By Sydney Ashby
By looking at September’s recipient of Yard of the Month, you would never guess that the beautiful Japanese maple began as a $6 twig over seventeen years ago. Brenda and Boomer Vance, who have lived at 2208 Nelson Avenue for twenty-one years and who have just recently renovated, have not only had the maple for seventeen years, but they have also nurtured the abundance of elephant ears for just as long. Vibrant lantana, a white knockout rose, and portulacas help to break up the front bed of elephant ears while complementing the lush and healthy grass. There are also petunias hanging from the front porch and spilling out of flower boxes. Brenda and Boomer say that they love living in Cooper-Young, especially for the sense of community, and that they cannot imagine living anywhere else. Congratulate the Vance’s on their beautiful yard and their dedication to CY. If you would like to nominate a Yard of the Month recipient, please email lamplighter@cooperyoung.org.

By Maggie Cardwell
The following memberships were received as of August 23. Memberships received after the 23rd will be listed in the next issue. The Cooper-Young Community Association is supported by paid memberships, and anyone is welcome to join and receive the benefits of membership, which include discounts to local businesses.

Community Memberships
Carol Baker
Holden Brewer
Kevin & Cynthia Brewer
John Chulos
Crumpler the Dog
Stephanie Gifford
Judith Hicks
Joslyn Jackson
Melissa Johnston
Robert Kermick
Ashley LaRue
Janelle Loar
Emily Miller
Noah Miller
Tyler Miller
Penelope McDowell
Paige McDowell
Steve Molz
Leslie Petty
Lea Speed
Robert & Bonnie Waldo
Michael Watkins
Alma Williams
Winersteen Household

During these hot months I walk my dog, Bacon, early in the morning and late at night. The temperatures aren’t that much cooler but at least the sun isn’t bearing down. This early/late schedule isn’t just for my sake. Trust me, Bacon prefers these times too.
Extreme temperatures are a good time to remind all that a hot house or car is no place for any of Bacon’s animal friends. Although July’s Lamplighter and CYCA general meeting focused on the Smallest User Contest and reducing energy consumption, winning a contest isn’t everything. Please take care of those needing cooler temperatures.
September in Cooper-Young will still be H-O-T. I’m not just talking about the weather. I’m talking about the numerous upcoming events that are sure to make our neighborhood sizzle with activity and excitement. There will be a book signing on Tuesday, September 14, for the CYCA sponsored CY History book. You can purchase your own copy of Cooper-Young: A Community that Works on that day and have it signed by the authors, Lisa Lumb and Jim Kovarik. On September 17 you can run, jog, walk, or stroll in the Festival Friday 4 Miler. No matter your pace be sure to enjoy the Neighbors Light the Way parties along the race route. And of course, Saturday, September 18, is the annual Cooper-Young Festival hosted by our sister organization the CY Business Association. With food, art, and friends, this is a great way to spend the day – and it’s all in our own backyard, or more correctly, on our own Cooper Street.
Plan to be a part of this neighborhood holiday! The 4 Miler and Festival weekend is a time of celebration for residents and friends of Cooper-Young. So everyone come out and enjoy yourself!
In CY Happiness,
John Kinsey

By Andy Ashby
The Cooper-Young Regional Beer Festival will be held from 1-5pm on Saturday, October 9, in the parking lot south of LifeLink Memphis at the corner of Cooper and Walker. Tickets are on sale and are only available online at the Cooper-Young Community Association website, cooperyoung.org. Tickets are $25 for CYCA members and $30 for non-members. All proceeds go to support the work of the CYCA.
More than 10 breweries and homebrew clubs will be pouring at this event, several of which aren’t available regularly in the Memphis market. These breweries are all within a one-day’s drive of Memphis, proving that you don’t have to drive to Colorado or Oregon to get a great craft beer.
Memphis’ numerous farmers markets are based on the idea that fresh, local produce and meat are better than mass-produced food. The same principal applies to beer. Why drink a flavorless lager manufactured miles away when you can have a flavorful ale made down the street?
I toured the Budweiser brewery in St. Louis, and it reminded me of the human-harvesting fields from the Matrix with endless rows of brewing tanks extending as far as the eye could see. It’s a very different experience from the Saturday brew tour at Ghost River Brewing Co. where Chuck Skypeck or Jimmy Randall, the guys who actually make the beer, might be giving the tour.
There are only 400 tickets available for the Beer Festival in order to allow attendees time and space to talk with the brewers and learn about what they are drinking. There will also be an education tent, where people can learn about beer and brewing from the brewers themselves.
Local sponsors include Au Fond Farmtable and Celtic Crossing, who will be providing dinners for brewers and volunteers. Chef Ben Vaughn and Au Fond Farmtable will also be selling food at the event. Music for the festival will be provided by The Visible School, a music college currently operating at LifeLink Memphis.
Many volunteers have put in hours of work organizing this festival. A big thanks goes out to Josh Spickler, Mark Morrison, Toby Sells, Nathan Coppedge, Trevor Kearney, and Edmund Mackey for serving on the Beer Festival committee. The Cooper-Young Community Association board, especially volunteer coordinator Beth Pulliam, have also put time and effort into this event, as well as community director Maggie Cardwell. Local artist Adam Schellabarger has dedicated his talent by designing the Beer Festival’s logo and poster.
If you are interested in volunteering at this event, please contact Trevor Kearney at cybeerfest@gmail.com. Please let him know if you have Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission training. For all other inquiries, please contact Andy Ashby at cybeerfest@gmail.com or call (901)691-2396.

