By Kristan Huntley
The competition for the block with the most pop tabs is on again this year, and the competition is shaping up to be fierce! For those who are new, this Cooper-Young block competition is in support of Ronald McDonald House’s Pop-Tab-Palooza campaign. Each year, residents all throughout the neighborhood collect pop tabs and then bring them to the Cooper-Young Community Association booth the day of Festival to be counted in the total for their block. Once the Festival is over and all the pop tabs are counted, the many (many!) bags of pop tabs are dropped off at the Ronald McDonald House and the funds from recycling the tabs go to the charity.
So, how can you join the competition? Well, first start saving those pop tabs! Collect them from your family, co-workers, or even pick them up off the sidewalk if you like. On the day of the Cooper-Young Festival, place them all in a resealable bag and bring them to the CYCA booth (located near Sweet Grass). From there, volunteers will count the tabs and the official results will be announced in the October LampLighter. The winning block will be awarded $100 (generously provided by a wonderful CY resident) for use during the National Night Out party in October. Last year’s winning block was from Evelyn. Can another block step up and take the title of pop tab champion this year?

By Kristan Huntley
This year we have a very special guest race starter for the 20th running of the Cooper-Young Festival Friday 4 Miler. We are proud to announce that Mayor AC Wharton will be on hand to signal the official start of the race! We are honored he will be in attendance on this special year of the race. Please come out and show your support for the race participants and give them, as well as Mayor Wharton, a very warm Cooper-Young welcome.

By Mary Cashiola

The City of Memphis has identified the following organizations to provide temporary overnight shelter to our homeless citizens during the current extreme heat conditions.
•    Single ladies should contact The Salvation Army at (901) 543-8586.
•    Single men should contact Memphis Union Mission at (901) 526-8434.
•    Families should contact The Emergency Housing Assistance Hotline at (901) 260-4663.

The Memphis Union Mission will also operate daytime cooling centers at 600 Poplar Avenue for both men and women (open until 4pm each day) and at 383 Poplar for men only (open until 7:30pm).

All of the above will remain in effect until the area heat advisory has been lifted.

By Barb Elder

According to cyclememphis.com there will be monthly group bike rides on the first Saturday of each month. If you would like to participate, show up at the CY gazebo at the corner of Cooper and Young at 8pm. The next ride is scheduled for August 6, and everyone is welcome to participate. For more information, check out their Facebook page.

By Jeff Huelett

There are two free programs offered by The Church Health Center that you will want to be sure to put on your summer calendars! We are offering a class called Love Your Heart: Controlling Hypertension every first Wednesday of the month. The next classes will be held on Wednesday, August 3 and Wednesday, September 7 at Church Health Center Wellness, 1115 Union Ave. In addition, The Church Health Center and MIFA will host a farmers market from 10am to 2pm every Tuesday through Labor Day at Church Health Center Wellness, 1115 Union Ave. For more information about either of these opportunities call (901) 259-4673 or visit ChurchHealthCenter.org.

By Toby Sells

Start at East Parkway and run east on Summer Avenue. Pass the funky car lots, Tops Bar-B-Q, the thrift stores, TJ Maxx, Kroger, Central BBQ, and stop just past Ike’s. Knock out the turns and this run is the same distance as the Cooper-Young Festival Friday 4 Miler.
Runners from all over the Memphis area have sprinted, strode, sweat, and kicked through that distance in Cooper-Young every year since 1992, when George H. W. Bush was President and Aladdin topped Hollywood. In those 20 years, the 4 Miler has become a major fundraiser for the Cooper-Young Community Association and a premiere event on the Memphis running scene.

Brent Manley called the Festival Friday 4 Miler one of the top races on the Memphis Runners Track Club (MRTC) calendar for a couple of reasons. “It’s a departure from the usual 5K, with a scenic course through a historic neighborhood,” said Manley, editor of MRTC’s newsletter, The Roadrunner. “Even better, it’s part of a big outdoor party that runners’ families can enjoy when the racing is done.”

This year the post-race party will have music by the Memphis Snake Doctors, food from Camy’s Pizza and Easy Way, and beer from Coors Lite. Lots of races have parties, but what the Festival Friday 4 Miler has that most races don’t is Cooper-Young residents, according to Star Ritchey, owner of Star Runners, a Cooper-Young-based running program. “People come out of their houses and support the runners. When you pass Celtic Crossing, Young Avenue Deli and Cafe Ole, people on their patios scream and cheer,” said Ritchey. “That’s super-motivating, especially for a beginning runner.”

