During the Second Saturday Artwalk each month in Old Town Bay St. Louis, you'll find cool deals, fresh meals and lots of art and live music!

Be sure to check out "Hot Spots" Clay Creations (105 S. Toulme Street) and Lulu's on Main (126 Main Street).  Read more about these featured businesses below! 
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- stories by Caroline St. Paul, photos by Caroline St. Paul and Ellis Anderson
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Clay Creations
105 S. Toulme Street 
Bay St. Louis​
(228) 466-6347
Website
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Clay Creations, located in the back of Gallery 220, sells handmade clay sculptures which replicate buildings that appear primarily along the Gulf Coast and New Orleans.
 
The business recently celebrated its 35th anniversary in June of this year. Jenise McCardell began Clay Creations Studio in 1980. In 1993, she moved herself and the business to Bay St. Louis from New Orleans, and opened her own ceramics studio there. Today, she and her husband, Mark Currier, continue to create these beloved creations out of clay.

​“The pieces are sculpted from white clay, hand painted, and fired twice in a temperature kiln.” Throughout the years, many pieces from over 1,000 designs have been created. These pieces depict images of businesses, restaurants, bars, schools, churches, homes, and custom creations, which are McCardell’s favorites.
 
Clay Creations make a great gift, as they offer a bit of nostalgia and personalization. Customers always adore these special creations, some of which even depict buildings that are not standing anymore. The special custom pieces are made when customers bring in photos of their home, business, or any other architectural building they would like replicated.
 

 
After 35 years of business, Clay Creations is one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in Old Town. Stop into the gallery, and you may even get to see some creations being made, as the entire process happens on site. Over 1,000 designs are also on display here.

Weeks after Hurricane Katrina, McCardell and her husband decided to repair their building as quickly as possible so that they could host Second Saturday. This heroic act was just what the community needed to heal. The couple decided to open their doors every Saturday evening for the next several months, which allowed everyone to come together, and also gave the local artists a space to show and sell their artwork.
 

 
This same spirit is present in the business. For August 10th's Second Saturday Artwalk, stop into the gallery to view these beautiful handmade clay creations. Enjoy entertainment sponsored by Hancock/Whitney Bank, The First, and The People’s Bank. Enjoy Clay Creations as a “Hot Spot” for the entire month of August. 
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Lulu's on Main
126 Main Street 
Bay St. Louis​
(228) 463-1670
Website

Enjoy a leisurely afternoon of lunching and shopping at Lulu’s on Main. Nancy Moynan has owned Lulu’s since 2002. After Hurricane Katrina, Moynan bought Lulu’s current building from her brother in 2007, and the restaurant re-opened on June 22 of that year.
 
Moynan came to Bay St. Louis to retire and “to slow life down a little bit.” A New Orleans native, Moynan cites Bay St. Louis as an extension of the city. Her restaurant, and the food that she serves, is reminiscent of “The Big Easy,” and of her mother and grandmother as well.
 

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At Lulu’s, “There really aren’t any bad sellers,” Moynan says. On the menu you will find crab cakes, chicken salad, roast beef po-boys, fish tacos, pear pecan salad, Greek salad, hamburgers, and much more. Everything is cooked to order by Moynan, who got her restaurant training at Commander’s Palace.
 
After moving out of her family’s home as a young adult, Moynan would call her mother and ask how to make certain dishes. “That’s kind of how I got the bug,” she remembers. “This has just been a passion.”
 
“I formulate a menu of what I think people want,” she says. Moynan is happy with the current menu, calling it “spot-on.” She runs a lot of specials as well that customers always enjoy.

​“The community here is delightful!” she says, adding, “there is such a familiarity.” Moynan’s philosophy is grounded on “keeping it manageable, small, fresh, and giving people a memory, an experience.” The building that Lulu’s calls home also houses a few retail shops, making it the perfect place to enjoy a blissful lunch with friends or family, followed by shopping - all under one roof.
 
Lulu’s is open for breakfast and lunch Wednesday-Sunday. Enjoy it as a “hot spot” for the month of August, and enjoy entertainment for August 10 Second Saturday Artwalk sponsored by Hancock Whitney Bank, The First, and The People’s Bank. 
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Steve Barney, president of The Arts, Hancock County, explores the creative economy of the Waveland Lighthouse with this unique community sculpture project. ​

- story and photos by Steve Barney

A few local residents criticize the design and worry about it attracting transients who can charge their phones, take a shower and hang out in the shade. Naysayers predicted elevation and insurance requirements would make future Coleman Avenue development untenable.

