'Retro Baby' gives parents back-to-basics advice to help child development

Published October 7, 2013 in the Commercial Appeal

There’s a proliferation of bouncers, walkers, carriers, electronic toys and “educational” videos on the market promising to make parents’ lives easier and children smarter, but according to a new book, when used in excess they can be harmful to baby and impede proper development.

Local pediatric occupational therapist and child development specialist Dr. Anne Zachry, author of the new book “Retro Baby: Cut Back on All the Gear and Boost Your Baby’s Development With More Than 100 Time-Tested Activities” (American Academy of Pediatrics), wants to help parents and caregivers get back to basics and understand the importance of one-on-one play with children during the early stages of life.

“The average middle-class mom spends $9,000-$12,000 on baby gear,” says Zachry, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. This can be a costly mistake, she says.

Before working at UT, Zachry was an occupational Therapist for Shelby County Schools for 20 years. In the mid- to late-’90s, she began noticing that many of her referrals were for children (ages 5-6) with handwriting issues. She noted that they sat slumped in their seats and had weak hands. She sent home questionnaires to the parents and discovered that as babies, many of the children did

not like “tummy time” (dedicated time for babies to play on their stomachs) and skipped crawling — both important for developing upper-body strength.

“As a result of the ‘Back to Sleep’ campaign in 1992, many parents resisted tummy time, viewing it as possibly dangerous,” says Zachry. “Overall, the campaign was very successful in reducing the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) by over 50 percent. By the same token, flat spots on babies’ heads increased by 50-60 percent.”

Zachry agrees that babies need to sleep on their backs, but emphasizes that they also need to play on their stomachs. One of her recommended activities is to spread a blanket on the floor, and interest the baby in various toys to make tummy time fun. Also in the book are how-to’s for making toys. “I like to sew and craft, and I wanted to add something to the book so it wouldn’t be boring,” she says.

One of Zachry’s favorites is something she calls a Roly Poly.

“You fill an empty two-liter bottle of Coke with glitter, soap and water, and glue the top on. Babies can push and roll the bottle, which in turn motivates the baby to crawl,” she says.

Dr. Rachel Y. Moon, pediatrician and SIDS researcher at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, agrees that tummy time is crucial for proper development. “It’s important for babies to get tummy time on a daily basis when they are awake and supervised. You don’t need any special equipment to do this.

“This can also be a good time for parents and siblings to interact with the baby,” Moon says. “Siblings like to get down on the floor and play with the baby. For very young babies, you can place the baby on your chest and interact that way.”

Zachry also stresses the importance of carrying your baby in your arms, which helps the infant learn to use muscles.

“It’s OK to use carriers and bouncers and whatnot, but the time should be limited,” she says.

When she had her son in 1990, there were fewer parents hauling babies around in carriers. “If I was going to take my son to the grocery, I would pick him up, carry him to the car, then carry him to the cart once I was the store, giving him lots of opportunity to use his upper-body muscles.”

According to Zachry, many moms today opt to keep their babies in carriers from door to door.

“They (the babies) can only see what’s in front of them. They can’t use their trunk and head muscles, and they have no head control,” she says.

In the book, she asks, “Has your baby ever fallen asleep in the car seat while you were running errands and when you got home, you took the carrier into the house and left baby in it to nap because you didn’t want to wake him?”

If you answered “yes,” Zachry says to please never do it again, because it encourages babies to be light sleepers. Also, the incline and fixed position of the carrier doesn’t provide a flat sleeping surface, which is optimal for babies.

She also encourages parents to make sure their day care providers do not rely too heavily on baby equipment.

“Retro Baby” includes a detailed chart with guidelines for the amount of time babies should spend in each device, information on different ways to hold a baby, and suggested activities for each hold.

“All of the information in “Retro Baby” will help parents play a role in building a solid foundation for their child’s future skills in school and in life. It’s not meant for moms to beat themselves up,” says Zachry.

On the web

Dr. Anne Zachry’s website — drannezachry.com — features pediatric occupational therapy tips. She also has the website tummytimetips.com, which provides information the tummy time child development technique.

Minecraft fans say game is gold mine for educational fun

Published September 10, 2013 in the Commercial Appeal

Want to know what all this Minecraft fuss is about? Nine-year-old Max O’Hearn explains the wildly popular video game this way: “You can do anything, literally anything, in the game, like punch a zombie with leather armor. They have cool stuff, like you get slapped in the face with a bunch of arrows and look like a hedgehog. It’s so epic.”

Max is all over Minecraft the computer game, the iPhone game, the YouTube videos, the parody songs, the Legos. He even plans Skype sessions with his buddies where they play on the same servers.

His mother, Chloe, likes the game because it is educational. “It’s basically a virtual representation of ways kids naturally play, but with an unlimited set of tools to play with. You can build things, destroy things, grow things, mine things, learn fundamentals of science, engineering, and architecture, create works of art, play house, play collaborative games with your friends and kill zombies.”

Minecraft was created by Swedish programmer Markus “Notch” Persson and later developed and published by Mojang. It was publicly released for the PC in 2009 as a developmental alpha version and was published as a full-release version in 2011. It is now available for Android, iOS, Xbox, and Xbox Live. The game has won numerous awards and by last week had sold more than 12 million copies on PC, and more than 33 million copies across all platforms.

Bryan Berretta, the director of media and information services at Lausanne Collegiate School, says there are multiple modes, including a creative mode where players have an unlimited supply of resources, a survival mode where players have to watch for things like monsters, and an adventure mode that lets a player go on user-created quests.

“You make it what you will,” says Berretta. “The goal is to mine for resources and craft those resources into new

objects.” For example, a player can chop down a tree to get wood and then use that wood to build a “crafting table” in order to then build bigger objects.

Jeff White, the technology specialist at Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal School, says, “You can truly build anything, and then live in it. It is like digital Legos without having to keep up with all the bricks — and there are a lot more different types of bricks.”

At the Viktor Rydberg school in Stockholm, Sweden, all 13-year-old students must take a mandatory course on Minecraft. Local schools aren’t there yet, but some educators are embracing the game in clubs and for special projects.

White has led Minecraft camps for the past two summers at Grace-St. Luke’s for fun, but says Minecraft can be used in the classroom as well.

“Mr. Boyd (a science teacher) requires science students to create a model of a DNS molecule, and students have used Minecraft to build it with all the detail and labels that are required,” he says.

“There are tons of skills that children can learn from Minecraft,” adds Berretta. “Crafting objects takes a bit of logic, not just in how the item is crafted, but in where to mine for the resources and what resources are needed for the recipe,” he says.

Also, players learn to build circuits and simple machines, create architectural designs for buildings, and barter for goods.

White says children also learn how to create “quick and dirty” servers that they oversee and maintain. They can administer privileges and different levels of game play for users that log in to their own Minecraft server. “Maintaining and keeping a server up and running takes patience and some trial and error to get it to work. Those are good life skills. Some folks will even learn a little about computer networking, filtering traffic, and determining port access,” he says.

Minecraft is so engaging, some people fear it is addictive. White says it does seem to have a magnetic draw.

“You build a world or a town or a farm, then you want to keep coming back to see how it has changed. Has the town been raided by other users? Have my crops grown any? It is a dynamic game with an ever-changing landscape, so you have to come back to see what has happened,” he says.

There’s also a powerful social element with the built-in chat feature.

“Maybe your child doesn’t have a smartphone, but if they have Minecraft, they can always catch up with their friends there,” says White.

It is difficult to block Minecraft — it is not technically “installed” on a computer, nor does it have to run online.

“Talk to your child about the responsibility that it takes to be self-disciplined enough not to overdo it,” White says. He recommends keeping laptops in family rooms and cutting off Wi-Fi late at night.

Many of the servers used for multiplayer gaming have no filter and no limit on what can be said and by whom. “Speak with your children about the dangers of online ‘friends’ and keep an eye on what servers your child is playing on,” says White.

Berretta encourages parents to play along.

“I set up a simple server that is only accessible at home. We’ve built our own little world where I leave surprises for them and tasks for them to build,” he says.

Shell concert fans enjoy outside- and inside-the-box picnic dinners

Fans make food key part of free concert experience
Published June 25, 2013 in the Commercial Appeal

The 2013 Free Music Concert Series at the Levitt Shell is in full swing, and the food that concertgoers enjoy is just as diverse as the music.

“We welcome people to pack a picnic basket and bring it with them. It’s all part of the communal spirit of free music at the Levitt Shell,” said Anne Pitts, executive director of the Overton Park concert venue. She’s seen everything from PB&J sandwiches for the kids to gourmet spreads on blankets with candelabras.
Pitts noted that they don’t have any restrictions on the food brought in, but no cooking is allowed, and they ask that people clean up their space before leaving. Alcohol is also permitted for patrons 21 years old or older.

Maggie Conway, a frequent visitor, said most of her food for the Shell is thrown together, like her chicken salad sandwiches or shrimp pasta salad. (The shrimp pasta salad is a mixture of several Skinnytaste.com recipes that she enhances with Tony Chachere seasoning.) “I always try to have fresh strawberries with fat-free Cool Whip or fresh pineapple, especially after seeing all my ‘neighbors’ at the Shell with good-looking fresh fruit,” Conway said.

She and her husband take towels or cloth napkins to put on their laps while sitting in camp chairs, a grocery trash bag, bug spray and a flashlight, which all fit in a small cooler. “We don’t take ice packs generally because we get there between 7 and 7:30 and eat immediately and the show is over by 9,” she said.
As for drinks, Conway takes Gatorade and water, although she’s taken wine and champagne in covered “go” cups at times. “I’ll also buy a beer there,” she said.

Midtowners David and Zandra Hamilton love the concert series and have been several times this season. “It’s a cheap date night,” said David, noting that he always makes a nice donation when “the bucket” comes around. For Todd Snider’s recent “What the Folk?” Fest, he and Zandra packed Genoa salami, pecan chicken salad, water crackers, assorted olives, fruit, cheese and Black Forest cheesecake from Kroger at Poplar Plaza. Zandra said she sometimes gets picnic items at Fresh Market. David packs everything in a bag on his bike.

