker).
The Memphis Police Association (MPA) and the Shelby County Deputy Sheriffs Association conferred their official endorsements on two candidates for major office — Amy Weirich, the incumbent District Attorney General, and City Councilman Worth Morgan who is running for Shelby County Mayor. Both are Republicans.
There were separate announcement ceremonies at different locations on Wednesday. The first announcement at MPA headquarters on Jefferson, was for Weirich. After expressing thanks to the two organizations for their vote of confidence, she hastened to note a piece of news that she thought relevant to her campaign against Democratic D.A. candidate Steve Mulroy.
“We saw last night something that we rarely get an opportunity to see and that is consequences of potential decisions that we might make,” Weirich said. “In San Francisco last night, the district attorney was recalled. And make no mistake — the district attorney’s platform in San Francisco is and has been identical to that of my opponent, making statements that he would not seek the transfer of juveniles to adult court, meaning that murderers, rapists, armed robbers, armed carjackers, armed kidnappers, would face no more than two years in prison.”
Weirich was asked what her position was toward recent anti-abortion legislation by the General Assembly attaching criminal penalties to doctors who might violate provisions of the very restrictive new law.
“All that is hypothetical,” Weirich said. “You would first have to assume that doctors in this community would break the law. And then you would have to assume that that criminal conduct was reported to law enforcement. And then you have to assume that an investigation is conducted and that there is enough information to make a charge against someone. Too many hypotheticals, too many hoops to jump through, and that’s not the universe I live in. I don’t make conjecture statements about what I could or should do. We deal in facts.”
Morgan’s event was at his Park Avenue headquarters in East Memphis. He, too, expressed gratitude for the endorsements. “Together these two organizations represent almost 4,000 members of law enforcement in our community,” he said. “They are on the streets, they are in our communities, they are in our neighborhoods every day 24/7/365. They know what’s going on. They know the issues that we’re facing, they know and see and interact with the victims and the perpetrators on a daily basis. And I ask that you trust their judgment, you trust their intuition, you trust their endorsement of my campaign for Shelby County Mayor.”
Regarding his opponent, incumbent Democrat Lee Harris, Morgan said, “We’ve got a current county mayor that is not taking meetings with people, and people don’t want to take meetings with him. You can’t get it done.”
U of M named safest TN large campus. (Photo: University of Memphis/Facebook)
The University of Memphis (U of M) is again the safest large college campus in Tennessee, according to a new report from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
This is the seventh time in the past 10 years that the university has been ranked the safest of the state’s 10 large campuses.
“The [U of M] continues to have a strong safety record by putting students first and making campus a safe and welcoming place to be,” said U of M President Bill Hardgrave.
Crime on all Tennessee college campuses fell 4 percent from 2020 to 2021, with 3,827 offenses reported in 2020 and 3,675 offenses reported in 2021. Crime has also decreased by 32.5 percent since 2018, with 5,446 offenses reported in that year alone.
More than 28 percent of campus crimes were larceny and theft offenses, with a 4.8 percent increase of reported thefts between 2020 and 2021.
On the U of M campus, there were a total of 45 theft offenses, with 18 of those being theft of motor vehicle parts. U of M’s chief of police Derek Myers said most of those thefts targeted catalytic converters, which became a national problem during the pandemic.
Myers said his agency is working with the Memphis Police Department (MPD) and other agencies to “identify and apprehend those responsible.” He said his department is also limiting access to parking lots to “slow down” motor vehicle theft parts.
TBI’s 2020 report said there were a total of 57 criminal offenses at U of M, with 17 of those being theft from a building. Myers states that these stats have gone down as a result of the pandemic, with limited people on campus from spring break 2020 until the fall of 2021.
“Last year we did a $400,000 upgrade to cameras, improving the image quality and adding advanced analytics which can help notify us of suspicious activity,” Myers said.