But no matter how you feel about the structure, the lighthouse has quickly become an iconic symbol of post-Katrina Waveland. 
​

​Through the efforts of internationally renowned artists Erica Larkin Gaudet and Mitchell Gaudet and the City of Waveland, the mayor’s vision is indeed coming to fruition.
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Erica has had her metal sculpting studio up and running for over a year now in the previous Waveland Business Center building, now operating as Studio Waveland + Gallery - a state-of-the-art, 3,000-square-foot gallery and exhibition space.

In the past year, Studio Waveland has produced eight exhibitions featuring local, national and world-class artists. These contemporary art shows bring hundreds of fine art aficionados from the local area, New Orleans, the North Shore and across the Gulf Coast.

​The building’s financial control was recently turned over from the federal government to the City of Waveland. Now the Gaudets are working towards the development and construction of Mitchell’s glass casting studio (Studio Inferno) by installing his giant glass furnaces in the facility. This move, which represents a $250,000 capital investment, will establish one of the most important glass and metalworking facilities in the region.
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This spring, Kiln artist Mary Nelson was making a ceramic sculpture of a lighthouse she visited in North Carolina. At the time of the Waveland ribbon cutting, the idea came up….“Why don’t we make a sculpture of the Waveland Lighthouse?” Not daunted by the challenge, Nelson enthusiastically began design and fabrication. 

Once she began working on the project, Nelson quickly realized the complexity and magnitude of iconifying this 60-foot-tall, multi-level complex structure in clay. Built on piers with staircases, railings and elevator shaft, she wanted no detail was left out – including Mayor Mike waving from the balcony - trading in his signature red tie for a blue tie to match the lighthouse roof. 
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Nelson, a Mississippi coast resident since childhood, works for the Port of Gulfport. She explains, “My love of art comes from learning to accept I don't have to be perfect and that I am my biggest critic.

"This lighthouse sculpture project has given me new confidence as an artist, as I’m learning to let go. Even if it doesn't go as planned, oftentimes the result is better than the original idea.”

Mary enlisted her mom, Teri, to help with the project. Mary and Teri came to ceramics at the Bay St. Louis Creative Arts Center through a connection with Linnae Scheel, who had been teaching art classes and workshops from the barn behind Dempsey’s Restaurant in Kiln. 
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Everyone in the Tuesday night class pitched in to help complete the sculpture in time for Destination Waveland’s Fourth of July party. During the celebration, visitors marveled at the sculpture and got a chance for a unique selfie with the lighthouse in front of the lighthouse.

On August 6, the Nelsons, representing the BSL Creative Arts Center and The Arts, Hancock County, will formally present the sculpture to the City of Waveland.

Mayor Mike Smith says, “I think it’s amazing, the time and detail… It looks exactly like the real thing.” He added, “It shows how iconic this structure is to the City of Waveland.” 
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The city plans to build a museum-quality display case and viewing area within City Hall, where the sculpture is anticipated to become a tourist attraction on its own.

The sculpture is already being booked for traveling exhibitions, including the Gulf Coast Model Railroad Museum, Mississippi Welcome Center and other locations, in an effort to promote Destination Waveland and The Arts, Hancock County.

The Waveland Lighthouse meme is extending to the digital world as well.

A prototype is being developed by Katrina Niolet and Miguel Davalos II of You're Perfect Studio, Mississippi's first digital arts co-op.

According to Katrina, “Using video game technology, the lighthouse is being modeled in a photorealistic, interactive 3D environment.”

​She adds, “We’re excited to bring this iconic landmark to life in the virtual world!"

Our Hancock County philosopher observes the natural world around him acting in harmony and wonders where humans fit in.

- Story by James Inabinet, PhD

Minutes passed. My eyes remained closed as I felt a simple joy at being here, now. My wandering mind soon fell onto why it felt so good and it occurred to me (as it has before) that it might be the interlacing harmony of it all.

A palpable harmony, a felt one, I have quite often found myself to be ensconced here in my forest home within a panoply of seamless fits, a place where everything seemed “just so.” Homes and niches interpenetrate and overlap homes and niches–and I am a part of it!

