Feb 2013
Cover
Chrise Style
Lifestyle Magazine
Editor
Chrise Jones
Publisher
Nate Cox
Advisory Members LaTanya Harper, Rickey Maples, Terrence Maples, Nya Royal W. Tyler Thomas- writer Kentrell Watkins- photographer
MJT Digital Publishing Company
www.mjtpublishing.com
In this issue:
Chrise’ Corner To Be Honest Legit Over There Peaceful Moment Sweet Rides Health Culture Coffee Company Townsend Atelier Police Chief Celeste Murphy Shoe Fetish TTYL
Chrise’ Corner
Hi Everyone!
First and foremost, I pray all is well with your health, sound mind and family members are doing well too. Next, I’m excited to be blessed to write this segment of the magazine with viewers such as yourself. My aspiration for the magazine is to inspire, motivate and encourage each individual pondering whether or not to move forward with their dreams or idea’s. Go for it!!! How will you ever know if you don’t try? What if you make it!! Sure there will be hiccups along the way but it’s a stepping stone to GREATNESS. In addition, the first and second issues of Chrise Style were established in 2013, with that being said, those issues are the cornerstone for future issues to come. I have reviewed those issues to make a better magazine moving forward. I have been blessed to re-create Chrise Style with a certain person I started out with nine years ago. So I have to acknowledge Nathaniel Cox (my right hand man) who’s been by my side the whole time, without him this particular publication would have been just a thought. By the way, the puppy (Kacie) up in the left hand corner in the first issue is the same dog in the left hand corner of this issue; she’s nine years young and the boss! The only thing now I have a new addition to my family, his name is Bentley. He’s four months old and so funny, loving, friendly and mostly goofy. LOL Hey! I’m surprised they stood still long enough for me take a picture of them side by side. Much Love To You Chrise Jones
Please feel free to send in your thoughts to me at chrisestyle22@gmail.com after your comments, write your name,city and state. Thanks.
Inspiration
To Be Honest …
Can you remember when you were a young child growing up and you daydreamed about what it was
you wanted to be as an adult? Well, for me I decided I wanted to be a model after I thought about being a stewardess first. I think all girls during the 70’s wanted to be stewardess, teachers or something of the sort. Thinking back, I can say my first opportunity at the chance of being a model came when I started working at Zayre. The time frame was around the 70’s. During that era there was a department store called Woolworth downtown now presently know as Miller Park and where the EPB building now sit used to be the Roger movie theater, the area where I caught the bus to go home from work. I remember it like yesterday. At the time I was employed part time in the evening as a cashier. Now those of you who don’t know what type of store this was it consisted of clothing, household products, foot wear, kitchen ware and other items comparable to Walmart but on a smaller scale. I know some of you Chattanoogan remember Zayre, but HOLD ON!!! Check this out when you left out of Zayre, there was a lobby you could go down the escalator and grocery shop at the Red Food Store. Come on somebody!!! You know what I’m talking about. LOL Those were the days. I’m just saying. The downtown area has changed tremendously since then. There was a Miller Brothers- clothing store, J. C. Penney, Lovemans-another clothing store, Sears, Planters Peanut Store, a restaurant named Shoney’s (best hamburger sandwich) was on the corner building up from Zayre. Today the whole building is Blue Cross and Blue Shields.
Now getting back to the story at hand, I was working the afternoon shift and had a long line of people waiting on me to checkout their merchandise, so in essence, I was busy. Next thing I knew two ladies approached me with “Have you ever model before”. I looked stunned and replied “no, I haven’t” while still checking out my customer items on the converter belt. The ladies were not fazed by me working and went on to say “well here’s our address and we would like for you to try being a model for us. I said ok as they proceeded to quote the address. However, I didn’t write it down; I thought I could remember it by logging address in my mind. You know being young and all. NOPE, DIDN’T REMEMBER. I vowed to never let that happen again if I ever in life to get a second chance.
