From a recent community ride | Photo: JBA

Bikes unite: the 2nd annual Jackson Bike Advocates Epic Bike Weekend will be held over Memorial Day weekend, May 23-26. Four events, the Museum Movie Ride on Thursday, The Urban Champion Alleycat on Friday, all-weekend Polo on Saturday and Sunday and the Brunch Ride before polo on Sunday, are slated.

Epic Bike Weekend begins with the Thursday night ride to the Screen on the Green movie series hosted by the Mississippi Museum of Art in the Art Garden. The movie of the month is “The Pink Panther Strikes Again.”

Riders will meet in the parking lot of Rainbow Co-Op at Lakeland and Old Canton as they do for monthly community rides at 6pm. The group will return to Fondren once the movie has ended. There will be a cash bar. You’re also allowed to bring your own refreshments, dinner and picnic blankets.

The 3rd Annual JBA Urban Champion Alleycat will also start in the Rainbow Co-Op lot on Friday night. Registration opens at 6pm and the race starts at 6:30pm sharp. IN past years, alleycat races have had roughly 50 racers each from every different bicycle discipline like road, mountain, tri, bmx and fixed. Oragnizer Jeff Goodwin says “This is a serious race, but it can also be a lot of fun, so you don’t have to be a racer to compete.”

For those who do wish to show a competitive edge, there’s prize money up for grabs. 1st Place receives $125, 2nd Place gets $75, 3rd Place wins $50, First Female takes home $75, and, for the slackers in the group, DEAD LAST is awarded $25. There is no entry fee. Helmets and lights are strongly encouraged.

JXN Bike Polo joins the weekend with all day Saturday and Sunday hard court bike polo. The group is expecting clubs from Mobile and Memphis and hopefully Little Rock, New Orleans and beyond. This event is three weeks before regionals and JXN Bike Polo will have two courts of match play. JXN Bike Polo is played at Sykes Park in South Jackson beginning at 10am.

Finally, on Sunday morning, a leisurely ride will depart from Rainbow Co-Op’s parking lot at 9:30am for brunch. The group will travel to Julep in Highland Village at a leisurely pace and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow cyclists. Non-cyclists are welcome to join in!

The entire weekend is sponsored by Revolution, SkateMS, StudioChane, Find It In Fondren™ and BikeWalkMS. This weekend is for all bikes and riders. Every event is free and open to the public.

The weekend also coincides with National Bike Month. Sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists, NBM is an opportunity to celebrate the unique power of the bicycle and the many reasons we ride. Whether you bike to work or school; to save money or time; to preserve your health or the environment; to explore your community or get to your destination, get involved in Bike Month and help get more people in your community out riding too!

For more information as it develops, visit the Jackson Bike Advocates’ event page on Facebook.

History professor, hip-hop promoter and community warrior Garrad Lee was once a chef, cooking in restaurants in Jackson and Starkville. These days, cooking is a passion he shares with his wife and friends. On Saturday, May 11, friends – and total strangers – will be well fed with The Legend of Breakfast, a pop up event at Sneaky Beans Coffee Shop in Fondren. We sat down with Lee on the front porch at Sneaky Beans last night and talked jazz, potholes, the Bermuda Triangle. Oh, and breakfast…

The Legend of Breakfast: who comes up with these themes?
Ian Hanson who did the poster. Jesse had a Star Wars theme (with last weekend’s wildly popular “May The 4^thBe With You” Star Wars themed breakfast). Ian asked “What’s your theme?” I tell you, at one point, Byron was like “Hey, Jesse and them are doing a Star Wars theme…you guys maybe want to do a movie theme? How about Raiders of the Lost Ark?” I was like “Dude, shut up!” I told Nate that and that we should do Monkey Brains Benedict or something like that. I sent Ian the menu by email and he drew that character. It’s like part pig-part chicken-part cow. I’m not even going to try and combine it into one word. He sent me the flyer and said “Here’s this animal and we’ll call it the Legend of the Breakfast. I said “Cool.” I let the artistic guys handle that. So, really, I have no idea why he thought of that. I think he thought the character he drew was legendary, which it kind of is.