I have surmised that every constituent being, by simply following their desires to be, by just being and doing according to true natures, contributes to and creates this harmony.
​

Oak trees are being oak. Driven by a desire to be oak (no more-no less) they surge with hormones and produce flowers that become acorns, food for squirrels, birds, and weevils–and budding oak trees.

Weevils are being weevil. Driven by a similar desire, they drill into acorns where eggs are laid that hatch into acorn-eating weevil grubs. Shiny green tiger beetles, driven by a desire to be and do tiger beetle, are running about–fast–on the forest floor to catch and eat small insects, notably acorn weevils.

Lizards are there too, among the beetles, prompted by desire to just be lizard. Some are flashing blue underbellies while others flash ruddy neck extensions, even as tiny flying moths are snatched up and devoured.

Bees, driven by a desire to be bee, can be heard buzzing about (a totally bee behavior), checking-in on coreopsis flowers over there, wild plum flowers over here, and huckleberry flowers over there.

Sitting on a mat of leaves, I leaned against a water oak to gaze. A barely visible dogwood bloomed through intervening foliage. I listened to the gentle breeze in the canopy and scanned.

A low-flying pine warbler, lured by desire to be warbler, flitted from limb to limb. She was singing a distinctive “warbling cheep” while jerking her head about rapidly, side-to-side, up-then down, jerky–nothing smooth about it.

​To the west about a hundred feet away a male swallowtail, driven by desire, perhaps by the proximal scent of a potential mate, flew haphazardly but quickly from left to right and out of sight, two hundred feet in a matter of seconds.
​

In the face of a desire to be and the apparent harmony within my forest home, I wondered about humans. I wondered about human-in-harmony, about what it might be like for a human being to live in harmony with the forest in the same way an oak or a warbler or a fence lizard lives in harmony.

What would that be like? What would it feel like for a human in service to a potential “human niche” to perform a “human function” that creates it?

Ecologically, an organism performing its function in an ecosystem is performing its niche. Niche is kind of like a “job” in the ecosystem, both the place and the functioning, inseparably, together, including associates, i.e., oaks and weevils and squirrels and warblers.

Squirrels perform a squirrel function by gathering acorns, ripping pine cones apart, running along limbs, hiding from the cooper’s hawk behind a pine trunk. By performing these functions, a squirrel niche is performed.

​How does the squirrel know what to do? She follows instinct for sure, but what is that like? I surmise that niching behaviors are prompted by a desire to be and become, whatever kind of organism is in question. Squirrels, driven by the instinctual desire to BE squirrel, perform niching behaviors and squirrel niches spontaneously spring into being.
​

This brings us back to humans and niche. In a forest ecosystem, what might a human function be? Along the lines of squirrel function and niche, this must be a performance of human function that brings about a human niche.

How would a human know what to do? Is it just instinct? In its performance, would human niching harmonize with the functioning of other beings of a forest like squirrel functioning does? What would such a human niche look like, be like? More importantly perhaps, what would it feel like?

​These questions haunt me.

Our own DIY Diva shows us how to make these adorable planters, inspired by Peggy Branger from Antique Maison.
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- story and photos by Holly Lemoine-Raymond
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Instructions
 
Step 1:
​Soak your tea bags or single-use coffee packs in water and let them sit.

Step 2:
While the tea bags are soaking, paint the pots and let them dry. I used Paint & Primer in One with a matte finish in French Cream. The Paint & Primer in One will give the pot a little texture.

 Step 3:
With your scissors, cut the labels off the seed packets and soak them in the water with your tea or coffee bags.

 
Step 4:
Once the paint on the pots dries, use the paint brush to add your stain. 

 
Step 5:
Do not let the stain dry. Use your rag or paper towel to wipe the stain until you have your desired look. You will be wiping most of the stain away. The texture from the paint & primer will help give the remaining stain depth. 

 
Step 6:
Using a clean paint brush, apply a layer of Mod Podge to the pot where the seed label will go.
 
Step 7:
With the same paint brush, apply Mod Podge on the back of the label. Place the label on the pot where you applied the layer of Mod Podge and smooth it down. Allow the Mod Podge to dry for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
 

 
Step 8:
​Now that your pot is decorated it’s time to add your herbs. I used Sweet Basil, Rosemary and Chives.
 

 
Step 9:
Once you have placed your herbs in the pots, you will need to add a bit of soil. For this project I used Flower & Garden Vegetable Soil. You won’t need much, just enough to fill in the pot.

