Blogs

Volunteers finished installing a low water crossing on the Blue Trail in record time on July 26. The project, originally planned for two days, was completed Saturday with the hard work of some tough volunteers. Special thanks go out to Brad Corey, Mid-South Trails Association, and Peggy Hart, Brynda Read, Wes Mueller and Nathan Lubin from the Shelby Farms Equestrian Alliance.

County Commission Committee 9 passed the Shelby Farms Park Master Plan yesterday, recommending it to the full County Commission. Many commissioners complemented the plan, the presentation and the process.  They also gave us some valuable feedback and comments.  The Master Plan will go before the full County Commission for a vote on Monday, August 4.  

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and when the new trail head and parking area open at the Germantown Road entrance to the Lucius Burch Natural Area on Monday (June 30), you’ll fall in love all over again. The lot is closed for the weekend, so please make your way to one of several other entrances to the trails for your weekend trail adventures. I recommend jumping in at one of the levees off Moore Road or perhaps at the trail head near the Walnut Grove Road bridge. Have a great weekend!

Marianna, Arkansas is a classic southern, two-stoplight town—an unlikely clump of civilization in a sea of farmland. Acres of crops and trees reach in every direction to form rare 360 degree vistas uninterrupted by city life. I’m a city girl, but I get homesick for the bean fields and dirt roads of my hometown. It’s serenity defined. But this little community is anything but sleepy, and that’s because my mom keeps it all shook up.

She can be seen every Halloween doing karate kicks on our front porch in full Elvis Presley regalia—white sequined jumpsuit, wig, sideburns, and guitar—with crowds of neighborhood kids doubled over in laughter. She might be the last true Elvis fanatic, but she’s raising a new generation of little Elvis-lovers in her four-year-old preschool classroom at Lee Academy in Marianna. She’s also teaching them about Shelby Farms Park. Her children were shocked to learn A) what a buffalo is and B) that we’ve got ‘em. The kids have lakes, fields, trees, wildlife, gardens, horses and trails at their back doors and probably don’t yet realize how extraordinary that is. But they don’t have buffalo, and they wanted one.

A what?

Have you ever grabbed a piece of trash on a trail or sidewalk while you were jogging or moved a sluggish turtle across a busy road? Pat yourself on the back. Those are random acts of eco-kindness. I’m borrowing the term from ESPN Outdoors journalist Gregg Patterson, who celebrated Earth Day by planting an oak seedling at Shelby Farms Park. You can read about his experience and his thoughts on tree planting here.

Dear Earthians,

This Sunday I'm playing some music at the Earth Day festivities in Memphis. Some of you might be asking yourself a lot of questions right now. Let's field a few real quick:

1) Um, who are you? Who am I? What am I doing here?
Great, good. I'm Chris Milam. I'm a singer/songwriter in Nashville. I'm originally from Memphis. I'm traveling from Nashville to Memphis to play some music at the Earth Day. This is happening on Sunday afternoon. It'll be funsies.

2) "Where can I learn more about the Earth Day festivities in Memphis?"
Well, you can go HERE for starters.

On my 79th birthday, I would like to spend the day reading a book, watching CNN and maybe telling boring stories about parks to loved ones. Same thing I did for my 24th birthday…

At the annual City Slicker Endurance Ride on March 16 at the park, one tough guy celebrated his 79th birthday by completing his 10,000th mile on horseback in endurance competition right here at Shelby Farms Park.

Hey, park fans. Spring is nigh, and the weather is alternately glorious and horrible, which means I must be in Memphis. Now, I'd like to share something with you. I have the uncanny ability to avoid all weather forecasts. Though I may look foolish walking through the rain without an umbrella or tromping through snow in my flip-flops, rest assured that it's a always a perfectly cool fall day in my head.

Famed American photographer Ansel Adams once said "A good photograph is knowing where to stand." Any paparazzo worth his or her wide angle lens would tell you the same. Perspective can make or break a photo. Let's be real with each other-if it's a poignant picture you're looking to grab, you can't just sit around wait for Kodak moments.

There are currently three very large and very heavy architectural models in route to Memphis as I type this. And depending on where you stand and how firmly your shoes are tied, these designs could really knock your socks off.