By- DeoVonte “Deo” Means

This past Sunday, many of the sophisticated and sexy luminaires of Chicago gathered at a Chatham residence to attend the Tank Tops and Tattoos cookout, hosted by Nolan, Marcell and CJ. Many might ask, why would a summer picnic garner such praise? The answer is simple. Chicago’s scene has become so triangulated due to factors such as age, socio-economic status and culture; that our collective social life has become almost void. Long gone are the days whereas our community had multiple events to fill our social calendars in which we gathered and celebrated together. Our weekly outlets are now catered towards the gregarious 23 and younger crowd, and even our annual Pride celebration at Montrose was nothing more than a boring walk thru the park with 4 or 5 familiar faces. The TT&T picnic indeed stepped up to the plate and served not only as a well put together homecoming but also a sort of balm to heal an ailing community. The food selection was prepared and catered by an out-of-town chef and the liquor selection was overflowing at the open bar. More importantly, guest had the opportunity to frolic and catch-up with many faces we may interact with on social media but have not seen in person in weeks/years. The host were gracious and the afternoon hours (2:30-10pm) allowed everyone to enjoy themselves yet still be able to report to work the next day. I will admit, there was not an overwhelming presence of those I generally label as ratchet, but this too served as an asset for many reasons already understood. DJ Serpent did an amazing job at keeping the vibe going and rapidly showing illustrating why he has not only become the DJ of choice but also slowly becoming a legend in the city. I first met Nolan in our days of collaborating for the Chicago Socialites dinner and thru the years he has maintained his reputation of hosting some of the best “shin-digs” in the city; yet this was by far one of his best! CJ is a new comer to the city/scene but he also did an EXCELLENT job for his debut. In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed myself! It was a much-needed breath of fresh air and job WELL DONE fellas……Cheers…. Deo