Tag: June West

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Cuisine, wine, retiring pianist, reborn building, Mr. Lenti turns 100, CBHS is cookin’!

CREDIT: Jon W. Sparks

Jon W. Sparks

My dream of working in a kitchen with a great chef like Kelly English might turn into a nightmare. For the great chef. This is what my dream might look like.

I have a dream of working in a kitchen under the guidance of a great chef like Kelly English, owner of Restaurant Iris and Second Line. It would be great to really learn how to cook. It might not be so much fun for the chef, though. People usually have to tell me how to do things many times before I finally get it. I like to call it “reiteration.”

Stephanie Ferreira had a dream that had to do with fine dining and wine. Her wish came true. Ferreira, Belinda Anderson, Deirdre Malone and Bonnie Pinkston hosted their second Vintage901 – three days of “wine, food and community” to benefit the Women’s Foundation, Anderson said.

“She and her husband (the late Chuck Ferreira) spent a lot of time touring, just going to wine festivals all over the country,” Anderson said. “That’s what they loved to do. She and her husband wanted to bring a festival here. Then her husband passed away, unfortunately. She took some time off.”

After some time she contacted Anderson. “She called me and asked me if I thought it was a good idea to have a wine festival that she and her husband wanted to have. Bring a true three-day wine festival here. She asked me if I could find some people to help.”

Anderson and her husband, Calvin, also love to attend wine festivals, so she, Ferreira, Pinkston and Malone and their team got together and made it happen.

“The Wine Coach” Laurie Forster, who has appeared on the Today Show and other programs, attended to speak to the wines for the second year in a row. “She is considered our ‘Grand Sommelier,’” Anderson said.

I attended the March 3 event, which was a dinner at Memphis College of Art. English prepared a four-course dinner with two wine pairings for each course. Food included miso roasted salmon with okonomiyaki and crema and slow roasted duck leg with local pea succotash and tarragon emulsion.

And, I have to say, I’ve never seen the first floor of MCA look so elegant.

Michael Donahiue

Stephani Ferreira, Kelly English and Belinda Anderson at Vintage901 Perfect Pairings Dinner.

………….

Michael Donahue

Brother Joel McGraw and Roman Novarese at A Taste of CBHS.

Speaking of food, I’m always amazed at the fine chefs/restaurateurs who are a product of Christian Brothers High School, my alma mater. Ryan Trimm, owner of Sweet Grass and Next Door, Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman, owners of several restaurants, including Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, Hog & Hominy, Catherine & Mary’s and the new The Gray Canary, and Mike Garibaldi, owner of Garibaldi’s Pizza, are among the CBHS graduates.

I attended A Taste of CBHS, held March 4 in Hefferman Hall, a building that wasn’t even there when I graduated.

Food stations lined the walls. People packed the place. And you didn’t have to tip.

………….

Michael Donahue

Jimmie Tucker, Margot Payne, June West, Will McGown and Juan Self at Preservation Posse After Hours at Universal Life Building.

I passed by the Universal Life Insurance Building hundreds of times in the 40-plus years I’ve worked at newspapers in the Downtown area. I always was impressed with the beautiful Egyptian Revival building and how pristine the shrubs and grass were kept. But I never went inside.

I finally got my wish March 1. I attended the first Preservation Posse After Hours event, which was held at the renovated building.

“The renovators’ happy hour series is an informal and fun way to learn about adaptive re-use and restorations projects happening all over our city,” said W. Preston Battle, who emceed the event.

According to Preservation Posse’s web site, the building, which was vacant since 2001, will re-open to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative events in April.

The building, constructed in the 1940s, was headquarters for Universal Life, which was the fourth-largest African-American-owned life insurance company in the country.

McKissack & McKissack, an African-American-owned firm in Nashville, designed the building.

Self & Tucker Properties, which purchased the building in 2006, is the developer and designer of the renovation project.

Plans are for the building to be a hub for entrepreneurship and community revitalization for organizations committed to creating a better Memphis.

……….

Michael Donahue

Dougan Grimes sings and plays guitar at Avon Acres.

