‘Friday Night Lights’
Children choose fun at Ed Rice Center
Derriontay Perry put down his PlayStation controller, left his grandmother’s Frayser home Friday and picked up a football at Ed Rice Community Center.
“It’s a lot better than sitting in the house and getting fat,” said the 15-yearold boy who lives in East Memphis, but visits his grandmother on the weekend.
Perry was taking part in Mayor A C Wharton’s Summer Night Lights program, part of the Memphis Gun Down Safe Summer 2013 initiative. The event was the first of four consecutive Friday nights of extended programming at the Frayser center with such activities as kickball, swimming and family movies on an inflatable screen.
Perry and others walked to the center with intentions of swimming, but couldn’t enter the pool without a city pass. “It would’ve been a little better, but it’s cool out here,” said the Southeast Prep sophomore as he waited in line for a free snow cone.
Wharton said the cost and time spent planning were minimal because companies and organizations, such as FedEx and Memphis Athletic Ministries, joined the city to help combat youth violence.
“There’s not much cost in this,” the mayor said about the program that could grow if successful. “That’s the beauty of innovation. All the children are asking for is for us to engage them.”
Money spent on the program came the $4.8 million grant the city got from the Bloomberg Foundation, a private foundation of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg that focuses on reviving neighborhoods and combating youth handgun violence.
The latest example of gun violence was 16-yearold Quinton Wallace, who was shot and killed June 29 by another teen in the 800 block of Kney. A 12-yearold girl was shot in the leg the same day.
Major Lambert Ross, of the Memphis Police Department, said more than 200 guns have been taken off the streets this year in the area that the Old Allen station serves, including Frayser. He said many teens who commit violent acts do so for respect.
“Once everything is said and done, two families are left unhappy, one more than the other because one person’s not coming back,” Ross said.
The police interacted with children at the event. “We’re trying to show them there’s something more out there to do other than put a gun in someone’s face,” he said.
DeBright Pannell, 15, was in the pool when he noticed the bouncy castle and people playing games next door at the community center. He played football and listened to music with family.
“You can do more things here,” the Memphis Business Academy freshman said. “This is more safe and more fun.”