Assault offenses increased by 18.7 percent, with aggravated assault offenses seeing an 89.7 percent increase for the state’s campuses as a whole. U of M has reported 22 assault offenses, with burglaries (nine) and aggravated assaults (eight) having the highest reported occurrences. The report also stated that incidents on the university’s campuses decreased 14 percent from 8.1 per 1,000 student population to 6.9.
The university states that students and other members of the campus community are encouraged to download and use the LiveSafe app, which provides an avenue for students to directly communicate with police services on campus through text, pictures, video, and audio.
“LiveSafe continues to be an important two-way communication tool which allows us to alert the community quickly to any dangers whether it be a crime or weather event or other emergency,” Myers said.
“The students use it regularly to text the dispatchers about issues from suspicious people for us to investigate on down to maintenance problems that we hand over to [the physical plant department]. It can be used to send us pictures from the cell phone camera as well, which can be a great help in finding and identifying vehicles and people.”
Some of the university’s other key safety initiatives also include preventing sexual assaults and harassment, emergency alerts, and the Tiger Patrol escort program.
“We continue to monitor trends both on and off campus and deploy resources appropriately. We also continue to examine and explore new technologies and best practices in law enforcement,” Myers said.
Sohelia Kail and Dan Michael (Photo: Jackson Baker)
At long last, after at least two years of steady contentiousness between the County Commission and the Shelby County Election Commission, a resolution may have been reached on the matter of what kind of voting method should replace the currently used outmoded machines.
But that auxiliary verb “may” is necessary. At several points during three-and-a-half hours of intense disagreements and outright verbal combat, various commissioners would invoke the prospect of reconsideration — that parliamentary device which allows voters for a majority position to call for a revote later on.
Though a flurry of secondary issues became part of the argument, the essential debate at Monday’s commission meeting was between proponents of hand-marked paper ballots and defenders of the Election Commission’s preference for electronic ballot-marking devices.
The commission had voted twice previously in favor of hand-marked paper ballots and had specifically rejected ballot-marking devices, but the resolution before the body on Monday called for almost $6 million to purchase ballot-marking machines from the Election Systems & Software company. It also allowed for a “compromise” procedure whereby voters could either ask for paper ballots or use the ballot-marking machines. Partisans of hand-marked paper ballots tended to be skeptical regarding the bona fides of that provision.
At the end, in any event, the resolution would pass, though at various intervals a series of amendments that would have transformed it one way or another were introduced and then withdrawn. The final version targeted November as the changeover date, though Election Administrator Linda Phillips and Election Commission chairman Mark Luttrell had asked for action before the August county election on grounds that the county’s existing machines were on their last legs.
At one point, the commission gave serious consideration to a motion from Commissioner Van Turner to rebid the entire voting-machine contract with a new RFP (request for proposal) but backed away from it — perhaps in recognition that back-and-forths on the issue and failure to agree in the past had created an atmosphere of mutual intractability.
Disagreement on voting methods had traditionally been on party-line grounds, with the commission’s Democrats favoring hand-marked paper ballots and Republicans aligning themselves with the Election Commission’s preferences, but the acceptance by two Democrats, commission chair Willie Brooks and Michael Whaley, of the proffered compromise agreement finally broke the stalemate. Both Brooks and Whaley would complain on Monday that they had been the targets of telephone threats for their change of mind.
• At a press conference a week before last, Tarik Sugarmon, candidate for Juvenile Court judge, went on record in favor of the establishment of a second elected judge for the court. A proposal to do just that gained a positive vote by the County Commission back in 2006, but a state Appeals Court later overruled the action on separation-of-powers grounds.
The court decision specifically ruled invalid a state law that the former commission had relied on, but Sugarmon maintains that the Shelby County charter permits the creation of a second judgeship.
Incumbent Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael had not been heard from on the issue until Sunday, when he was asked about it at judicial candidate David Pool’s annual crawdad boil event.
Michael’s verdict? The Appeals Court’s rejection of a second judgeship still stands, but “If you’re going to do something like that, you wouldn’t need two judges, you’d need 15.” (The latter number approximates the number of “referees” appointed to help adjudge cases under the current Juvenile Court system.)
