Greater Memphis Chamber » The Soundtrack Project

Movement One: A Tangible Birthplace

admin — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 23:59:47 +0000

We often will take Ghost River beer on our trips down the Ghost, and it’s really a treat to in essence, take the beer back to its point of origin.

Chuck Skypeck loves his city – and he loves beer. As microbreweries surged across America, Chuck and his partners created the region’s first: Bosco’s.

Their beer proved popular enough that Chuck was able to realize a lifelong goal of being a partner in his own craft brewery. Now the Ghost River Brewing Company sits at the southwest edge of downtown, just a stone’s throw from the Mississippi River.

Chuck believes beer is enjoyed best at home; the closer one is to its source, the better it’s bound to taste. Because Memphis water is highly integral to defining the taste of his product, Chuck thought it was a great idea to tie his marketing to the Ghost River portion of the Wolf River. After all, so is his livelihood.

That’s part of the reason the brewery donates a portion of its proceeds to the Wolf River Conservancy, which works to keep the area pristine and preserved. Memphians can drive just an hour from the heart of the city only to find themselves submerged into a primordial forest full of moss, cypress trees and wildlife. Chuck, and many others, would like to keep it that way.

Here are Chuck’s thoughts from “A Tangible Birthplace,” which can be watched above along with music from composer and cellist Jonathan Kirkscey of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

When the Wolf River comes down out of the highlands, where it’s raised, there is a beautiful wetland there that’s full of cypress trees, lots of beautiful undergrowth, old growth trees.

As the Wolf spreads out in that wetland, the one thing that you don’t find anymore is the channel of the river. And that’s why it’s called the Ghost River: because the channel of the river has disappeared.

The Ghost River section of the Wolf River is one of the main entryways for water into the Memphis Sands Aquifer. And that water has been flowing through that aquifer for 60 to 100 years. And during that time it has become purified. And it is also very soft, meaning it has no minerals in it.

And that type of water is very desirable for us to brew beer with.

Brewing is on some levels a very, very simplistic process where we are combining four ingredients: water, barley malt, hops and yeast. And water is the backbone of the beer. It’s 95 percent of the beer.

Our brewing process takes the better part of a workday. The brewers will actually spend eight to ten hours brewing a batch of beer.

Tours are a great way for our customers to come and see where the beer is born – to see that the beer has a tangible birthplace.

Knowing about the Ghost River, and having been on the Ghost River, it really seemed a natural that we make that tie with our beer brand to the Ghost River. We do donate a portion of the proceeds from the sales of all Ghost River beer to the Wolf
River Conservancy.

We often will take Ghost River beer on our trips down the Ghost, and it’s really a treat to in essence, take the beer back to its point of origin, There’s no street noise, no road noise – just the sound of the water, the sound of the wildlife that are in the area, the birds, the sound of your canoe going through the water.

A very, very profound place.

It probably doesn’t ever taste better.

Movement Two: Grooming the Dog

admin — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 23:56:09 +0000

If I stayed at the bank, and kept doing what I was going to do – as my life went on, it would be harder and harder to ever pull that trigger.

Mathis Young loved his job at an area bank. But he always wanted to own his own business. Now he’s running his own successful franchise – and the pets of Memphis are grateful.

Here’s Mathis in his own words, which you can listen to by clicking the video above.

You hear every different thing imaginable.

They’ll say, “Well my dog hates getting their nails clipped.” Or: “My dog hates water.”

Usually, whatever they say, it’s the complete opposite.

You know, it’s not necessarily that the owners are lying about their dog’s behavior. It’s that the dogs, when they’re with their groomer, act differently than they do with their owner. And that’s kind of what I see.

We were taught in training to look for different facial expressions, to look for different tail expressions, to look for different body movements. So you want to be careful when you see some of those expressions – to make sure you’re taking care of yourself, and you’re kind of keeping out of harm’s way.

I was at a local bank here in town, and my job was to call on businesses to try to entice them to move all of their banking business. We had a great environment, and actually, I loved my job. But I really did always want to own my own business.

When we did our research, the numbers, quite frankly, were off the wall. The amount of people that spend money on their pets in Memphis is astronomical.

If I stayed at the bank, and kept doing what I was going to do – as my life went on, it would be harder and harder to ever pull that trigger.

I never wanted to say, “What if?” And I thought, you know: “I’m 27 years old. If I’m ever going to do it, this is the time to do it.”

The man that founded the franchise is originally from Australia. We get that question a lot.

We go to the actual customers. We go to their house and, in the comfort of their driveway, we spoil their cats and dogs.

Being in banking and going to be a dog groomer is quite a transition.

What do I miss about the bank? I miss the interaction with people. I miss my colleagues, I miss that day-to-day interaction.

What do I like about grooming dogs? Well, dogs don’t talk back.

Movement Three: My Heart is in Memphis

hubbell — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 10:13:12 +0000

Carolyn Hardy never stops.

She didn’t stop when her employer said they were closing their Memphis factory. Instead, she bought it.

She didn’t stop when a tornado ripped into the facility shortly after it had come under her ownership. Instead, her team patched it up and went back to work.

