The annual Polar Bear Plunge and Chili Cook-off benefiting Special Olympics of Greater Memphis will be held at Mud Island River Park on Saturday, February 6 beginning at 10 AM with the chili cook-off. It’s $50 for teams to enter the cook-off and entry forms must be in by January 25. If you prefer to eat chili rather than cook it, you can be a judge for $5 and sample all the teams’ chili. There are many different varieties!
If you want to take a plunge in the frigid Mississippi River for charity, it’s at 3 PM. You must wear shoes, sign the waiver, and pay a $50 entry fee. You get the official plunge T-shirt with $50 in pledges raised, with more goodies if you raise a higher amount in pledges. Wear your wackiest costume for a chance to win the Golden Plunger.
I’m starting to feel like I sound like a broken record… I post about the same things every year. This time of year it’s the TEP gumbo contest, the polar bear plunge, and of course my annual reminder to show up early for Soup Sunday before the lines get long. However, I know for a fact that I have several readers who have been in Memphis less than a year, so it’s important to post all these Downtown events even though I feel like I’m repeating myself.
LYFE Kitchen has set a date for the opening of its Downtown location in the Chisca: Monday, February 1.
Here’s a useful health tip: Soak nuts in water before you eat them. Just as porcupines have quills, nuts have a natural defense against predators to help ensure that the nuts live to maturity. The defense is in the form of an acid that makes the nuts impossible to completely digest. However, soaking the nuts in water neutralizes the acid, which can aid digestion and lower cholesterol.
As for where to buy those nuts, you don’t even have to leave Downtown: Go to the Peanut Shop on the Main Street Mall between Main and Monroe. They have a large selection of nuts, chocolates, and candy. If you want to buy some next month for your Valentine, they have many decorative tins in which to present your gift. When you shop there, you support people who are not only local Downtown businesspeople, but some of the nicest people you will ever meet. I went in there in 2010 to buy Christmas candy for my mom, and to this day the owner still asks me “How’s mother?” when he sees me walking down Main Street.
Memphians may need this information soon: Here’s the fastest way to defrost your car windshield
Interesting article: How dance affects (and heals) the mind
Four new periodic elements have been discovered and there’s a movement to name one of them after Motorhead’s Lemmy. YES YES YES!
There’s an opening for a Building Maintenance Mechanic at Memphis International Airport.
GM is investing $500 million in Lyft, betting that in the future, people won’t own cars anymore.
That’s it for now. Happy birthday to my friend Air Traffic Mike, who has decided to stay in town for one more day. Hopefully I will get to do a birthday shot with him this evening.