American Cancer Society – Memphis Flyer

Real men wear pink socks. Specifically, American Cancer Society “Real Men Wear Pink” socks.

These are socks that were given out in the past at the “Real Men Wear Pink of Memphis Reveal Party,” says Elizabeth Ennis, senior development manager with the society’s Memphis office.

This year’s event was held September 16th at Old Dominick Distillery. “It was a party to announce the 2021 class of Real Men Wear Pink of Memphis,” she says. “They are 31 leaders throughout the Memphis area. They’re chosen based on their connection to breast cancer. And we have a couple of guys that don’t have a connection to breast cancer at all. They just want to be part of something bigger and help spread awareness.”

Elizabeth Ennis with Hugh Balthrop (left) of Sweet Magnolia Gelato and Derek Miles at the Real Men Wear Pink reveal party. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

“Real Men Wear Pink” socks, with the iconic ribbon design, are usually given to the “ambassadors,” but not this year. “We typically give every guy a little swag bag at the start of the campaign to put some pink in their wardrobe,” explains Ennis. “We had these socks. The guys loved them. The only reason we don’t have them this year is our vendor didn’t get them out in time. Kind of a Covid-impacted thing.”

Carlos Salgado, 29, a member of the 2019 class, is a fan of the socks. He usually wears them in October, which is Breast Cancer Month. “Probably one of the cooler things we got with Real Men Wear Pink were those badass pink socks,” he says. “[The socks are] a great conversation piece. I roll up my pants legs so people will see them.”

Carlos Salgado wore his “Real Men Wear Pink” socks to dinner at El Mezcal. (Credit: Lauren Byrd)

Lauren Byrd and Carlos Salgado at the 2021 Real Men Wear Pink reveal party. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Salgado, whose socks sport a gray base with the iconic pink ribbons design, originally wore them to two events. “People instantly got drawn to it. It’s like wearing a nice tie or something. Like a pocket square or a nice watch. An accessory people get drawn to. It’s a great talking point. People ask questions about it.”

When they ask, “What are these socks for,” Delgado responds, “I’m doing it for this cause. This is my story.”

Salgado wanted to be a Real Men Wear Pink ambassador. “I lost my aunt to breast cancer, so it just kind of made sense to do it. She died in the beginning of 2017.”

A corporate residential manager for Silver Tree Residential, Salgado says he doesn’t usually wear fancy dress socks. He likes “fancy runner socks” by Feetures and Balega. “I don’t typically care about fashion when it comes to dress socks as much.”

But he will wear Real Men Wear Pink socks. “I probably wear the pink socks four to eight times a month. I’ve only got one pair. I wish I had more. I will make it a staple to wear them every day if I have them.”

Well, fear not. Pink socks are on the horizon, thanks to Patrick Crider, one of this year’s Real Men Wear Pink of Memphis ambassadors.

Crider, owner of The Insurance Shoppe of Tennessee, is also the owner of Odd Fellow Sock Co. He is currently working on Real Men Wear Pink socks. “We’ve been trying to get them made and everything is just slow,” Crider says. “The idea was to have them for the Real Men Wear Pink campaign. So, I already was going to have them made. It was something I could do as a fundraiser. Give a portion of the proceeds to Real Men Wear Pink and the American Cancer Society. That’s still the plan. But I won’t have them in time for October.”

What are some of Crider’s sock ideas? “I would still do the ribbon because that’s the symbol everybody recognizes. So, the two I was looking at having made, one would be a navy sock with pink ribbons. And have it just little pink ribbons spaced out. And the other almost a pink on pink. Two different pinks on each other, just as a brighter sock. I think it would get noticed a lot easier.”

Laura and Patrick Crider at the 2021 Real Men Wear Pink reveal party. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Harold Byrd

I still feel like I’m going to get in trouble walking on the gym floor in hard-soled shoes instead of athletic shoes, but I, along with some 500 fans, couldn’t resist getting their photo taken with Penny Hardaway on the court at a Memphis Rebounders event at the University of Memphis.

A sea of blue filled the gymnasium at the Walton Center on the University of Memphis South Campus for an evening of food, drink, and a chance to meet U of M Tigers coach Penny Hardaway and the basketball team.

About 500 people attended the event, which was held September 24th. The Memphis Rebounders, which is the Tigers support group, and Hardaway hosted the evening.

Guests watched the first public practice of the team, says Rebounders president Harold Byrd. All the other practices have been private. During their break, Hardaway and the Tigers chatted with fans and posed for photos.

“The place that the University of Memphis – in particular in basketball tradition – holds in most Memphians’ hearts is really something to behold,” Byrd says. “That is so because of individuals like Coach Penny Hardaway. He could have gone anywhere in the country to play basketball. He had scholarships anywhere from UCLA to North Carolina, but he chose to stay home. And he truly loves this city. He truly loves the university and he loves the people of the city of Memphis.

“What made the evening so special is a number of things, but most of all I think it was coach Hardaway and the chance to talk to him, to visit with him. And the patience he took to take a photo with every individual there. Some 500 people. I don’t think he turned one person down.”

Everyone got the chance to see “this number one ranked team,” Byrd says. “This is the number one class in the country. People got their first chance to see those players and they were so impressed. And taking their cue from Coach Hardaway, the players were so patient. They seemed to enjoy the give and take of the fans. And the fans were young kids two or three years old all the way up to super senior citizens.”

