Weekly Update

Friends,

This Saturday will mark something very special for our community and for me personally—the grand opening of the new Leftwich Tennis Center. I was able to tour the facility earlier this week and let me tell you—it does not disappoint. With 12 indoor and 24 outdoor courts, this is one of top tennis facilities in the nation and will be the new home for the University of Memphis Tigers Tennis. And the best part—this City-owned facility is all for public use. To learn more about this facility or any of our other tennis facilities, go here.

Like many big projects, it takes a team to get it done, and we had a great team. I want to thank our construction and architectural teams—GTG and Fleming Architects (now FourFront Design) for their amazing work on this beautiful building. Additionally, I want to thank the University of Memphis and Tennis Memphis for their partnership throughout this process. And lastly, I want to thank our fundraising and construction committee members--Gary Grear, Chuck Smith, Martin Thompson, John Pettey, John Dobbs, Allen Morgan, Kevin Kane, Adam Walker, Taylor Sanderson, David Rudd, Bill Hardgrave, Doug McGowen, Kyle Veazey, Dan Springer, Mike Humes, Brian Bendersky, Jeff Crane, Andrew Roberts, Nick Walker, Mike Lemm, Manny Belen, and Robert Knecht.

Now for the fun part—the pictures. These are courtesy of Memphis Tourism.

If you want to come and see it in person, join us tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the grand opening. See more details below.

Honoring Veterans: Earlier today, I was honored to help open a new facility for Alpha Omega Veterans Services, one of my favorite nonprofits. Alpha Omega works to reduce or eliminate the number of displaced and homeless veterans by empowering them to regain self-sufficiency through the provision of holistic, supportive, and rehabilitative services that promote their health, security, happiness, and usefulness in society. In short, the mission is “Helping Veterans Help Themselves.”

They have served about 15,000 veterans in 36 years. Over 90% of veterans who complete the programming successfully turn their lives around and become self-sufficient. At the city, we partner with them as much as we can.

The new facility at 3314 Jackson Avenue provides more housing and services for veterans, recreation rooms, a gymnasium, gardens, on-premises counseling, and the organization’s executive offices. It is named the Cordell Walker Veterans Center.

This is a testament to Cordell Walker, who is retiring after serving as executive director of Alpha Omega for 35 years. Cordell is an impressive leader with remarkable proven results. He is a true servant leader. He is humble and always deflects praise from himself to the work of serving veterans.  I am honored to call him my friend. Thank you, Cordell, for your service!

To all our veterans—thank you. Thank you for your invaluable service to our country.

Enjoy your weekend!

Yours,