By Paul Crum

A bright, brisk autumn morning provided visitors to the Let’s Grow Garden Expo with a perfect day for a stroll through the TIGUrS Urban Garden on the east side of the University of Memphis campus.

The Nov. 2 event cosponsored by the Memphis Area Master Gardeners and the U of M promised gardening enthusiasts a day filled with informative lectures, demonstrations, exhibits, music, food, art and more.

Plenty of Master Gardeners were on hand to offer advice and answer questions about their organization.

Student Garden Coordinator Art Johnson revealed that Dina Martin, wife of interim University President Brad Martin, is a Master Gardener and provided impetus for organizing the event.

“She came and saw our garden and got some crazy ideas about how we could really get this thing in the public eye,” Johnson explained. “She talked to the rest of the Master Gardeners and they all got on board and agreed to partner with us to pull this Let’s Grow event together.”

He said that although the garden had been there for almost four years, the TIGUrS (Tigers Initiative for Gardens in Urban Settings) had never undertaken anything of this magnitude.

“We do an earth day every year in April, but we’ve always wanted to do something much broader and bigger than that,” said Johnson, who also served as emcee for the event. “They helped steer us so we could do this as effectively as possible, because they know how to do this kind of thing.”

By Kelsey Gilliam

After sitting in a cramped desk for an hour or two, it's natural to want to do is stand up and move. Midday Moves, an initiative under the Memphis Healthy U umbrella, provides students the opportunity to get outside and exercise.

Every weekday starting at 12:30 p.m., numerous organizations around campus help to coordinate Midday Moves. Each organization plans a different 20 to 30 minute physical activity for students, faculty and the surrounding community for different days of the week. Activities range from yoga to mini-golf.

“We allow each organization to provide their own instructor for each event, unless it is an activity like Yoga, where we have an in-house instructor," said Jasmine Ellis, the coordinator of Midday Moves. "Several of the activities are new and unique to most of our participants so we learn collectively from the instructor. “

For Tuesday’s Midday Moves session, Kim Morgan and Lindsey Laurenzi, the owners of both Purre Barre locations around the city, came to teach Pilates to students. The session was held outside on the Alumni Mall outside of the University Center.

By Hassan Allawi


In less than a couple of weeks,  shoppers of Memphis malls will see the Salvation Army's Christmas Trees. Thousands of cards with chidren's names, ages and gift wishes will hang down the branches of the these Angel Trees in anticipation of a shopper willing to walk up to the tree, read a card and tell the volunteer standing by the tree: "give me one of your bags, I'm buying this child's Christmas gift."

By Jasmine Deener   

The party began at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 6. As participants walked into the University Center Ballroom, the Up 'till Dawn letter sending party started. 

The Up ‘till Dawn program began  at the University of Memphis around 14 years ago. It is partnered with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and is comprised of several year-round fundraising events, one of them being the Letter Sending Party.

“This is out biggest fundraiser of the entire year," said volunteer Taylor Means. "Our goal for this year, we are hoping to get $150,000... We are sending out 25,000 letters." 

After participants walk in and register, they receive their bundle of 50 letters. They address the letters to friends and family and turn them back in so they can be mailed. Once the letters reach their destination, the recipients are able to mail in a donation and St. Jude receives all of the profits. 

About 51 years ago, then actor Danny Thomas opened the doors of St. Jude       

It is such a cherished hospital because they treat devastating pediatric diseases, mainly cancers, and no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay.

By Erica Horton

Don’t call her Nancy. 

She may have lost her birth certificate in her home country, but her real name is Scovia Wilson and as of Oct. 17, she is a citizen of the United States of America. 

The 19-year-old, University of Memphis sophomore nursing major, who hails from a war zone in Sudan, said Nancy is a nickname she inherited from a mission’s woman. 

The woman came from an organization called Catholic Charities, which has helped refugees escape war zones, religious and political persecution and resettle in the U.S. for approximately 73 years. 