 
You could add one last touch by putting a matching saucer under your pots. Your herb garden is now ready for your kitchen window or counter, and you can enjoy fresh herbs all year around!

Thanks for checking out Beautiful Things in the Shoofly Magazine! 

After fifty years of adoration, a Paul McCartney fan shares an intimate moment with him - along with 18,000 other fans.  
- story by Ellis Anderson

​Artist Cindy Easterling creates kiln glass works that reflect the beauty of life on the Gulf Coast.
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- Story by ​Rheta Grimsley Johnson, photos by Rheta Grimsley Johnson and Cindy Easterling
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​The motion of the ocean is reflected in the glass that has become Cindy’s passion, an art she perfects in a shed where kiln space is divided with rakes and shovels. The shed/studio is behind her old pink house near the beach in Pass Christian. The house looks like a beach house should, not some brick McMansion but a wooden relic that has withstood a lot and earned its defects.
 
“That’s why I chose it,” she says.
 
Her grandfather’s house in the Pass, where Cindy spent many happy childhood days, was heavily damaged in Camille, and her great-grandfather’s house destroyed. But that did not dampen her enthusiasm for the coast. Buying an old house in the same town appealed to both Cindy and her engineer husband, Bob, who loves to sail.

 
But right now they divide their time between the Pass and St. Louis, where her architecture business and Bob’s job and elderly mother keep them anchored. They hope someday to live full-time on the coast, and they plan their lives around that eventuality.
 
Cindy’s work has become increasingly popular all over the coast, and its distinctive transluscence and sea glass colors make it instantly identifiable. Some would say recognizable work is the mark of genius, like a Willie Nelson upbeat riff, or a Walter Anderson swirl.
 
Her fused glass work, also called kiln glass, began about seven years ago when she took classes from a neighbor at Craft Alliance Gallery in St. Louis.
 

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“But it all really began in college with a bottle cutter,” she insists. That bottle cutter stayed on a shelf for more than 30 years until an empty nest and self-employment -- after years in the corporate rat race -- let her pursue her art again.
 
A New Orleans native, Cindy graduated from Newcomb College of Tulane University. She was in a fine arts curriculum but her father insisted that her degree must be in something “practical” enough to support herself, need be, so she finished in architecture as a kind of compromise.

Now, with time and the Mississippi Gulf as inspiration, she makes plates, vases, dishes, platters, ornaments and other glass delectibles, using American or recycled glass. They are both functional and decorative, but all beautiful. “I love the play and interaction of light on glass.”
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​She likes to be able to see through the pieces, so usually at least two layers of flat glass are cut and fused together at high temperatures to add strength. Decorative flourishes can be more glass – descriptively called stringers, frits and confetti – or gold, silver, copper or other metals.
 
“The first thing that I do every morning is open my blinds and look out at the water, trees and clouds. It is different every day, and I never get tired of looking at the view.”
 ​

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Her house designs through the years also spawned another hobby. Cindy hopes to compile a book of photographs she made of homes in the Pass before Katrina, which now can be found on her note cards.
 
Those photographs, she says, “are an outgrowth of looking through the lens at details” and different views of the homes she designed and the old homes she loves.
 
It pleases Cindy no end when her art projects find “a good home,” and other people see in her work the ocean, the sand and the vegetation of the area she loves.

This specially themed Second Saturday artwalk in July - Frida Fest - celebrates the birthday of iconic artist Frida Kahlo with an extraordinary costume contest and a fiesta of other special happenings!  
- stories by Caroline St. Paul, photos by Caroline St. Paul and Ellis Anderson

​100 Men D.B.A. Hall
303 Union St.
Bay St. Louis, MS 39520
415. 336.9543
​Website

When Rachel Dangermond bought the historic 100 Men D.B.A. Hall last July, she intended on using it to hold writing workshops, until she began to understand its many layers of history. After being closed for five years, “The Hall” needed someone dedicated to resurrect it, and that’s just what she did, and is continuing to do, almost a year later.
 
The 100 Men D.B.A. Hall was started by a group of African-American men in 1894 during a time in which “dark forces in society” were working against them. Dangermond explains, “For three generations, it became an energy center in this community.” Fast-forward to 2019, and the hall is being shared with an even larger community and is continuing to make its history.
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An African-American landmark on the Mississippi Blues Trail, The 100 Men D.B.A. Hall is located at the edge of the historic district at 303 Union Street, across the railroad tracks from the Train Depot. This nonprofit raises funds to preserve and maintain the hall. It is available for rental for events, and there is always a full schedule of exciting activities, which can be found at https://www.the100menhall.com/.
 
