Don’t Tell Your Kids: Chewing Gum May be Good for You
- story by Christina Richardson, PhD
Don’t Tell Your Kids: Chewing Gum May be Good for You
An 8000-year-old wad of gum tells us that gum chewing has been a part of human development from earliest times. But is it healthy?
- story by Christina Richardson, PhD Rum Kitchen
Chappy, whose original seafood restaurant opened in Long Beach in 1984, said that Hurricane Katrina “completely uprooted” his life and that he’s thrilled to finally be back home in Waveland. “I’m trying to get back to my life that I love so much,” he said. Not one to look back, Chappy said, “I’m trying to move ahead with new ideas, fresh ideas.”
The Caribbean flair is found throughout the dining area and even into the ladies’ room, where leftover wood takes an artistic turn. Chappy credits his wife Starr and his sister, New Orleans artist Connie Chapman, for pulling together all the pieces and parts to give the restaurant its tropical look. The taste, though, is what keeps customers coming back, like the starter choices to share with the table: avocado mango dip, seafood hushpuppies and Yea Mon Nachos (pulled pork, black beans, jalapeños, tomatoes, red onion, lime cream, cilantro, and tons of melted cheese).
Tacos with fish and various fillings are on menus everywhere these days but at Rum Kitchen the Off the Grid tacos come in some unique iterations. Choose beef, seafood, lamb, chicken, duck, pork, and vegetarian, all served on 4-inch corn tortillas.
The brisket has big flavors accented by BBQ sauce, cilantro, and crunchy fried shallots. Flavorful Jerk Chicken is sweetened with mango salsa. The popular Miss Queen doubles down with pulled pork, jalapeño salsa, spicy and vinegary BBQ sauce and roasted corn relish. Tacos come in twos, threes and fours with one or two sides. Coconut mango rice is a pleasant sweet surprise, light and flavorful. The Callaloo-smothered greens got raves on two lunch outings. Also available are sweet potato fries, black beans with chorizo, grilled asparagus and mashed potatoes.
The sandwiches-and-burgers menu includes the standout ground chuck burger and the grilled mahi mahi with creole seasoning. Both drew raves recently from lunch customers.
The Me Hearty Plates offer even more innovative choices, like braised lamb in a tomato curry, grilled chicken with the restaurant’s signature sauce, red curry shrimp, ribs and a char gilled ribeye with garlic chutney. Mahi Mahi, jerk chicken and brisket are found into the salad selections, too. For dessert, dig into the Bahama Mama bread pudding, made fresh daily, or Key lime pie, among other decadent selections. Go ahead. Pretend you’re on vacation. Rum Kitchen is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., serving lunch and dinner. There is a full bar. Call 228-467-9099. Waveland's Ground Zero Museum Under New Director
A place that honors the survivors and volunteers who experienced the wrath and the aftermath of the most destructive hurricane in American history.
- story and photos by Ana Balka
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If one did not take a close look at these, one might assume they were a post-Katrina gesture from a quilting society somewhere, but no: these are all the work of master quilting artist Solveig Wells, who had homes in Canada and Bay St. Louis and who completed these all from salvaged fabrics over 16 months in 2006-’07. Wells’ husband David donated the exquisite collection to the museum following Solveig’s death in 2013.
Museum volunteer and Waveland resident Carol Kerr says that in the weeks since the museum’s reopening visitors have reacted positively and sometimes emotionally to the museum’s collection of photos, art, and artifacts, which paint a distinctive portrait of Waveland before, during, and after Katrina.
Carol showed me the auditorium, where local students in Waveland’s M.A.P. (Music, Arts & Practicality, a non-profit enrichment program providing free theater and choir experiences for area students) summer theater camp have been rehearsing “The Lion King” for presentation on the auditorium stage July 16-17.
This is a facet ofnew director Kathy Pinn’s long-range vision for the Ground Zero Museum building as a gathering place: a place that builds community, as well as being a center for learning about the storm, about Waveland history, and about what makes Waveland such a special place. Pinn has long fostered community in Waveland. A former president of both the Coleman Avenue Coalition and the Waveland Community Coalition (and incidentally a M.A.P. co-founder), Pinn and her husband Ron are moving back to Waveland after five years in Illinois specifically to get back to the home they love, and for Kathy to assume her role as museum director. Pinn says that the dozens of museum visitors in its first month have included residents of 15 other states, some who had never been to the area, some post-Katrina volunteers. For locals, touring the museum can be cathartic. “Seeing the waterline, seeing the pictures on the wall, then the H.C. Porter exhibit, it’s very moving,” Pinn says. “Backyards and Beyond” is a multimedia exhibit by artist H.C. Porter and collaborators Karole Sessums and Gretchen Haien. Porter and Sessums photographed and recorded hundreds of Mississippians in the year following Katrina, creating a nationally touring exhibit that features Porter’s mixed media paintings and accompanying audio in which the portraits’ subjects express the reality of displacement and loss through their own stories.
