I know what you're doin' right now.

It's almost 6PM, the day's got that heavy golden light to it instead of gray clouds for once, and the whole Tallant household is a snoozefest. Clementine's on the couch with a library book tented over her chest like a little tipi. Meemaw's in her chair "restin' her eyes," which is a thing grown folks say when they’re asleep after promisin’ to keep ya company.

Anyway, I got up to get a popsicle forty-five minutes ago and I do not know where that is now, but it DID remind me that I needed to catch up with my good pal so here we are now I ‘spose.

Consider me your alarm clock, bud. Sit up and shake your sillies out while we talk about all the neato things going on in our neck of the woods!

As always, we’ve added a fresh track to this week’s issue purely for vibes as you read. Click the link below before ya start reading if you wanna listen, or listen to the full Chattynooga playlist on Spotify!

This week’s Front Porch Partner is Mindstream, who figure you probably didn’t take yer job so you could spend half of it writin' the same email over and over again (or, I guess if you’re like me, ya kinda enjoy it? Welcome to the club, weirdo).

Doin’ a single click from yer email sends $1.68 pop, lock, and droppin’ right on into Chattynooga’s coin purse, with no sign-up required if ya get there and don’t like it!

Easiest good deed on the porch, if ya ask me. Toot that thang up, Mindstream!

Your inbox isn't the problem. Neither are your meetings. It's the hours you spend on work AI could do in minutes.

285 copy-paste prompts: built for email, meetings, admin, and delegation. Each one has a clear role, a specific task, and a defined output.

No setup. No prompt engineering. Just copy, paste, and get your time back. Free when you subscribe to Mindstream.

Get 285 free prompts

Walnut Street Publishing’s Makers Market
Thursday, August 27 @ Hawthorne at Hixson | 6-8 PM

Walnut Street Publishing and Chattanooga’s creative crowd are taking over the Hawthorne at Hixson clubhouse as they ramp up towards their grand-opening in September! Check out work from local artists and makers, catch live music and readings, and enjoy refreshments and giveaways throughout the evening. Our friends at Roundabout North Chatt will even be there too, so come say hi and celebrate the folks who keep Chattanooga creative. 

🎨 Meet your makers

Chattanooga World Food Truck Festival
Saturday, August 29 @ Tennessee Riverpark | 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM

I hope you’re hungry… FOR FOOD TRUCKS! More than 50 food trucks from across the Southeast are rolling into Tennessee Riverpark with dishes representing over 14 countries and cultures. Admission is free, with live music, family-friendly activities, and a market full of local makers and small businesses to check out between bites.  

🚚 Around the world in 50 food trucks

Black Parade Night Market
Friday, August 28 @ Verre Noir/Frazier Ave | 7:00 - 10:00 PM

This ain’t a scene, it’s an emo Night Market! Local makers, tattoo artists, live entertainment, food and drinks, and live D&D are filling Verre Noir for a Night Market dedicated to all things emo, pop punk, goth, and alternative. Your middle school self has been waiting their whole life for this. 

🖤 It was never a phase, mom

AnimeVerse Chattanooga
Sat. August 29 - Sun. August 30 @ Chattanooga Convention Center | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Chattanooga is powering up for a whole weekend of anime! Animeverse Fest returns to the Convention Center with voice actors, artists, cosplay contests, gaming zones, itasha cars, and tons of fandom vendors packed into two days. Come in cosplay or come as yourself, just be ready to geek out with a few thousand of your closest fandom friends.
🎮 Ready player Chatt

Golden: A K Pop Kids Party
Saturday, August 29 @ 11:00 AM

The K-Pop kids are taking over the dance floor! GOLDEN is a family-friendly rave with K-Pop, remixes, and songs they’ll recognize from the movies. Come in costume, bring your best moves, and shine like the idol you are!

🌟 Shining like we’re born to be

Chattanooga Lookouts x Book and Cover
Thursday, August 27 @ Erlanger Park | Gates 6:00 PM, Game 7:00 PM

We always love a Lookouts game, but this one is gonna be extra special! The Book & Cover is headed to Erlanger Park with sports romance author Mollie Goins for a baseball night made especially for book lovers. Your ticket covers the game, plenty of ballpark food, and a private, air-conditioned space to hang out with Mollie and your fellow bookish-baseball fans while the Lookouts take on the Clingstones. 