As the Beale Street Music Festival crowds pressed in, a college-aged man with a bag turned from the Ounce of Hope tent. “It’s probably bullshit, but I’m going to try it,” he said to the next person in line.
“It’s not bullshit,” the person replied. “It works.”
“It” was a chocolate bar infused with delta-8 THC. Products containing the chemical derived from the cannabis plant are now available everywhere from convenience stores to cannabis dispensaries. For recreational users, like the anonymous music fest attendee, it promises a safe and legal high. For the growing ranks of medicinal users, it promises relief from a variety of ailments, from anxiety to chronic pain. Even as debates about the legal status and effectiveness of delta-8 have swirled, one thing is certain: It is increasingly popular.
“We’re seeing a humongous switch in the marketplace,” says Collin Bercier, founder of the Memphis-based cannabis company Ounce of Hope.
When Ounce of Hope opened two years ago, CBD products were flying off the shelf. Now, gummies, brownies, chocolates, and cookies containing delta-8 THC are all the rage. “It just has blown everything else out of the water,” Bercier says.
Ounce of Hope’s aquaponic growing facility in South Memphis. (Photo: Courtesy Ounce of Hope)
Hemp History
Bercier, a native of Lafayette, Louisiana, decided to enter the cannabis business after his experiences caring for his mother, who was stricken with multiple sclerosis. “One of the things that always perplexed me was, why does my mom not have access to even try marijuana?” he says. “Because it was illegal, and still, to some extent, is illegal in some of these Southern states. So I watched my mom live the rest of her life in a nursing home on 14 different medications, where one medication seemed to just be for remedying a side effect from another medication. And as her quality of life really deteriorated, she didn’t even have the option of trying a more holistic approach. Look, would it have cured her MS? No. But would it have made her quality of life better? Absolutely.”
Cannabis has a long history of medicinal use. The first evidence of its cultivation dates back more than 10,000 years, making it one of the first plants domesticated by humans. It was prized for its analgesic properties and for its ability to calm stomachs and enhance appetite. Not only that, but the plant’s long, strong fibers were ideal for making rope and fabric. The psychoactive aspect, achieved by smoking the flowers of the female plant, made it a staple of religious rituals. Hindu scriptures say ganja was a gift from Shiva to ensure the happiness of his people. Scythian priests were known as “those who walk on smoke clouds.”
Bercier became an outspoken advocate. “You can find videos of me and my mother online talking to the news about marijuana legalization in Louisiana,” he says.
In 1937, the Marihuana Tax Act made both psychoactive cannabis and non-psychoactive industrial hemp effectively illegal in the United States. For the rest of the 20th century, cannabis was demonized in America, particularly after Richard Nixon, who associated it with leftist hippies, declared a “war on drugs” in 1971. Nevertheless, pot remained popular. In 1996, after a long campaign by a coalition of cancer, AIDS, and epilepsy patients, California became the first state to legalize it for medical purposes. Medicinal marijuana is now legal in 37 states, and recreational use is legal in 19 states.
Louisiana legalized medical marijuana in 2015, shortly before Bercier’s mother passed away in 2016. “I went after a license in Louisiana and was not successful in that,” he says.
Instead, he set his sights north to Memphis.
Ginger Dean shows off a fresh batch of gummies at the Ghost Kitchen factory. (Photo: Chris McCoy)
Cannabis Chemistry
Because of its legal status, cannabis has not been extensively studied by scientists. Cannabidiol (CBD) was first isolated in the mid-1940s. In 1964, Israeli scientist Raphael Mechoulam discovered tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Since then, hundreds of additional “cannabinoids” have been isolated from the cannabis plant. Humans produce our own cannabinoid-like chemicals, and nearly every organ in our body has receptors which respond to them. The endocannabinoid system remains mysterious, but it seems to help maintain the delicate balance of chemical reactions which influence sleep, cognition, memory, and emotion. Different cannabinoids, such as CBD and THC, bind with different receptors and thus create different effects in users. Delta-9 THC was identified as the psychoactive chemical which produces marijuana’s distinctive euphoria.