I remember Roger Sapp and Craig Blondis telling me about a venue they were going to open behind their Central Barbecue location on Summer. I sort of forgot about it until I got an invitation to a friends and family night event for Avon Acres, which was held Feb. 27.

On the night of the event, I walked behind the restaurant expecting to see a nice-sized building that could be rented for events. I even thought maybe it was attached to the restaurant. Then I was told to look South. I walked through the wall and saw the building. It looked enormous. That was Avon Acres.

The 5,800 square-foot venue can accommodate 300 (seated) and 375 (standing) guests.

I was impressed with Dougan Grimes, who is a bartender at Sweet Grass/Next Door. He sang and played guitar at the event.

Grimes, 33, who writes originals, played covers on his Martin acoustic/electric guitar for two or three hours with just a short break. “Different stuff like Allman Brothers and Clapton, The Band, Dylan. Roots music. Grateful Dead.”

He said he plays gigs whenever he can. “I’ll pick up something here and there. Mostly it’s for stuff like that. Little private party gigs. I haven’t played out anywhere in a while. In a bar or anything like that.”

Grimes hasn’t been in a band in Memphis. “I had a little group when I lived in Fayetteville, Ark. I can’t remember what we called ourselves.”

…………..

Michael Donahue

Charlotte Vaughn’s last night as Folk’s Folly pianist after 30 years.

Charlotte Vaughn, on the other hand, played in a bar – for 30 years. She was a pianist for 30 years at Folk’s Folly.

She played her final gig March 1 to a packed house, full of friends and well-wishers.

Vaughn moved to Dallas, where her children live.

Vaughn plans to play piano in Dallas. “I do plan to still make music somewhere. I just don’t know where right this minute.”

“New York, New York” is the one song she’s probably played the most during her long Folk’s Folly post. “I always enjoyed playing it,” she said.

Her favorite song? Leon Russell’s “A Song For You.” I like the emotion involved in it. I love his interpretation of it. I love what it says. I love what it means. And I love the melody.”

………

Michael Donahue

Louis Lenti at his 100th birthday party at Ave Maria Home.

Louis Lenti celebrated his 100th birthday with a party March 1 at his new home at Ave Maria Home.

Guests included the local Marine Corps League and the Knights of Columbus from The Church of the Nativity, Lenti’s home church.

The Marines in their dress blues presented the colors.

Lenti was a private first class Marine from 1941 to 1945 during World War I. He was a sharpshooter and a key figure in the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

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News News Blog

Preservation Advocates Discuss Ideas for Aretha Franklin House

Aretha Frankin’s birthplace at 406 Lucy

Preservationists have less than a week to come up with a solid plan to save Aretha Franklin’s blighted birthplace home in South Memphis or else Judge Larry Potter will have it demolished. That’s what Memphis Heritage Executive Director June West told a room of advocates for saving the home at a meeting at Howard Hall on Wednesday night.

“Unless someone comes forward with $1 million and wants to do [all the work to save it], then we need to come up with a collaborative plan now, and it needs to be a plan that’s achievable and financeable,” said West, noting that a “solid plan” for saving the house must be presented to Shelby County Environmental Court by Tuesday. The group will have to show up in court to discuss that plan next Thursday. Unless the judge gives the group more time, the home will be demolished.

Last week, the Environmental Court put the home into a city receivership and ordered the home to be demolished. It was first declared a public nuisance in October 2012 due to its blighted state. The entire back half of the home was nearly destroyed by fire years ago, and one side of the roof over the porch is sagging. South Memphis Renewal CDC was appointed a receiver for the property about a year ago, and Jeffrey Higgs of the LeMoyne-Owen College CDC informed the Environmental Court that his group would fund-raise and relocate the home. No physical progress has been made with that plan so far, so last week, a group of volunteers from Memphis Heritage worked to board up and stabilize the home.

Higgs attended the Memphis Heritage meeting on Wednesday, and he said he has a $15,000 commitment to help stabilize the property, but he said he wasn’t at liberty to discuss those details. West emphasized the need for “serious players” to step up and put money and an actionable plan together. After the meeting, she invited anyone who could get serious about saving the home to stay and help them come up with a plan to present to Potter on Tuesday.

