Cooper-Young Community Association
Normally, around this time, the Cooper-Young Community Association (CYCA) would be gearing up for its annual CYCA 4th of July Family Parade at Peabody Elementary School, complete with decorated bikes, people, and wagons, as well as live music, Mempops, and fun family activities.
According to Amanda Yarbro-Dill, executive director of CYCA, this event was always a chance for CYCA to thank the Cooper-Young community for partaking in paid events, like the Cooper-Young Festival 4-Miler and Cooper-Young Beerfest, throughout the year.
“The parade has increased in attendance every year, and it’s one of the things that we use our money we make from other events to put it back in the neighborhood, give everybody a reason to get together and see each other,” she says. “It’s just a nice, sweet, simple little thing that we certainly can’t do this year.”
When it became clear that they could not get together for the parade this year, Yarbro-Dill and the rest of the team at CYCA decided they needed to find an alternative way for community members to interact with each other on Independence Day. What they came up with was an Instagram contest wherein community members are invited to submit photos 
Cooper-Young Community Association
of children and/or pets dressed in costume, or of homes decked in 4th of July decor, in hopes of winning fun prizes like gift cards and Cooper-Young swag.
“That was kind of our thinking: Well, if we can’t do this together, then if people want to still use it as an opportunity to kind of show off and have fun with that kind of thing, let’s give them a chance and give prizes to make it a little more fun,” says Yarbro-Dill. “I think the whole neighborhood has really suffered from not being able to get together easily. So it’s kind of like the illusion of a social experience, even though we’re all just stuck in our pods or bubbles.”
Yarbro-Dill says that this is a chance for members of the community to show off the spirit of their neighborhood and that anyone can participate, whether they’re from East Memphis, Bartlett, or beyond.
“I just hope that, even if people are just seeing each other on Facebook, this will give everybody a boon,” says Yarbro-Dill. “We haven’t been out and haven’t had the opportunity to be together, so this will give everyone a chance to see each other and reconnect.”
Cooper-Young’s Virtual July 4th Celebration, instagram.com/cooperyoungassociation, July 4th, all day, free. Submit photos with hashtag #CYJULY4.