In 2018, Congress implemented a major overhaul of agricultural regulations. One clause in the Farm Bill was intended to legalize industrial hemp — the cash crop George Washington grew at Mount Vernon — by specifically limiting the content of delta-9 THC to less than 0.3 percent by weight. No other cannabinoids were mentioned in the legislation. This allowed products containing other cannabinoids such as CBD to be sold, and a gold rush ensued. Today, cannabis is in a legal gray area, permitted in some circumstances and prohibited in others. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people, many of them Black and Hispanic, are still in jail for marijuana possession.
Bercier, a University of Memphis alumnus, returned to the Bluff City to open Ounce of Hope. Today, the company operates an aquaponic growing operation in South Memphis, where they create products for their stores. “When the hemp Farm Bill went into effect, Tennessee had their arms wide open and was allowing businesses to thrive at the time. Now, there is a thriving hemp industry in Tennessee.”
Local Heroes
Gabriel DeRanzo discovered marijuana the way many people have. “When I graduated high school, we were having field parties over in Middle Tennessee. Let’s park our cars and get somebody to buy us booze, and that’s a Saturday night. I just couldn’t cram another Zima down my throat, but dammit, I wanted to have fun. It seemed like a magical thing to me — instead of drinking these three to five containers of liquid. I can just take a couple of inhales off of that magic cigarette.”
Pot didn’t come with hangovers and could even be useful. “It helped me to get in my own head. So while I was riding my skateboard, I was in the zone, you know? I was focused.”
Inspired by his experiences on the board, DeRanzo teamed with artist Greg Cravens to create Stoned Ninja, a comic book character whose martial arts skills are improved by a mystical strain of cannabis. Soon, the brand expanded to include rolling papers, T-shirts, and, in 2019, CBD products. Late last year, another opportunity came along.
The chemical formula for tetrahydrocannabinol is C21H30O2, but those carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen molecules can be arranged in different configurations, called isomers. The cannabis plant produces mostly the delta-9 isomer, distinguished by a double carbon bond in the ninth position of the carbon chain. But in recent years, more THC isomers have been discovered. Delta-8 THC features a double carbon bond in the eighth position of the carbon chain. Chemists discovered that delta-8 fit the same receptors as delta-9, but the psychoactive effects were subtly different. “It’s a more mellow experience, and therefore, it allows you to be more functional while you’re kind of getting the benefits of the less anxious and the more calm and relaxed elements of cannabis,” says DeRanzo.
DeRanzo’s friends Bryan Kiestler and Bobby Coomer had been experimenting with cannabis edibles. For Kiestler, it was a way to deal with his anxiety disorder. “I couldn’t even sit in a room with people without severe panic. I was having seizures. I dealt with that my whole life. … I grew up in a very rural, very conservative area that taught me nothing but the bad parts of [cannabis]. But as I grew and learned and studied the plant, I was like, wow, this stuff was amazing! Out of personal necessity, I started playing with it and developed quite a few things for myself.”
Kiestler had culinary training and developed his own edibles by studying classic candy-making techniques. He says his proprietary recipe enhances the bio-availability of the cannabinoids. Kiestler and Coomer started Ghost Kitchen 901, a company to produce cannabis edibles, and teamed up with DeRanzo to produce a line of Stoned Ninja delta-8 gummies. “Delta-8 is federally legal in complying with the 2018 Farm Bill, as long as it contains less than 0.3 percent delta-9,” Coomer says.
The Nicer Cousin
The cannabis plant naturally produces more delta-9 THC than delta-8, and over the years, breeders have created ever more potent strains. In the late 1980s, most street marijuana contained less than 10 percent delta-9 THC. Now, there are strains on the market that contain upwards of 30 percent. Those higher doses of THC can cause anxiety and paranoia in some users. “Some people don’t want to get that high,” says Bercier.