About three miles into the Festival Friday 4 Miler route, lives one of the many Cooper-Young neighbors that embody Ritchey’s sentiment. Wayne Young and Salli Scott Young keep it pretty simple at their Neighbors Light the Way party on Nelson with food, friends, drinks, music, and cheering on runners. But they’d never miss the 4 Miler because for them it’s like Christmas. “It’s one time when all of our friends come together for a great event,” Wayne said.

“Everybody loves the Festival, and it’s a good way to get our friends to come to CY for a visit. It’s just a great time.”
For runners, the event will have bib-tag timing (so, no chips to cut off at the finish line) and a long-sleeve, Dri-Balance running shirt with a new, classic logo.

Registration for the Festival Friday 4 Miler is now open and can be accessed online at cooperyoung.org. The entry fee is $25 (with a $2.50 registration fee). Early packet pickup will be available on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday before the race. Times and locations will be available online soon. You can also register on the day of the race (September 16) at Bluff City Sports at 769 Cooper beginning at 10am. Day-of registration is $30.

By Emily Bishop

Have you registered for the Festival Friday 4 Miler yet? I’m sure you are planning to do that soon, or maybe you are the kind who likes to wait until the last minute. Nevertheless, this past month the first online registrations began to trickle in. In fact Jon Carroll was the first person to register for the race. And in honor of the race’s 20th anniversary we would like to get to know Jon. We know all runners have a story – a reason why they come out, sweat, and support the CYCA. Here’s what Jon had to say about the reason he runs and the reason he participates in the Cooper-Young Festival Friday 4 Miler.

I am 34-years-old and have been running for most of my life. I ran cross country in high school, but I only made the team because they needed a fifth to qualify in events. After high school I ran occasionally. That changed at age 30 when my wife kicked me in the butt and told me to start getting in shape because she wanted me to be around to see our son grow up. So, I started running again and promptly lost 40 pounds.

Last year was actually the first time I ran the 4 Miler. Heck, last year was the first time I ran any race since high school due to the long-time restriction on headphone usage. I openly admit to finding running boring and do it mostly to stay in shape and counteract my love of food. In order to combat the boredom, I listen to music and various pod casts while I run. Although I do have a modicum of speed, I am by no means a speed demon and run races for the camaraderie, and oh yeah, the T-shirts. Due to lack of speed, I don’t win anything except an occasional placing in my age bracket in small events (Yeah Meowathon!).

I would describe the 4 Miler as fun, quick, and enjoyable. For those used to a 5K, it is a transition as your body may want to start gearing down and cross the finish when you still have another mile to go. The spectators who line the 4 Miler course crack me up! It is great to see the community spirit both along and within the race. From a technical standpoint, the course is flat and easy, and I like the finish off the corner with a brief straightaway. It was a deeply enjoyable race, and I plan to do it again every year possible.

Register online at cooperyoung4miler.racesonline.com

By Libby Flynt

One reason that Cooper-Young is the best neighborhood in town is that its residents consistently turn out to support these historic blocks. As you probably know, CY has its own Festival and race. But what residents may not realize is that a large percentage of the 2000 runners who participate in the race do not live in our neighborhood, or even our city or state. Some of us run these streets on our daily jogs with no one cheering us on, but the Festival Friday 4 Miler is our chance to show out-of-towners and non-CY Memphians how awesome our neighborhood is and how fiercely we support it’s excellence!

We want to show every runner, whether they have lived in Cooper-Young for 25 years or had to use their navigation to get to the race, how proud we are of our neighborhood. The most thrilling part of a race is running past strangers who are waving, cheering, and having a great time on the sidelines. If we can create a constant stream of cheerleaders along the race route, our runners will cross the finish line feeling like champions, will have an even better time at the post-race party, and will go home telling all their friends what a lively neighborhood we are.

Are you ready to show that neighborhood pride? Step one, take a look at the race route map on this page and see if runners will be footing it down your street. Chances are in this neighborhood, if the race doesn’t pass your home, you probably are friends with someone along the route.