By Ginger Spickler
First the good news! Thanks to the great folks who have volunteered to take on the job, we have eleven new block clubs in 2010, bringing the grand total to 31 as of this writing. Come Neighborhood Night Out (NNO) the ‘hood should be rocking with lots of parties!
In order to help your block club’s captain create a roster that can be used for safety issues, social events, and more, I’d like to ask that you take a moment to locate your block club in this list and email your captain with your name, address, and phone number. This will help them get a good start on organizing the NNO party without having to schlep up and down the block in the heat collecting info.
Now for the bad news. Despite the record number of block clubs now in existence, there are still almost as many blocks that don’t have clubs as do. If you don’t see a captain listed for your block, that’s because there isn’t one. Could it be you?
The main job of a captain is simply to host (or recruit someone else to host) the NNO party on October 12. There’s always more you can do if you have the time and energy, but even if that’s all you do you’ll be performing a great service for your community. Contact me at gingerspickler@gmail.com for more details!

By Debbie Sowell
As we welcome the runners of the Cooper-Young Festival Friday 4 Miler to our ‘hood, there is only one rule; party, party, party!  Get together with your friends along the race route and cheer for the runners as you compete in our annual Light The Way contest. Start your planning now and notify the CYCA of your party. We will have judges in the pace car who will be giving you the eagle eye. Not in a bad way of course! Prizes will be awarded to the best party, so pick a theme, decorate, sing a song, and put on a show – whatever it takes to make your celebration memorable to the judges and the runners.
Email the CYCA at info@cooperyoung.org to notify us of the party address. We will be passing on additional information as September 17 draws near and bringing signage to your party on the day of the race to help with judging.