In January 2022, the University at Buffalo and the University of Michigan released the results of a joint study on delta-8 THC. After surveying more than 500 users, researcher Dr. Jessica Kruger says, “We found that people who are utilizing delta-8 THC feel fewer negative side effects, and they are using it in modalities that are safer, like vaping or edibles or using topically.”
One of the participants in the study called delta-8 THC “delta-9’s nicer cousin.”
Many sources claim delta-8 is half as potent as delta-9, but that can be deceiving. The effects vary by individual user and are dependent on many factors. “I’m a 44-year-old man, I weigh 230 pounds, and I literally can’t take more than 5 mg of delta-8 THC,” says Bercier. “You meet some of my employees, females who don’t even weigh 115 pounds, and they’re eating 100 to 200 mg of delta-8 THC a day with no problem.”
A THC overdose won’t kill you — unlike alcohol, no deaths have ever been reported — but it can cause panic attacks, confusion, paranoia, and nausea. Delta-8 is primarily consumed via edibles, and unlike smoking, it can take time for the first effects to be felt. A user who isn’t feeling anything yet can be tempted to try another tasty gummy or brownie, only to find later that they have eaten way too much. DeRanzo says, “If you’re not an avid smoker, or if you’re trying out new cannabis products, just take a bite out of it. Eat half of a gummy, wait about 30 minutes, and see if it’s doing anything for you. If you like where it’s going, pop the rest of that sucker. But I will definitely tell people, don’t take a whole pack of Stoned Ninja gummies and face all five of them out of the bag all at once because it will hit you pretty hard.”
The Legal Fight
Since 2018, the number of cannabis products has proliferated. It’s not just CBD and delta-8 — many other “minor” cannabinoids, such as THC-0 (said to be more potent than delta-9) and hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) have been identified and marketed. This has caused some state legislatures to attempt to crack down on the trend.
Evan Austill is an attorney and president of Southern Biomedical Industries, the parent company of Ghost Kitchen. He has been on the forefront of lobbying the Tennessee legislature to clarify the laws, legalize cannabis, and tax and regulate the industry. He says cannabis’ legal limbo has created complications for businesses trying to go legit. “A lot of people think cannabis is a wonderful place to make a bunch of money, but it’s really challenging. Imagine trying to be in a line of work where you weren’t allowed to have a bank account, you couldn’t take credit card payments, you were not allowed to advertise, you couldn’t use e-commerce, you couldn’t use social media. You can only pay in cash, and everybody thinks your cash is dirty.”
It’s a lesson Ounce of Hope recently found out the hard way. “We had no issues with credit card processing for two, almost three years,” says Bercier. “Then all of a sudden, the credit card processor just cuts us off overnight, doesn’t really tell us why, and won’t even return our calls.”
The problems have taken their toll, says Bercier. “When I got into the industry in Tennessee back in 2019, they had about 4,000 licenses. Currently, in 2022, we’re operating in Tennessee with about 750 licenses — and I don’t believe the majority of those are actually active anymore.”
Earlier this year, state Representative William Lamberth (R-Portland) introduced legislation that would have effectively outlawed all cannabis products in Tennessee. “It was a very carefully considered plan,” says Austill. “That legislation was written to kill the entire industry. Manufacturers and retailers had no idea. There was no collaboration, and no work was done around that legislation with the Department of Agriculture.”
Austill and other cannabis industry representatives successfully lobbied to stop the bill. “The people who suffer the most in an unregulated market, when there are bad actors out there, are the guys who are actually trying to do it right,” he says. “Let’s regulate this. Let’s license this. Let’s tax it like every other thing in Tennessee that we sell. We had an agreement at one point, but I guess the deal kind of fell apart at the end. So the legislature leaves delta-8 out. This is an unregulated product, which is scary to some people — and there’s some reason why there should be concern. Cigarettes, alcohol, firearms, we’re only too happy to tax and regulate. Yet this, we seem to want to sort of leave outside as the bogeyman.”