Terry Jones and Penny Rosenberg of East Memphis also like to hit Kroger before the shows. At the “What the Folk?” Fest, they met up with friends they hadn’t seen in a long time. “We wanted finger foods to keep it simple,” said Jones, who had various meats, cheeses and crackers spread out on his blanket. They also had wine and beer to enjoy during the show.

Midtowner Elizabeth Domas made a splash on her first visit of the season. She and about 15 to 20 friends brought in a 5-gallon keg of Ghost River beer. “We are going to stay all night and have fun,” she said, adding that they also brought mojitos.

Another standout was 32-year-old Joshua Bates, who had a small table set up. He was constructing flank steak wraps filled with red and green peppers and onions, then garnished with romaine lettuce, Roma tomatoes, avocados, Colby Jack cheese, light sour cream and taco sauce.

“I don’t do it for money. I just love to cook and my friends like food, so this is what I have to offer,” Bates says. He feeds his friends, and they typically give him beer in exchange.

Chiwawa on Madison is a popular choice due to its to-go specials designed with Shell concerts in mind. The restaurant offers the following takeout-only specials from 5 to 7 p.m. on music nights: six tacos and two sides for $20; 12 tacos and four sides for $35; two hot dogs and two sides for $15; and four hot dogs and four sides for $25.

Cooper-Young residents Charles and Kristin Ferryman are regular Shell goers who like to bring their own beverages. Kristin jokes that she “disembowels” a box of white wine and keeps the “bladder” on ice. Charles usually mixes a bourbon cocktail and sips from an icy Nalgene bottle.

Chasati Woelfel, a special education teacher, packed fresh pineapple soaked in Malibu Coconut Rum and made her own Arnold Palmers with sweet tea, vodka and lemonade. Woefel says these treats “just taste like summertime.”

For those who don’t want to pack and bring their own, Pitts says the Levitt Shell works with popular food vendors to offer a great selection for purchase.


On Thursdays, they have the Fuel Food Truck; on Fridays, Deja Vu offers Creole dishes; On Saturdays, it’s Central BBQ; and on Sundays, it’s One & Only BBQ.

Memphis runner demonstrates strong mind and body to finish 100 miles

Published December 10, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal

The Leadville Trail 100 Run — an out-and-back course in the Colorado Rockies — is where legends are made. The race has been around for almost 30 years but was a fringe event for a long time.

Only a small group of hard-core people did it, but after it was featured in the book "Born to Run," which is the ultra-runners' bible of sorts, it became more popular, and it is now a well-known event.

This race is known for testing one's limits. The 100 miles of extreme Colorado Rockies terrain features elevations from 9,200 to 12,600 feet. With a 30-hour time limit, that's a maximum of 18 minutes per mile. The saying for finishers is, "You will give the mountain respect, and earn it from all."

Local running coach and ultra-athlete Kevin Leathers found this out firsthand in August. Leadville was Leathers' first 100-mile race. "I always knew in the back of my mind I'd do a 100-miler," he says. "It's the ultimate test in 33 years of running."

Leadville, Colo., is the highest incorporated town in the United States. Its 10,000-foot elevation is one of the race's appeals. Hope Pass, which runners must cover twice, is more than 12,000 feet in elevation. There are hillier, tougher races with more incline, according to Leathers, but the Leadville Trail 100 Run is prestigious because it is so old and because of Hope Pass.

There used to be only a half-dozen 100-mile races; now there are between 50 and 100 all over the country. Leadville is one of the original 100-mile races and is on most ultra runners' bucket lists. There are experienced people who can do the race alone, but with such a long event, having a crew is vital.

"When I signed up in November, I sent an e-mail to my closest friends and invited them to be on my team," he says. "Without missing a beat, everyone stepped up on Day 1." After 50 miles, he had a different crew member pace him for 10 to 12 miles between aid stations.

Leathers saysrunners really want people who know them, what makes them tick. "You need them to be honest and pull everything out when it gets hard." It's not really advisable to actually run 100 miles before the race, he says. "It takes too much time, and the risk for injury is too high."

When he signed up, he'd done several 50K races (which cover 31 miles). Then, as part of his training, he did a few more 50K's, two 50-mile races, and Run Under the Stars, which is an overnight race. "To find out how my body would do tired, without sleep," he says. "We ran all night and saw the sun come up. I got to see where my head was going to go."

There is also a three-day Leadville Run Camp in June each year that covers most of the course. "I went to find out how my body would react and see what steep really means," Leathers says.
The camp gave him a huge boost of confidence that his training was on track and showed him what it was going to take to finish. "I also learned how hard Hope Pass really is."

Eight hundred runners started the race on Saturday, Aug. 18, and 363 finished on Sunday. That's a pretty normal drop-out rate, according to Leathers.

"Without fail, every experienced runner says after 50 miles it is all mental," he says. "I'd done enough ultras and Ironmans to be familiar with that dark place. I know what it is and how to react. I'm not scared of it."
The "dark place" can come from dehydration or a "bonk" (running out of fuel). The body revolts in some manner, like cramping, and then the mind follows. It's a low point both physically and emotionally. "Every inner voice screams for you to stop," Leathers explains. "You make or break yourself at that point."

In long events, there is always a dark place. There are degrees of darkness and how long you stay. Says Leathers: "Expect it to come, and expect it to pass. Leadville is so long there is time to recover and to come out."

Over the course of 100 miles, Leathers met many challenges. His first time over and back Hope Pass, he lost about two hours. "I was short on calories and running low on fuel. It was a 3-mile climb at 12,000 feet by myself, and I kept looking at my clock. I knew I was losing time, and that added more mental anguish," he recalls.

Once he got refueled, it passed, and he'd forgotten all about it an hour later. But when he had to go back over Hope Pass, he hadn't factored in the time loss and the fact that it would be dark. His pacer for this portion of the run gave him her head lamp and worked him down the mountain in the dark.

"I'm not sure how she did it. It's still physically the hardest thing I've ever done." Close to midnight, he'd logged 60 miles since the 4 a.m. start as he sat down for the first time at an aid station to change his shoes and socks. He was feeling good and making good time as he climbed out of Twin Lakes.

There are rolling cutoff times at each aid station. If a runner misses the cutoff, he or she gets disqualified. Leathers was hours ahead at the beginning of the race and never thought he'd be racing cutoff times, but as he leapfrogged other runners along the course, he heard talk.

He asked his pacer if they were worried about cutoff times, and he learned for the first time that he was only 45 minutes ahead of the cutoff. "So we've got some work to do," he said.

Leathers proceeded to make up 30 minutes before the next cutoff and wasn't panicked, but there were still challenges ahead.

At 2 a.m., the temperature dropped to 37 degrees (from an earlier high of 70). Leathers wore his usual cold-weather gear — a cap, gloves, two layers of clothes, and winter jacket — but he didn't factor in the condition of his body after 16 hours of running. About a quarter of a mile from the next aid station, he started shivering from head to toe. His hip flexors locked up, and he could barely move. He was hypothermic.

"This is how it ends?" he said to himself. "This is not the story I want to tell." Worried that the medical team would pull him from the race, his crew members were able to get him warmer clothes and into the aid station next to a heater.

He ate some hot soup, and his mentor, Marshall Ulrich, was there to give him a pep talk. "Marshall picked me up and marched me out of the tent before medical could look me in the eye," Leathers says. "And remarkably, I recovered."

Ulrich walked with Leathers for a while and told him to just keep moving, to move with a purpose, and there was no way to quit. He also gave the current pacer instructions on how to get Leathers in a rhythm for the power line climb.

He recalls, "Brandon got me over in great time. I still don't know how I got up." At mile 83, he saw his second sunrise of the race and said to himself, "I've been out here a really long time," which he found funny. "I was very coherent and alert but not saying much," he remembers. "I wasn't like a zombie, though. I was surprisingly present."

At the May Queen aid station, which is the last one on the course, he arrived only five minutes before the cutoff. "I didn't even stop," he says. "My pacer had to catch up with me." He was fully aware at that point that he'd either be the last person to get a finisher's belt buckle or the first person to miss it.

"I didn't think. I just listened to my pacer," Leathers says. "When he said run, I ran. When he said walk, I walked. There was no thinking on my part, but it took every bit of energy just to do it.": The power of the mind over the body was never more clear to Leathers. "It's amazing how much farther you can go than you think you can go."

The last few miles aren't marked, but Leathers knew from his training when he had reached the last mile. He had eight minutes left. "I knew I wasn't getting the buckle, but I was going to finish," he says.

When he crossed the finish line at 30:05, there was still a huge crowd, and the announcer called him in and put a finisher's medal around his neck. He was No. 361 of 363 to finish.

"It felt so good to stop and then to sit down," Leathers says. When he got back to the house he was renting for the week, he took off his shoes and socks and lay down. "I fell asleep cramping and woke up five hours later still cramping," he says.

Leathers was very stiff the next day, but able to walk fine the next. Less than a week later, he went for a run. "The fatigue stuck with me. For two weeks I couldn't get enough sleep," he says. Leathers was the only first-time racer from Memphis to finish the Leadville 100. James Holland, another Memphian, finished in just over 27 hours.

Despite not finishing in less than 30 hours, Leathers is happy with his performance and determined to try again. "The 30:05 will mean more than any buckle because of what I went through, but I still have some unfinished business," he says.

He says he feels invigorated and motivated. He plans to hit the trails again this winter with an eye on next August's Leadville 100.

Outdoor addition prompts Midtown resident to use space for good causes

Published September 27, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal

Adding an outdoor kitchen to their Midtown home gave Kathy and Kelly Fish more than a place to cook out. It also gave them the perfect place from which to help their community.

Originally from Rochester, N.Y., Kathy Fish has lived in Memphis for 36 years, and says she loves Memphis and the people here. She is a financial planner who built her own business, Fish and Associates. "It's an all-women financial planning and wealth management firm," Fish explains. "We're like personal CFO's (chief financial officers) that oversee investments."

