Fast forward after Thanksgiving to Celebrate Christmas Downtown

Light displays, the Downtown Holiday Parade, and the “Jolly” Trolley on South Main are good reasons to go downtown the day after Thanksgiving.

And the 2009 Memphis Heritage calendar is a great stocking stuffer for Memphis lovers.Read more »

Cossitt Courtyard listed as 1 of 5 underused outdoor spaces in Memphis

The Gates of Memphis blog has taken a look at underused outdoor spaces in Memphis – “5 areas that could be social anchors in our city’s new street life.” One of those is the Cossitt Library’s Front Street courtyard. The blog says the challenge is to do something "small, simple, and public" on this valuable site.
Click here to read the blog.
Click here to read the Project for Public Spaces comments on the site. (Specific suggestions for the courtyard are on p. 19.)

Swimming Upstream

The Commercial Appeal on November 9th reported front-page news that impacts our riverfront and our city in general. While the Mayor and City Council are deliberating budgetary constraints, the Corps of Engineers and the Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee are moving forward to restore river flow behind the dikes on Loosahatchie Bar and Redmond Chute.:Read more »

22nd Outdoors Inc. Cyclocross Championships on the Riverfront

Once again, Outdoors Inc. gets the credit for bring an exciting outdoor sport to the riverfront. For those of you not yet in the know - Cyclocross is a form of bicycle racing. Riders make multiple laps on a short 1.5 – 2 mile course where part of the challenge is varying surfaces - pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills – and part is dismounting and carrying bikes over obstacles.

Sounds like fun to watch, and we’ll have a chance at the 22nd Outdoors Inc. Cyclocross Championship Race, Sun. (11/16) in Green Belt Park on Mud Island. There are races for two skill levels; the experts will start at 10 am. For more information, click here.

Riverfront Songmeister has hit new book

Critics have called Yazoo Blues “profound,” “profane,” “hilarious”. Add to that perceptive and a great read. It’s hit book # 2 for Memphian John Pritchard who will read from the book and sign copies Thursday (11/13), from 5:30 – 7 pm at Burke’s Bookstore (936 S. Cooper).

Pritchard is also well-known for his song-writing skills and is one of the artists who donated his talent to help rescue the Memphis riverfront. Pritchard wrote the lyrics to “Save Our View”, the 1st song on the CD Save our Riverfront. To find out more about the CD and how to order a copy, click here.

Veterans Day Parade

FfOR salutes our many U.S. Military Veterans in Memphis and Shelby County. We are deeply grateful for your dedicated service in the defense of our nation.

The 20th annual Veterans Day Parade in Downtown Memphis will begin at 10 a.m. Tues. Nov. 11 at Exchange and Second and move down Second to Monroe. The parade will feature veterans, current military personnel, school bands, and ROTC units. It is sponsored by American Legion Post 1.

On an historical note:Read more »

Support the Cotton Museum

Cotton was once king in the Mid-South, and the Cotton Exchange at Front & Union was the center of activity. Today cotton trading has moved away from Cotton Row, and the Exchange's trading floor has become the Cotton Museum, a fantastic source of information about the cultural, economic, and historical role cotton played in Memphis and throughout the region.

Nov. 15th the Museum will hold its 2nd Annual Harvest Festival & Silent Auction at Earnestine & Hazel's (531 S. Main). There'll be music, food, and drink, and, of course, all proceeds go to support the the Musuem. So as the invitation says, "Lock your desk -- Close your door -- and do your part." For information and to purchase tickets, phone the Cotton Museum at 901-531-7826.

Cossitt Fall Book Sale

Support our downtown library and pick-up some good books for the winter at the Cossitt Fall Book Sale. You might even find a treasure. The Cossitt Fall Book Sale will be Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (Nov. 12 - 14) between 10 am and 4 pm in the library's meeting room.

Chance to See Salton Sea

There's an amazing/horrifying/almost unbelieveable place -- California's Salton Sea and a film by Chris Metzler -- Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea, that tells its story.



Thanks to the Sierra Club and Power House Memphis, we can see the full film Wednesday, Nov. 12,Read more »

2008 Environmental Justice Conference

This Sat. (11/8) is the 7th annual grassroots environmental conference sponsored by the Sierra Club -- an opportunity to hear keynote speaker Charles Allen III, attend workshops, and learn more about about topics that affect our health, safety and general environment.Read more »

Traveler & NYT cover Memphis Waterfront

Outdoors Inc. and Joe Royer get much of the praise as Northwest Airlines Traveler calls the Memphis waterfront a hotspot for outdoor enthusiasts. And in The New York Times, Dan Barry focuses on the sad state of the Pyramid.Read more »