Marquette Park – Memphis Flyer

This Saturday, the nonprofit Focus on Memphis will host its first Living Green Festival, where attendees can spend the day taking care of their mind, body, and soul, and the planet, too.

“The goal is to promote a green, healthy living style,” says Stephanie Hill, Focus on Memphis’ president. “That’s a big part of our organization. One of the things that we like to promote is mental wellness as well as physical wellness.”

Founded in 2017, Focus on Memphis serves low-income and impoverished neighborhoods in Memphis, providing services such as food pantries, clothing and school supply giveaways, reading programs, job skill training, and much more. In 2021, the group acquired its 501(c)(3). “We’re focused on helping the city, and the city needs some help right now,” says Hill. “We like to step in and help where we can. We’ve been working behind the scenes doing things in the city, but now we want to kind of step out and do some larger things.”

One such goal is establishing a transitional housing facility for youth aging out of foster care. “That’s what we’re working towards,” Hill says, “so we’re just really trying to get recognition, get people knowing more about our organization and who we are. We just thought that this [festival] would be a good way for us to come out and really introduce our organization more so to the city.”

For the day, festival-goers can expect vendors, food trucks, a farmers market, live performances by Hattiloo Theatre, yoga classes, giveaways, and educational sessions about nutrition, wellness, gardening, and green living. The health department will also offer blood pressure checks, diabetes screenings, and Covid shots, and the Community Services Agency will present about the programs they offer, like utility assistance and rent and mortgage assistance.

There will also be tons for kids to enjoy (all for free), including an activity center presented by the Memphis Zoo, a kids spa tent presented by Laura’s Kids Spa Parties, inflatables, and more.

A full schedule of events can be found at tinyurl.com/yc3p67sh. To learn more about Focus on Memphis, to donate, or to sign up to volunteer with the group, visit focusonmemphis.org.

Living Green Festival, Marquette Park, Saturday, July 29, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., free.

We Saw You: Wake Up and Smell the Gravy

I was a spaghetti gravy (don’t say “sauce”) contest judge once again at the Memphis Italian Festival presented by the Holy Rosary Catholic Church parish. In addition to getting a great purple (my favorite color)-and-white festival T-shirt, I got to taste gravy at three of the booths.

And, I have to add, all three were exceptionally good. They were so good, I asked for second helpings at each booth.

I love to tell people I was a judge at the very first festival, which was held in 1990. That year it was called “Holy Rosary Spaghetti Festival.” Sixteen teams participated that year. Now, it’s a sprawling festival with numerous teams in Marquette Park.

I’ve been a spaghetti gravy judge many times over the years at the “Italian Fest,” including last year’s scaled-down-event. That festival, held June 5th, featured 27 teams, but the event wasn’t open to the public. It was held without the live music, throngs of people, and several days and nights of partying. It also was held in front of Holy Rosary school instead of in the park.

This year’s event, which was held June 2nd through 4th, was business as usual with 36 teams and live music each night on the Chuck Hutton Main Stage.

Maggie Miller and Anna Powell at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Rhett, David, and Tyler Stamm at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Johnny Fleming and Brian Fleming at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)

It was fun talking to people on the teams.

I love the stories from gravy makers Anna Powell and Maggie Miller from the Meatball So Hard team.

The base of the recipe is from their grandmother, the late Anna Sabbatini Hill, Powell says. “She was our ‘Nona,’” she says. But, she adds, “Everybody put their own spin on it over the years. She changed it almost every time she made it depending on what she had in the fridge.”

Her grandmother also used to separate the various ingredients when she put them in the pot. “Your base always started with the celery, onion, and carrots. The carrots acted as the red of the flag, even though they weren’t red. She put them in that order so when you looked down in the pot you’d see the colors of the Italian flag. So, that way you knew you were going in the right direction.”

The first thing I noticed was how tomato-y their gravy tasted. Which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned. In their gravy, for the first time, they used tomato juice that a family friend bottled and saved when canning home grown tomatoes, Powell says.

Jay Foreman, who made the gravy at Bats Amore, is a professional chef. While talking about his gravy, he told me, “The gravy’s like the chef: thick and crunchy.”

I love the clever booth names. Looking at my map I saw “Foodfellas,” “Ciao, Y’all,” “Pastafarians,” and “Eat, Drink & Be Italian.”

Teams get creative with their names and logos at Memphis Italian Festival. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Julie Earnest and Jackson Earnest at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Ciao Y’all team members at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Members of the Ciao, Y’all team at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Booths had themes. Pasta la Vista’s theme had to do with the 1980s. Team member Evan Wilson wore a pair of pink socks that weren’t Italian-centric. They featured a chicken-and-waffle design. But, Wilson says, “It was the hottest pink neon thing I could find ‘80s.”