A Memphis native, Hardy feels it’s important to keep businesses like hers in the city. Her cavernous facility can manufacture any beverage a company needs — and she’s ready to see more lines of product moving along the conveyor belts.

For The Soundtrack Project, composer Robert Patterson toured Hardy Bottling Company with Carolyn. He took his inspiration to use the symphony’s marimba in part from the fast-paced activity at the heart of the factory. But in learning about Hardy’s triumph over adversity, he says, the scope of the piece grew larger.

“The piece was tailored very much to Carolyn Hardy’s personal story,” he says. “It opens roughly, the violin and marimba gusting stormy blasts of wind. Then in the middle they take up a bubbly little tune that may sound a bit like bottles going through an assembly line. I chose the marimba for its ability slightly to mimic bottles.

“The final section,” he says, “is a tribute to Hardy’s indomitable ability to surmount even the most crushing adversity.”

Movement Four: The Fatted Calf

hubbell — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 03:18:18 +0000

That fatted calf is the top of the food chain. He’s it. That’s the best God gave man, right there.”
—Michael Lenagar

The way Michael Lenagar sees it, Neola Farms has a bright tomorrow because it’s run in the ways of yesterday.

“No steroids, no antibiotics,” Lenagar says, sitting in the home he shares with his wife and farm-running partner, Charline. “The way it should be. The way agriculture is meant to be.”

The Lenagars, whose Neola Farms sits about 50 miles north of Memphis in the small Tipton County community of Holly Grove, have become popular fixtures at both the Saturday Memphis Farmers Market and a number of popular city restaurants.

“We have foreign countries that are calling us here, wanting our beef out of Tennessee,” Michael says. “We’ve actually Fed Ex’ed around the world.”

To Michael and Charline, the demand for their organic, Black Angus beef is directly related to care and dedication they bring to their farm.

Michael devoted himself to farming full-time in recent years after a career as a hazardous materials trainer with DuPont. “You see the guys in the space suit? That was us,” he says.

“I’ve always farmed — my daddy farmed,” Michael says. “My wife and kids were running this farm while I was on the road. When DuPont offered me a chance to retire, (I said), ‘Yeah, I’m going to go into the food business.’ ”

The farm, which takes its name from the Kansas birthplace of Michael’s father, has thrived in recent years as the Lenegar family (including their granddaughter, Riley) painstakingly care for each calf under their charge.

The phone at their small ranch house rings frequently with new orders, with Charline working hard to keep track while helping Michael with everyday chores.

“I couldn’t do it without Charline — I mean, it’s us, it’s she and I,” Michael says. “I’m proud of her.”

The Lenegars hope to expand their farm, but only to the extent that they can keep a watchful eye on quality.

“People want good food, and we’re going to grow it,” Michael says. “We have every intention of feeding folks. I know I’m doing it just like the old folks did. They figured it out and I’m not changing it. Comes back around, doesn’t it?”

Movement Five: My American Family

adaniels — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:55:17 +0000

As interest in their culture grows in Memphis, members of the city’s small but closely-knit Japanese community are working to share their traditions.

Movement Six: The Spider’s Web

adaniels — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 15:02:44 +0000

Countries used to fight over who was the first one to make lace.

To me, the spider is the original lace maker.

There’s such a joy in creating things. And actually sometimes I feel sorry for those who can’t see the beauty in things that are really actually quite simple.

I grew up in Savannnah, Tennessee. You know, there was not a lot to do in a small towns, and so one of the things that you easily became involved in were pageants.

Mother would say to me, “Darling just have fun, just have a great time, and enjoy yourself and have fun.” I took her word very seriously and I did have a lot of fun — and I still do.

I was married to just simply the most fascinating man in the world. His name was John Burton Tigrett, and he was almost twice my age.

We were together 26 years before he died. It was just the most fabulous journey, and we just laughed at life and laughed through life.

When John and I met, he was living in London at the time and we would have 10 to 12 guests for dinner and John and I would dress — he would be in a dinner jacket and I would be in a long gown. People would say to me often, “Whose dress is that and I would say, “It’s mine.” And of course they meant, “No, who is the designer?” And I said, “Yes that’s right, it’s mine. It’s one of mine.”

I’m so lucky that Neiman Marcus started me 30 years ago when I first went to Dallas with John. He was down there on oil business, and I didn’t have a business.

I said, “You know well you know what do you think? I mean well maybe I’ll tuck some things in and take them down?” And he said, “I will call Stanley Marcus.” And it evolved from there very quickly.

New York, to me, is just such an important part of my life. And clearly it is the most amazing place for fashion that there is. I am actually in New York, it seems, more and more right now.

Just all of my friends are so incredible. I just love them. I feel so blessed to have such interesting friends. I love my friends, I do. You know, our friends are really our chosen family.

I love doing whatever it is I do. I mean, I hope that occasionally there’s something worthwhile that I accomplish. The Blues Ball certainly is at the top of the list. It’s an enormous undertaking that truly has made a fabulous party because of the generosity and caring and just great fun.

Memphis is just good to me. I love it, and I love the people here and I could live anywhere in the world and I have chosen to live in Memphis.