The more successful she became, the more she wanted to give back to the community. Fish holds quarterly volunteer activities for her employees and clients and has served on numerous boards. But with the completion of the outdoor kitchen, Fish has found a fun way to give back to organizations close to her heart.

The outdoor kitchen was something Fish wanted for a long time, but she waited until she could have it exactly the way she wanted it. It took about 10 months to construct and was completed in October 2011. It includes a bar area that seats six, complete with a refrigerator, stove and dishwasher. Adjacent to the bar and flanking the swimming pool is a seating area with a sofa, two chairs and a coffee table, as well as a gas-fueled concrete fire pit with four lounge chairs. The L-shaped kitchen also includes a formal dining table for eight and a cocktail high-top table for four. There's also a large chaise longue and a granite bench.

"We could probably seat about 30 out here," Fish says. "It's really the best use of the backyard. I like to entertain, and we were always going in and out, in and out."

Fish jokes she could live in the backyard and rent out her house. "It turned out exactly if not better than I envisioned it. We spend so much time outside now."

Fish grew up in a family with eight kids, so entertaining is no big deal to her, and she loves to host parties. At one party, Fish decided she should use her amazing new space to do something positive for the community. She ran the idea by some guests, and her friend Jackie Nichols, who is the executive producer at Playhouse on the Square, loved the idea.

So in June, Fish, who will be the president of Playhouse's board next year, instituted "Happy Hour with a Heart," also known as "Cocktails for a Cause" on the first Friday of the month, and made Playhouse the first recipient. Local actor Bill Andrews served as bartender, and after a couple of hours, there was $500 in the tip jar for the theater.

With the success of her first party, Fish made it a monthly event. She decided to recruit a celebrity bartender for each event, and she always creates a signature cocktail. Fish also provides beer and wine and a few munchies. In July, the recipient was Project Green Fork, on whose board she once served and which is run by her good friend, Margot McNeeley. Ben Smith, chef/owner of Tsunami, which was the first restaurant to be certified by Project Green Fork, served as guest bartender, and the cocktail was called "Rosemary's Baby," a mixture of Hendrick's Gin, St. Germain, Champagne and fresh rosemary. Fish even had free nail polish refreshers for guests courtesy of the Nail Bar.

She tells people to show up on their way out for the night, have a cocktail or two, and donate what they can to the organization. "That way we aren't competing with other events," Fish explains.

She invites her friends and also asks the organizations to invite their supporters. "There are so many great organizations in Memphis, and this is a great way to learn about them," Fish says.

"Cocktails for a Cause" raised $750 for Project Green Fork.

Next up was Friends for Life, on whose board Fish served for 10 years. "They do such great work in the community," she says. Amanda Kohr, who works in development at Friends for Life, was the bartender, serving a take on a Cosmopolitan Punch with lemon vodka, craisins, grapefruit juice, lime juice, Cointreau and Champagne. "Cocktails for a Cause" raised $1,000 for Friends for Life.

Then she did Choices: Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, which is run by her good friend, Rebecca Terrell. The bartender was physician Jeff Warren.

"I wanted people to have a choice of cocktails, so I created two," Fish says. The most popular, called "Rose Colored Spectacles," included currant vodka, citrus vodka, lime juice, apple juice, cranberry juice, bitters, and Champagne. "I love topping everything with Champagne," Fish says. That event raised $970.

Fish creates an event listing on Facebook to promote the cocktail hours and tries to create buzz leading up to them. "I like to hint at the cocktail or have people guess who the bartender is going to be," she says.

In October, she will promote the Community Foundation's Give 365 program, and in November she will focus on the Memphis Food Bank. "Then I'm taking a break," she says.

Fish has really enjoyed the events and has met a lot of new people through them. "I'd love to see people do this in other parts of the city. It's an easy way to fundraise for an organization you believe in," she says. "It doesn't have to be elaborate. We just have a great space that is conducive to it."

Composting reduces garbage, saves money, boosts the garden

Published September 18, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal

Instead of putting trash in the landfill, many Memphians are putting it in their yards — as compost.

Midtowner Theresa Rich and her family started composting two years ago to make their garden more fertile and to reduce the amount of trash they produce. "Composting is a cheap, easy way to organically fertilize your garden," she says. "Another bonus from our compost is that it volunteered many of our tomato plants we grew this year."

Rich's husband built their first compost bin out of hardware cloth and wooden stakes. "It is round, about 2 feet in diameter and 2 feet tall," she says. "He built another last spring that is 2 feet by 3 feet. They are covered with a round plywood top to keep the critters out."

The building of compost bins coincided with the building of their chicken coop. "We compost the bedding of the coop when we clean it out, but it cannot be placed directly in the garden because it will burn the plants up. It needs to sit for about a year," Rich explains. They compost the chicken waste along with toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, used paper towels, coffee filters and grounds, newspaper, dryer lint, all fruit and vegetable scraps, yard clippings, leaves and eggshells.

"We water the bin when it gets dry and leave the top off when it rains to get it wet," Rich says. "We use a pitchfork to turn it about once a month."

The Riches save old coffee cans for compost collection inside their home.

"When they get really funky, we replace with another one we would have recycled," she says.

Since they started composting, Rich says, the family has decreased its trash by a bag per week.

"That doesn't include the yard waste we no longer bag to be picked up," she says. "We don't have yard waste every week — maybe a bag a month."

Scott Henley, who lives in East Memphis with his family, has always had an affinity for do-it-yourself living. He learned to work on and fix things from his grandfathers.

"They were more apt to tackle a repair job themselves rather than call in a repairman, and they both had gardens that I helped tend when I was a kid," he explains. "They always composted leaves and some kitchen scraps."

When he and his wife bought their first home in 1995, Henley planted a garden. At the time, he was working at the Squash Blossom natural foods store, a job that validated his desire for holistic and simple approaches to everyday necessities. The owner of the store gave him his first composter, and he has been composting ever since.

"Currently, we have a closed bin that rotates for speeding up the process," Henley says, "and it provides almost enough for our small veggie garden, mainly in the spring and fall."

Henley describes compost as recycled food waste and plant scraps from the yard that are piled up or mounded for a period of time until they are broken down by bacteria and organisms to become organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. The bacteria feed off the waste and convert it into usable nutrients for plants in the form of humus or compost. The compost is added to the soil at the time of planting and sometimes later on to add nutrients during the growing season.

"Basically, anything that is plant- or vegetarian-based is OK. No meat or grease or dairy. Eggshells are OK, as well as fish bones. No yard waste with doggy doo or chemicals added," he says. He added that compost starters/enhancers, which introduce the ideal bacteria and microbes to speed up decomposition of organic matter, are available.

There are tumbler-style and stationary-type compost bins available at hardware stores and wholesalers like Costco and Sam's, Henley says.

"They keep the mess to a minimum, but also limit the size of the pile. If you build your own, you can build any type of simple three- or four-sided structure or fence, then pile up scraps and periodically turn the pile with a pitchfork to aerate," he says.

Turning over the organic matter regularly aids in decomposition by mixing and aerating the actively composting material with the newer uncomposted matter.

"The tumbler makes turning easy, while a pitchfork is best for turning over a simple compost pile," Henley says.

Small temporary holding bins for use in the kitchen can also be bought.

"They have vented lids to keep down mold," Henley says. "I personally wouldn't do full-scale composting in the house, but I'm sure somebody does it."

Cathy Palmer and her family in East Memphis started composting as an experiment to reduce their garbage.

"We had several trials on exactly how to do it, especially on what kind of container to put it in. We're too cheap to actually buy a composter," she says. Their solution is a large garbage can with a lid. The lid has a large hole cut in the top.

"We just throw our veggie scraps in, along with grass clippings and some leaves," she says. "Every once in a while, we roll it around to mix it all together. We use it for gardening, mixing it with soil during the planting stage."

Their garbage is significantly reduced.

"With two kids, we never, ever fill up our green bin. In fact, it is usually less than half full on garbage day," Palmer says. "Recycling helps, too."

In the kitchen, the Palmers use a small compost container. "It is a stainless steel pail that is about 1- to 2-gallon capacity, Palmer says. "It also has a filter in the top to keep the odor down, but it mostly helps keep the gnats from getting in there."

The container sits on the countertop, so when they cook, they just toss scraps into the bin.

"We take it outside 1-2 times per week," Palmer says. "It can get gross in there, so sometimes we use compostable bags to keep the mess down. But they are expensive, so we usually opt to just clean the thing regularly."

The Palmers' garden is minimal. "We just grow outdoor flowers, plants and herbs," she says. "We've grown some vegetables in the past, like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and lettuces, but haven't recently due to traveling in the summer."

Palmer likes using compost because it cuts back on the potting soil she has to buy. "I just use a little potting soil, dirt dug up from the corner of the backyard, and the compost. We mix it all together and plant. It saves money and works well," she says.

With the proper collection containers, composting is pretty simple. "I like the idea of putting nutrients back into the soil rather than a landfill," Palmer says. "Once we made it a habit, it became easy to do."

More information

Composting tips: Treehugger.com.

Green materials to compost: Vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags and leaves, fresh grass clippings, plant trimmings from your garden, houseplants.

Brown materials to compost: Dry leaves, straw and dry hay; wood chips and sawdust from untreated wood; dried grass clippings; shredded paper; egg and nut shells; hair and animal fur; paper; shredded newspaper (printed with soy ink to be safe); paper towels and paper tubes.

Do not compost: Meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, oily foods or grease, bones, cat and dog waste, diseased plants and seeds of weedy plants, anything treated with pesticides.

Composting tips: Chop your materials into small pieces, which will break down faster. Always cover your layer of green material with a layer of brown material to cut down on flies and mask any odors. If you want fine compost, run over it with a mulching lawn mower.

Midtown man finds tomato-growing perfect outlet for his green thumb

Published August 28, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal

Jeff Green, 49, has lived in the same shotgun house in Midtown since 1989. He started a garden right away when he moved there, trying out different crops, such as peppers, cucumbers, snap beans and tomatoes. After one bite of a tomato that first year, he says, "It tasted so awesome. I found out right away that this soil grows tomatoes."

