Mornin’, Memphis! It’s Monday, May 12, and it’s an exciting day in the ’burbs if you like numbers. The Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen will be discussing the city budget, and the Collierville BMA is talking tax rates. For those of us who don’t like math, these sound more like “bored” meetings, am I right?

Anywho, for a look at some very not-boring stuff coming up (spoiler alert: barbecue wars are back), check out This Week in Memphis.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Significant work on the FedExForum renovations is expected to take place during the Memphis Grizzlies’ 2025-2026 offseason. (The Daily Memphian file)

Who will design FedExForum’s reno? The architect chosen to lead the early design work on FedExForum’s $550 million renovation hails from our rival barbecue city. The Memphis and Shelby County Sports Authority voted last week to allocate $2 million for Kansas City-based Populous Architects. Populous has worked on stadium renovations around the country and did some early work on the Memphis NBA renovation. 

Ethan Edwards is the owner of The Station, a locally owned liquor store under construction in the former Bed, Bath & Beyond space at 870 S. White Station Road. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)

It’s no two-buck chuck, but … The former Bed Bath & Beyond on White Station Road will not be a Trader Joe’s, despite the rumors. Instead, locally owned liquor store The Station will open there this summer, and owner Ethan Edwards hopes you’re not too disappointed. Sure, a place inside The Loop to stock up on Cookie Butter and Candy Cane Joe Joe’s would be amazing. (Are you listening, TJ’s?) But Edwards says The Station, with its planned wine- and beer-tasting bars and other unique features, won’t be your average liquor store. “We may not be a Trader Joe’s, but we’re 100% Memphis. And we’re proud of that,” he said. (Now, if only he could stock that Charles Shaw wine.)

This year, Riverbeat organizers moved the main Orion Financial Stage to the front of Tom Lee Park. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Riverbeat beat last year: All that time you spent waiting in beer lines at Riverbeat Music Festival was due to higher attendance this year. Riverbeat boasted larger crowds, higher revenue and much higher beer sales in its second year, which the fest’s organizers — Mempho Presents — say was partly due to the number of free tickets given out. Oh, and if you tried to buy a Saturday ticket on the day of the show and were met with a sold-out message, there’s a reason for that; and it wasn’t due to a sell-out. 

MEET MEMPHIS

Eric Daniels, a combat veteran, is one of more than 2,700 students who received a diploma from the University of Memphis on Saturday, May 10. (Courtesy Eric Daniels)

Eric Daniels graduated from the University of Memphis on Saturday. He’s 39 years old. Daniels didn’t follow the traditional path of starting college right after high school because he didn’t believe he was “capable or smart.” The son of blue-collar construction workers who also didn’t attend college, it just wasn’t something Daniels thought he’d do. Instead, he enlisted in the United States Marines and served in Afghanistan until 2014. But when he tried to move up in the security company where he worked, post-military, he was told he’d need a degree. So, he went all in on the traditional college experience at a very nontraditional age. Geoff Calkins has that story. 

THE NICE TO KNOW

The Central High jazz band won first place at the Essentially Ellington contest in New York. (Courtesy Leia Spengler Baker)

They are the champions: The Daily Memphian’s Geoff Calkins has been following the story of the Central High School jazz band, which back in January was invited to compete in the prestigious Essentially Ellington band contest. But the band program needed money to make the trip to New York, so band director Ollie Liddell started a GoFundMe. Memphians gave so much more than needed. And this past weekend, the band was finally in New York to compete. And guess what? They won the whole darn thing! “When they release the movie, I’ll be the guy sitting on the ground, in tears,” said one student. You might be crying, too, when you read Calkins’ story. But after you dry those eyes, check out our latest Arts Beat newsletter, which highlights other kinds of Memphis music.

An order of barbecue nachos from Germantown Commissary features chips, pulled pork, cheese sauce, barbecue sauce and jalapeno peppers. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Who invented barbecue nachos? That, it seems, depends on who you choose to believe. Germantown Commissary owner Walker Taylor insists Memphis’ signature snack was developed by one of his employees in 1982, and former Hog Wild barbecue owner Ernie Mellor claims the nachos were his idea as a concession at the long-gone Tim McCarver Stadium. The two claim to be friends, but, as we see in the latest Ask the Memphian article, barbecue nachos are a sore spot. In other Memphis snack origin stories, freelancer Erica Horton shares her love for (and the history behind) Blues City Cafe’s gumbo cheese fries. And in other food news, we’ve got a first look at Cooper’s, the sports bar that opened in the old Cafe Ole. And turns out the name isn’t just a reference to the street. And finally, my fellow vegans (and the veg-curious) will definitely want to mark their calendars for this upcoming, seven-course, plant-based Juneteenth dinner.

Art from seven artists now adorns the exterior of Union Centre in Midtown. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Bye, blue dogs: The long-faded paintings of artist George Rodrigue’s blue dogs are mostly gone from Union Avenue. Local artist and curator Stacy Early got tired of looking at those decaying paintings on the side of Midtown’s Union Centre. (You and us both, Stacy.) “Then one day I drove by and I was like, ‘I’m going to ask, it can’t hurt,” Early said. The building’s owners agreed to let Early curate new work by seven artists (herself included), and those new paintings went up late last month. Only one blue dog remains. There’s a meet-and-greet with the artists planned later this month. 

Donna Spencer held her son and future Memphis Grizzlies player Cam Spencer. (Courtesy Donna Spencer)

More Mama bears: Mother’s Day may be over, but mamas are special every day. Over the weekend, we met two more Memphis Grizzlies mamas. Cam Spencer’s mom, Donna Spencer, talks about the close — and very competitive — relationship between her three boys, of which Cam falls in the middle. And she shares a story of the time she warned a college basketball coach that her son was “bats--- crazy.” And then there’s Kathy Huff, mama of Jay Huff, who gave her kids a very religious upbringing with lots and lots of outdoor time. 

Fields Falcone (center), the Overton Park Conservancy’s resident ornithologist, took people on a Saturday morning “songbird stroll” through the Old Forest at Overton Park. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Birds are real: And they’re in Overton Park. Well, they’re probably in every park. But the Overton Park Conservancy has a new “songbird stroll” series where seasoned and amateur birders can get help identifying bird calls and songs from the park’s resident ornithologist Fields Falcone. (Her real name!) The Daily Memphian’s Aisling Mäki visited the event on a “very birdy” morning (Falcone’s words), and she shares what she learned about the healing power of nature.

THIS WEEK’S WEATHER

It wouldn’t be May in Memphis if it didn’t rain its butt off, right?

Editor’s note: Kevin McEniry — a member of the board of Memphis Fourth Estate, the nonprofit that owns and operates The Daily Memphian — is founder and master producer of the Mempho Festival and Mempho Presents.

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