Our Mississippi River is like a maverick river rolling down, and I think that we all get our energy from that.

I think that celebrating is something that we all have within us… the desire to celebrate life.

For a very long time in my apartment overlooking the river in Memphis, I had a beautiful spider’s web and I wouldn’t let anybody touch it. And I had a bartender helping me one evening who didn’t realize the importance of that. Of course, he thought he was doing something wonderful and he took it down.

And I really miss it.

Movement Seven: The Golden Hour

hubbell — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:04:51 +0000

Members of the Hospital Wing staff tell their story:

ALLEN BURNETT, PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Everybody is waiting for the red phone to wing.

PHIL SCRUGGS, CHIEF PILOT: If the red phone rings, and the weather’s fine, everyone gets in high gear and in two to three minutes, we’re gone. We have left the hangar complex.

ALLEN BURNETT: We want to be able to transport that patient to a trauma facility within one hour. And we refer to that as “the golden hour.” That’s just real important.

ALLEN BURNETT: We just want to be able to help somebody, and we feel like this is a way that we can use our talent and our ability to do so. Our medical staff goes through vigorous training, recurrent training. The workspace they have is somewhat confined, but it’s just amazing to see them work.

ALLEN BURNETT: Hospital Wing is a 501c3 not-for-profit. All the area hospitals formed a consortium to provide helicopter service for the Memphis area. There needed to be one service that could accommodate any patient need.

SHERRY JENNINGS, FLIGHT NURSE: It’s everything from a trauma patient to a cardiac patient.

CINDY BAILEY, FLIGHT NURSE: It might be in the city, or out in a rural area.

ALLEN BURNETT: We have transported very small babies that they could literally hold in their hand.

CINDY BAILEY: It is a very risky job. Nature is out of your control. We risk our lives every day we come to work.

ALLEN BURNETT: Doug, Misty and Cindy… we will never forget them.

SHERRY JENNINGS: You go out to an accident and this person might look like your brother. You have to distance yourself from it and do what’s necessary, and then let it affect you later.

PHIL SCRUGGS: We sit around after we come back off of a flight… we chat and we talk and we debrief each other, and nobody gets to where they have to take it home.

SHERRY JENNINGS: It’s the best job in the world. I’ve never done anything in my adult life that I have enjoyed as much as I have working here.

PHIL SCRUGGS: And that makes a more cohesive working relationship because they want to be there. They want to do what they’re doing, and do the best they can.

ALLEN BURNETT: It’s long hours, especially for the nurses and paramedics. They work 24 hours.

ALLEN BURNETT: Pray for our safety. What we do is a dangerous job.
You can’t totally relax because you know, at any moment, that phone may ring. I guess our first prayer would be that you never have to use us, but in the event that you did, that we’re there.

Movement Eight: Top of the Mountain

adaniels — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:06:31 +0000

When Chamber member Rosalva King came to Memphis from Mexico years ago, she had help in learning her new country’s ways. But many immigrants face assimilation, and a bewildering quest to full-fledged citizenship, alone. As an aspiring small business owner, she decided to help. Meet Rosalva and watch as the culmination of her work unfolds inside the Memphis courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Bernice B. Donald when one of Rosalva’s customers, Salvador Sauceda, joins with others to officially become an American citizen.

Here is Rosalva in her own words:

How many stripes are in the flag?

Who wrote the “Star-Spangled Banner?”

Who is the President of the United States?

They will ask you 10 questions and you have to have six right to pass. And then if you are approved, you are a candidate for your citizenship.

A permanent resident will come to my office and say, “I want to apply for citizenship and I need your assistance, because I can understand some things but I don’t understand everything.”

We assist people filling out the forms that they submit to the immigration office, and we translate documents. What I do in my office is to help immigrants, first of all, with the paperwork. But besides that, I want them to learn how the system works here in this country.

When I got married, I came to this country, and my husband was in politics then. He helped me a lot to be incorporated into this society. He did it with a lot of love. And that’s how I started getting used to going to different places, even to go to the grocery store by myself.

Even though I don’t have any family, when I came here, I felt that I was welcome. Because I have chosen to be here, and I said, “I want to be happy here.” And I’m happy. I’m happy in Memphis.

When I became a U.S. citizen, I felt that’s a privilege that this country gives us.

It’s so impressive, it’s so touching when we become a U.S. citizen.

For a lot of people, it’s really hard to pass the test. One of my friends cried at the end of the interview. She said, “It was very hard for me to get to this point.” So when she went to the ceremony, she cried again… because she had gotten to the top of the mountain when she became a U.S. citizen.

I want to capture the moment when they become U.S. citizens because they feel so proud. That’s something that is going to stay in their house, and they will always remember with a picture the day they became a U.S. citizen.

It doesn’t matter if it’s Saturday, or Sunday, or a Wednesday… you always see somebody working. We need to feed our families. We need to work. It doesn’t matter what time it is. We came here to work.

When I listen to the American anthem, I get the chills anytime, anywhere in the world. I feel I am a part of this country.

I feel that’s my anthem now.