Jackson Free Press

JACKSON — The Fondren Renaissance Foundation is joining with Capital City Beverage Company and Southern Beverage Company to host the fourth annual Mississippi Craft Beer Festival on Friday, June 15, at Duling Hall (622 Duling Ave.). The event will feature samples of more than 100 beers from more than three dozen craft breweries, including Lucky Town Brewing Company, Lazy Magnolia Brewery and Southern Prohibition Brewing.

Tickets for the event are on sale now, and customers can purchase them online or inside Hops & Habanas (2771 Old Canton Road). General admission is $30 in advance or $35 on the day of the event, and includes unlimited tastings. A designated driver ticket is also available at the door for $10.

VIP tickets are also available to up to 250 people for $60 in advance or $65 on the day of the event. Those ticket-holders receive early access at 5 p.m. and get "first dibs" tastings, a souvenir, a wallet bottle opener and complimentary snacks from food vendors during the VIP hour. They will also be allowed to come and go from the festival until 9 p.m.

The event is open to people ages 21 and up only. For more information, call the Fondren Renaissance Foundation at 601-981-9606 or visit fondren.org.

Mississippi Blood Services Holding "Save Our Summer" Event

Mississippi Blood Services is hosting an event called "Save Our Summer" until Aug. 18. Throughout the summer, MBS will give away $1,000 each Monday to one person who donated blood the previous week at one of the organization's centers in Flowood, Oxford or Greenville.

Visitors who volunteer to donate platelets, which MBS can only do at its main center in Flowood (115 Tree St.), will have their name entered twice in that week's drawing. All donors will also receive an MBS t-shirt.

"Save Our Summer" is also overlapping with another MBS event, ABOut A Cause, which runs until the end of December. Visitors who donate blood can credit their donation to one of 12 partner organizations, to which MBS will make a monetary donation. Donors are entered into the "Save Our Summer" drawing whether or not they credit their donation. View the full partner list here.

On June 19, which is World Sickle Cell Day, MBS will also host a celebration and blood drive in Flowood from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with prizes available for visitors throughout the day. The grand prize for the event will be a two-night stay at the Hampton Inn & Suites Jackson Downtown-Coliseum during the weekend of Jackson State University's homecoming game on Oct. 13.

For more information, call MBS Outreach Coordinator Anna LeBreton at 601-368-2635 or email [email protected].

Positive Steps Fertility Clinic Opens in Madison

Positive Steps Fertility (149 Fountains Blvd., Madison), which opened its doors in May, will host a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, June 6, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Madison Mayor Mary Butler and members of the Madison Chamber of Commerce will be present for the ribbon cutting at 10 a.m.

Throughout the day, the clinic will offer refreshments such as cookies from Campbell's Bakery, as well as ice cream and miniature quiches. Visitors will also be able to take tours of the facility, receive free mini-consultations, and see presentations on fertility at noon and 5 p.m. Positive Steps will also hold drawings for prizes such as coolers and free services, which visitors will be allowed to gift to someone else if they choose.

Dr. John Preston Parry, who leads the clinic, served as chief of the reproductive endocrinology and infertility division at the University of Mississippi Medical Center before leaving in fall 2017 to launch Positive Steps. He invented his own fertility testing system that he named the "Parryscope" technique, which can often identify most causes of female infertility in a single visit, Positive Steps said in a press release.

Clinic practice manager Melissa Harris told the Jackson Free Press that the procedure takes less than 15 minutes, offers immediate results, and is less expensive and more comfortable than standard testing procedures. The clinic will give away a free Parryscope session, which normally has a $1,000 value, in a grand prize drawing at the event.

Positive Steps Fertility is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call 833-767-7837, email [email protected] or visit parryscope.com.

Trustmark Park Hosts 'Braves Business After Hours'

The chambers of commerce for Flowood, Clinton, Madison, Pearl and Rankin County, as well as the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, are teaming up with the Mississippi Braves for the "Braves Business After Hours" on Thursday, June 7, at Trustmark Park (1 Braves Way, Pearl).

The family-friendly event is $10 per person, and will include door prizes, burgers, chips, soda and admission to the Braves' game against the Montgomery Biscuits. All children in attendance will also receive a free wristband for the Family Fun Zone. The gates will open at 5:30 p.m., and the game will start at 7 p.m.

For more information, contact Jennifer Anderson with the Chamber of Flowood via email at [email protected] or call 601-932-8007.