Still, Austill believes there is hope for progress in the next legislative session. The momentum is certainly on the side of legalization, as the data from states like California, Colorado, and Virginia show that the scariest predictions of the drug warriors haven’t come to pass. “We don’t see opioid deaths going up. Bank robberies don’t go up. DUIs don’t go up. Usage by teenagers does not go up. Why is it that the negative consequences never seem to take place?”
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The Edibles Curious about cannabis edibles? Here are some of the best products available in Memphis.
Stoned Ninja Delta-8 Gummies
Produced with Ghost Kitchen’s recipe, these 25 mg gummies take effect faster than most edibles. A good, basic delta-8 gummy for both the experienced user and newbies.
Ounce of Hope Delta-8 Krispy Squares
These tasty treats contain a 2 to 1 mixture of CBD and delta-8 THC, creating an anxiety-free experience that comes on smooth.
Kush Burst O.M.G.
Whatever Shop reports the orange/mango/guava-flavored gummies are its most popular edible. Containing a powerful mixture of THC-0 and delta-8, these 50 mg edibles are not for the faint-hearted.
Ghost Kitchen Lemon Freeze HHC Gummies
HHC is touted as the next big thing in cannabis. These 25 mg gummies produce a mild euphoria but leave you clear-headed and productive.
I was going to write something sad and ranty in this space, something to the effect of arg! everything is terrible — because, frankly, it feels that way. But I don’t need to detail at length all the horrific stuff going on in the world or how the dollar no longer means much and we’re being bled dry just to eat, put gas in our cars, and have roofs over our heads. I’ll spare you the talk about how our essential workers are — still, and maybe even more than ever — overworked and underpaid, and how our bodies and livelihoods will soon be (more) at the mercy of politicians and corporations while the rich get richer and the rest of us scrape by and hope that we can access affordable healthcare and homes and have the freedom to choose what’s best for ourselves. Things just feel a little … precarious. But we won’t talk about that.
I recently went to visit family down South in my hometown of Greenwood, Mississippi. My pawpaw Clark was set to have surgery the following week, and such procedures are trickier on the elderly. I’d hoped to watch Dirty Dancing — the original with Patrick Swayze, of course — with my granny Clark (it’s our favorite movie), but she wasn’t feeling up to it. We instead spent time chatting and catching up. Things are much quieter there, simpler, slowed-down. Not that crime and drugs and inflation and rising rent and home prices haven’t touched the small community. The place isn’t what you’d call idyllic, to be sure, but there’s a big difference between meandering through a country town inhabited by fewer than 14,000 people and traversing the daily grind in a sometimes rough, always-on city like Memphis.
I spent a couple nights with my dad and brother while I was there. My brother is a wheelchair-bound 32-year-old with severe cerebral palsy. My dad takes care of him — baths, diapers, feeding, outings, entertaining and supporting in the best ways he can. Their address is on one of the “county roads” on the outskirts of town. My dad built (literally) the house he lives in, on my pawpaw’s land. It’s not your typical house. To me, it always looked like maybe it was supposed to have been a big garage or shop at first, but became an actual living space with a kitchen and bathroom and bedrooms. It has concrete floors and is filled with antiques and road finds — a real hodgepodge — and the yard looks a bit like Sanford & Son Salvage. My dad can’t work much these days since he cares for my brother with only a few hours of outside help from the “sitters” (they’re nurses).
One afternoon, my dad and I climbed into a beat-up ATV, and he drove us over to a nearby creek. I held onto the “oh shit” bar while he zoomed up the gravel road and down the side of a little-too-vertical (for me) levee. Unafraid, that man. No reservations. In his already muddy boots, he walked right through the water, in places up to his knees, as I, unprepared, maneuvered the muck in my city shoes. We talked about the state of things, how I sometimes have trouble navigating days, especially since the pandemic basically dismantled everything we thought we knew. In the wake of all that was flipped upside down, some of the pieces no longer fit. Whatever normal was, it isn’t that anymore. So many things seem … broken. He talked about prayer and gratitude, and I said I might give the former a try.
