The Beale Street Flippers began humbly in 1987 when a six year old Rarecas Bonds was dancing on Beale Street and someone yelled, “do a flip!” So he did, and the gathering crowd loved it. “I always did flips. It ran in my family,” he explains. The compact and playful Bonds had found his calling and over the years gathered a small band of boys – some family, some friends – to join in his dare devil group. They have become a Memphis institution and an invaluable staple of the famed entertainment street.

Both Dr. Berry and his partner at the Breast Clinic, Dr. Susan Hoover, are certified breast surgical oncologists – a specialization that is uncommon, but highly needed, in Memphis. “It’s a prevalent cancer, and, to be honest, not all surgeons want to take the time or have the emotional strength to tackle this disease,” he says. Dr. Berry has grown his seven year old practice into a unique and comprehensive resource for women, providing a “one stop” service for breast health. “We hope women can come here as a one stop shop, working with one expert to analyze, do imaging, diagnose, and administer treatment.”

The work is difficult and emotionally taxing, but Dr. Berry shows no signs of slowing. “We love what we do, taking care of the patients.” He and Dr. Hoover serve on the American Cancer Society and Komen Foundation board of directors, respectively, allowing them even greater involvement in the battle against the disease. Join them on the front lines this month, Breast Cancer Awareness month, and do your part in saving the lives on women.
 

What’s the best thing about wearing a skirt? It beats wearing pants!

Ceylon is a human rights activist whose volunteering and defense of peace has led him to Iraq twice, Palestine four times and “to jail a couple dozen times,” he says. That’s the kind of attitude you’d expect from an original member of Pezz, a punk band staple of the Memphis music scene for the past 20 years. But behind Ceylon’s playful irreverence is a true commitment to his community as well as a continued enthusiasm for music. “I played my first show with Pezz June 11, 1990… I still can't wait to play,” he says of his extended run with the band, for which he now plays drums. Ceylon and Pezz continue their trend of giving back on May 9, serving as a headlining act for the annual music festival benefit “Bands not Bombs.” All proceeds from the outdoor concert, held in the Cooper Young neighborhood, will go to the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. “I’m just trying to leave the world a better place than I found it.”

What's the best thing about wearing a skirt? Being objectified most tastefully.

What’s the best thing about skirt! magazine? Seeing other men objectified most tastefully.

It’s an icy weekday, but no way is Jacob taking a day off. In his cozy, shabby office, he’s getting ready for a trip to Washington, DC: “Someone has to push on President Obama and our representatives to keep in mind the interests of people back in their districts” when it comes to health care, immigration reform and worker justice, among other issues. As executive director of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, Jacob is as comfortable with traditional community organizing—he’s pictured here supervising cooking for Food Not Bombs, a weekly feeding program for homeless people—as he is with less traditional ways to “address the greatest form of violence in our community: poverty.” Especially close to his heart is GrowMemphis, a network of community gardens in poor neighborhoods he hopes will grow by five (from six) over the next year. “People need a way to lift themselves up and empower themselves.”

The best thing about wearing a skirt? “The smile it brings to people’s faces.”

The best thing about reading skirt!? “I like the graphic presentation.”

“I always knew I wanted my own place,” says Ike, taking a quick breather after a busy lunch rush at his original Fresh Slices café and deli in the Evergreen neighborhood in Midtown. This former chef (Pyrenees, the Four Flames) and restaurant operations expert (for Bennigan’s) is taking his vision for good food at a good value across the city—he has recently opened two new Fresh Slices outposts, one in Cordova and one in Bartlett. The expansive menu will stay the same—don’t miss the salmon Caesar salad and the Chickamauga sandwich. Ike says he’ll never lose his commitment to making his restaurants like the friendly corner grocery stores he remembers from his childhood in South Memphis. “I don’t want to just be a restaurant; I want to reach out to the neighborhood.”

The best thing about wearing a skirt? “The freedom!”

You might be able to tell from the tie that Bob was once a banker, and a successful one at that. But at the start of his banking career, he says, he was lucky enough to be “loaned” to United Way, and that is how he found himself leading The Community Foundation, the largest grant-maker in the city. Made up of funds from donors across the area, the Community Foundation makes nearly 6,400 grants to charities that serve needs from housing to the arts (a study funded by them helped pave the way for the new Playhouse on the Square being built in Midtown). Taught by his parents’ example (his dad was the first leader of the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, his mom a teacher), he realized in his banking career, “dollars aren’t enough.” What makes him happy now? “Doing what our donors want us to do, and responding to the needs of the community.”

The best thing about wearing a skirt? “It attracts attention, and I’m into anything that attracts attention to the community or philanthropy.”

He can’t quite remember everything that happened at first Blues Ball, back in 1994--”I was a tad wilder then than I am now”--but Jon, head of the Memphis chapter of the National Academy of Reocrding Arts and Sciences (the Grammys), definitely remembers what the money raised at Pat Kerr Tigrett’s annual music-themed extravaganza has done for Memphis musicians.  Since the Blues Ball began (it celebtates 15 on September 27), the Memphis Charitable Foundation has donated more than $1 million to charities that range from St.

Whether you’re visiting his sleek, modern Encore Restaurant or ordering up a party from Entourage, his nearly year-old catering venture, be assured that the food you order from Master Chef José Gutierrez is his alone. The much-honored chef (who came to Memphis in 1983 as the Chef de Cuisine at Chez Philippe in The Peabody) isn’t content to let someone else work the stove. "I’m a cook; it’s what I love," he says.

It’s been a rainy week, but this morning the sun is out, the air is warming and the look on Jason Potter’s face says it’s about time.  As he navigates the obscure passageways of AutoZone Park, it’s clear he loves his job as Marketing Director for the Memphis Redbirds, juggling decisions about everything from billboards to bobbleheas.  Jason grew up in Memphis, a fan of the St.

It’s probably no surprise that the home of Hattiloo Theatre, the year-old black repertory company started by Ekundayo Bandele (Ek, for short) and named for his two daughters, is in a neighborhood called the Edge. As in the edge of Downtown, but in a larger sense, Ek and Hattiloo are at the edge of the area’s arts renaissance, and going strong.

You’d recognize that voice anywhere: Teamed with longtime partner Karen Perrin on powerhouse FM-100 from the ungodly hour of 5 am until 10 am weekdays, Ron Olson keeps things interesting and well, you never know what he’ll say, which is, of course, what makes a DJ worth listening to.