Green says once you figure out your dirt, the rest is easy. Since figuring his out, he has focused on growing heirloom tomatoes, with a few peppers here and there. "Other crops can easily take over and destroy the tomatoes. It just takes one watermelon to ruin everything," he says.

Green, who has a degree in landscape architecture from Louisiana State University and grew up helping his granddad with his tomatoes, is proud of what he's created at his home in the Tucker-Jefferson area near Overton Square. "It's all organic. All heirloom. All Midtown," he says.

To fertilize, Green has three compost piles he feeds coffee grounds, eggshells and vegetable scraps. "I also supplement with horse manure. It's 'hot,' so it has to simmer down for a year before I can use it in the garden."

Heirlooms are his tomatoes of choice because they are stout. "Heirloom means they've lasted at least 25 years," explains Green. He thinks they are easier to grow without a lot of care. "I also like that they aren't genetically modified. They're old school," he says.

Green jokes one year he accidentally made a "super tomato" when the Lemon Boys cross-pollinated with the cherries. "We made a Little Lemon Boy," he says.

Over the years, Green has expanded the number of plants he grows. In 2006, he and his neighbor took down the fence that separated their yards to make more room. In 2008, his neighbor started reading seed catalogs and decided to start the tomato plants inside his home from seed. (Before that, Green would order small plants and put them directly in the ground.)

Green says ordering seeds can be expensive, up to $5 per packet. He spends money only on a few new varieties each year. "We have a lot of volunteer plants, and we actively save our own seeds. Saving seeds means saving money," he says.

This year, they planted 56 varieties in the ground (seven rows with eight plants each) and six more varieties in buckets. Green has a chart to show where each one is planted. His favorites are Lemon Boys, which are low-acid, bigger, yellows; Yellow Pears, which taste and look like tiny pears; and Chocolate Cherries, which are purple.

Green says they have developed a system that requires no weeding and the garden practically waters itself. "We have a drip-irrigation system. We fill a rain barrel with water twice a day, which drains into a hose system. There are a bunch of holes in the hoses to flood out the garden, so it waters itself," he explains.

Green occasionally sprays the leaves as well, but not in the heat of the day. "You need to wait for the sun to set or you'll hear the leaves sizzling," he says. "Early this morning the tomatoes were thanking me, too. Just wiggling and saying thanks."

He uses a rain barrel to catch rain and water off his air-conditioning unit, but he also recommends filling rain barrels with tap water. "Even if there is no rain, tap water needs to sit in the sun so the chlorine can evaporate and so it can warm up," he says. "The plants take it a little easier if it is warmed up."

To combat weeds, they have incorporated a weed barrier filter fabric on the ground. "We slice holes in the fabric for the plants. There are no weeds and it holds the moisture down," Green says.

They reused the same filter fabric this year from last year, since it was in good shape, but suspect it may be the cause of a fungus that has attacked the leaves of their plants. "It hasn't affected the fruit, but it has kept production down," says Green.

To fight off the mystery fungus, Green has been spraying sulfur and lime. "We're going to have to get evil on some fungus," he says. "It just jumped on us this year." Fungus has never been a problem before. "Some years, it just cranks up. I've seen people on TV talking about it this year," he explains.

Green plans to till the entire garden before planting next year.

Despite the fungus, Green has had plenty of tomatoes, more than he could eat. In the past, Green had to compete with a family of squirrels for the tomatoes. This year, he said he wanted to plant enough for them both. "It worked, but this year we had about 30 squirrels living in the yard," he says with a laugh. Thankfully, the squirrels left one of Green's favorites, the Chocolate Cherries, alone. "They didn't recognize the purple as food," he says.

Green also sold several pints of his tomatoes to a few local restaurants. "Places like Tsunami and the Beauty Shop like the little different colored cherries. The orange and black are pretty rare," he says.

He's willing to share his tomatoes with anyone who is interested. "People stop by, I share with neighbors, and I take them around town. My folks always get a bunch, too," he says.

Green eats a handful or two a day. "I just walk around and graze," he says. "I tried canning, but I don't know what I'm doing there. I freeze some and I've made a little salsa."

His goal has always been to see how many different varieties he can grow. Next year, he plans to challenge himself with Naga Jolokia, better known as Ghost Chili Peppers, certified as the hottest peppers in the world. "If I can get them to live, I'll bring them in over the winter and plant them next summer," he says.

However, the four starter plants he has have already been attacked by bugs. "It seems like every plant you want to grow really bad, the bugs want to eat really bad," he says.

Green keeps bugs at bay with diatomaceous earth. "It's really sharp," he explains. "Bugs can't crawl across it without getting cut up."

He also uses diluted dish soap to keep bugs away.

For slugs, he has invented his own traps. Made from a plastic drink bottle, a screw and a little Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, they are highly effective. "Cut the bottle in half, turn the top upside down and place it in the bottom. Secure it with a screw, and then fill with a little bit of beer," Green instructs. "Put in on an angle near the ground so it creates a ramp. They won't work that hard for the beer."

Sierra Club, longtime environmental organization, spurring change, getting things done

Published August 21, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal

Scott Banbury, conservation chairman for the Sierra Club's local Chickasaw Group, describes the organization as the oldest environmental group in the nation.

"It's the largest truly authentic grass-roots democracy left in the country," says Don Richardson, the sustainability strategies chairman.

The Chickasaw Group of the Sierra Club represents more than 1,000 members in Memphis and West Tennessee. Nationally, the Sierra Club boasts more than 1.3 million members. The group advocates for policies that protect the natural environment, provides opportunities for people who want to develop leadership skills to help their community while enhancing the environment, offers hikes and outdoor recreation for people of all ages, and supports environmental candidates for public office.

Local environmental issues the group addresses take many forms. In the past, members worked hard to keep police stables, roads and memorial parks out of Overton Park; they helped force the Velsicol chemical company to dig up backyards and clean up pollution along Cypress Creek in North Memphis, and they are responsible for initiating the regionally important lawsuit that prevented developers in Brunswick from building housing developments in a flood plain.

Current hot topics include pollution issues and coal burning at the TVA Allen Fossil Plant, proposed plans to build a road through Shelby Farms Park, and raising community awareness about radioactive waste being allowed in two local landfills.

In April 2011, the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors approved an agreement to phase out 18 units at dirty coal-fired power plants and install modern pollution controls on three dozen additional units, thanks to more than 15 years of pressure from environmental groups (including the Sierra Club), southeastern states and the EPA. The agreement — which includes the affected states of Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee — represents the largest ever reduction in air pollution in the southeastern United States.

This agreement permanently retires an unprecedented 2,700 megawatts of coal-fired electricity and will drastically reduce TVA's emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon pollution. The Clean Air Task Force estimates that coal-fired power plants in the region cause more than 1,800 premature deaths and more than 2,400 heart attacks each year in the four-state region, and are a major source of area air pollution woes.

According to Rita Harris, Sierra Club National staff in Memphis, the TVA Allen Fossil Plant tops the annual Shelby County Terrible Ten list of polluters in our area that contribute to unhealthy air quality. Harris uses the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory database for compiling her annual list.

The group believes this agreement to be among the greatest environmental achievements of late. "We'd like to see power generation replaced with efficient and clean energy sources, such as wind and solar," Banbury says. "If we used less energy, there would not be a demand for coal-fired plants." The group's Climate Action team is a part of a statewide coalition to address this issue.

Additionally, the group has an upcoming forum to discuss a proposed road construction project through Shelby Farms Park. "In 1998, we first opposed a sprawl-creating 16-wheeler truck roadway that excluded public input, and now it's an issue again," Richardson says. The group is concerned about the ongoing impact that the road would have on the Wolf River, the Lucius Birch State Natural Area, and surrounding mixed-use development.

"There's no reason to spend an exorbitant amount of money to build a road that only a few people will use," Banbury says.

The Sierra Club has a program meeting the third Thursday of every month. Those interested in hearing more about the Shelby Farms road should attend the forum at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library.

"We're local up. We're engaged locally, on the state level, and nationally. If you want to impact the community, the Sierra Club is for you, Banbury says.

Anyone interested in joining the group can attend the informal gatherings from 5:30-8 p.m. the first Thursday of the month at Otherlands Coffee Bar. Political chairman and outings co-chairman Mark Plumlee says the gatherings are as popular as the hikes and outings. "They are very friendly and unstructured," he says. "It's an easy place to come and ask questions."

Annual dues begin at $15 and include national and local membership.

The Sierra Club is a training ground for leaders. "We inspire people and give them the experience they need to start new initiatives," Banbury says. He and Richardson note that many local groups over the last dozen years came into being because of Chickasaw Group members, such as the Wolf River Conservancy, Friends of Shelby Farms Park, Chickasaw Bluffs Conservancy, Friends for Our Riverfront, Greater Memphis Greenline, Sustainable Shelby, Coalition for Livable Communities (pre-Livable Memphis) and Citizens to Preserve Overton Park.

"We empower individuals, build team leadership skills, and inform the public so that they can take action," Richardson says. "Our job is to give someone the confidence to stand up and say, 'The emperor has no clothes.'"

"If you are passionate about an issue that we're not covering locally, then do your thing, and we'll support you," Banbury says.

"We're not married to a limiting list of campaigns or causes," Richardson says. "We're an ongoing talent pool of people who help get things moving."

The Chickasaw Group has been active since 1978. Sue A. Williams, lead volunteer and group chairwoman, explains: "We're still influencing public policy and quality-of-life issues, usually behind the scenes, but with increasing extreme weather and other eco-economic concerns, the local Sierra Club is becoming more valuable than ever."

While many of the activities revolve around serious business, the group also knows how to have fun. Regular outings are scheduled, such as river floats, cleanups, hikes, and Downtown walks. The next outing is the annual Equinox Sunset Bluff Walk, which takes place at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 22 on the Memphis riverfront.

