Cockadoos brings southern spirit to downtown

Small business spotlight for The Memphis Daily News

May 31, 2010

Between John Bradley Wells and his wife, Lana, the two have nearly 40 years of experience in the restaurant business.

He owned Como Steak House in Como, Miss., for 10 years, worked for B.B. Kings for six years and has been general manager of Huey’s Downtown for the past four years. Lana was a nationwide corporate trainer for Ruby Tuesday and general manager of the Wolfchase location.

Their latest foray into the restaurant business brings them to the intersection of Union Avenue and Second Street, just steps from the Huey’s John Wells managed, and a place called Cockadoos.

“Being Downtown for the last 10 years or so, I always had people asking me where they could get breakfast and with nothing right here on this main drag that did breakfast, we just felt like it was a great opportunity,” he said.

Breakfast at Cockadoos includes Belgium waffles, Texas French toast, buttermilk pancakes and, of course, grits, as well as cathead biscuits and gravy, and catfish and grits. In addition to the traditional fare, a coffee bar is also on site for caffeine fiends.

“We have the full array of the lattes and cappuccinos,” Wells said. “We wanted to make sure that we covered the whole gambit as it pertained to breakfast, so we wanted to offer all the coffees as well. Our coffee is a small roaster out of St. Louis called Mississippi Mud Coffee.”

The restaurant is only three doors south of Union on Second, in the building that used to house Café 61. The walls have been painted a light yellow, with some left bare brick, and bright floral patterns adorn the tablecloths and throw pillows in the two seating areas filling the two large bay windows looking out on the foot traffic. A mezzanine balcony overlooks the main floor of the dining room … (read more)

School’s out, so is structure for the summer

“Because I Said So” column for The Commercial Appeal

May 27, 2010

My family and I began our summer season last Saturday with the first weekend of the Levitt Shell’s free concert series in Overton Park.

We spent the evening on a quilt spread in the grass listening to Jimbo Mathus perform his home-grown Delta music for a home-grown crowd.

It was the perfect evening as we lay there listening to songs about Skateland and cornbread, with the park and zoo as backdrop and a FedEx plane aligning itself for landing. The scene couldn’t have been more Memphis-centric if Elvis and Isaac had shown up to serve barbecue.

The kids danced like little hipsters and I regaled them with a story of the time I spotted Jimbo from two checkout lanes away at the Midtown Schnucks.

Saturday night was the calm before my summer storm. School ended for the year only three days later and, just like that, our children’s teachers expect us to take care of these kids all day long. We’ll have to feed them, entertain them and see that they’re safe.

It’s going to be like a full-time job. The pay is terrible … (read more)

Health partnership sights poor

Spot business news for The Commercial Appeal

May 22, 2010

Baptist Memorial Healthcare Corp. kicked off its partnership with one of America’s leading vision benefits companies, Davis Vision of Plainview, N.Y., to provide eye screenings to the homeless and underserved of Memphis.

“The Focus on America program targets children and adults underinsured or not insured at all,” said Laura Dyer of Davis Vision. “This is not a one-time thing. This is the kickoff of a partnership that will provide glasses on a monthly basis.”

Those who failed eye exams were either given vouchers for reduced-cost eyeglasses from any local retailers who work with Davis Vision, or free glasses in cases of homelessness. An average pair of glasses, according to George Yanoshik Jr. of Davis Vision, is $293.

“If you can’t see, it’s hard to fill out a job application or find your way out in the community,” said Baptist Memorial Healthcare president and CEO Stephen Reynolds … (read more)

Technology takes Ridgeway Middle music to new level

Spot news story for The Memphis Daily News

May 21, 2010

The walls of a cinderblock city school classroom in East Memphis are hung with posters of John Coltrane, King Oliver, Otis Redding, Elvis Presley, Billie Holiday and a 78-inch interactive whiteboard called an ActivBoard.

In a medium whose foundation is built on the bar chords of the blues and sound of the sax, technology has been introduced to engage children and introduce them to those a world away in Ken Greene’s music class.

Greene, music teacher and choir director at Ridgeway Middle School, recently demonstrated how technology is used to teach students and connect with other programs.

“Do you mind if we jam with you?” Greene asked his counterpart from Weyanoke Elementary School in Fairfax, Va … (read more)

Strategy for growth: Jackson builds on strong corporate, federal business to expand nationally

My Profession story for The Commercial Appeal

‘Change is inevitable’

Spot news reporting for The Memphis Daily News

May 14, 2010

Expo encourages job seekers to adapt — even when discouraged

“They aren’t making buggy whips anymore.”

That’s what Tom Wilson, career counselor for careerhands.com, tells people who have lost or left jobs and are looking for something else in the workplace.

He then brings it around to the 21st century: “They aren’t making electric typewriters anymore, either.”