Ground Zero’s Porter exhibit, sponsored by Mississippi Power, contains eight of the paintings, with audio guides. The floor is covered in photo-printed tiles that together comprise a life-sized portrait of the slabbed remains of a Waveland home.
The room feels chapel-like, bringing human shape to the unspeakable. I can see how it might uncover long-buried emotions in those who survived the storm.
“All of that is sometimes a little overwhelming,” Pinn says, “But then we go into the Waveland room.”
Many displays in the Waveland Room represent steps toward healing. There are binders with hundreds of handwritten, individual “Storm Stories” by survivors that visitors can thumb through, and throughout the room there are photo collages, quilts, signed shirts, and other outpourings of love from well-wishers and volunteers around the country. A large cardboard “Gratitude Tree” stands covered in names and quotes. I photograph volunteer Carol next to her own words about home being wherever she is, because she cannot go home. In a corner, an assemblage by mixed media artist Lori Gordon depicts the clothes that hung from trees after the storm.
The room also contains historical artifacts: one wall is festooned with hand-painted versions of Boy Scout merit badges from the days Scouts held meetings in that very room in the ’50s, as well as photos of students, teachers, and sports teams from Waveland Grammar School days in the ’30s and ’40s. A glass case contains memorabilia from hurricane Camille.
A somewhat surreal herd of carousel animal figures gallop, hop, and swim at the back of the room, but that is part of the museum’s evolving nature. The Port Townsend (Washington) Carousel Association donated the Carousel of the Olympic Sea, an original by Bill Dentzel of the Denztel family of carousel makers, to Waveland after Katrina. Its size prohibits assembly in the museum building, so while the carousel has a permanent home at the museum, its location has yet to be defined.
Pinn knows that visitors will come away from the museum experience with a positive awareness of all that Waveland is and has achieved: “I’d like people to understand that part of it: It happened, we got through it, and now look at us.”
Be A Tourist in Waveland!
In this five part series, Hancock County Tourism Bureau is highlighting our communities and some of the unique activities for visitors and also locals. This month we feature Waveland.
- photos by Ellis Anderson, Ana Balka, Prima Luke Waveland
Waveland was originally part of old Shieldsboro (which later became Bay St. Louis), and was known as Montgomery Station and Grand Bend before attaining a charter to become a separate municipality with a mayor and board of aldermen in 1888.
From the beginning, it was a resort town and many New Orleans residents had summer homes here. Today, Waveland is the only city on the Gulf Coast that prohibits commercial buildings on the beachfront, preserving its hometown feeling. Parks, Piers and Hurricanes:
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Summer on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Perhaps you’ve been sitting outside recently, enjoying the fresh salt air, sipping a cold beverage, and watching the wheeling sea birds and the crabs and other sea creatures skedaddling about in the sand.
If you live here, then this is very probably why you live here. If you’re visiting, then it’s an experience that you will want to hold and treasure long after you return home. If you’re looking for ways to capture the essence of the Gulf Coast and bring it indoors into your home, your first stop should be the Bonner Collection. As soon as you step inside the shop, you are surrounded by items that celebrate life on the Coast. |
Arts Alive column
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I’d like to introduce you to a couple of new friends of mine. This gorgeous Blue-Fronted Green Amazon Parrot goes by the name of Handsome Jack.
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Puppy Dog Tales
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Back to our friends Handsome Jack and Teddy Boy. Mark told me about the evening routine.
“Fast forward to the end of day ritual, and you’re exhausted, but the aviary needs cleaning because the boys chew wood and toss food; the water and seed mix needs refreshing and you’re thinking of a large donation to the Audubon Zoo along with two parrots. … that’s when Handsome Jack says ‘nite-nite buddy’ followed quickly by ‘see you in the morning.’ And you melt, and say it right back with a tear and catch in your throat. Raymond loved his birds and they loved him and now I feel they love us too.” Mark tells me that each day is a treasure, the boys learning more words and phrases in English and other languages. They already speak Korean and understand some Spanish. |
My earliest memories are from Gulf Shores, and the Gulf of Mexico. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the charming resort town was still a quiet retreat from the cities. Traditional coastal homes — new or old — faced the Gulf as waves crashed during the tidal changes. My grandparents owned a pleasant beach house painted bright white with green storm shutters.
The drive to Gulf Shores from Mobile was an adventure in itself. We traveled through the Bankhead Tunnel and across the Causeway to Baldwin County. The landscape changed as we drove further south. |
The Shoofly Column
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Hey sports fans! I’d like to share with you a quick DIY project I did for my son recently. I live in a tiny house. If you know anything about tiny houses, you know space is limited.
My son is a typical teenage boy. Between his school uniforms, sports gear, and other teenage boy things, his tiny space can get cluttered and messy real fast. His tiny room does not have space for a dresser or armoire so I had to find a solution to help him stay tidy and organized. |
Beautiful Things
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Buccaneer State Park, hailed as the most popular among all of Mississippi’s beautiful state parks, holds a special place among the Coast’s long list of attractions.