More information:

tennessee.sierraclub.org/chickasaw

facebook.com/Chickasaw.group

Shelby Farms Parkway (Kirby Parkway) & Shelby Farms Park Update Thursday 6 p.m., Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar. The Sierra Club holds a panel discussion about the proposed Shelby Farms Parkway in Shelby Farms Park. The panel will include updates on the latest Environmental Impact Statement and justification for the parkway, highlight open issues about the parkway’s plans and provide updates on the Shelby Farms Park Master Plan, including park access/entry points, bike/ped connectivity and naturalist programs.

Programs contact: Susan Routon at mailto:susan.routon@gmail.com or 901-413-3888.

Monthly First Thursday Gathering: September 6, 5:30 p.m. Otherlands Coffee Bar, 641 S. Cooper. Sierra Club members, activists and friends meet in a casual setting to talk about issues and interests. First Thursday contact: Mark Plumlee at mark.chickasaw@gmail.com or 901-679-4622.

Some buck the tide and choose walking in Memphis

Published July 31, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal

Brooke Sarden, 36, is a native Memphian who spends her time facilitating arts and culture classes for the Memphis School of Servant Leadership, grant-writing and doing work with Playback Memphis and Hattiloo Theatre. However, what might be most remarkable about this busy woman is that she gets around town almost exclusively on foot.

Sarden doesn't drive by choice. "I'm probably the only native Memphian over the age of 16 who fits that bill," she says.

Marc Cohn wrote the popular song "Walking in Memphis," but in reality, most Memphians prefer to drive.

Kyle Wagenschutz, bicycle/pedestrian coordinator for the city of Memphis, says research indicates that pedestrian travel is influenced more by the density and mixture of land uses (having the ability to accomplish many different tasks or visit different destinations in a smaller geographic area) than distance of travel. Additionally, the need to provide safety (or the perception of safety) is extremely crucial to encouraging people to walk more often.

Sarden went to school and lived in Boston for eight years after graduating from high school, and when she returned to Memphis, not driving suddenly seemed like a big deal.

"I suppose I could have looked into getting a car then, but I have a very Midtown/Downtown life, and it seemed like a huge expense to add unnecessarily in the midst of all the crazy gas hikes," Sarden says. Until recently, she always lived in Poplar Avenue apartment buildings, which were walking distance from the grocery and enough restaurants and coffee shops to keep her entertained.

Living on Poplar also gave Sarden easy access to a bus line that would get her as far as Germantown without a hassle. "Short of pouring rain or ungodly heat, I feel OK walking to any place that's less than a couple miles away. That doesn't sound like very much, but you'd be surprised at how Memphians think walking anywhere is absurd," she says, adding that she has friends and relatives who want to drive from across town to give her a ride to someplace she could walk to in 10 minutes.

Sarden doesn't like anyone to think her walking and use of public transportation is primarily a "green thing."

"I'm glad that it is helpful, but it's just what makes the best sense for my life. I think maybe if more people looked at what makes the most practical sense for them, and stopped assuming you can't have a life without a car, then maybe we wouldn't need so many 'Green Heroes,' you know?"

People often ask Sarden about safety. "I won't say I never walk at night, but I try to be reasonable about choosing when to walk and what routes to use," she says. "I think we are a touch paranoid about the dangers of the streets." She believes crimes more often occur in homes and cars, than "on a jaunt to the corner store."

"I don't mean to be flippant about it, but if we ever want a real walkable city, it's ultimately going to be less about strategic positions of stores and shops and restaurants, and more about opening our minds that being a pedestrian is OK," she says.

Sarden is excited about the new developments in Overton Square, but she has visions of people getting in their cars to drive three blocks to park in the new garage to see a show. "It's not always practical to walk, but sometimes I want to scream, 'Get a bigger purse and toss your heels in!' "

In the end, she believes walking is not a big deal — it's more of a mental thing. "I know people who will run 5 or 6 miles purely for exercise, but won't walk a mile and half to get from point A to point B. Crazy!" she says.

Wagenschutz says projects that promote slower-moving automobile traffic, like bike lanes combined with road diets (reducing the number of lanes for cars on a particular stretch of road), also promote pedestrian-friendly environments.

"These impacts include slower moving traffic, shorter crossing distances at intersections, more 'eyes' on the street, etc.," he says. "Moving forward, adherence to design standards in the UDC (Unified Development Code) will help to create more pedestrian-friendly developments and areas of town."

Sarah Bolton, 28, lives in Binghamton with her husband and 2-year-old daughter, Mae. She has a car, but walks four to five times a week. Bolton explains that her walking is almost always a combination of exercising and some sort of task, like taking Mae to the park or the zoo, walking to Walgreens to buy a few things, walking to Easy Way for groceries, walking to Otherlands for coffee/lunch, or walking to the library.

She doesn't really mind the heat, even in the midday, but tries to take Mae out earlier in the morning or later in the evening.

"We have an awesome jogging stroller that has a big basket in the bottom, so it makes it convenient to bring groceries back home," she says.

Fitness is the obvious benefit for Bolton, who is a dancer.

"To me, walking is one of the more perfect ways to exercise. I love to run, but my joints don't like me to run. Walking while pushing a 30-pound toddler and jogging stroller full of groceries provides a pretty intense cardiovascular workout," she says.

From the perspective of a parent, Bolton likes to be able to take time to be observant of her surroundings, and talk to Mae about what she is seeing, hearing, etc.

"And I always love leaving my car parked in the driveway. Spending less gas money and leaving less of an environmental footprint is always a win-win," she adds.

There are some negatives to walking. "Drivers in Memphis have zero pedestrian awareness. Being in the intersection can be terrifying. When I'm crossing the street in a crosswalk people turn left on top of me all the time, and I watch them looking at their phone, spacing out, etc.," she says.

Wagenschutz notes new countdown timers are being installed at signalized intersections, as they are scheduled to be replaced.

Bolton often sees sidewalks that are broken or blocked by tree limbs, bush overgrowth, fallen light poles, and general trash, including glass. "There are still a lot of places that just don't have sidewalks at all," she says. "Sometimes walking in Memphis feels like doing a warrior dash with a jogging stroller."

Complaints about overgrown vacant property, rights-of-way and possible code violations can be made to the Mayor's Citizens Service Center at 901-576-6500 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

Corey Dugan, 56, director of creative services at Christian Brothers University, has a car, but started walking to and from work about 14 years ago, because it was a manageable walking commute. "It's about 45 minutes each way, which is about what I figured a lot of suburbanites probably spend in their SUVs to and from each day," he says.

At first, Dugan walked for exercise and to a lesser degree to save money on gas and car maintenance. He hasn't saved a lot since it's only six miles a day, but he did lose some weight originally and then stayed a little fitter. "I definitely feel better the more I'm able to walk," he says.

He walks every day unless it's raining hard, and he's set himself some temperature guidelines — between 25 and 95 degrees. He also walks to the grocery store and other errand-type places if he's not getting too much to carry. "I tend to stop at places like that on the way home from work most of the time. I walk to lunch sometimes," he adds.

Dugan enjoys the time he gets to spend by himself, looking at things he wouldn't see in a car, and often listening to podcasts that he'd otherwise not make the time for.

"Some people undoubtedly think I'm weird. Or homeless," he jokes. But he has gotten to know a lot of people whom he sees regularly along his routes. "The joggers and the dog walkers and the folks out watering their lawns — I don't know their names, but we wave and smile and nod every day," he says.

The main drawback to walking is Memphis traffic, Dugan says.

"Drivers don't know how to act around pedestrians in Memphis. They never know who has the right-of-way. They either try to run you down, or they're scared of you and overly polite, which isn't safe either," he says.

Another drawback to walking is sometimes having to find a ride if there's an unexpected thunderstorm. Or if he goes out after work and ends up a little farther away from home than intended.

Dugan thinks more people would walk if they could budget their time.

"People always think they're in a hurry," he says. "Or they budget exercise into their schedule at the gym so they can continue to drive everywhere."

Paul Young, administrator of the Memphis & Shelby County Office of Sustainability, said the city of Memphis and Shelby County Government are working with Livable Memphis, The Urban Land Institute, Memphis Regional Design Center and a host of other groups to design a Complete Streets policy. This policy would ensure that as the city and county take on roadway improvement projects, the design will take into consideration all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists and vehicles.

Broad Avenue merchants focus on fighting litter

Published July 17, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal.

Guy Weaver, senior archaeologist at Weaver & Associates, an archaeological firm on Broad Avenue, multitasks on his breaks to keep the neighborhood looking nice. "I pick up trash or sweep while I'm out there," he explains. "Even though it's not my garbage, it's my responsibility as a business owner to pick it up."

Like all things on Broad Avenue, the business association has taken a grassroots approach to solving its litter issue. Weaver says he has looked at the litter with a critical eye. "It's mostly coming from elsewhere," he says. "People come here, hang out, and then leave their whiskey pints, beer bottles, cans and fast-food containers."

Tom Clifton, who is the owner of T Clifton Art Gallery, also does litter patrols. He says his trash pincher is his best friend. "With the pincher, I don't have to touch the trash," he explains. He and his Saint Bernard, Argus, walk up and down the street picking up trash almost daily. "We'll do it whenever it is needed, but the mornings in the early part of the week are busiest because of the weekend traffic."

Weaver said it would be fun to do a bona fide archaeological survey of the trash, but feels certain that most of it is brought to the area, or blown in by the wind. Pat Brown, business manager of T Clifton Art Gallery and vice president of Historic Broad Business Association, agrees. "Broad Avenue has a beautiful breeze that blows trash up and down the street. It collects beautifully along the fence line," she says, adding that she watches people pull up and dump trash out of their cars. "It's not socioeconomic either; it's across the board."

"Litter is a people problem that people can solve," explains Eldra White, executive director of Memphis City Beautiful. Litter remains a pervasive problem throughout the United States. "Memphis is not the only place with bad behavior. We live in a disposable society with more and more packaging."

