Fall Festival was bustling this year with over 13,000 attendees.

John Campbell set up a timber framing demonstration and Resident Blacksmith Paul Garrett fired up his forge.

There was music and dancing of all kinds.

From the Festival Barn to the Craft Shop stage it was a challenge not to miss something!

And there were the pick-up bands for those who could find a chair and an empty space to play tunes.

Rico Lee, 36, and Sharon Gladney, 34, are looking forward to moving out of Cleaborn Homes, set for demolition early next year. The two check a sales flier as they plan for new furniture when they move, along with seven children, into new quarters by December.

Mildred Williams was taking out the trash with her 8-year-old grandson in tow, when gunshots ripped through the air.

When it was all done, a young man lay dying in the street.

Perched on a folding chair on the dusty sun-scorched lawn of Cleaborn Homes Friday, Williams recalled that day and took her barefoot grandson’s hand in hers.

“I was praying for my life and his,” Williams said.

Bulldozers will take down the 650-unit public housing development early next year and residents must be out by December.

Plans to replace the ramshackle units on Lauderdale with mixed-income housing will displace nearly 500 Memphis City Schools students in midterm.

But as residents are waiting to hear where they’ll land for housing and where their children will go to school, on Friday afternoon many were happy to be moving on.

With seven children ranging in age from 5 to 18, Sharon Gladney has seen Cleaborn go from bad to worse in the four years she’s lived there.

Sitting in a dark living room, where windows were blocked out by old sheets, Gladney said, “They’re ready to go, just like I am.”

A federal urban development grant will replace the 56-year-old development with 400 mixed-income housing units.

Cleaborn children, who will transfer to new schools, currently attend Georgia Avenue Elementary, Vance Middle and Booker T. Washington High.

For juniors and seniors who wish to finish the year out at BTW, the city is providing $25,000 in public bus passes. About 600 city school students already use public transit to get to school, according to the district.

Rosie Lee, 63, beams when she talks about the house she hopes to move her two teenage children to.

“It’s going to be tough for them but once we get out we’ll all be happy,” she said.

Housing counselors and social workers are helping place struggling Cleaborn residents in new neighborhoods and some with jobs, said Robert Lipscomb, head of Memphis Housing Authority.

“People don’t want to live in these bad conditions and they shouldn’t have to,” he said.

Typically, HOPE VI grants are timed during less-disruptive times in the school year, but the city Housing Authority wasn’t notified about the grant until June.

Living in poverty and danger is stressful and statistically kids don’t do well in that environment, Lipscomb said.

“This is going to be the best thing that happened to these kids,” he said.

Eight-year-old Jeremy Williams, who witnessed the boy being shot in the street, played at his grandmother’s stoop, just feet from a shiny new jungle gym.

But because gunfire can break out even in broad daylight, he’s only allowed to play close to home, his grandmother said.

As a dark car with tinted windows slowly cruised up to a crowd of teenage boys, she said, “It’s time for them to tear it down. It’s better for the children.”

Below is a guest post from one of our newest students, Megs Eichorn. Megs is a Master of Science in Environmental Studies candidate.

It’s hard to believe that one month ago I was about to start a whole new chapter of my life. Now I’m in it. Full force, no turning back. The end of college was a momentous, heart-wrenching, exciting experience that I now know I took for granted. I was the lucky one of my friends. While they frantically looked for jobs and tried to figure out what to for the next year in light of the economy, I was going to grad school. I had made my decision the summer before my senior year began, and despite the months of anxiety waiting for my acceptance letter, I was set. Though my friends and I had great times that I will never forget, I wish someone had given me an explicit warning, saying “do not take this for granted, cherish these times.”

I moved to Charleston at the very beginning of August, and my excitement blinded me from the reality that I was moving to a brand new city where I didn’t know anyone. I love my house and I have become very close with my roommate, but living in a new city with nothing to do and no friends left me longing for my old life of security. All I could do was think about how much I missed my friends and Chapel Hill’s campus, restaurants, bars, sporting events, etc. You name it, I wanted it back. Again, I wish I had had a bold warning, saying “moving is not easy- prepare yourself.”

Then school started. So much for having nothing to do. Grad school is entirely different than anything I experienced in undergrad. For once, I am incredibly interested in every one of my classes and have gladly immersed myself in all the material. Coming from a non-science background, it has been a challenge to engage in science material, but I welcome the challenge. The amount of school work is definitely overwhelming, but the professors I have truly want students to succeed. In the past month, I feel like I have learned more than I did in the past four years. Perhaps it’s because I am in a field of study that I actually love? Grad school, however, is not simply about taking classes; it’s about launching you into your career. From the very beginning, we have to start thinking about research interests, thesis topics, funding for projects, etc. It is initially hard to comprehend, but my program, Master of Environmental Studies, has numerous resources to aid students. I am in the VERY early stages of this process, but hopefully I can remain calm through the whole process!

The start of school also initiated the start of my new social life. Through the MES program I have met some truly great people. Because I have classes with a lot of the same people, something I have never experienced, I have been able to form friendships simply by going to class. I now have people to explore Charleston with! The combination of schoolwork and new friends has helped me to stop missing my old life. I now think about Chapel Hill reminiscently, not longingly. Charleston is amazing, and though it took some time, I am finally able to appreciate and enjoy it!