A Day of Merrymaking 2017 Recap

Not only did our community come together to raise $1 million to take back the Greensward, you also came out and had a great summer party with us! Our fifth annual Day of Merrymaking brought in more than $70,000 that we’ll use to maintain and beautify the park, and we had a great time as always.

Want to see all the pictures? Check out the full photo album on Flickr. Thanks so much to Phillip Van Zandt for helping us capture the day!

Many thanks go to our presenting sponsor, Hollywood Feed, who have been our partners for five years and keep Overton Bark in great shape year-round. (It looked a bit different this year with a 180-year-old tree splitting the fence thanks to the May 27 storm, but we’ll have it cleared out and back to normal soon!)

Our entertainment stage, presented by the Commercial Appeal, was a particular highlight this year, with Nick Black kicking things off and Red Hot Lindy Hop teaching kids to swing-dance. Zigadoo Moneyclips played a high-energy set, and then we all fell in love with the sweet sounds of Teneia.

Thanks also to our other major sponsors, The Daily News, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, and Wagner General Contractors for their support, and to Echo Systems and Memphis Made for another great year in the beer garden.

And we’re so grateful to the many community supporters who helped us meet our ambitious sponsorship goal: A2H, The Art Project, Lydia & Rehim Babaoglu, Belleair Woods Neighborhood Association, Celtic Crossing, Central Gardens Association, Children’s Dental Center, Diane’s Art Gift & Home, Diversified Trust, Ecco on Overton Park, Eclectic Eye, Edible Memphis, Evergreen Historic District Association, Huey’s, Hyde Family Foundation, Independent Bank, Lipscomb & Pitts, M. Palazola Produce Co., Mahaffey Tent & Event Rental, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, MLGW, Morningside Neighborhood Association, Pinnacle Perpetual Services, River Inn of Harbor Town, Shipt, Soul Fish Cafe, SunTrust Bank, Urban Forestry, Utopia Animal Hospital, West Cancer Center, Young Avenue Deli, and Young Avenue Sound.

Thanks also to FedEx for lending us shuttles so that we could offer free transportation to attendees, and for bringing a great crew of volunteers! We appreciate everyone who worked with us to set up, maintain, and tear down the event.

We’re especially proud that we took major steps toward making Merrymaking a low-waste event this year. Thanks to a grant from TVA, we were able to partner with Clean Memphis and Get Green Recycleworks to collect 200 gallons of cans and bottles, 50 pounds of cardboard, and 5 pounds of compostable material for recycling. We also distributed 500 free reusable water bottles and set up hydration stations throughout the event, reducing the demand for plastic bottles. We estimate that we cut our waste in half over last year’s event!

Here are some of our favorite photos:

Off to a great start with Nick Black.