"Litter also showcases people's lack of respect for their environment and other people's businesses," says Brown. Ironically, she notes increased litter is actually a sign of progress. "More crowds mean more litter. We see it increase with every new restaurant or business," she says. "We've been cautious when showing new businesses the area. We don't want them stepping over broken glass."

Maintaining Broad's cleanliness has been critical to its revitalization. "It can show success or also ruin you, so we are very focused on it," says Brown. As they started seeing litter increase, the business association went to the different restaurants and asked them to police their areas. "We told the businesses it might not be your trash, but pick it up anyway."

Most of what Clifton finds is beer bottles and cigarette packs. "If we stopped smoking as a nation, it would make my job a lot easier." He and Brown, like Weaver, believe the bottles come from cars and not the area restaurants since it is illegal to take them out of the individual buildings. Brown also sees plenty of fast-food bags from restaurants that are nowhere near Broad Avenue. "Water bottles are also a big problem, and I see at least one dirty diaper a week," she adds.

Clifton says there was a time when the litter was frustrating, but meeting with the other businesses really helped. "We have to go back every once in awhile and remind everyone because of staff changes, but everyone has been great."

Last year, when the business association worked with the Greater Mid-South JCC Foundation to install artistic bike racks along the street, they were able to also install four trash receptacles designed and fabricated by Jerry Couillard of Metalworks on Broad.

"We needed cans for people to throw their trash in, but we wondered if they'd actually get used. They have helped, and people are using them," says Brown. They were placed at four businesses — T Clifton, Three Angels Diner, Victory Bicycle Studio and Metalworks. Each business agreed to empty them and keep them clean.

Weaver does credit the success of the new food truck rodeos on Sundays for adding cups, napkins and other items to his daily haul. "At the first rodeo, our trash cans filled up in a minute. They are nice and artistic, but not big enough to accommodate the trash being produced at the rodeos." He would like to see more trash cans at the rodeos and other big events.

Clifton says he empties his trash can as needed, once or twice a week. "You know the success of Mardi Gras in New Orleans is usually measured by the amount of trash accumulated," he says

He would also like to see the city sweep the street on a more regular basis, maybe even once a week, since it is part of an entertainment district. "The main problem is that there's no shame in throwing trash in the street," Clifton says. "If we see people, we report them."

Memphis City Beautiful operates the 52-Clean (901-522-5326) Litter Hotline, which is a 24-hour hotline program that provides a means for concerned citizens to report littering motorists. (Citizens can also report littering online at memphiscitybeautiful.org.)

Callers are asked to give the license number, a brief description of the vehicle, the date, time, type of litter and location of the incident. The offending motorist will be sent a "Litter Alert" letter, a car litter bag, and a reminder that littering is against the law.

White says they receive 400 to 500 calls per year.

"Educating people might help," Clifton says. "They feel safe because they are anonymous when parked between other cars."

"We've even considered giving out our own 'tickets' the way we sometimes do for people who park in the bike lanes," adds Brown. "Our new lanes, which make the cars more exposed, might help with the anonymity and prevent people from littering."

Memphis City Beautiful, which is the local affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, hosts all kinds of events, activities and programs targeted at changing Memphians' behavior. On Oct. 7, it is partnering with the Historic Broad Business Association for the 2nd edition of Memphis City Beautiful's hugely successful Trashion Show, which challenges designers to repurpose, reuse and recycle items from the city's better curbside collection bins to create unique fashion sensations.

The business association is honored and excited to be the site for this fall's Trashion Show. "What better way to help refocus trash as art!" Brown says. "It will be the epitome of the resurgence of this area. Once thought to be area of Memphis that people had discarded, artists are fueling Broad Avenue's new glory. And the efforts of City Beautiful's Trashion Show will further reflect the beneficial role artists play in helping all of us to see the value in trash, especially when it is properly disposed in a way that can be reused versus just discarded on the street."

This exhibition features the work of Memphis' top couturières of Trashion and benefits the Memphis City Beautiful Mini Grant Program, which supports local neighborhood beautification and greening initiatives. The deadline to declare participation is July 20th. For more information, visit memphiscitybeautiful.org/programs/curb-couture-trashion-show, or call Ginger Acuff

at (901) 522-1135.

Board meetings: Gamer groups make friends over competition

Published June 21, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal

At a time when it seems like everyone is staring at a computer, phone or digital gaming device, it may be comforting to know there are people in Memphis who like to get together in person and play board games.

Sheila Noone, who is originally from the Northeast, came to Memphis about 31/2 years ago to take a job in public relations with Varsity. She had been working in publishing in New York for most of her adult life with a short stay in L.A., and says Memphis was a huge change at first. "I was having trouble making friends and weekends dragged. I needed a place to meet some people that wasn't centered around going to a bar alone," she says.

Noone started the Memphis Scrabble & Board Game group on Meetup.com about six months after she moved here. "It seemed like a great solution, and a way to make literate, fun friends whose lives didn't revolve around SEC football," she says, noting she has nothing against SEC football.

Her first couple of games started out slowly. One person showed up for the first, then three for the second. However, at the group's peak, 20 people gathered on a Sunday afternoon.

The group started just playing Scrabble; then it opened up to other board games. "The rule is you can bring any game to a meeting, and if people want to play it, we go with the new game;

otherwise, it's Scrabble," she says. Scrabble is an easy game for most, and Noone says she keeps three boards in her trunk at all times.

On Meetup.com, there are 120 members of the group, though Noone says about 15 are active now. The group has had more than 100 games in three years. It's an open group on Meetup.com. Anyone can join online and attend the games.

Noone's experiment worked. Most of her friends today are people she met at the group or friends of people she met at the group. "Game players are really interesting people," she says. "Most are well read and like a little challenge. It can attract a nerdy crowd, but also people new to Memphis from all over."

Caitlin Woodward, who is a software developer, also started a board gaming group a year and a half ago that meets on Thursday nights at Republic Coffee on Walnut Grove. It started out as just her and a few friends hanging out with each other over a couple of board games once a week after work. Over the months, they started to gather others who wanted to play games. "I mean, who doesn't like to play games?" Woodward says.

Woodward's Midtown Game Night centers on modern or designer board games. "These are different than the Monopoly or Sorry! that people normally think of. The modern board games tend to have more interaction, neat themes and allow players to make more interesting decisions that allow actual strategies," she explains.

The trend of designer board games started in 1995 with the release of a European board game called Settlers of Catan. "What was interesting about this game was that the designer put his name on the box cover, like an author would put his name on a book," Woodward says.

Settlers of Catan was a big hit, and the modern board game industry grew increasingly popular. Today, there are thousands of games and many prolific designers. Within these modern board games, there are still subsets like family games, party games and war games.

At Midtown Game Night, participants play all kinds of modern board games. People show up with various games they might be interested in playing. "We'll usually play a quick, light party game or two that will support a lot of people while we eat something and wait for everyone to show up. Then, depending on the number of players, we split up into groups based on game interest on what people want to play," Woodward explains.

The group is always willing to teach people how to play the selected game and then play games until everyone gets tired or until Republic Coffee closes.

"Board games are great because you get to be social while playing them, with real people. Your friends, your family, or you can even play with strangers and make new friends," says Woodward.

There are board games for everyone, and Woodward's group loves introducing the hobby to new people. "Most people simply don't realize that all these modern board games exist and how fun they are. And it's almost another game to us, trying to figure out what games someone is going to like. All it takes is the right first game or two, and they are hooked," she says, noting the events are completely family friendly.

Scout Anglin is also a member of the Midtown Boardgamers group, which hosts Midtown Game Night, but she attends other game nights in town. "I go to Comic Cellar (in Raleigh) to play on Saturday nights, where the owner lets us bring games and play in the store. I also try to make it to Tuesday nights at the UofM to play with other people on campus," she says.

Choosing a favorite game is difficult for Anglin. She enjoys Battlestar Galactica because of the social aspect of the game. "It's a hidden-traitor game, where the human players are trying to reach Kobol while the Cylons are trying to sabotage that goal. It's much like the show, where you really never know who the Cylons are until they reveal themselves," she says. The game can last from three to five hours.

Space Alert, which Anglin describes as super intense, is another favorite. It comes with a soundtrack with space missions. The goal is to get through a barrage of alien and other encounters in space in real time.

"You plan out your moves based on what happens on the soundtrack," she says. "When the soundtrack is over, you then play back your moves and see what happens." There's lots of yelling and moving around while planning, and Anglin notes that it's always interesting because things rarely happen as planned.

"It's an adventure, and it's all crammed into about 20 minutes," she says.

Ticket to Ride was one of the first board games that sparked Anglin's interest.

"It's kind of a gateway game for good modern board games," she explains. The object is to build routes across country (there are several different maps) to try to gather points. Players draw tickets that are their routes, then draw train cards that correspond to certain routes on the board. Once a player gathers the appropriate color and number of cards, he or she can lay down tiny trains on the routes and connect them. "It sounds kind of boring, but it's really fun. It takes about an hour to play and is good for a wide range of ages. I've probably played it more than any other game I own."

Anglin encourages anyone interested in board games to show up at Republic Coffee at 6 p.m. on Thursdays.

"It's totally free, and we have plenty of games to choose from," she says. "Come willing to learn and ask questions. I've hardly been to a game night where I haven't learned a new game."

Woodward set up the Memphis Boardgamers, an umbrella group on Facebook, to keep locals updated on events. She posts all of the local board game events around town: every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, every other Friday, the first and third Saturday afternoons, and every Saturday evening.

"Yes, there are a lot of board game events, but none of us attend them all," she says. "They're scattered around various parts of town, and different people show up to different ones."

The Memphis Boardgamers group stays pretty active. Woodward likes to post photos from events, and there are board game-related discussions, as the group loves to talk about the hobby.

-----------------------------------------

More information:

meetup.com/Memphis-Scrabble-Club

facebook.com/groups/memphis.boardgamers

Oasis of cheese: Farmers markets stocking regional artisanal varieties to serve 'desert'

Published June 20, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal.