Time past, I met a gentlemen by the name of Dewayne Benton who asked me to model for him in a fashion show. Yep!! Jump on it. It was for a church fundraiser; next I went on to model for him in several shows and built my resume and confidence around him. In addition, I met a mature woman by the name of Ms. Marie Ivey, who too orchestrated fashion shows as well. She was employed by Pickett, an upscale retail designer clothing and shoes establishment in the downtown area. I immediately bonded with both individual has personal friends who taught me about life trials and what it took to be a model. As time went on I had accomplished my runway techniques that worked for me to stand out from the other models. Each model had their signature walk. No, I didn’t make it to Atlanta, New York or California where top models are discovered but I cherished the experience I received in Chattanooga. Now it’s early 90’s, I was at practice for an upcoming fashion show; this is how I met Nate Cox, who had this huge camera that intrigued me. My curious got the best of me to the point I went over to him and asked what he was doing. He showed me a photo album full of still print models that he had captured. OMG!!! How do I get to do this? I asked. I wanted to try this. This take me to the point of saying these pictures you are viewing are the ones of my first still print photos. I was a nervous wreck. I didn’t know what I was doing to the extent Dewayne had to coach me as to how I should pose, how to relax and flow. I really enjoyed the sessions but was not quite comfortable and confident. Everyone involved was quite cordial and supportive of me. I went on to continue to do still print photos which you will see each time in Chrise Style and I get a chance to tell you my story.
Legit Over There… Chattanooga’s burgeoning gourmet burger establishment scene has been high on the rise as of late. Years ago, something as simple as a burger could often be overlooked and a trek to something of the fast food variety was what most people clamored for. Now? Upscale gourmet burger joints are all the rage as the ingredient list now runs includes the highest qualities of meats, exotic cheeses, and let’s not forget everyone’s favorite…those top shelf drinks. So who is posted up at 1400 Market Street and owned by one of Hollywood’s hottest television actors? Nic & Norman’s resides at the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo and is positioned right in front. The owners are none other than actor Norman Reedus and director Greg Nicotero. If those names sound familiar it’s because Reedus stars on the mega popular zombie television show, “The Walking Dead” as everyone’s favorite crossbow carrying zombie slayer, Daryl Dixon. Nicotero is a longtime Hollywood special effects guru who has recently taken to directing many television series’ including “The Walking Dead.” Why Chattanooga? According to Reedus and Nicotero, they have a soft spot for taking historic looking buildings and flipping them into something magnificent. And have they flipped totally flipped the space inside the Choo Choo! The once iconic, but abandoned end of the building has been retrofitted to give off the vibe of a modern day, two story burger saloon. So what’s the food like?
Legit burgers and roadhouse entrees are what Nic & Norman’s is all about. I hit them up on the weekend with my lady. We ended up checking them out around 4pm and the place was half full already with the bar scene at the back on the restaurant looking quite fun. Hostess got us seated quick and said any future visits on peak weekend hours would likely need a reservation as they fill up quick. Once seated, the server was quick to welcome us and recommend parts of the menu. Craft beer was the highlight, but a smattering of hand-crafted cocktails, liquors, and wines were featured as well. We opted for a pair of drinks from the tap as I had the Bearwalker Jackalope Brown Ale while the lady had some UFO White draught. The menu had a half dozen appetizers from your standard variety of hot and cold dips, cheesesteak fries, nachos, ribs, fried mozzarella and pickle fries. All sounded fantastic and we ended up going with the cheesesteak fries. Layers of special “sidewinder” cut fries that were hit with queso, grilled peppers, onions, mushrooms, and then topped with a mound of thinly cut ribeye steak strips. These fries were hot, filling, and something to order again. Burgers were simply better than expected. Each was ground standard with short rib, chuck, and brisket before being suited and booted in a variety of styles. BBQ brisket topped burgers with slaw and fried onions. Thanksgiving burgers which have a layer of mashed potato smeared on them before being drizzled with cranberry aioli. Nicotero’s personal pick which included blue cheese and caramelized onions. Burgers not your style? Roadhouse entrees of grilled meatloaf, fried pot pies, and vegetarian dishes even round out the menu. I went with the pimento cheese bacon burger and the lady chose a Mexican burger. Mine was standard burger construction that got hit with three pieces of thick cut bacon and a slather of thick pimento cheese to finish it off. The Mexican burger was dressed with grilled onions and jalapeños before being drowned in queso and topped with avocado slices. Each came with more sidewinder fries to round out the meal. Burgers were cooked on point to the temperatures requested. The seasonings they used for the ground beef were unlike any I’ve had and the flavorful toppings rounded out a solid and satisfying burger experience. To-go boxes were used at the end of the meal. Drinks with seconds, the appetizer, and both burgers hit around sixty plus on the bill not including any gratuity. Cold drinks and hot gourmet burgers at a retro-saloon owned by a famous horror television actor….is there any better way to spend a weekend night out in Chattanooga or what? Sandwiched at the same end of the Choo Choo block with the Frothy Monkey and STIR, this spot is super hot. Nic & Norman’s is definitely legit over there…
Tyler Thomas
PEACEFUL MOMENT PRAYER IN CONFIDENCE Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink;
nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more important than meat, and the body than raiment? Why do we worry as human being? Is it part of our human nature? Is it a characteristic personality trait? When we are born, we develop as a baby that comes natural for us to cry when we have wet our diapers, laugh
when a parent make faces, cry again when we are hungry, but what prepares us growing up to not worry?
