Tag: Mid-South Pride

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.

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.

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.”

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.”

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.

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.