This summer, Buccaneer is again drawing campers and other fans of the outdoors to Hancock County after being restored following Hurricane Katrina. Location is key to Buccaneer’s popularity and having the Gulf of Mexico at the front door is a natural draw. The peaceful setting inside the park is dotted with moss-laden oaks and rich natural vegetation and animal life. During the summer season Buccaneer Bay, the 4.5-acre waterpark, makes the park the top destination for those who like to cool off. |
Beach to Bayou
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One of the most satisfying creative moments in my life? The instant I hit the button changing www.bslfourthward.com to www.bslshoofly.com.
The original Bay St. Louis 4th Ward Cleaver — a folksy neighborhood online newsletter, began in 2011. We graduated to a higher level of communications in 2014, becoming a sponsor supported magazine. For nearly two years, we've been showcasing writing and photography by more than a dozen dedicated contributors each month. Now, with the support of loyal readers and sponsors, we feel it’s time for a name that reflects how far we’ve come, and who we are now. That’s why from here on out, we are the Shoofly Magazine. |
Coast Lines
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On a sunny May day, a steady flow of guests arrived at the Kate Lobrano home in Bay St. Louis for the monthly speaker luncheon day at the Hancock County Historical Society.
Inside, volunteers were welcoming, seating, and serving lunches to over twenty guests, while Hancock County Chancery Clerk Tim Kellar delivered an interesting presentation of his great-grandfather’s life in the small community of Santa Rosa near Pearl River. As the attendees socialized, dined, and listened attentively to Kellar, they might not have been aware of the considerable number of volunteers that support Hancock County Historical Society (HCHS) and made this monthly event a success. |
Shared History
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Let's begin by dispensing with a common misconception. Grape juice from wine berries is colorless. It doesn't matter if we are crushing a Sauvignon Blanc berry or a Merlot berry: the juice is clear. It is the skin of the grape that lends color to the juice. The longer the juice is exposed to the crushed skin, the deeper the color becomes.
Creating wine via crushing wine berries is the oldest winemaking technique in the world. Ancient winemakers would stomp the grapes, leaving the juice in contact with the skins before discarding them and allowing the juice to ferment. The result would have been a clear, lightly colored pink wine. |
Grape Minds
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Many literary classics were originally published in languages other than English. “War and Peace,” “Les Misérables,” and “Don Quixote” are among the titles recognized by most readers. “Madame Bovary” was first translated from French into English by Eleanor Marx Aveling, Karl Marx’s daughter, in 1886, and most recently in 2010 by Lydia Davis, an American short story writer and novelist. In between, at least 15 translations of the iconic French novel were published, each translator thinking that they found some new meaning or coloring to bring to the reader. English translations account for only about 3 percent of all books published in the United States and the United Kingdom. By comparison, 27 percent of novels published in France, and 28 percent in Spain, are translated from other languages. What accounts for the difference? Are Americans more insular due to geography and lack of cultural curiosity? | Bay Reads |
Saturday, July 9th
Over the past two decades, the Second Saturday Artwalk has become one of the most popular monthly community events in the entire region. Gallery openings, shop and restaurant specials and live music make the streets of town swirl with a fun family energy. While things are lively all day, the music and specials take place from 4 - 8pm.
Each month, two "Hot Spot" businesses take the limelight. This month, Magnolia Antique (200 Main Street) and O'Dwyer Realty (105 North Beach are featured. Make sure to stop by and congratulate them! |
Second Saturday column
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Waveland Police Station
I'm pleased to report that the Waveland Police Department has moved out of the double wide trailer on Coleman Avenue into their permanent home on McLaurin Street.
The police station, which has been eight years in the making (including a five year hiatus), is finally completed. The new Waveland Police Station will also be the new location of Waveland court. The total cost of the police station was just over $6 million, which included a $2 million bond that had to be obtained to correct deficiencies. |
What's Up, Waveland
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If you have been to the Waveland Public Library in recent weeks, you have probably noticed that Mrs. Nancy Pepperman hasn't been there. Well, the reason that Mrs. Nancy Pepperman hasn't been at the library is because she retired, and I would like to thank her for her dedication to the citizens she has served in her time as branch manager.
Nancy's replacement as the Waveland Library manager is Angela Christoffer. Angela has been with the Hancock County Library System for 8 years. She served as Waveland's Deputy Director before assuming the role of Waveland branch manager on May 31st. I know that Angela will serve the Waveland community well. |
I’m back from my wedding hiatus to share tales of my whirlwind adventures! I’d like to thank my mother and Suzi Walters for taking over my column while I was immersed in the grand event of my wedding.
While I was on break, life gave my existence a reshaping. I transcended the mundane, and emerged a married woman! Seriously though. I make it sound like water over rocks, but I lost countless hours of sleep and probably grew my first grey hair during the process. It was so worth it to find myself legally bound to the man I’ve loved for almost seven years. |
Vintage Vignette
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