If we are truly believing in God to work things out in our best interest for ourselves on the behalf of Jesus Christ intercession of our prayers that you laid on the cross as a Christian. Then undoubtedly there is a breakdown in the faith of the individual. To look at this more closely, our faith is a learned behavior that we go through from trials and tribulations of life. When we confess our sins and downfall to the Lord and give ourselves to him is when we are on the path of divine leadership. We begin the journey to decrease oneself-increase God’s ways. I can say first hand, I did not learned this right away but in time as I got older and matured, I grew stronger in the lord. I would pray about something, then worry until I learned after time that praying about situation then worrying I was taking it away from God. My actions probably to him was “He’s not acting quickly enough for me, just let me fix it” type attitude. (Paraphrasing) Lol. Apart from this, I do understand some individuals are stronger than other, however, the stronger person should carry/help the weaker person in faith by praying with them, have empathy for them or give knowledge by being a witness to that person what God has done in your life that is similar to what they are going through. We all go through storms to be able to help others. We are not to keep it to ourselves. Our journey is not a fast pace, not a slow pace but a person pace. In addition, there is an evil spirit that has a power where it too know our heart, intentions, fear and worries to the point that spirit will deliberately try to sabotage your mind, heart and most definitely soul. Furthermore, everyone is going through something in their lives. We are still dealing with pandemic of covid, gas gauging, increase of cost for groceries to name a few, but in spite of the situation before us, God already knew this and provided a scripture. He went on to say: Matthew 6:26 Behold, the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns: yet your heavenly father feedeth them. Are you not much better then they? Look at this!!! God giving us an illustration how the birds do not think about where their next meal coming from. Again to put it simple, look at that last verse. ARE YOU NOT MUCH BETTER THAN THEY? What a God we serve. He’s saying you are more important than the birds of the air. I care for them but I care and love you more than the birds. I made you, nothing too hard I can’t provide for you whether its food, clothing or drink. I got you!!! I’m your heavenly Father!!!! Matthew 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? He’s saying here which one of you while you worrying how is this going to change your life? He said in a verse “Come to me who are heavy burden for my yoke is easy and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28. So the scriptures are indicating you worrying about something you have no control over and are you going to grow from it? Next, God gives us another example of his strength (just in case you didn’t get the first time) Matthew 6:28 AND why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do
they spin: Ok, Ok, did you see how I highlighted “AND” to show God saying the same thing about the birds too. Sooooo if he takes care of the earth, why wouldn’t he take care of his children. Hold on!! Wait a minute! You have to understand the verses above in order to comprehend this next verse. Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate one, and love the other: or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other, Ye cannot serve God and mammon. God giving us a freedom of choice to seek him and follow him; he doesn’t force it upon us, however, he opens his arms for all who wish the desire to receive his love. At the end of the day, when you trying to figure how to buy school clothes, shoes, or just trying to make ends meet, seek God first and he will provide. I want to share with you a word from a youth minister from Atlanta, Ga. Some of you may have heard of him as Willie Moore Jr. or #Flatout. I get a lot of my mentoring from him. This is what he said on social media which is perfect backup for what I was saying. “You can’t worry and trust God at the same time. Truth is, God has everything under control. STOP WORRYING! STOP STRESSING! STOP HOLDING SECURELY TO YOUR BURDENS! You’ve already prayed about the situation. You’ve already asked God for help. He’s already promised to sort thing out for you, so please stop worrying. Stop losing sleep! Stop fussing, fretting and overthinking thinking. Trust God to sort your situation out and sit back and watch Him work in His own time!”
KEEP THE FAITH AND PRAY IN CONFIDENCE.