There’s peace to be found there somewhere. Not specifically in that creek or the Delta town itself, but in that state of mind. Live gently and simply and without fear, love the life you have, give thanks.
I know I said I wasn’t going to write something sad in this space, but I’m known to be overly sentimental. My pawpaw ended up canceling his aneurysm surgery. He’s not one to slow down much and has decided, it seems, he’d rather go on his own terms — while feeding his dog out at the hunting camp or hamming it up with folks at the grocery store — than risk losing his life or mobility on a surgeon’s table. In the weeks since our visit, my granny received a tragic diagnosis — cancer in her lungs and liver — and was put on hospice. It doesn’t look like we’ll get in another viewing of Dirty Dancing. But I’m grateful for the many times we watched it together, and for all the precious memories with my Clark grandparents; for my brother and dad and what they’ve taught me through positivity, perseverance, and the wisdom that only comes from living in the present, not clouded by material wants or looking too far beyond the scope of what we can control.
A Memphis man climbed into a hole in the road and into viral fame.
Traynor Jennings’ TikTok video had nearly 250,000 likes and 5,300 comments at the end of last week, and his story had been picked up by news organizations across the country.
The text of the video says, “Hey Memphis! Repair the holes in the road.” Then, Traynor climbs into a large hole and says, “Hey city of Memphis, there’s holes like this everywhere. We’re like in the middle of the street … on Waring Road.”
The city responded with an “um … actually” Facebook post that aimed to “clear some things up” about this “TicTok [sic] video.” At first, city officials even claimed Jennings removed a metal plate over the hole to climb in it. Nope. They removed that reference.
Then, even though Jennings nor his post ever said the word “pothole,” the city Facebook post teed off on the idea, pushed its glasses up its nose, and gov-splained something about erosion and the hole being a “cavity” not a pothole. It also humble-bragged that the city is great at filling potholes and that “this TicTok [sic] may be funny to watch, but it was unwise to place yourself into the cavity of washed away soil in the middle of a street.” WTF?
You know, I’ve really tried to avoid writing about the most-recent former president. I was the Flyer editor during his tumultuous four years in office, and I had to write about him a lot, mainly because a week seldom went by without some sort of outrageous, over-the-top, unprecedented presidential antics. We were in a continuous reactive mode. He did what??? I had to write the column at the last possible minute, just to keep up.
Emotions were high from the very beginning of his term. (You may remember the Flyer’s infamous “WTF?” cover, which led many people to call our office to tell us they would never buy another Flyer. Yes, we’re free, but you know …)
Now, as Congress’ January 6th committee finally prepares to hold public hearings on the remarkable attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, I suspect emotions are about to kick into high gear again. The cast of characters in the plot includes generals, cabinet members, several congressmen, a few senators, sleazy lawyers, crazy lawyers, a pillow salesman, the wife of a Supreme Court justice, the minority leader of the House of Representatives, and the former president himself.
The supporting cast includes Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, and other white supremacists, plus several thousand assorted idiots from around the country who actually believed they could get away with pillaging the U.S. Capitol because the then-president told them to do it. (Not to mention that some of them actually thought they were going to hang then-Vice President Mike Pence.)
The schism in American politics was always there, but Trump drove a thick wedge into it, widening the divide like never before. Healing is going to take a while. With any luck, the former president will resist the temptation to run again and just keep operating the ceaseless “fund-raising” grift he’s been pushing since he left office. It’s not as much work and there’s more time for golf, so I’m somewhat hopeful.
As you may have gathered from various billboards around Memphis, Trump is bringing the circus to town, or rather, to Southaven, Mississippi, where the “American Freedom Tour” is slated to play the Landers Center on June 18th. Opening acts include Donald Trump Jr., his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, former paintball salesman and now sheriff Mark Lamb, plus other as yet unnamed “Top American Conservatives.” Tickets start at $45. Cultists and other suckers are advised to jump on these before they drop to, oh, I don’t know, free? The “crowds” Trump has been luring lately are not his best people. He’s got the usual six Black guys who sit behind him, a couple hundred Trump-heads who travel and never miss a gig, plus whatever assorted moronic locals show up to feed their id. It’s a party.