Addressing Higgs, West said “We have a history here. And we’re down to the wire. We need better communication.” Higgs nodded his head in agreement. 

Earlier in the meeting, a group of about 20 or so Memphis Heritage volunteers, South Memphis residents, Soulsville stakeholders, and preservation enthusiasts threw out various ideas for what the house could be. They also debated whether or not the house should be moved from its current location at 406 Lucy.

“The most impact would come from seeing it stay as close to what it originally looked like,” said artist Jay Etkin, who advocated for revitalizing the home to its original state and using it as a birthplace museum similar to Elvis’ birthplace house in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Other ideas included a place to host music and arts lessons for kids, a Soulsville radio station, or a “musical playground” with an outdoor stage on the porch.

Many, including West and Higgs, advocated for having the house moved to another location in South Memphis, closer to the Stax Museum. The street where the house is located now is filled with blighted and boarded-up properties, many with waist-high weeds growing in the front yards.

“Part of the rationale for moving it is that it will be 10 to 20 years before there will be development over there. It will be a hard sell to get people to go over there [to visit the home] if the only thing over there is Aretha Franklin’s house,” Higgs said.

Shelby County Historical Commission member Grover Mosley was perhaps the loudest voice at the meeting advocating leaving the home where it is. He said he’d like to “see the whole neighborhood revitalized, period.”

At the end of the meeting, a young man, who walked in late, spoke up. He identified himself as Christopher Dean, the 2011 Booker T. Washington graduate whose introduction of President Barack Obama before his Memphis speech earned Dean an internship at the White House. Dean said he grew up in Franklin’s old house, which is currently owned by his grandmother Vera House.

“We’ve been trying to save that house for so long, so I want to say thank you to people here trying to save it,” Dean said.

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Memphis Heritage Stabilizes Aretha Franklin Home in “Guerilla Preservation” Action

CREDIT: Bianca Phillips

A handful of Memphis Heritage members and preservation enthusiasts met at Aretha Franklin’s childhood home on Thursday morning to board up and secure as much of the unstable structure as possible. The home at 406 Lucy in South Memphis is facing potential demolition if a group doesn’t step in to save it soon.

June West, executive director of Memphis Heritage, called their action “guerilla preservation” since her group isn’t the one charged with saving the home. That task fell to the LeMoyne-Owen College CDC, but that group has failed to save the blighted home so far, although the CDC’s executive director Jeffrey Higgs told the Flyer they’ve been working behind the scenes.

Bianca Phillips

Memphis Heritage volunteers attempt to secure Aretha Franklin’s birthplace home.

Last week, the Shelby County Environmental Court put the home into a city receivership and ordered the home to be demolished. It was first declared a public nuisance in October 2012 due to its blighted state. The entire back half of the home was nearly destroyed by fire years ago, and one side of the roof over the porch is sagging. 

Mark Fleischer

The back portion of the home was mostly destroyed by fire years ago.

South Memphis Renewal CDC was appointed a receiver for the property about a year ago, and Jeffrey Higgs of the LeMoyne-Owen College CDC informed the Environmental Court that his group would fund-raise and relocate the home. Higgs said his group has been in talks with Franklin’s agent to make sure the soul diva is okay with them using her name and likeness in any future use of the home. He said they’ve been working to find partners to try and preserve the house. But it appears, if action isn’t taken to stabilize the home soon, the court is ready to abate what it considers a public nuisance.

Higgs and West have said there may still be time to save the home. West and a team of volunteers braved the summer heat Thursday morning to secure what parts of the home they could. West said they’ll get a price for a construction crew to come in and take the burned-out back half of the home off.

“I don’t think there will be a rush to judgment, and they’ll bring the dozers out tomorrow. But I do think this is a wakeup call to Jeffrey [Higgs]. The only reason we’re doing it is because I believe this is the only thing that will stay the demolition,” West said.

Higgs said his group fully supports Memphis Heritage’s action to board the property. 

“Everyone is working collectively. Everyone is trying to save this house,” Higgs said.

