Although the event is not until May 19, please put Embracing Hope Chattanooga on your calendar. It’s being called Blues, Bluegrass & BBQ and it will be held in the Glenn Miller Gardens at the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo.
The celebration will be a family-friendly event showcasing local health wellness resources, local musicians Brokedown Hound, Rick Rushing & The Blues Strangers and Slim Pickins, local breweries and tastings of some of the Scenic City’s favorite barbecue with the goal of erasing the stigma of mental illness.
Funds raised from this year’s event will benefit The Mental Health Association of East Tennessee, NAMI Chattanooga (National Alliance on Mental Illness), DBSA Chattanooga Pendulums (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance) and Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network.
Mental illness affects a lot of people in our area, and several people and organizations are working hard to get the word out that it is OK to ask for help.
And, speaking of help, you can connect with Embracing Hope Chattanooga for more information, updates and mental health resources on its Facebook page at facebook.com/EmbracingHopeChattanooga or on Instagram at instagram.com/embracinghope_cha.
Tickets are on sale at eventbrite.com/preview?eid=55340188995.
* I was invited to a Soul Food Luncheon at Chattanooga State last week where young Darryl Wheeler was performing. The Come Clean/Universal Records performing artist goes by just Darryl, but I remember him when he was Lil D.
Apparently the school does this event regularly, and what a great time it was. The gym floor was packed with people and food – ribs, catfish, greens, okra, black-eyed peas and Darryl onstage with a great band behind him. I haven’t seen anyone work a crowd like that in a while.
He could only muster a smattering of applause during the first number – probably because people were elbows deep in food – but by about the fifth, some were dancing in the aisles and others started a Soul Train line near the stage.
It was a lot of fun.
* And a little more Riverbend info based on questions I’ve been getting. You can redeem your old tokens and have that money loaded into your RFID chip on your wristband. If you don’t spend that, you get it refunded if it is more than a few dollars.
All purchases will be made using the chips, according to spokesperson Amy Morrow.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.