By Barb Elder
Those of us who are relatively new to Cooper-Young may not understand the amazing comeback story that is our neighborhood’s history. We take for granted the safe, tight knit community that we are a part of. We don’t think twice about having active community organizations like the CYCA to advocate for our wellbeing. We enjoy restaurants and businesses that we can walk to and our newfound friendships down the street, thinking that life in Cooper-Young has always been this way. But we are a part of a much larger story whether we realize it or not. It is a story full of unsung heroes, successes and failures, and it is our story as well. It is this story, this history, that has been recorded by authors Lisa Lumb and Jim Kovarik in the newly published book, Cooper-Young: A Community that Works.
Below you will find a reprint of the books preface to pique your interest. I know it’s hard to wait for something this good, but it won’t be much longer. On Tuesday, September 14, from 5:30-6:30pm you can walk on down to Burkes’ Books, at 936 S. Cooper St., and procure your autographed copy. The book will sell for $25, and the accompanying neighborhood map, created by Paula Kovarik, is $10. You can purchase both the book and map together for a discounted $30. All proceeds go to support our CY Community Association. Enjoy!
Preface from Cooper-Young: A Community that Works
In 1977, Peggy Jemison and Virginia Dunaway took on the task of writing the history of this neighborhood. Armed with tape recorders and searching for stories, they ventured into Clark’s Barber Shop, a well-known local hangout, near the corner of Cooper and Young. Jemison recalls, “The barber ( J. W. Clark) took one look at us and said, ‘Ladies, you’re too late. The neighborhood is gone.’”
Fast forward three decades: it’s a sunny spring Thursday in the early evening. The barber shop has been transformed into a bustling Mexican restaurant. Couples belly up to the bar for margaritas, and a salsa band sets up out on the outdoor patio. The intersection brims with restaurants serving seafood, sushi, and French country cooking. It’s CY Night Out—party night in Cooper-Young powered by a business association and grateful vendors up and down the street. Merchants pull out racks with their wares: lingerie, stained glass, chocolate, $100 blue jeans and $2 used books. Eateries move their tables to the sidewalk. Another band sets up by the gazebo to offer free music, which mixes with the noise of the night.
Down Oliver Avenue, past an Irish pub where the Waterboys blast their music and Guinness fans nurse their pints, sits Edna. Holding court from her front porch rocking chair, this spry lady of 90 spreads wisdom and gossip as she has done for over half a century. Monte and Jon, walking their new springer spaniel puppy, saunter over and sit a spell. Edna’s neighbor brings her a plate for supper, and the older lady gives her the third degree about the whereabouts of her three boys, whom she has watched grow up. Samantha and Jeremy next door bring over their new baby girl, Gabriella, for inspection. A cluster of kids hoot and holler on the Peabody School playground next to her house. A multiracial mix of teenagers jostles round a basketball hoop at the end of the block for a rowdy game of street ball.
Parking spots along the street fill quickly as folks pour in for the night’s festivities; locals follow on foot. Young artists transplanted from New York parade by with their toddlers in a psychedelically painted Radio Flyer wagon. A teenager in black with mohawk, nose-ring, and tribal tattoos crawling up both arms gives the group on the porch a furtive nod as he slinks by. Two young women cruising tandem on a bike stream past, their vintage petticoats billowing behind them like parachutes on their rusty retro Schwinn. It’s a walking, wonderful mix of a night in CY. Everyone and their mama is in motion. The block is rocking, as is most of the neighborhood these days.
For more than a century, the fortunes and fables of the area have ebbed and flowed with growth and contraction. From an area in freefall during the 70s, the Cooper-Young neighborhood has come back. Empty lots and houses are now filled and rebuilt. Property values have skyrocketed. Businesses vie for space along Cooper Street and Young Avenue. A neighborhood of aging residents has in stages become a Bohemian enclave, a flipper’s paradise, and lately a trendy haven for young professionals ripe with children. Through it all, it retains its status as a good place to live in the city of Memphis.
Its edges have changed over the years, but the Cooper-Young neighborhood (CY) is roughly bound by Central Avenue on the north, East Parkway on the east, Southern Avenue on the south, and McLean on the west. In the summer of 2010, there are about 1700 households and 5000 residents. It’s a tiny slice of a larger metropolitan Memphis of about one million people.
Here in 2010, life is good for those who live in CY. Peabody Elementary School has survived since 1910 and blossomed 100 years later. The area’s largest church—First Congregational—is alive with inspiration and opportunity. Specialty retail and restaurants dot the commercial corridor. The neighborhood remains a madhouse of renovation, and it’s rare to come across a non-renovated house in the neighborhood. CY retains a reputation for tolerance and diversity, welcoming all types and shapes and sorts of people.
A generous helping of public and private resources has led to the rebound of business and housing here. Public dollars have fueled big changes; private sweat has built great value. All of this has been elevated by the work of the three neighborhood groups: The Cooper-Young Community Association (CYCA), the CY Business Association (CYBA), and the CY Development Corporation (CYDC). Once again, as it was deemed to be in the first few decades of the last century, CY is seen as a good place to live, to play, to open a business, or to raise a family.
This book is a history of CY in two parts. The first part was commissioned by the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA) in the 1970s and written by Peggy Jemison and Virginia Dunaway. A copy published in 1980 is reprinted in its entirety here with three additions: headings to assist readers, photos to illuminate text, and essays—by decade— for historical context.
This original (MIFA) history covers the founding of the neighborhood up to the early 70s as the area teetered on the edge of ruin. As the largest social service organization in the entire region, MIFA was attempting to document and revive neighborhood development in Memphis. The original history laid out many of the reasons for CY’s initial boom, its subsequent decline, and tiny new signs of life.
The second part of this book is the next chapter in the history of CY written by Lisa Lumb and Jim Kovarik. It starts where the MIFA history stops in the 1970s and continues to 2010. This story starts with a neighborhood in decline and ends with a neighborhood on the rise and in full blossom with business booming and housing more valuable than ever in 2010.
This updated history was originally commissioned by Memphis Heritage and eventually published by the CYCA in 2010. Paula Kovarik at Shades of Gray, Inc. designed and produced the document (and the neighborhood map that accompanies this book). The entire project has been guided by the steadfast and shepherding hand of Emily Bishop, one of the stellar examples of an individual investor, talented volunteer, and dedicated resident whose stories are told in this book.
The story itself is the compilation of thousands of residents, owners, stakeholders, and strangers that have had their small role in the history of Cooper-Young. It is through the lives and stories of these folks that the history of Cooper-Young came to life and continues today.
Happily, the man in the barbershop who warned the original historians turned out to be wrong.