And you’re doing this weekend with Nate Ballard? Who is Nate?
In a previous life, I cooked in restaurants for 15 years or so. Nate and I cooked together for ten of those. Nate’s actually my all-time best friend. He’s considered one of the other brothers in my family. His twins are our God kids. We worked a little here, a little in Oxford. But it’s been over three years since we cooked together. He works now at Old Capitol Inn. He’s been there probably three years. The last time we worked together was at The Auditorium (Nathan Glenn’s former restaurant at Duling School). When I was in grad school the first year, I worked there and baked all the bread. I’d come in at 7 a.m. in the morning and bake. That reunited us working together. We did Bon Ami together for three years and several other places.

This menu looks amazingly good. What’s on tap for Saturday?
We have three hot items and two baked items. Oh, I have to mention my wife, Catherine. She’s in this this weekend, too. She is doing a coffee cake and lemon thyme scones.

Then there’s a taco: it’s a corn tortilla, chorizo, bell peppers and onions, scrambled eggs, queso fresco, roasted tomatilla and jalapeno salsa, and a lemon cilantro crema.

We’ve got cathead biscuits. Nate calls them “big as a cat head” biscuits. (Lee stretches his hands apart to demonstrate the size of the biscuit) That’ll be cut in half and we have pork loin medallions (fried, then smothered in onions and bell peppers with a creole brown gravy), then a scoop of homemade smoked Gouda pimento cheese. The side will be smoked Gouda pimento cheese grits.

Also, we’ve got whole wheat cottage cheese pancakes, homemade granola, Greek yogurt, sorghum and Louisiana strawberry vanilla compote.

How do you come up with this stuff?
Catherine and I cook at home. Most of that is just talking it out, planning meals for the week. She reads a lot of food blogs and we have a shelf full of cookbooks like Southern Living from the 70′s all the way up to the new Jamie Oliver books. We never cook from a recipe. We freestyle everything. Like the green chilies we did last time: I made a few notes while I did it, but I make my stuff different every time. I like to think of cooking like jazz. Not to sound pretentious of anything, but I try to make it different every time. It’s just ideas. Doing a menu for something like this; things just start coming together. I see it.

When Nate and I decided to do this, he came over one night and I was pumped. We hadn’t sat around and planned anything in a long time. We used to plan menus and specials. When we cooked together and lived together, we constantly had cookbooks in our laps, taking notes. Knowing he was coming over to plan this menu was exciting. We knew we were going to sit and drink beer for a few hours and plan this menu and it was going to be killer. And we did. We both spouted out ideas, cooked pieces of each and assembled them together. Everything is very simple. We have a great presentation, but it’s just good stuff.

These pop up events have been a huge success. I guess this is something that just keeps going?
The last one (Mom, My Breakfast Don’t Look Like It Used To)… that would have been at the end of January: we did it the first time as kind of an experiment, something Ian and I had been tossing around. It was our baby. He named it “Mom, My Breakfast Don’t Look Like It Used To.” We see this as the second installment of that. Byron loves it because it was an experiment that gave him great weekends. For this one, I wouldn’t have thought about it again for six months. Then Jesse came to Byron. It was actually built around that. Byron said, “Let’s use this as an opportunity to tag two more on that.” We had Nathan Glenn in mind (for May 18′s 5^th Floor Breakfast with Matt Jeffries) and knew Nate (Ballard) and I were going to do one together. I would imagine every few months or so, Byron’s going to want to do it. Especially after last weekend. This weekend won’t be big as last weekend (because, mainly, I’m not trying to cook that much food!). Definitely, thanks to him. This will be multiple, weird little things that we’ve come up with and he’s allowed us to do here. He’s always great about that. That’s why we keep doing stuff here. It’s not the greatest kitchen to cook in, but it’s worth it.

It’s a lot of work to put these on. This must be a labor of love for you?
We don’t make any money on this – the cooks don’t. We do it because it’s fun for us. At the end of the day, if it makes Byron whatever it makes him, that’s worth it to me. I can’t spend as much here as I made him. But it feels good to help him out. That’s what makes me happiest. And Ian, you’ve seen his posters? They’re amazing. He’s right up there with the top artists in Jackson. He does all that stuff for us for free. It’s a labor of love for him. It’s all about the love of it.

What makes Sneaky Beans such a special place to do this? Is it the center of the universe?
I tell people the Bermuda triangle of the Fondren underground is like here to Fondren Corner with Rooster’s and Chane to Morningbell. It forms this little triangle where the Jackson underground exists if there is an underground. It’s in a quirky neighborhood in this little quirky subsection hanging out in this general area. Ten years ago, you couldn’t go to a punk rock show, a folk show and go to the skateboard shop all within a couple blocks of each other. You can get coffee and tacos in between. That’s what us cool kids want: tacos, beer and hip hop. And coffee. And we get to do cool things here.