MENTAL HEALTH
Culture Coffee Company I was strolling on a beautiful sunny Thursday on Georgia Ave when I came across a new establishment
called Culture Coffee Company located at 610 Georgia Ave. This place brought back memories to me because during the 70’s to 80s this exact building originally was a pharmacy. Next, in the early 90’s it was a bank (1 fountain square is the above the entrance) then it went from a bank to a clothing boutique called Off the Rack. The owner at that particular time was Michelle Forgani, who is the mother to the new owner Amber Forgani with the help of her father, Tarek Forgani. Culture Coffee Company had recently been in existence a little under a year now. Amber and her father dreamed of owning a coffee shop together and have made their dream come true. Tarek Forgani is a native of Liberia, he has the expertise of knowing all the different types of beans plus roasting the beans for the coffee shop is his reasoning for wanting a coffee shop. But for Amber, she wants to bring the Chattanooga Community together from all walks of life to enjoy each other while sipping from numerous favors of coffee or tea. Allow me to name a few: Espresso, Doppio, Americano, Macchiato, Cortado, Red eye, Black Eye Cappuccino. Specialties: there’s Irish Jig, The Scooter, Honey & Oats, Londonfog. Lattes: Latte, Honeylavender, Mocha, Tuxedo and Chai. Tea: hot or cold, organic, earl grey, organic peppermint and more. Smoothies: strawberry, wildberry, raspberry and mango. Last, Food items: Pastries, breakfast sandwiches, deli sandwiches, and more. There’s something for everyone to enjoy. The environment of this Middle Eastern décor is so inviting. Not only are there tables set up for two but more tables are available if there’s a group of people. Just to add, I noticed single tables for the individuals who just want to sit and read a book, work on their laptop or even listen to music with headphone are up for grasp. On this particular day there were two young ladies on the stoop (patio) one was writing notes in her book while having her headset on and the other one was concentrating on her bible devotion and writing. The atmosphere is serene for a small number of clientele as well as a large number. In addition, there is a couch with a coffee table (just like at home) over to the right-side wall in case you do not wish to sit at a table. The shop has a versatile sitting arrangement that wouldn’t be hard to find a place to sit of your choosing. I love it. Next, I had the pleasure of meeting Abby Hickey, she is the barista behind the counter who has a sweet personality and willing to whip up your quest of coffee or other items in a timely manner. In the future, Amber mentioned in our conversation, there will be a farmer’s market set up in front of the coffee shop as another avenue to bring people and customers together to purchase items. She has a wall set on the left side of the shop for customers to purchase art done by different artists from the Chattanooga area. Looking out from the entrance of the coffee shop the surrounding brought back some more memories. For instances: The Firefighter Memorial Fountain Henry Ller and W. M. Peak, who lost their lives in the “Bee Hive” fire at Fourth and Market Street on June 9, 1887. Next, on the right is Universal Joint an eatery restaurant that you can enjoy eating outside but I knew it as a full service gas station. Then, there’s Unum directly across the street from the restaurant formerly known as Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company. Let’s not forget the Hamilton County Courthouse directly facing Unum. Finally, coming around a full circle, next door to the coffee shop is Nicos Salon. So please take the time out of your busy schedule to relax and visit this wonderful thought out creation, Culture Coffee Shop. I promise you won’t regret it.
Townsend Atelier
Townsend Atelier located inside the Arts Building, 301 East 11th Street on the corner of 11th
and King, Chattanooga, Tn.
On this particular day of Friday, April 15, 2022 from 6pm-8pm, I was invited to an event- Intimacy of a Stranger hosted by the Townsend Atelier. Intimacy of a Stranger is the interpretation of two young ladies’ thoughts through poetry about being a head bust model in a classroom full of 12 students ranging across the Southeast United States: Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Colorado to name a few. Each student who was on this journey was responsible for his or her own travel, food, hotel and the cost of the class taught by a professional teacher by the name David Simon. The teacher who viewed several other model selected Ms. King and Ms. Roberts. Keep in mind, when being selected as a model of any kind the individual who is over the project usually looking for certain attributes. Another point was mentioned that each student possibly were a mixture of beginners, hobbyists, and professionals that had one thing in mind. ART The task of the students was to imitate the model faces with modeling clay through their own eyes as the beholder of sculpture. The two models names are Ms. Moll King and Ms. Erika Roberts. Each took turn using poetry to express how they felt while being studied through the eyes of their artist. Both of the models stated each student captured their own unique way of molding the clay when sculpturing the bust of them in their own eyes to the point it was very detailed from the top of their head down to the bottom of their neck. At the event, listening to Ms. Roberts talk to the audience was hilarious to me because she said she ready did not know what she was getting into until the last minute and found out she would be sitting still for seven hours for three (3) days. However, in those seven hours she received several fifteen minutes breaks during that time span. Furthermore, Ms. Roberts said when she did get her break that was the time when she wrote down her thoughts about being a bust model through poetry as well as Ms. King did the same thing. Ms. Roberts went on to say, she and Ms. King had to focus on a wall a spot to keep their composure for the students. They could not move, sneeze, yawn or roll their eyes to say the least. I was impressed how they had to transition their mindset and body to be still in a timely manner. During an intermission, I had the pleasure of speaking to Ms. Roberts. I found it interesting both model indicated there were times while staring at this hole in the wall as a focal point they had to do something with their mind to keep from being bored or falling asleep. So poetry kick in. As soon as it was break time, both of them race to their pen and paper to write how the students saw them. Ms. Robert’s express her concerns by saying: Are my lips to big, will they get the details of my locs right. I have no makeup on which is the total opposite of my ever day life. I’m vulnerable to the point I don’t know
these people. She said she tends to stay to herself but this class gave her the ability to be open to people, to be diagnosis by the hands of people has they saw her and did not know her either. The students would at some time use mathematic equation to measure the head of the model. Therefore, that meant the artist was up close and personal in the model space. Ms. King felt the same way; she too had to make adjustments being she is from another ethic background. Did they see her differently as though they are looking deep down in her soul as she stated? One student when she finished her bust of Erika said she will put her accomplishment in her garden because she saw Erika as an angel watching over it. In addition, Townsend Atelier provided us with a live sculptor named Ms. Maria Willison with a live model to give the audience visual idea how the process works. We were provided with a beautiful spread of beverages, fruits, and brownie to feast on while both ladies spoke. I really enjoyed the event and it went by fast.