Lori Greene, one of the founders of the Cooper-Young Farmers Market, is passionate about cheese. When the market started a few years ago, she really wanted a local cheesemaker to be a vendor.

"There's a real desert around Memphis for cheesemakers," Greene says. "It's not a real easy thing to get into. There are a lot of regulations and costly equipment, which can require a big investment up front."

In addition, Greene explains that most dairies stay busy enough just caring for their herd. "It can tie you down," she says.

Finally, there is a learning curve for making cheese. "You can't just read a book," she says. "You really need hands-on experience to hone the craft."

There is such a high demand for local cheese that Greene considered making it herself after some success with ricotta and mozzarella at home. "It's not something I need to do right now," she says.

Greene started calling cheesemakers around the region, looking for someone who might represent other regional cheeses at the market.

"Everyone offered to ship me their cheeses, but no one wanted to take on the responsibility of organizing a booth," Greene explains. She decided she did have time to do that much herself.

Greene called Kathleen Cotter, who authors the "Bloomy Rind" blog (thebloomyrind.blogspot.com) and is a "cheesemonger" at the Nashville Farmers Market. "I want to do what you're doing, but in Memphis," Greene told her. Cotter agreed to help and now regularly ships cheeses to Greene to sell at the Cooper-Young Farmers Market. Greene cuts and weighs the cheeses and brings them to the market a couple of times a month.

Cotter knows a lot about cheese and has been a great resource. Some of the cheeses you'll find at Greene's booth include those from Sweet Grass Dairy in Georgia, Looking Glass Creamery in North Carolina, Locust Grove Farm in East Tennessee and Sequatchie Cove Farm in Southeast Tennessee.

"A dairy uses their own goats and cows, while a creamery buys milk from their neighbors," says Greene, who recently spearheaded a restaurant cheese and beer tasting at Sweet Grass Next Door in Cooper-Young. "It worked out real well to partner with Steve Barzizza at Southwestern Distributing. We're definitely going to do it again."

There is at least one regional cheesemaker who regularly comes to Memphis. Award-winning Bonnie Blue Farm cheeses from Waynesboro, Tenn., 150 miles east of Memphis, are available locally at the Memphis Farmers Market in Downtown and at Miss Cordelia's on Mud Island.

Jim Tanner and his wife, Gayle, moved to Bonnie Blue Farm in Waynesboro from Sacramento, Calif., in 1999 to retire. One day in 2002, the couple realized they'd already finished all of their "retirement" projects and were bored. "What if we had a dairy?" they thought.

They'd brought along their goats, and Jim says they had to milk them every day anyway. He contacted the Tennessee Department of Agriculture in Nashville and realized starting a dairy was possible. A couple of years later, they had created not only a dairy but also a food-manufacturing business.

Today, they sell a variety of cheeses made from goat's milk and a few from cow's milk. They have more than 70 goats, 42 of which are milking goats, and one Jersey cow named Eileen.

The couple run the milking and cheese operation, but they have four to five people who come in part time to help with chores and construction.

Gayle started making cheese almost 40 years ago. She completed a degree in culinary arts and took a short course in cheese at North Carolina State University, but basically she just gradually taught herself how to make it. Jim jokes that the first cheese she made was terrible. "The chickens wouldn't even eat it," he says.

Now Gayle can boast that she's an award-winning cheesemaker. Her repertoire includes fresh chèvre (plain and seasoned), fresh chèvre logs (plain and seasoned), feta, marinated feta, bandaged cheddar, Tomme and Parker, which is a Gouda style, all made from goat's milk. Gayle also makes Tomme and Gouda Moulin from cow's milk.

On Saturdays, Jim gets up at 2:30 a.m. to drive to Memphis to sell cheese (and eggs) at the Memphis Farmers Market. While in town, he also drops off cheese at a number of restaurants including Felicia Suzanne's, Rizzos, McEwen's, Interim, Restaurant Iris and The Elegant Farmer. Then he goes home, gets a little sleep and heads to Chattanooga on Sunday for the farmers market there. He also has a wholesale route of restaurants in other cities like Chattanooga, Nashville, Sewanee, Tenn., and Huntsville, Ala.

"I whine a lot, but I really do like the interaction at the markets," he says.

Goats are seasonal breeders, but the couple have enough that there is overlap to make cheese year-round. They recently built a cheese cave on their property to properly age the raw-milk cheeses. Fresh chèvre ages for about three days, feta for three weeks and raw-milk cheeses for four months to a year.

Their cheeses are called farmstead cheeses because they use only milk from the farm. "The characteristics of the milk change with the seasons, which in turn changes the flavor of the cheese," Jim says. "These are not factory cheeses."

Bonnie Blue cheeses are not certified organic because Jim says they don't want to go through the "rigmarole," but he said no hormones or antibiotics are used.

Jim calculated that Bonnie Blue sells 10,000 pounds of cheese a year and it takes 9,500 working hours between the two of them to make it. "Running a dairy with cheese is not a job; it's a lifestyle," he says.

Resources

Tours of the Bonnie Blue Farm dairy and cheesemaking facility in Waynesboro, Tenn., (bonniebluefarm.com) are available subject to cheesemaking and farmers market schedules. Small groups of two to 10 people are the best size. Cost is $10 per person and includes a cheese tasting.

There is also a log cabin available for rent for people who would like to stay the night or several days. Call for cabin availability. Rate: $95 per night includes tax. Call (931) 722-4628, or e-mail tanngoat@wildblue.net.

Websites

bonniebluefarm.com

thebloomyrind.blogspot.com

cycfarmersmarket.org

memphisfarmersmarket.org

Bonnie Blue Farms Goat Cheese Cake

2 cups Essencia dessert wine, (orange juice may be substituted)

Honey to taste

11 oz. mild fresh goat cheese, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar (extra for pan)

2 tsp. orange juice

1 tsp. minced orange zest

1 tsp. vanilla extract

6 large eggs, separated

3 tbsp. all-purpose flour

3 cups mixed fresh berries

Confectioners sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan and dust with granulated sugar, pouring off excess. If using wine, reduce 2 cups to 3 or 4 ounces and cool. Add a touch of honey to your own taste. Combine goat cheese with the granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons orange juice and orange zest and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg yolks, 2 at a time, incorporating them completely before adding the next batch. Beat in the flour at low speed. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until firm but not dry. Beat one third of the whites into the goat cheese mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whites. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and then bake for about 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack. Invert cake onto a large plate. Pour Essencia syrup (or orange juice, if using) evenly over cake and arrange the berries on top and garnish with sifted confectioners sugar.

Yield: 8 servings.

Calories per serving: 220. Fat: 7.5 g

Source: Memphis Farmers Market website

Precious cargo: Workhorse bikes carry kids, groceries on human-powered outings, errands

Published May 29, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal.

Cargo bikes make it possible to carry large loads and even for several people to ride together. As bike lanes and bike-friendly pathways multiply in Memphis, these workhorse bikes are increasingly getting a workout.

Kyle Wagenschutz, the bikeway/pedestrian coordinator for the city of Memphis, and his wife share one car, and they have an 8-month-old son.

Typically, Wagenschutz travels by bike, and his wife uses the car to commute to work. Now that they have a baby, Wagenschutz needs a way to move him around when his wife is at work. "But not only do I need to move him, but also all his stuff (diaper bag, etc.) and anything I need to get while running errands (groceries, etc.). Carrying capacity is becoming a real issue, and a trailer really isn't sufficient to move everything I need to," he explains.

A friend in Washington was selling a Bakfeits, a Dutch cargo bike used to move children and goods, and Wagenschutz jumped at the chance to buy it. "My friend used it until his son started riding on his own and had nothing but rave reviews about it," he says.

The bike is at Wagenschutz's parent's house in Virginia, and they plan to deliver it on their next visit to Memphis. "I'm looking forward to getting it out, running errands or going to the park without the need to hassle with trailers or bags," he says.

Wagenschutz says anyone can ride a cargo bike. He has seen two- and three-wheel models. "They are longer than a standard bike, so turns are wider, more like a car. It takes some getting used to, but it's pretty easy to pick up," he says. "I've noticed a lot of new cargo bikes hauling kids around lately in Memphis. It's definitely something I see growing locally and nationally."

Christopher Shatley, 43, a registered nurse who works in the ICU at Baptist Memorial Hospital, may be one of those people Wagenschutz has noticed around town. Shatley works three 12-hour shifts, so he has four days off a week to spend with his 4-year-old twins -- a boy and a girl. Shatley lives in the Evergreen Historic District and likes to ride his bike on the days when he is not working.

Last October, he saw a cargo bike, which he had never seen before, at Midtown Bike Co.

"It was kind of pricey, but I was looking for a way to take the twins around," Shatley says. "They hated the bike trailer I had been using."

He purchased a Yuba with two child seats and an added cargo bag for $1,700. He looked at the cost as an investment, since Memphis is gradually becoming more bike-friendly.

"New bike lanes and the Greenline are the greatest things they've done since I've lived here," he says.

Because of the mild winter, Shatley was able to ride the bike consistently, taking regular trips to the Memphis Zoo, the Overton Park playground, Chik-fil-A and even Shelby Farms Park. Because of the bike's carrying capacity, he is also able to combine running errands -- like grocery shopping -- with his outings with the kids.

"It's been really fun," he says, noting that Midtown has lots of safe neighborhood streets.

One of Shatley's favorite trips is to ride through Overton Park to the Shelby Farms Greenline to the Woodland Discovery Playground in Shelby Farms Park and then to his mother-in-law's nearby nursing home. "The kids love it. We do lunch and feed the ducks."

The children add 75 pounds to his load, and he jokes that the first time he made the trip, he worried that he wouldn't get back.

"It's about a 24-mile round trip, and I burn 1,900 calories -- that's a whole day of eating," he notes, adding that riding the cargo bike has helped him lose some weight.

It also has made him consider giving up his car.

"In Midtown, the bike is all I need," Shatley says. "It's been more life-changing than I expected. At first I thought, 'I hope I use it.'"