That’s the beauty of Jackson. The stuff we’re doing makes Jackson great. There are no potholes in community here. It’s solid. This stuff never happened before. We’re all making it happen. It’s cool to be part of it. I’m going to spend ten hours over the next two or three nights, getting up at 5am, frying pork at Old Capitol Inn. There’s definitely a part of me in it.

Who would have thought, after a day filled with the threat of rain, that the weather would have been perfect for the first ever Fondren After 5k, presented by liveRIGHTnow, Find It In Fondren™ and Fondren Reniassance?

Over 100 people ran a tree-lined course through the Cherokee Heights and Oak Dale neighborhoods of Fondren before finishing with the challenging hills of Old Canton Road. Runners began and ended their race outside of M!SO, soon to open on Duling Avenue, grabbing a free beer at the end and listening to Patrick Harkins play and sing.

Congratulations to Matthew Manning with an impressive time of 15:34, making him our overall winner and first place male. Anna Stevens was the first female across the line with a time of 23:39. More winners are posted here at liveRIGHTnowonline.com.

A very special thanks to Southern Beverage, Babalu Tacos & Tapas, Fleet Feet, Rod’s Racers, Studio Chane Screenprinting, Patrick Harkins, McDade’s and M!SO for making this new event during Fondren After 5 a rousing success.

See photos on our Facebook page!

Photos: Blaylock Fine Art Photography

After five years of running through Fondren, Bobby Moorehead says it’s still a beautiful race. He’s director for this weekend’s 5^th annual Cardinal Men’s Club Flight to the Finish 5k at St. Richard Catholic School. Organized by a group of parents who are runners, Flight raises funds for scholarship programs for the 60 year old school.

Founded in 2008, Flight to the Finish helps deserving children who otherwise could not afford to attend St. Richard. “The school gets a lot of kids from a lot of different places,” Moorehead explains. “It’s one of the best schools in town as far as having an identity that is more representative of our population.” So far, $12,000 in sponsorships have been pledged to this year’s race. “It’s all for a great purpose.”

The 3.1 mile course itself has been the subject of a lot of compliments. “Unlike some races you run,” Moorehead, says, “this is one that winds through a neighborhood with a lot of shade and it’s not too hilly.” Beginning at St. Richard Catholic School, the route takes runners to Meadowbrook Road before turning onto Oakridge Drive then Avondale before a long stretch on Hawthorn.

Another benefactor of the race’s proceeds? The Cardinal Men’s Club – but only so that they can in turn give back to the school. “When they renovated part of elementary building, we had to move the playground from the east side to the west side along Manhattan,” Moorhead tells us. “The men’s club put in manpower and rented equipment so the kids would have a place to play.” Other projects have included beautification and landscaping and a cleaning of the cafeteria, again, all for the school.

Moorehead says the more runners, the better. “I can’t stress enough how much the runners enjoy Fondren. It’s just a great course with tall tress and beautiful houses. You just don’t get a run like that every weekend.”

To register or pledge funds to the scholarship program, visit flighttothefinish.com.

The one-mile kids fun run is always a highlight of the event

From the presenters of fondRUN™ comes a brand new 5k race in Fondren.

Fondren After 5k, presented by liveRIGHTnow, Find It In Fondren™ and Fondren Renaissance, is May 2 at 6pm on Duling Avenue at State Street. Run or walk the challenging hills of the neighborhood and enjoy your “first round on the house” courtesy of Southern Beverage. Patrick Harkins will provide pre and post race music and Babalu will host after race drinks and dining.

Participants get a T-shirt and potential bragging rights on a new personal best.

Register for this race – which will be capped at 150 entrants – at liveRIGHTnowonline.com.

WHEN:  Thursday, May 2nd at 6PM
WHERE:  Duling Avenue at State Street
REGISTRATION FEE:  $20
(the first 150 registrants will receive a t-shirt but registration must be received prior to APRIL 24th to guarantee size)
AWARDS:  Overall Male and Female, Top 3 in Age Groups 19 and under, 20-29, 30-39, 40-40 and 50+

PACKET PICK UP will be at the Fondren Renaissance office located at 2906 N. State St., Suite 101 from NOON to 5pm on Thursday, May 2nd  and then on location at Duling Avenue and State Street from 5pm to 6pm.

