Saturday, June 20, 2009

Mr. Mayor, you made my day!



This photo courtesy of Jackson Baker/Memphis Flyer


Photo by Steve Ross

As you know, I invited everyone to wear a Cohen T-shirt to the Chism Picnic Saturday.

No one else but me decided to do so. The Mayor is a reader, I've been told, so when he came down the hill today and saw me in the shirt, he gleefully and good-naturedly razzed me about it, asking why that guy over there was in that loser t-shirt and that he would send me a winner t-shirt to wear once he had them printed out. We both laughed, I shook his hand and then went to get a beer.
He then repeated the story while speaking at the Picnic, the closest thing to a home crowd for the Mayor. I laughed uproariously, went over to tell him that it made my day, he smiled and said 'you know I was just messing with you" and I laughed and agreed.
He was in great spirits, and looked like he was ready to starting campaigning hard for the 9th District seat, noting that he wished all the candidates well, except for his opponent. (Gee, really?)
In any event, the Chism Picnic was a blast, even if I was an idiot for standing out therefor almost four hours in 100 degree heat. (Leon, I don't care what the thermometer said, you didn't consider heat index!) We had three gubernatorial candidates (Mike McWherter, Kim McMillan, and GOP candidate Bill Gibbons) and one potential candidate (Sen. Jim Kyle).
I also learned that Reginald Milton has decided to run for the County Commission seat being vacated by Commissioner Deidre Malone, joining my friend Norma Lester in that race. I wish they could BOTH be on the Commission, they would both do a good job; however, I'm with Norma because I've worked with her first-hand on the ExecCom and I know she'll do well.
If you want more of the great pics, go to Ross's Twitter page and look at his TwitPics.


5 comments:

Blinders Off said...

I did not get a chance to mingle, the heat was too much. Last thing I needed was a MS flare after getting over a cold. Good thing one of my daughters lived in the area. Maybe next year I will get a chance to enjoy the picnic :)

See you soon at a drinking liberal

Anonymous said...

You two look good together!

Unknown said...

Steve I heard about your run in with the mayor this morning on Drake and Zeek...maybe Herenton will get you one of those "Shake the Haters off T-shirts"

Anonymous said...

Blue is the winning color!

Anonymous said...

Blue may work for Memphis athletics, but as far as politics goes, it has come to represent something far separated from the tradition of tolerance, openness and actual concern for actual people. I'll root for blue in sports, but never again follow its politics.