And there’s a Memphis angle now. After his speech at the NRA convention last week, Trump read the names of the 19 victims of the Uvalde shooting (mispronouncing many of them). Then, as one does following such a somber moment, he broke into a dance. That was bad enough, but making it worse was the fact that the music Trump was dad-dancing to was “Hold On, I’m Coming,” the iconic Stax tune penned by David Porter and Isaac Hayes.
Porter was not amused. He tweeted: “Someone shared with me Donald Trump used the song ‘Hold On, I’m Coming’ for a speaking appearance of his. Hell to the No! I did Not and would NOT approve of them using the song for any of his purposes! I also know Isaac’s estate wouldn’t approve as well!”
Such legal niceties will not stop Trump from using the song, and no doubt he’s doing so without paying royalties. But there may be a way to get a little payback. Memphis city council members Martavius Jones and JB Smiley have introduced a measure that would prevent the Memphis Police Department from escorting the Trump caravan from the Memphis airport to the Landers Center. They rightfully point out that Trump routinely stiffs local governments for any costs his visits incur, so why should Memphis put itself on the hook for those expenses? Trump’s a private citizen now. He’s got Secret Service protection. Let Mississippi take care of it.
I couldn’t agree more. When Trump lands in Memphis, let’s send him this message: Hold On, We’re Not Coming.
At 16, you get your driver’s license. At 18, you are an “adult.” At 21, you can drink. And then what are you supposed to look forward to when it comes to age-determined milestones? Surely not that, at 45, you’re due for a colonoscopy. At least, here in Memphis, once you turn 65, you are eligible for Creative Aging’s programming, which, through partnerships with local artists, arts organizations, and senior communities, offers affordable arts classes and special performances and events just for seniors.
“There’s a lot of scientific evidence that active arts engagement can do amazing things to stimulate the mind and improve vitality, the sort of social-emotional outlook in older adults,” says Creative Aging director Mia Henley, who adds that older adults with an active arts engagement, when compared to those without, are less likely to be hospitalized, less likely to experience falls, and less likely to have a decline in motor skills like strength, speed, and dexterity.
With Shelby County’s population above the age of 65 predicted to grow from 135,281 in 2020 to 161,747 by 2030, programs offered by Creative Aging are becoming more and more vital to what will be 17 percent of the total population by the next decade. “Being a senior today is not what it used to be,” says Henley. “It’s a long time. It’s 65 to 105. That’s 40 years, and you’re changing, and your interests and your abilities and maybe your health and family situation continue to change during that period. … We have these wonderful assets in Memphis. And a lot of times they’re busy in the afternoon with kids, but they’re silent during the day, and that’s when seniors want to do things.” Currently, the nonprofit has more than 120 artists, all of whom are paid, teaching classes and workshops, ranging in topics from creative writing to playing the dulcimer to learning tap dance.
In addition to classes, the group sponsors performances in various senior communities and throughout Memphis. For Wednesday, June 15th, Theatre Memphis and musical director Gary Beard have put together a musical revue with performers from past and present productions singing tunes from shows performed during Theatre Memphis’ 100-year history. This show will mark the last in Creative Aging’s sixth season of the Senior Arts Series of theatrical and musical performances on the Theatre Memphis stage. The 2022-2023 season is set to begin in August with a performance by Swingtime Explosion Big Band.
For more information on upcoming events or how to volunteer and donate, visit creativeagingmidsouth.org or check out the nonprofit on Facebook (@camemphis) and Instagram (@creativeagingmidsouth).
Curtains Up! Theatre Memphis Celebrates 100 years & Beyond, Theatre Memphis, Wednesday, June 15th, 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m., $5.