Although Higgs was charged with coming up with a plan to save the property, the home is still owned by its former resident Vera House. She lived there from the mid-80s until about a decade ago and raised her 12 children there. 

“Only thing that’s really still good is the front room, the room [Aretha] was born in, and maybe the next room part of the way. But it really needs to be rebuilt, if you ask me,” said House, who was there on Thursday as overseeing the Memphis Heritage volunteers as they worked.

West said the home would likely have to be moved in order to save it. It’s currently located on a street with as many boarded-up homes as livable ones, and many front yards have waist-high weeds.

“It has to be moved. There’s no way it can survive, even fixed up, where it is. There’s no way anyone is going to go there. As much as a preservationist doesn’t like to move something, I think it’s only hope is to get it over by Stax,” West said.

Although she has no say in the matter, West said she’d love to see the home moved to a lot near the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, where it could serve as a historical tribute to Memphis’ soul history, much like the old Memphis Slim house that was revitalized and turned into a music colloboratory a few years ago. Higgs’ group (along with Community LIFT) was behind the revitalization of the Memphis Slim House, and he says moving Franklin’s home closer to Stax has been his group’s plan all along.

West said Memphis Heritage will likely hold a public meeting about the next steps for the house next week. She said the group may also soon launch an ioby crowd-funding campaign to fund its renovation.

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News The Fly-By

Pinch District Keeps Historic Designation

The Pinch District won’t lose its listing on the National Register of Historic Places any time soon.

In January, the Pinch was in the crosshairs of the Tennessee Historical Commission (THC) to be removed from the register. The commission said the area had lost many of its buildings, and “has lost the significance for which it was listed and no longer retains integrity of location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, and feeling.”

But the THC deferred a decision on the removal in January. In a letter to state Senator Lee Harris, E. Patrick McIntyre, executive director of THC and the State Historic Preservation Office, said “I have deferred consideration for the de-listing of the Pinch District indefinitely.”

View of the Pyramid and Pinch District

Harris said Pinch constituents asked him to get involved in the decision just as he was taking office in January. Since then, he said he’s been in talks with the THC and planned public meetings on the topic.

“For now, that fire is out,” Harris said in a Friday meeting with Pinch stakeholders.

But he warned that things could change if the THC gets new board members or a new executive director.

Listing on the National Register goes beyond words on a plaque. June West, executive director of Memphis Heritage, said Friday the degeneration allows building owners to leverage historic tax credits to renovate their properties.

“If it had been de-listed, each individual property owner would have had to nominate their building as an independent, self-standing building to be on the National Register,” she said. “In some cases, some of the buildings probably would not be allowed to do that on their own because they may not have the significance that the National Register might require.”

The news comes as Pinch neighbors and business owners prepare for the MEMFix event (the city’s ongoing series of neighborhood revitalization festivals) happening there on Saturday, April 11th. Friday’s MEMFix meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel brought together stakeholders and volunteers to get the Pinch ready for hundreds of visitors expected at the event.

John Paul Shaffer, Livable Memphis program director, looked down at the Pinch from an 11th story window in the hotel. He pointed to lots of vacant properties there but noted the many opportunities for development. From the window, it was hard not to notice the huge, silver Bass Pro Shops sign on the Pyramid and just how close it is to the Pinch.

“The thinking on the part of the Pinch stakeholders was to get out in front of Bass Pro,” Shaffer said. “to bring attention to the Pinch to say, ‘We’re here. We’ve been here. We’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Now’s our opportunity to show everyone where we are on the map’.”

Many of the vacant lots in the Pinch got that way by lack of restrictions on surface parking lots when the Pyramid was built. So many buildings came down as property owners looked to cash in on Pyramid parkers.

In fact, the original nomination to the National Register was comprised of 41 buildings or sites in the Pinch. The figure was bumped up to 43 in 1990 in an administrative correction. But in the time of the Pyramid’s construction and its closure, only 19 of the buildings remain in the Pinch.

“The expanse of vacant lots is distressing for what once was the cradle of the City of Memphis,” the THC petition says.