The bike can easily be modified with different accessories.

"I can reconfigure it when the kids get older," Shatley notes. He's also considered adding an electric motor to increase the range.

He says the bike is slightly harder to ride than a regular bike, but it's easy to get the hang of, and he likes the workout. He can also attest to its safety. Recently, while he was on a ride with his children, a tire got stuck in a trolley track, and they all fell off. He scraped his arm, but the kids were fine. "They were a little scared at first, but a few minutes later they were back to normal, telling me that they were hungry."

Daniel Duckworth, general manager of Midtown Bike Co., and father of two girls, 8 and 12, rides a Yuba elMundo. The El is the electric-assist version.

"I picked it up about a year ago and have since racked up over 3,500 miles, miles I rode and didn't drive," says Duckworth, who practices a "car-lite mantra."

He uses his cargo bike primarily as an alternative to driving. The electric assist allows the bike to cruise at 20-plus mph while he pedals with the electric assist engaged.

"It essentially has the same average cruising speed as a skinny-tired road bike," he says, "except it is four to six times heavier than the average road bike."

The bike has a 400-pound payload capacity. Duckworth commutes to work and home, sometimes twice a day.

"Once I pick up my girls at school, I go on beer runs, grocery runs, Home Depot runs," he says. "It's the family wagon on two wheels that is a human/electric hybrid drive."

Midtown Bike Co. sells a variety of Yuba Cargo Bikes.

"They produce a whole host of accessories from Peanut Shell Baby Seats, passenger seat pads, passenger bars, rumble straps, running boards made from recycled milk jugs, to Go Getter panniers, which are the biggest saddle bags you can get, and more," says Duckworth, adding, "I have read about individuals starting businesses with these bikes."

The Yuba Mundo starts at $1,100; the electric model (elMundo) starts at $2,600.

It's also possible to convert a regular bicycle into a cargo bike. Christopher Reyes, founder of the arts support and production organization Live from Memphis, has a hand-me-down Gary Fisher bike that he converted to a cargo bike with the help of the Xtracycle add-on kit. There are a variety of kits, starting at about $300, that can equip any compatible bike to carry groceries, cargo of all shapes and sizes, and adult passengers.

Reyes modified the rear deck that clips into the frame of his bike so it can accept a longboard skateboard.

"It clips in and can be removed when I want to tow people around. I call it 'Memphis Surfing,' " says Reyes, who makes hand-painted skateboards that he calls Memphis Surfers.

He's had his cargo bike for more than five years and uses it for just about anything.

"I regularly carry photography, video and music equipment," he says. "I've carried purchases from the Midtown Home Depot to my home Downtown. I once carried Ghost River kegs from the brewery Downtown to a party in Midtown. That was probably the heaviest load I've ever carried."

Reyes doesn't own a car, although he has access to one that he drives on occasion. Mostly, his transportation is one of his three bikes.

"I prefer to ride, but I'm not against cars," he says. "I just don't want to drive one every day. I do think many people could replace a lot of their driving with biking."

Riding a cargo bike feels normal to Reyes now. "It's when I ride a regular bike that it feels weird; they always feel a little more zippy. A lot of people who try the cargo bike are wobbly at first, but they get the hang of it pretty quickly."

Training group gets beginners ready to compete in Memphis in May triathlon

Published May 14, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal

This weekend, about 2,000 people will head to Tunica, but gambling won't be on their minds nearly as much as swimming, biking and running.

It's the 30th installment of Memphis in May's triathlon weekend. On Saturday, 500 people will compete in the Memphis in May Sprint Triathlon, which is a quarter-mile swim, 12-mile road bike ride, and 3-mile run. Sunday is the Olympic Triathlon event, and 1,500 people will compete in a 1.5K swim, 40K bike ride and 10K run (or a 1-mile swim, 24-mile bike ride and 6.2- mile run).

Kevin Leathers, 47, a Road Runners Club of America-certified running coach who started Can't Stop Endurance Training in 2007, has done the Memphis in May Olympic Triathlon 20 times. He says triathlons gained popularity in the early '80s after the Ironman competition was televised in 1982.

"Back then, the Memphis in May triathlon was the race in the Mid-South," Leathers explained. "Everybody did it. Once it became a qualifier for the Ironman competition in Hawaii, it became a must-do race around the country."

He says triathlons have absolutely become more popular over the years. "It's a natural extension of the running boom and general emphasis on health, fitness and diet."

Despite Memphis being at the top of the list

of fattest cities, Leathers says Memphis is home to a very large and passionate endurance fitness community.

"Most cities our size have one or two triathlon teams. We have four -- Los Locos, Memphis Thunder, Terrapin Racing and Journeyman Racing. Also, look at how many bike shops we have and the fact that we support two really large running stores -- Breakaway and Fleet Feet."

Leathers believes there are a lot of things fueling the growth of endurance sports in the area, like the Shelby Farms Greenline, but he gives special props to area coaches like Star Ritchey of Star Runners. "What she does is a perfect example of growing the community. Her beginner classes show that it's not impossible for anyone to run who is willing to get off of the couch and put on some running shoes."

Ritchey, 38, has trained runners and individual triathletes for several years, but this is her first year to have a triathlon training group. The idea came about last fall when her husband, Keith, was training for his first Ironman. "He was such an inspiration to the group. One day on a run, someone in the group said, 'Hey, you should train us for a triathlon.' Other runners in the group overheard, and the next thing I knew, I had a triathlon training group," she says, adding that it just felt natural, like it was what they were supposed to do next.

There are 30 people in her triathlon training group, most of whom are first-timers planning to enter the Memphis in May Sprint Race. Now in its third year, the sprint distance race is a great way for beginners to experience an open-water swim and a flat and fast course, all with a big-event atmosphere.

Ritchey says her experience with her first training group has been incredible. "I am amazed at the progress I've seen from everyone in such a short amount of time; whether it be the swim, bike or run, everyone has improved," she says. "Everyone is so incredibly supportive of one another that it just has the friendliest vibe even when being competitive."

Ritchey believes that anyone can learn to run, and she believes anyone can train for a triathlon. "It's crucial that you have a good training plan that fits with your current ability," she says. "You can't go swim 1,500 meters if you can't swim 25, so know that even if you have to start slow, you'll get there. Just be patient, stay strong, and don't give up."

To enhance the training for her beginners, Ritchey reached out to Charlie Boehme, the Rhodes College swim coach, to help with the swimming, which can be the most daunting part of a triathlon. Boehme provided swim clinics in addition to the workouts Ritchey gave the group. "It's been a great way for everyone to get more personalized instruction, while also having the benefit of swimming as a team," Ritchey says.

The group also paired up with Victory Bicycle Studio as their "go-to" bike shop. "Clark, Robert and Nathan have been incredible to work with," Ritchey says. "We've had maintenance classes, trainer classes, and even a tri-clothes try-on day. I can't think of a better collaboration."

Brad Heinz, 52, planned to do a triathlon when he was 24, but doing it took a few years longer than expected. He completed his first triathlon last year in Oxford after training on his own, but this year he signed up with Star Runners. "It's been a lot different training with Star and being part of a team," he says. "She and Keith are really inspiring to the troops."

Heinz is a lifelong runner with 30 years' experience. A few years ago, he started cross-training with cycling. "Then it was just a logical progression to swimming and doing triathlons," he says. Swimming has been the hardest part for him, but he likes that the triathlon training isn't too taxing on any one part of his body. "I've lost a few pounds and inches," he says. "It's going to be hard giving up the workouts after the race."

He says it's been nice to see that he could still pick up something new and improve his overall fitness. "It's been worth it alone just for that," he says. "I'm investing in myself."

Grace Korzekwa, 32, also in the group, signed up on a whim. A friend trained for the St. Jude Half-Marathon with Star Runners and then also signed up to train for the Memphis in May Sprint Triathlon. "My friend always tried to get me to join the running groups, but I used to work at night," she says. "Now I have a normal schedule, so that helped me say yes."

Korzekwa, who had never run more than a 5K, says training for the triathlon has been a total roller coaster. "It was really, really hard at first, but I was really excited, too, so that got me over the hump."

For the first six weeks of training, Korzekwa says, she was either tired or in pain or both. "You name it, it hurt. Mostly my legs, but all of a sudden, after swimming my abs would be on fire."

Despite the exhaustion and discomfort, she says the training has made her feel really good about herself. "Exercise is an excellent stress reliever and anxiety reducer. These benefits were immediate and obvious." She has really enjoyed training with a group and says it helps to have other people in the same boat as well as a trainer she can talk to anytime. "I pretty much e-mail Star every day."

The hardest part has been time management. "The eight or more workouts per week take at least an hour each, and I have to spend a lot of time preparing for them, eating right, drinking enough water, getting plenty of sleep, etc.," she says. "It's an intense balancing act. I miss having downtime and reading for hours on end."

Taking on three new sports also proved to be expensive. Korzekwa already had a bike since she used to ride to work, but all of her workout clothes were 100 percent cotton. "I had to buy clothes that breathe," she says. Additionally she purchased a special quick-drying "tri outfit" for the race, biking shorts for practice, a bathing suit, running shoes, goggles and a swim cap.

To train with Star Runners, she paid $180. A six-month pool membership at UT was $70. A monthlong bike class at Victory Bicycle Studio was $50, and the six-week swim clinic at Rhodes College was an additional $100. The entry fee for the race, along with a racing license, was another $90. "I really didn't blink at the training costs," Korzekwa says. "I feel like I got that all for a steal."

After eight weeks of training, Korzekwa says she hasn't lost a pound, but her body looks completely different. "I feel better, my skin looks better, and I'm lighter on my feet," she says. "It may be the best thing I've ever done for myself."

Race info

Memphis in May Sprint Race, 8 a.m. Saturdayat Harrah's Tunica.

The 30th Annual Memphis in May Olympic Triathlon, 7 a.m. Sunday at Harrah's Tunica.

Other info

Star Runners: starrunnersmemphis.com

Can't Stop Endurance Training, cantstopendurance.com