And, Byrd says, “We not only have the number one elite signing class of freshmen in the country, we have the number one coaching staff in the country with Penny, Mike Miller, Cody Toppert, Tony Madlock, and Dwight Boyd.”

One and Only BBQ provided the dinner, which included spaghetti, barbecue, chicken, and banana pudding. Kirby Wines & Liquors provided the wine.

Michael Donahue

Precious Achiuwa

MIchael Donahue

James Wiseman

MIchael Donahue

Lester Quinones

Michael Donahue

Vintage901 Underground: Low Country Boil

Vintage901 Underground Low Country Boil was a sell-out, says Kristen Myers-Waddell, Vintage901marketing consultant. The event, held in partnership with Common Health Alliance, took place on September 28th at Bobby Lanier Farm Park.

More than 300 people attended. Chef David Johnson of Southern Table Catering cooked 150 pounds of shrimp and 120 pounds of crawfish. These were served with grits and greens.

Michael Whaley was host and wine educator for the evening. Susan Marshall and her band performed. Jamond Bullock of AlivePaint did a painting on site. Guests bid on the painting at the end of the evening.

Michael Donahue

Calvin and Belinda Anderson at Vintage901 Underground: Low Country Boil

Michael Donahue

Pride Fest

Vincent Astor was overwhelmed at this year’s Mid-South Pride parade and Pride Fest, which were held September 28th on Beale Street and in Robert Church Park.

Attendance was in the thousands this year, but Astor remembers when the gathering drew 100 people.

“I was in the first one,” he says. “I’ve been around every one, I think, that has happened. Every year I am overwhelmed at how big all of this has become. All the media attention. The number of people. The number of organizations that come to the festival. It’s so overwhelming it makes me emotional.

“The first Pride festival or gathering was barbecue in a back yard. And now it covers a park.”

The first such gathering wasn’t a parade, Astor says. “The very first one was in 1980 – a march on the sidewalk from Peabody Park to the (Overton Park) Shell (now Levitt Shell). The first one called a ‘parade’ was in 1995 and I was co-chair that year.”

And, he says, “It was changed from a march to a parade because marches are serious and parades are fun.”

The march in 1980 was put on by the Memphis Gay Coalition, Astor says. “It was an activist organization founded in 1979 and expanded in 1990. Memphis Pride was founded in 1990. Mid-South Pride was founded in the mid ‘90s. They’ve been carrying the flag ever since.”

Astor was on the advisory board of Mid-South Pride when it was founded. “I was the one who staged the parade for a number of years. Got them all lined up in First Congregational parking lot and sent them out one by one. And we went down Cooper to Peabody Park. We did that for several years.

“I gave that up. Now it’s my turn to be stand on the sidelines and criticize.”

Michael Donahue

Pride Fest

Michael Donahue

Pride Fest

Michael Donahue

Pride Fest

Michael Donahue

Pride Fest

Michael Donahue

Gonerfest at Murphy’s.

This year’s Gonerfest set a record, says Eric Friedl, who, along with Zac Ives, owns Goner Records, which hosts the annual music event.

“We were maxing around 500 per night,” Friedl says. “Biggest attendance yet.”

The festival, which was held September 26th-29th at various venues, featured 36 bands “not counting after parties.”

Gonerfest began 15 years ago, but this was the 16th Gonerfest, Friedl says. “One year we did two for some reason. We were really killing ourselves that year.”

He recalled the first Gonerfest. “I think it was three nights with four bands a night.”

How many people that year? “About 200 people trying to get into the Buccaneer. Which is not possible. Maybe 40.”

MIchael Donahue

Gonerfest at Murphy’s.

Michael Donahue

Quinton Jevon-Lee at Gonerfest

Michael Donahue

Elyse Mason and Kunal Prakash at Gonerfest.

Michael Donahue

Gonerfest at Murphy’s.

Michael Donahue

Carlos Salgado is one of the ‘Real Men Wear Pink.’

Men participating in “Real Men Wear Pink” were revealed at a reception, held September 26th at the Orion Headquarters.

The event kickstarted the American Cancer Society fundraising efforts to fight breast cancer. The candidates will wear pink and ask for donations during October.

About 80 attended, including 12 Real Men Wear Pink alums, says Elizabeth Ennis, American Cancer Society community development manager.

Real Men Wear Pink of Memphis was the top performing campaign in Tennessee in 2018. It was ranked third in the nation. It brought in just under $238,000.

Michael Donahue

Dustin Starr and Logan Guleff from ‘Real Men Wear Pink.’

Michael Donahue

Guilherme Garros, Cooper Harrison, and Georgia Garros

What’s the opposite of a house warming? A house cooling? Whatever you call it, that’s what Guilherme Garros and his sister, Georgia, along with Georgia’s boyfriend, Cooper Harrison, hosted on September 27th. Guilherme and George are moving out of the house, where they’ve lived since moving to Memphis.

“This was the first house they lived in by themselves in the United States,” Harrison says.

They moved to Memphis from Porto Allegro three years ago. “Their dad moved here and got a job here.”

Georgia is leaving to visit family and friends in Brazil. Guilherme is moving to Cordova.

About 60 people attended the party. Total Works, which includes Gavin Mays and Quinton Jevon-Lee provided the entertainment.

Michael Donahue