Fondren Renaissance brings a talented array of water color and oil artists to their May show at The Cedars. Opening May 2, the show is entitled ‘Mississippi Colorists’ and will feature artists Bob Pennebaker, Sammy Britt, Gerald DeLoach, Richard Kelso, David Taylor, Melanie Atkinson, Susan Russell, Diane Bryan, Robin Whitfield and Julie McCartney.

The reception from 5pm to 8pm is free and open to the public. A portion of all of the proceeds from sales of artists’ work goes to the continuing maintenance and restoration efforts of The Cedars, Jackson’s oldest residential home circa 1840.

The Cedars is located at 4145 Old Canton Road and parking is conveniently available across the street at St. Andrew’s Lower School. A security crossing guard is available during opening receptions.

Mississippi Colorists will hang through May 31, 2013. Gallery hours are Tue- Fri, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, call Kay Holloway at 601.366.5552

Update: Photos from the opening

Rooster’s restaurant in Fondren Corner hosted a fundraiser for the family of slain JPD Detective Eric Smith and raised $6,529. The Sunday event featured pulled pork, red beans and rice and baked chicken, Grady Champion and band on stage in the middle of State Street and a community that came together to honor and pay tribute to one of Jackson’s finest.

For photos, visit our Facebook page.

Cyclists: this is your weekend! Even if you don’t ride, Bike Walk Mississippi and The Jackson Bike Advocates (JBA) invites you to take part in two events – one on Friday and the other on Saturday.

On Friday night, JBA will host their monthly community ride. Riders are asked to meet promptly at 6pm and be ready to go due to a tighter schedule. The group will be biking around Jackson with a rest stop at Basil’s Belhaven/904 then back to Cups for live music. Non-cyclists are always welcome to come and hang out at stops and learn more about JBA. The ride is at a leisurely pace. Helmets are required and lights are strongly advised.

On Saturday, Jackson Streets Alive will shut down Congress Street between Amite and Capitol downtown from 11am – 4pm for a variety of cycling and physically-focused events. Known in some parts of the world as a Ciclovia, Jackson’s incarnation is part of a nationwide movement to temporarily close streets to automobile traffic. The goal is to get people to use them for walking, bicycling, dancing, playing, and socializing. Sponsored by Bike Walk Mississippi, Bikes Belong and local businesses and partners, it is the goal of Jackson Streets alive to provide a space to make active living an easy, accessible and enjoyable part of life in Mississippi.

Melody Moody, president of Bike Walk Mississippi, Jackson Streets Alive is an attempt to reach people beyond the cyclist. She adds that Bike Walk hopes to replicate the event all over the state.

During Saturday’s free event (being held rain or shine), you’ll find bike maintenance, helmet fittings and bike safety information. Festival goers will enjoy non-cycling activities like roller-skating, relay races, free classes in dance, Zumba, yoga, and Pilates, face painting, interactive games, skateboarding and more.

Food trucks LurnyD’s Grille and Garden to Fire Pizzas will be on hand for nourishment and musically speaking, a full slate of Jackson’s best will play the Smith Park stage. Hear Mark Roemer at 11am, Buddy & The Squids at noon, Southern Komfort Brass Band at 1pm, 5th Child & Cody Cox at 2pm and AJC & The Envelope Pushers at 3pm.

According to Wikipedia, in Bogotá, Colombia where the practice originated, their weekly ciclovías are used by approximately 2 million people (30% of citizens). In the United States, Cambridge, Massachusetts, has opened Memorial Drive to only bicycle and pedestrian traffic on Sundays from April to November since 1976 and Wayne County Michigan has been holding ciclovias for 30 years.

Stay up-to-date with their Facebook event page.

Visitors to 205 Glenway in Woodland Hills this weekend will get a taste of what Fondren offers for interior design, art and style. The former home of June and Harper Stone is on loan for the Fondren Renaissance Taste of Fondren Show House, presented by St. Dominic’s. And the man pulling it all together is Buddy Graham. The 72 year-old interior designer was the owner of design firm Navarro McLean until he retired in 2009. These days, he can be found involved in philanthropic endeavors like the show house, where he serves as design coordinator.