Step two, parties are more fun to throw when you partner up and divide the work. Start talking to your friends and neighbors now and see what sort of creative ideas surface – themes, costumes, decorations, you name it. Block captains along the route may want to spearhead efforts in their section of the community. And for those who want to be involved but may be new to the neighborhood or looking to meet new people, head to the CY Festival 4 Miler Facebook page, post your interest on the wall, or connect with others who have posted. See you out on the streets Friday, September 16!

By Anthony Siracusa

This year, the Memphis Hightailers have agreed to donate all of the proceeds from their largest ride of the year – The Bluff City Blues 100 – to bicycling and walking advocacy in Memphis!

This is a huge step towards making Memphis into a bike and pedestrian friendly city, so let’s show the Hightailers how much we appreciate their support by volunteering at their upcoming “Red, White and Blue” club ride on July 2.

The Hightailers need us to provide at least 6 volunteers for the event to help with the rest area, the finish area, registration, the refresh area along the route, and the post-ride party. Volunteers are need from 7:30am until noon.

Please contact Ms. Alicia Cobbs from Livable Memphis at (901) 725-3124 or info@livablememphis.org if you can help out.

Thanks in advance for helping make Memphis into a wonderful place for biking and walking!

By Laura Johnson

Other than the appearance of Cooper-Young 4 Miler runner Richard Coletta, a lot has changed since the first race in 1992. We no longer have to worry about the CD in our Discman skipping while we run; we now have our entire music collection available on a device smaller than a beeper. In 1992, no one could post a note on Facebook and instantly let thousands of people know that they just passed the 3 mile marker. In the beginning things were quite different.

Former Cooper-Young Community Association President, Richard Coletta, said, “The first year was very challenging. It was the first time we attempted this kind of fundraiser.” He and another CY resident and running enthusiast, Tim Thomas, had an “ah-ha” moment standing at the corner of Cooper and Young. In that moment they came up with the unique features of the race. First, it would be held on the Friday night coinciding with the Festival; and second, a night race would allow for the creation of a distinctive post-race party.

The first race attracted around 200 runners, who celebrated afterward with pizza from Coletta’s Restaurant and beer provided by the Festival vendor. Steve Bishop’s band entertained the crowd and continued to play for the next four post-race parties. The race committee was then approached by Rodney Nash to see if he could play. Coletta said, “It was definitely nice to have people coming to us to be involved.” Camy’s Pizza, Easy Way, and Outback Steakhouse have been major contributors to the post-race party over the years. In fact, countless loyal sponsors have made this entire event possible, with some, such as National Economy Plumbers, Schwartz Electric, and Sowell and Co. Realtors (just to name a few), supporting the CYCA from almost the beginning.

One humorous memory that Coletta shared about the 4 Miler involved a food fight that resembled a scene from the movie Hook. Those involved will certainly remember the event. The post-race party was being held on Young down the street from a vacant building. There was a surplus of fruit leftover, and the organizers started a fruit throwing contest at the vacant building. Coletta explains, “It must have been a release of energy. We had been working so hard on the race and needed to let loose. We got to a ‘that’s enough’ moment when we realized that it was shameful, because we had just been trying to get people to behave.”

Since CY has a large artist community, it only made sense to feature a piece of art on the signature race T-shirt. According to Coletta, the T-shirts were a nightmare the first year. Over time and with the help of Bluff City Sports, the popular race T-shirt has become much less stressful. A very important accomplishment of this year’s race committee and the CYCA Board is that the artwork is finalized. This is the earliest in the year that it has ever been completed. For a sneak peak look carefully at the cover photo of Coletta holding the artwork.

The four mile route around CY has changed to give different blocks the opportunity to hold “Neighbors Light the Way” parties to support the runners. Coletta worked with the Memphis Track Runners Club the first year to figure out a race route that was the correct distance. The changing route has also coincided with the changing location of the post-race party; as participation grew they needed to find larger spaces to hold the event.

This past year over 1800 people ran the race. All of the hard work from those who were involved with the race in its inception has paid off in a big way. The funding that the CYCA receives from the race each year is turned into services and support for CY residents, truly making the neighborhood a better place to live, work, worship, and play.

While a lot has changed since 1992, a few things have remained the same – Cooper-Young neighbors still pull together to put on an exciting and unique race to raise funds and to kick off the Festival weekend.