“The mission lady called me Nancy as a nick name and it kind of got stuck. In the process of coming to America, they accidentally put Nancy instead of Scovia on my paperwork,” she said. “I couldn’t change it back to Scovia until my citizenship, which took eight years. Finally, I have my name back.”

Scovia was named by her grandmother. 

“Scovia means fruits of the spirit and my middle name, Dawa, is Swahili for medicine,” she said.

By Erica Holmes                                                                                           
On the corner of Highland and Park Avenue the Mediterranean Grocery, Inc. sells groceries and prepares Mediterranean food for people on-the-go and for those who crave the warming benefits of slow cooked food. 

The store, located at 3561 Park Ave., is owned by Sami Abdelfattah. 
 
On a typical morning, Abdelfattah sips his Arabic coffee while welcoming new customers and regulars into the store for their daily grocery runs and adventurous shopping experience, which is a bazaar-like scene. They have every spice and tea imaginable as well as ornate and decorative serving platters and kitchen tools. 

“We buy our chickens from Crescent Farms in Wisconsin and everything is fresh daily,” Abdelfattah said.

A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows that women who slightly tweaked their meat and potatoes diet to allow room for more Mediterranean diet were 40 percent less likely to develop chronic diseases, memory loss or have as many mental health issues. They are also more likely to maintain their mobility well into retirement.

By Matthew Schwartz

A feature of the University District that many people overlook is the television station located on 485 S. Highland St., just down the street from the University of Memphis campus.

The station is the local Fox affiliate and can be seen on channel 13 locally. 

Fox13 has been on the air in Memphis and in the University District since 1953.

Owned and operated by Fox Television Studios, WHBQ –TV, was once a CBS affiliate, then moved on to ABC, and has been a part of Fox since 1995.

By Natalie Cole

Lisa Tracy, Assistant Director Clinic Operations at Southern College of Optometry and Administrator of Operations at the new U of M location, discusses what all the new campus eye clinic has to offer as far as services, spec brands and more for to students, faculty and the general public.

By Margot Pera           

Calorie conscious students at the University of Memphis may be able to have their cake and eat it too, or at least their popcorn.

Kay and Mike Gellar, “POPrietors” for the franchise Doc Popcorn, are looking to expand their client base, and U of M is one of their target locations.

“If I was a college student, I would love the idea of sitting down and studying while munching on a bag of yummy popcorn,” Kay said.

Doc Popcorn was started by Robert and Renee Israel in 2003 as a healthy snack alternative to the typical calorie-laden popcorn sold at festivals, concerts and other venues. The couple made the popcorn in the kitchen of their New York City apartment, and then moved to the more health conscious climate of Boulder, Colo., where they opened up stands in sports arenas, shopping malls and various Whole Foods Markets throughout the state.

“They both worked for Fortune 500 companies in New York and just got tired of the rat race,” Mike said. “When they moved to Boulder, they spent six years perfecting their flavoring formulas."

By Meagan Nichols

With seven locations and an eighth scheduled to open in Germantown in February, Huey’s restaurants have served the greater Memphis area for over 40 years.

The newest and busiest of the seven-restaurant fleet, located less than three miles from the University of Memphis, is the Huey’s on Poplar Avenue, which will celebrate its 10-year anniversary this December.

Shannon Little, the marketing and events coordinator for Huey’s, said of the 400 employees that comprise the staff she estimated roughly 100 are either current U of M students or Tiger alumni. Little, who has worked at Huey’s for seven and a half years, falls into the latter of the two categories.

Little graduated from the U of M in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in communication with a focus in business management. In 2011, she earned a masters degree from the U of M in communication with a focus in community relations.

“I actually started as a food runner and expo at this location in Poplar in 2006 and then after a year was promoted to server and then two and a half years ago I started going into the office,” Little said. “I was a marketing intern and then I got promoted to assistant, and then last year I quit working tables and became the full on marketing and events coordinator.”

Little said when the company hires people they look for individuals who will stay in Memphis for a long time and said college students generally fit this profile.

“We have a very low turnover here,” she said. “The average years of employment for someone who works at Huey’s is seven years. I started my sophomore year of college and pretty much have worked through ever since.”