The mission of The 100 Men D.B.A. Hall has three parts. First, share the story of “The Hall” and narrate its history, because it is very important and unique to this area. Second, present live music. “We consider that a sacred act for which the hall was built,” Dangermond explains. Musical events are held often, always thanks to a helpful sponsor. In turn, the Hall provides community events that are always free, such as Open Mic Night, which is held on the fourth Thursday of every month.
 
The last part of the mission is to gather the community. “This hall was built for the African-American community, and the African-American community is very important to the history and the telling of the history of the hall, and is very important to our mission as well,” says Dangermond. “However, it’s also important that we gather the community from all different segments and all different areas under one roof.”
 ​

Community engagement is vital for the success of “The Hall.” Throughout her time of owning the 100 Men D.B.A. Hall, Rachel has had a lot of support. “I think everybody in this community loves this hall and wants to see it succeed,” she says.
 
The 100 Men D.B.A. Hall is an “ongoing work in progress,” says Dangermond, for which there are big plans in the future. Looking ahead to Labor Day weekend is “The Hall’s” first annual festival, Booker Fest, celebrating the music of New Orleans rhythm and blues keyboardist James Booker.
 
For Second Saturday Art Walk on July 13, the 100 Men D.B.A. Hall will be hosting the Frida Fest after-party. Alexey Marti, a Cuban percussionist and his Latin band will be playing, there will be Cuban food available for purchase, lots of costumes, and even more fun. The party begins at 9 p.m. and tickets are available in advance on the website, or for $5 more at the door. It is sure to be the perfect wrap up for a big festival like Frida Fest! Make sure to support The 100 Men D.B.A. Hall.
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bijoubel
136 Main St.
Bay St. Louis, MS 39520
228.344.3393
Website

​bijoubel, owned by Melissa Hamilton, is a fashion boutique that sells fashion jewelry, clothing, and other accessories. In March, the shop moved to 136 Main Street.
 
Hamilton began her business inside of Century Hall. After two years she moved inside of the Maggie May building, where she spent almost five years. Although she does miss the influence of the other shop owners with whom she shared space, Hamilton is enjoying the new location immensely.

bijoubel carries Catherine Popesco and Marianna jewelry, both of which are made from Swarovski crystals; their own jewelry line, called Ava Kate, Renaldo, which features a bracelet of the month and meaningful messages in each one; and My Saint My Hero.
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​The store also carries very affordable samples and closouts from Joan Vass, a high-end clothing line. Nothing in this line is over $40, making it a steal.
 
“We’ve always tried to offer affordable pricing,” Hamilton explains. She likes the fact that mothers can feel comfortable going into bijoubel with their daughters because they can afford to buy them something without guilt. Customers are also never afraid to tell Hamilton what they want.
 
Hamilton’s favorite parts of being in Bay St. Louis are the people and the culture. “We can all come together and be a part of one community,” she replies. She also loves the fact that you can feel free to be yourself here.
 ​

For the July 13 Second Saturday Art Walk, bijoubel will be featuring three local artists on the back porch of the shop and a live band in the back garden. There will also be Mexican food to complement the theme of Frida Fest. Music is sponsored by Hancock Whitney Bank, The First, and The Peoples Bank.

​Make sure to visit bijoubel as a “hot spot” all month!
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Get ready for a weekend of great food, music and a "no-bull" fun run complete with roller derby girls -- all for a very worthy cause.
- Story by Lisa Monti, photos by Lionel Haynes, Jr. 

Prizes will be presented to the winners, and a DJ will play music for dancing throughout the evening. As part of the evening’s tip of the hat to Hemingway, Cigars in the Pass will host an outdoor cigar lounge complete with an air-conditioned cigar store trailer.

 
The Paris café setting also will feature a four-course “Moveable Feast” along with libations paired with each course. The menu is a secret, but everything will be French and expertly prepared by the Rum Kitchen. Chef Chappy and Starr Chapman are original sponsors of the Hemingway Festival, and it was their idea for the museum’s main fundraiser and to draw attention to the Coleman Avenue downtown district. Said Starr, “We invite everyone to ‘Live the full life.’”
 