I was distressed to see online in your June LampLighter issue that one of John Gaisford’s beautiful buildings [the Union Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church on the corner of Union and Cooper] may be demolished to make way for a chain drugstore.

John Gaisford was the brother of my grandmother, and he was a well-respected architect. He was born the son of a carpenter and builder in Warminster, Wiltshire, England on October 6, 1875. In 1896, he immigrated to Memphis where he married twice and died on August 31, 1917. He was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Memphis. He was a prolific architect and built many churches and public buildings during his short career.

I hope your conservation lobby can save this church for posterity. Best wishes.

Martin Pomeroy

This letter was written in response to an article titled “Drugstores take over historic corners and neighborhoods have had enough” by Robert Tom which was published in the June LampLighter.

By John Kinsey

The Cooper-Young Community Association (CYCA) is not going bankrupt! I make this announcement because it has come to my attention that rumors to the contrary are beginning to surface. However, nothing could be further from the truth. We are led by a strong, dedicated board of directors, and our financial records and meeting minutes are open to the public for viewing. Our events continue to attract attendees and raise much of the money needed for our operations. Our newspaper, the LampLighter, continues to deliver news and ads monthly to over 3,000 households and businesses. We are a model for community associations nationwide.

Unfortunately, not all organizations promoting Cooper-Young can claim a healthy financial outlook. Due to economic setbacks the Cooper-Young Development Corporation (CYDC) is operating without paid staff and has limited operations at this time.

How do the CYCA, the CYBA, and the CYDC differ?

I know it can be confusing when all three community organizations use “Cooper-Young” in their names. Let me try to clarify.

The Cooper-Young Community Association (CYCA) is an alliance of residents and interested parties who work together to make our diverse and historic neighborhood a desirable and safe place to live, worship, work, and play. Our big events include the Art for Art’s Sake Auction, the Friday Festival 4 Miler, and the new, upcoming Regional Beer Festival.

The mission of the Cooper-Young Business Association (CYBA) is to reclaim the buildings, streetscapes, and businesses of the district in an effort to promote a better business climate and to promote the neighborhood as a desirable place to live, work, and patronize. Their big events include the CY Festival in September and CY Night Out on the first Thursday of each month.

The Cooper-Young Development Corporation (CYDC) is dedicated to sustaining and growing our neighborhood by actively building and advocating for a vibrant, affordable, and beautiful community environment. Their recent big project is housing on Seattle Street.

The CYCA is a stand-alone entity and is not part of the CYBA or the CYDC. We maintain separate mission statements, boards of directors, and office space. At one time we did share the 2298 Young Avenue location with the others, but since April we have owned the building and have been the only one of the three organizations housed there.

The CYCA is a robust organization and it will remain viable and strong into the future. Questions regarding the future of the CYDC can be addressed to the CYDC Board President, Reb Haizlip at reb@haizlipstudio.com.

By John Kinsey

In June, the CYCA board of directors accepted the resignation of two members: Susan Currier and Kyle Gowen. Kyle led the Safety Committee working with the MPD on National Night Out and on better ways to communicate safety news to CY residents. Susan served on the Membership Committee. We are sad to see them go and thank them for their service.

With their departure, your board is now down to 13 members and we are looking for new board member candidates. Please consider taking an active part in running your neighborhood. All you need is a love for Cooper-Young and a willingness to serve. We will gladly teach you the rest.

If serving on the board seems overwhelming or too large of a commitment, then consider serving on a committee. On the right hand bottom portion of this page you will find a listing of all of our committees.

What do you gain from serving your community? You’ll meet new people who share the same love of our eclectic neighborhood. You’ll learn more about the workings of Cooper-Young, the City of Memphis, and how the CYCA relates to other organizations. You’ll have a voice in events like the Art Auction, the 4-Miler race, National Night Out, the Volunteer Thank You Party, and General Meetings. You’ll be able to feel that you have made a difference in the lives of the 1,680 households in Cooper-Young.

For more information about the Board, contact us at info@cooperyoung.org.

In CY happiness,