📖 Read between the baselines

Chatt Town Cool Down
Saturday, August 29 @ Coolidge Park | 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it is HOT outside! Cool off with Outdoor Chattanooga this Saturday with water games, foam activities, a bike rodeo, yard games, slacklining, a fun run, and more free family-friendly fun. Grab your swimsuit and come make a splash before summer slips away.

🌊 Cool for the summer

Got somethin’ you wanna tell the community about?

Tell us all about it with our new and improved events form, or just reply to this email with your event details and we’ll go from there!

Back in July we had a yap session with Jay Olsen-Thrift, the Porch Pal who's been buildin' a whole world by the name of Daaria since she was just a youngin’ like myself o’er here.

The Sundered Sun is the third and final book of her Chronicles of the Second Sun trilogy: a world where two suns changed everything about who holds power and where the borders fall. If ya enjoy Tolkien-adjacent fantasy, this one’s got your name written all over it.

Her Kickstarter campaign officially launched at the beginning of August and is 107% funded, so it's happenin' regardless — but it closes right on Monday August 31, so don’t go pitter-patterin’ around. There’s also plenty of options to choose from for a choose-your-own reading adventure!

Add this collection to your shelf, Jay will be mighty grateful for the support as well!

Last year we tried somethin' different that focuses more on the "lovin' your neighbor well" part of Chattynooga by takin' the entire month of September to talk through a tough topic of conversation: Suicide.

Meemaw says it's important to keep talkin' 'bout it in a healthy manner so neighbors don't have to go carryin' it around quiet, like it's somethin' they oughta be ashamed of. This all started ‘cause I came across an article last year from the Big News Folks at Channel 3: Accordin' to Tennessee's 2025 Suicide Prevention Report, Hamilton County had the steepest one-year rise in suicide rates of anywhere in the state by about 56%.

Promise I ain't puttin' that here to doom-n-gloom ya, but because a number like that means there’s a lot of folks right in our backyard who could use a reminder that hope shines even when life blows it’s heaviest of storms their way. So why not us?

With that, we’ll be sharing stories of hope in many forms throughout the month of September (reach out to us if you’d be interested in sharing your story!), while fundraisin’ as a community for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Tennessee Chapter! Then, on November 1st, we’ll be gatherin’ altogether at Coolidge Park for the annual Out of the Darkness Community Walk, and we'd be real proud to have ya walkin' right there beside us. We got our own team page and everything, so go on and sign up under our banner:

Last year y'all blew clean past what we figured was even possible and fundraised over $600! So this year we're gettin' a little ambitious with it by goin' for $1,000, double what we set out to raise our first time around. I think this porch of peeps can pull it off, easy.

Welcome to Throwback Thursday on a Monday, folks!

I recently became aware that this Wednesday, August 26, is National Women’s Equality Day. It marks the anniversary of the 19th Amendment becoming a thing… 106 years ago. ONE HUNDRED AND SIX! Well done, Sister Suffragette! 

So while I was thinking about how far we’ve come (and how far we still have to go), I remembered a while back when Chattynooga highlighted some of the incredible women right here in our community! Back in March of 2025, we celebrated International Women’s Day with a roundup of girl-power-highlights-galore. I’m talking authors, artists, business-owners, Olympic weightlifters, just to name a few. 

So today, I sure am glad for the women who changed the world then and who change our community every day now. Take a walk down memory lane and check out Grown-Up Dreams, Childhood Roots to see all the girlies we yapped about.

In that spirit, I leave you with the immortal words of the Cheetah Girls:

They’re on her head… they’re always on her head (as I’m LITERALLY looking at her from the front door). I’ll give her ‘nother minute before she realizes, but for now it’s time to skedaddle.

Thanks for keepin’ me company while everyone else decided to hit the hay when they got home, I can’t wait to spend time with ya next week!

Grab a brush and put a little makeup,

— Bubby & Clementine