Moll King
Erika Roberts
Introducing Police Chief Celeste Murphy Welcome, Welcome and greeting to the new Police Chief of Chattanooga.
In my opinion she has broken the glass ceiling for women and women of color with her titles consisting of patrol officer, detective, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, major, deputy chief and other positions. She’s well qualified as the Police Chief and so does her well-wisher from her 25 years of service from the Atlanta Police Department who speaks very highly of her and stated we have a jewel of a person to be working with in our city. She started her new found job on 04/11/2022. Police Chief Celeste Murphy first agenda is to set up forums around the city to give an overview of what she has in plan for the youth and community. I attended one of the forums at Avondale Recreation Center on 04/26/2022 @ 6 p.m. My observation while she was giving her dialog indicates she’s passionate about the youth to the point she want to create resources for them to engage in positive activities that will motivate them to not be influence by older teens who could possibly persuade negative situations that stem from within a family environment or by association. Her agenda is to bring hope to the youth to help them to be able to trust officers as well as advocating resources available for families that are in need of help to take care of their children. Now in her 16 or more days from this writing, she has observed from statistical numbers there is a large number of overdoses in this city that’s higher then City of Atlanta in response to the numbers she’s examining ways to find resources to lower that count by reaching out to stakeholders for a resolution and to educate the public, she looking to restore the internal affairs department if there is a need, considering departmental policies to see if changes can be made, establish trust with victims of crime by action, design advisory panel from different parts of the city to see what ideas can be reach, create, improve to assign a youth to a mentorship program, put in action a youth on youth after school tutorial, seeking to recruit women, j rotc and anyone interest in a career in law enforcement at the right age and time. In like manner, Police C. Murphy vision is to implement a system called wrap around service entailing police officers are to get out of their patrol car, stroll and interact with the neighbors in the neighborhood that they are assigned to and get to know their fellow neighbors, the goal is to establish a rapport and trust in the community. However, the communication is not only on the officers to exert this effort but the neighbors have to be willing to participate as well in order for this to be a win-win matter. It has to be reciprocate on all party involved to get a positive result. In addition, she has no problem being the point person as she stated when it was address by a concern citizen at the forum about police officers being made accountable when there is violent police crime on citizens which plague our country from one state to another. Her reaction on this was she believes in making an officer accountable for their action when an investigation indicates wrong doing; nonetheless, when her officers are doing their jobs as expect of them to the best of their ability she has their back too. On a personal side of Chief C. Murphy, she a mother, she believe in second chances, know first- hand how important it is to have police officers come into the neighborhood because she grew up in a community that didn’t have good policing, want police officers to be more human, she valve the quality of life and emphasis to relate to minorities and women. My outlook on the Chief is that she does not project “I’m all that” type attitudes. She realizes she cannot complete the task alone that comes with this job and rely on her officers to do their job. Bottom line, she’s a down to earth person. You go, girl!!!! As a matter of fact, the Police Department have on their website a program named Police Explorer for kids ranging from the ages of 14-21 who are interested in seeking to be a police officer has a career path. This program put participants in different types of scenario that officers deal with on an daily basis to better give them idea what’s it like being
an officer and to know what to expect when an officer approach them on the street (built a trust mechanism). This program has been in existence around 30 years or more. The Boy’s Scout has a partnership with this organization that send referrals. For the most part, recruitment is center around word of mouth, kids emailing their interest and individuals as far as Cleveland come to be a part of this platform. So this is a great avenue to get involved if you are interest.
S h o e F e t i s h
TTYL