Chosen to make connections with his friends and neighbors in the design world, Graham calls the ‘Taste’ house a challenge. “There are many things here that are more traditional, but it’s been fun to see how the designers have approached the project,” he tells us. Graham participated in a similar decorating opportunity “quite a number of years ago”called the Funky Fondren showcase houses. But this one, he explains, is different. “We have one room that just screamed that it had to be traditional. It looks like it could have been here all along. Other rooms, you find a nice juxtaposition of transitional and more modern.” From very ornate to very clean lined styles, the home is a microcosm of Fondren itself.

Artwork that adorns many rooms and hallways is from Fischer Galleries and Browns Fine Art. Traditional themed rooms like the study decorated by Barry Plunkett of Belgique and Interiors Market are contrasted by the modern contemporary stylings of Anthony Ritter and his team at Glo. And a garden decorated by The Everyday Gardener is just steps from Nancy Price’s dining room. To showcase so much talent from one neighborhood, in one house, is no accident.

“If you look in the Yellow Pages and look for interior designers,” Graham says, many of them are here in Fondren.” The former two-term Fondren Renaissance board President says it’s like no where else. “We, as Fondren Renaissance, are happy we’re able to represent these people and bring focus to our community. It’s so unique for the state and the City of Jackson.”

And Fondren continues to be a neighborhood that invites fresh talent. The first galleries, even businesses like Graham’s former firm, date back to the early 60′s. “Because of that initial development, it’s drawn others,” he explains. “I tell you what it is: Fondren got organized. Because potential business people saw there would be a community promoting itself, then they saw it as a promotion for them. That’s what it boils down to. And that’s what we’re doing this weekend.”

Visit the Taste of Fondren Show House  presented by St. Dominic’s at 205 Glenway in Woodland Hills Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 19-21, with entry times Friday and Saturday 10-4 and Sunday 1-4. Admission is $10 or free with your Taste of Fondren ticket.

Designers and Galleries: Buddy Graham, Design Coordinator • Celia Barrett Design • Belgique • Glo / Anthony Ritter Designs • Everyday Gardner • Joan Hawkins Interiors • Mosaic / Courtney Peters Interior Design • Nancy Price Interiors • Sarah Jones Interiors • St. Martin’s Gallery • Brown’s Framing And Fine Art • circa. Urban Artisan Living • Fischer Galleries • Fondren Art Gallery

by Jim Wilkirson, Fondren Renaissance Executive Directo

Fondren Renaissance is pleased to announce a new event, Taste of Fondren, to be held on Thursday evening, April 18. Presented by Regions Bank, this ticketed evening will benefit the continuing arts and education efforts of the foundation and will highlight “all things Fondren.” This nighttime event will take place at Fondren Corner where guests will be invited to take to the streets to enjoy the best of all that Fondren has to offer. Area restaurants will be presenting their favorite and most sought after dishes paired with the latest innovative cocktail and beer offerings from local area providers.

Entertainment for the evening will be the big band sounds of a Capital City Stage Band combo. Keeping with the mission of raising funds for arts and education programs, the highlight of the evening will be participation of all Fondren-area schools in a student hung clothesline art show. Strung in an arts festival atmosphere, guests will be able to view the newly created works by students of Boyd Elementary, the Education Center, St. Andrew’s Elementary and St. Richard’s Catholic School. Thursday night’s Taste begins at 6 and continues until 9.

Following Thursday evening’s “Taste,” ticket holders will also be able to take part in the St. Dominic’s Taste of Fondren Show House located in Woodland Hills at the historic former home of June and Harper Stone. This Georgian home built in the 1930’s was designed by architect A. Hayes Town and lovingly restored by the Stone’s and previous owner Caroline Vaughan Goodman. Guests will be treated to a tour of this impressive home filled with furniture, artwork and accessories from Fondren area interior designers and galleries.

This will be a rare treat offering ticket holders not only a glimpse of the incredible architecture afforded in this home, but also the vast array of talented Fondren interior designers and gallery owners presenting a modern staging at this iconic and historic address in the heart of Fondren. Dates for the show house are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 19-21 with entry times Friday and Saturday 10-4 and Sunday 1-4.

Purchase advance tickets for Taste of Fondren for $50 at fondren.org; this ticket includes an entry to the Taste Show House. A limited amount of “at the door” tickets will be available for $65. A “show house only” ticket is available for $10.

Arts and education projects funded from the proceeds of Regions’ Taste of Fondren will include in-school arts instruction for students of Boyd Elementary, the summer scholarship art camps at The Cedars, an October cooperative student art exhibition among students from the public school system, as well as efforts in arts and music The Cedars affords the public free of charge throughout the year.