Vol. 1, Issue 12 December 2019 KEEPING YOU UP-TO-DATE MONTHLY WITH THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN SHELBY COUNTY, TN i LoveShe l byCoun ty . c om THE ACADEMY for YOUTH EMPOWERMENT and THE 22nd annual 2019 MEMPHIS CHRISTMAS PARADE! LETTER FROM THE EDITOR By Yvonne D. Nelson, Ph.D. NEWSCENE has just finished Milestone #1, our first full year of publication! We thank you, our subscribing audience, the Memphis City Council, Shelby County Commission, and our online and print readers for all of your support and advice during this, our first year of publication. Please remember to follow us and to subscribe online at iLoveShelbyCounty.com. For those of you who prefer hard copies, thanks for your subscriptions. Subscribe to our printed editions online for $84/year, $42/bi-annually, or $7/month. You can call us at 901-300-0250, subscribe and/or pay online, or make your check made payable to DI’MANS, Inc. We are always looking forward to getting your emails at NEWSCENEShelbyCo@gmail.com. We can also be contacted by mail at DI’MANS, Inc. dba NEWSCENE, I Love Shelby County, P.O. Box 9146, Memphis, TN 38190-0146. HAPPY END TO 2019! On Thursday, November 21, 2019, the annual Graceland Lighting Ceremony kicked off the holiday season in Whitehaven, a mostly bedroom community at the southern edge of Memphis near the TN-MS state line. The annual lighting event is the ceremony that honors Elvis Presley’s traditional Christmas lights being turned on and the reason why they remain lit daily until Elvis’ birthday on January 8th. The official Mayor of Whitehaven, Ms. Hazel Moore, Founder of the Academy for Youth Empowerment youth intervention and development program, followed the lighting ceremony with the 22nd annual Whitehaven Christmas Parade Saturday morning. The parade, now called “Memphis Christmas Parade in Whitehaven,” began near the Southland Mall, 1212 E. Shelby Drive, shortly after 10 AM. The parade route blocked off Elvis Presley Boulevard from Shelby Drive to just north of Raines Road where it ended in the Whitehaven Plaza for hours as bands, schools, and other participants on floats and walking paraded through the streets waving, chanting, and handing candy to spectators of all ages. The weekend of events concluded in the sanctuary of Abundant Grace Fellowship, 1574 E. Shelby Drive, at 4 PM Sunday, with “Songs of the Season,” a festive concert of holiday music. Continued on Page 2
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