The 901: Memphis in May saw decline in attendance, financial loss of about $1.9 million
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Good morning, Memphis, where golfers should get excited as TopGolf is getting ready to start work on its long-awaited location in the city.
But, first, Memphis in May International Festival’s two biggest events experienced a notable attendance decline in 2022 — resulting in a record-setting financial loss of about $1.9 million, Omer Yusuf reports.
Memphis in May officials attribute that to this year’s temporary venue change from Tom Lee Park to the Fairgrounds at Liberty Park.
For the first time in more than 20 years, combined attendance for the two events — both Beale Street Music Festival and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest — fell below 115,000 attendees. In 2019 the events had 175,330 and in 2018 it had 178,478.
Miss Tennessee returns to Memphis
The Miss Tennessee Scholarship Competition returns to Memphis this month at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts next week, our Niki Scheinberg reports.
Contestants from across the state will arrive in the Bluff City on Sunday and spend the week touring Memphis sights before the competition begins Thursday, including a Downtown trolley ride, The Peabody hotel's Duck Walk and a parade down Beale Street.
“We’re beyond blessed because of Memphis embracing us,” said Janie Albright, chief of staff for Miss Tennessee. “They’re our champions.”
President and CEO of Memphis Zoo steps downs from position
Memphis Zoo President and CEO Jim Dean announced he will retire from the position, with Executive Director and Vice President Matt Thompson replacing him, our Lucas Finton reports.
"It was an honor and a privilege to be able to come back home to Memphis and be a part of this amazing team and help in the great work that they do every day," Dean said.
Of his experience with Dean, Thompson said, "Jim had a keen attention to guest experience and appearance of the zoo that significantly impacts guest's view of the zoo as soon as they walk through the front gates. He impacted the internal experience for the employees in many ways, most importantly though, he increased communication between departments across the entire zoo."
Democratic gubernational candidates criticize Gov. Bill Lee over school vouchers
Three Democratic candidates for Tennessee governor, Sumner County physician Jason Martin, Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley Jr., and Memphis community advocate Carnita Atwater, all criticized Gov. Bill Lee’s controversial school voucher program during a forum Thursday, our Samuel Hardiman reports.
Martin said Lee was trying to “defund” public education, Smiley said he was waging a war on public schools, and Atwater described education as a civil right.
The critiques of Lee, unsurprisingly, did not stop with school vouchers. The barbs extended to gun control, abortion access and Lee’s decision not to veto legislation that mandates longer prison sentences.
The forum was sponsored by The Commercial Appeal and the USA Today Network-Tennessee, in partnership with the University of Tennessee system and Lipscomb University.
Ending youth violence is saving lives and Memphis’ future
Here in Shelby County, around 45,000 adults between the ages of 16 and 24 aren’t in school or working, and that’s a disgrace as it means young adults here are vulnerable to building arrest records instead of work records, our Tonyaa Weathersbee writes in her latest column for subscribers as part of her occasional series on youth violence in Memphis.
Here’s an excerpt:
As teenagers, aimlessness could have led Arianna Whitlow and Camara Slappy to give free rein to thoughts that, too often, lead to criminality.
Whitlow, who dropped out of high school at 17, wound up with a theft conviction when her friends left a Denny’s restaurant in Seattle – and stuck her with a bill that she couldn’t pay.
“I was going through a lot at that time – my dad was on life support – so they were trying to get me out of the house,” said Whitlow. “I didn’t know they were going to dine and dash.”
But that conviction followed her to Memphis, where she moved in 2009, and it left her mired in multiple low-wage jobs – and a lot of dark thoughts.
Klay Thompson called out Jaren Jackson Jr., validating the Grizzlies
We should focus on the fact that Klay Thompson took the time to take a jab at Jaren Jackson Jr. and Memphis in the midst of an NBA championship celebration, our Mark Giannotto writes in his latest column.
Here’s an excerpt:
Klay Thompson was thinking about the Memphis Grizzlies.
On the biggest stage in basketball, after winning an NBA championship that cemented his Golden State Warriors as one of the great dynasties in the history of the league, after three injury-plagued years that made this particular moment so gratifying, Thompson gave the Grizzlies perhaps their greatest validation yet by thinking about them.
By stopping in the middle of a thought to call out the team these Warriors bested more than a month ago in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
“There was this one player on the Grizzlies who tweeted ‘strength in numbers’ after they beat us in the regular season and it pissed me off so much,” Thompson said during his postgame press conference after eliminating the Boston Celtics on Thursday night. “I can’t wait to retweet that thing. Frickin' bum. I had to watch that. I was like, ‘This frickin' clown.’ Sorry. That memory just popped up. You’re going to mock us? You ain’t never been there before, bro. We’ve been there. We know what it takes. To be here again, hold that.”
The 901 is written by Ray Padilla, digital producer for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at raymond.padilla@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @Ray_Padilla_.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: The 901: Memphis in May Festivals experience attendance decline