The message he conveyed at Thursday’s Second Annual Opportunity Expo at The Pink Palace Museum was one conveyed throughout the day-long event’s seminars and by speakers and company representatives on hand to talk to job seekers about potential opportunities.

OppCity.com, a job-listing site for the Memphis area currently attracting 250,000 hits a week from all over the country, put on the expo, which was sponsored by the local Talent Trust Foundation … (read more)

With chicken, it’s better to be done than good

“Because I Said So” column for The Commercial Appeal

May 13, 2010

My cooking philosophy, and the title of my proposed cookbook, is “Burn Until Raw.”

When I was 13 years old, my aunt put a match to charcoal and taught me how to make the perfect barbecue chicken. For a while I cooked it pretty well, too, but it’s a skill I’ve lost over time. My chicken comes off the rack black and crispy as though pulled from deep inside the grill. When I cut into it, the kids are horrified by the sight. Poultry was never meant for medium rare.

In the time I’ve been a father, and the shorter time I’ve worked from home, I’ve become a pretty fair housewife. I get the kids up and dressed for school in the morning, do the bulk of the laundry and most of the dishes. I try to keep things tidy.

And, despite pleas for the opposite, I’ve been trying to cook more. Cook more, mind you, for one kid who eats nothing but cheese pizza and another who would eat his own weight in macaroni and cheese every night if allowed … (read more)

Hutchison 8th-graders get long-distance lesson in global awareness

Feature profile for The Commercial Appeal

May 11, 2010

John Stephany traveled nearly 7,000 miles to teach his eighth-grade students at Hutchison School a lesson.

Stephany, a world history teacher, recently visited South Korea with the Group Study Exchange, a program aimed at promoting cultural awareness for 25- to 40-year-old professionals.

The four young professionals chosen for this trip by the sponsoring organization, Rotary International district 6800 of Germantown, include an auditor, logistics manager with Smith & Nephew, a publicist with Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and Stephany, who used the experience to teach his students back home about life in other cultures.

“Rotary is about trying to encourage communication, cultural awareness and things of this nature,” Stephany said.

Even before Stephany was chosen for the trip, the world history curriculum at Hutchison was being expanded farther east from China and India to Korea and Japan. “I applied for this trip before I knew this was happening.”

Stephany is no newcomer to travel; he has spent the last five summers teaching high school seniors at the School of Public Service at St. Albans School in Washington. He has also “bummed around Ireland,” spent time backpacking around western Europe and visiting Germany, Prague and Poland. He visited China in 2008 on a trip sponsored by the Columbia University National Consortium for Teaching About Asia that also acted as a teaching tool for his students back home. He sees his time in Korea as an extension of that trip and an addendum to any textbook he might quote … (read more)

Boys & Girls Clubs investing in children

Corporate giving story for The Commercial Appeal

May 10, 2010

Service Assurance, a Memphis-based information technology support and outsourcing company for the region, has teamed up with Monogram Food Solutions, maker of King Cotton products, to donate $7,500 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis.

“This was our first engagement with Monogram so we thought what a great way to start a relationship by giving all the revenue back to the community,” said Mark Giannini, founder and CEO of Service Assurance. “Monogram’s values are very much in line with ours in that they love supporting the community, and they love children and nonprofits that help children.

“It was the absolute perfect way to start what we both hope is going to be a long-term business relationship.”

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis was founded in 1955 and serves more than 5,000 youths between the ages of six and 18 through academic and recreational programs. The local Boys & Girls Clubs operates six full-service clubs, a technical training center and Camp Phoenix.

“Service Assurance and Monogram Foods made an investment,” said Vincent Borello, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis. “They didn’t really make a donation because in the long run these are the kids that are going to be working in the facilities, these are the families that are going to be buying their products, the families that make up our city.” … (read more)

A career of service for United Way’s Harry Shaw

Feature profile for The Commercial Appeal

May 1, 2010

Harry Shaw never did work for an airline.

The president of United Way of the Mid-South retired in April having begun his tenure with the organization in 1969 when a friend suggested he apply for a job with United Fund, as it was then called.

“I’m thinking it had something to do with United Airlines,” he said. “So I take the interview and I come home that day and tell my wife ‘I never saw any airplanes on anybody’s desk’ and I don’t know quite what this job is, but it did sound fascinating.”

In his 22 years as president of United Way of the Mid-South, Shaw has seen donations rise from $11 million upon his arrival to just over $25 million now, partly by becoming more aggressive with grant writing. The needs of neighbors cut through politics, finance and celebrity, and Shaw, with his staff of 52, is reaching one-third of the population in eight counties within three states.

“Harry Shaw has done God’s work — striving to improve all segments of the community,” said congressman Steve Cohen. “He has been an untiring leader. His compassion and drive will be difficult to replace. The Mid-South certainly has a stronger sense of community and is better off because of his efforts.”… (read more)