A special part of Friday evening will be a live auction. “You can’t go to Paris and not have art,” Donna said. New Orleans auctioneer Sam Bell makes his Hemingway Festival debut this year, auctioning off original works of art.
 ​

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One is an original acrylic of a French café scene by local artist Scharonne Herrington, who also is painting the backdrop for the bistro setting. Other pieces of artwork, framed and authenticated, were donated by a benefactor and will be revealed at the auction. Proceeds from the auction will go to the artist and the museum.
 
The festival fun spills over into Saturday, which is designed as a fun family day, with another new feature this year. All of the high school students in the county were invited to participate in a literary contest that required them to research and write a story set in Hemingway's Paris of the 1920s. Winners will read their original pieces starting at 4 pm, and prizes will be awarded.
​

 
On Saturday, July 20, the Before, During and After Party gets started at 6 pm with the DJ, food and beverages, then at 7 pm the festival’s signature parade will take to Coleman Avenue.
 
Look for decorated golf carts and representatives of the Krewe of Nereids, the Mystic Krewe of Seahorse and the ever entertaining Bay Ratz Marching Battery.
 
7:30 pm marks the start time of the 1.1-mile “No Bull Fun Run” featuring the New Orleans Brass Roller Derby Club, who will do their best to “tap out” the runners to eliminate them from the race. “It’s a fun run, Mississippi Gulf Coast style,” Donna said. “It’s so much fun to watch.”
 ​

 
Tickets for the July 19 Patron Party are $70 per person and $120 per couple. Tickets for the July 20 activities are $25 per person.
 
All the money for the Friday and Saturday festival events pays for special projects at the museum, which is dedicated to the resilience of the Coast’s residents and does not charge an admission fee.
 
This year the museum received Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage matching funds to produce a video collection of oral histories by Katrina survivors. The video will be unveiled on the August 29, anniversary of the hurricane, and a permanent exhibit will be added later this year.
 
“We invite everyone to come out and enjoy the festivities, which grow every year,” said Donna. “This is the only Hemingway Festival in this area, and it’s for a good cause.”
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This scientist has made a career of mapping the ocean floor, while creating art from the fascinating creatures who lives there, using the ancient craft of gyotaku.

- Story by Steve Barney

​Holly has always been fascinated by creatures in the water. She grew up in Michigan and spent her childhood on the water where her father owned a bait shop on the shore of Lake St. Clair. 
​

​Later, she studied marine science at Coastal Carolina University. It was in college at a job fair where she learned about the work going on at the Naval Oceanographic Office based at Stennis Space Center, on the Mississippi coast.
NAVOCEANO is the largest subordinate command within the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, and has a fleet of six state-of-the-art research vessels collecting data to support military and civilian mariners.
​ 

“When I learned about NAVOCEANO, I was sold,” Holly says. “I packed my bags and moved to Mississippi. I wanted to be on those ships and spend my life at sea.”

Holly is a hydrographer, and she maps the sea floor by using specialized SONAR devices. SONAR uses acoustic “pings” which bounce off the sea floor, and then she measures the echos. The measurements provide the raw data used to compile detailed nautical charts. 
​

Today, Holly uses a sophisticated R2 Sonic 2024, a high resolution multibeam sounder, with full coverage over the sea floor. Much of Holly’s time is spent looking at a computer screen and analyzing streams of data. Sometimes the unexpected appears on Holly’s computer screen, including uncharted shipwrecks and plane crashes, artificial reefs and debris fields. Holly marvels at the local ecosystems that attract marine life of all sorts.

She looks forward to going out to sea where her creative passion comes alive. Holly learned the technique of Gyotaku from boyfriend Scott Johnson. Johnson used to be a “Hell Diver.” He still enjoys free diving under oil rigs to spear fish and then prints them on rice paper with sumi ink.

Holly walks the beach a lot on the hunt for freshly killed fish. “I look at the eyeballs and see how fresh they are, and give them the sniff test,” Holly said.

Recently, Holly began offering live demonstrations of fish printing at the seasonal Mr. Atticus Night Market sponsored by the Mockingbird Café and The Arts, Hancock County. Public demonstrations in an uncontrolled environment offers Holly a host of challenges. 
​

Holly explains, “The fish I had was on ice overnight and it’s necessary to wait until the surface moisture stops condensing, or else the water smears the ink.
“Once it’s the right temperature and the condensation stops on the surface. I stuff the gills with a paper towel to prevent water seeping out. I pin the fins out so they don’t lay against the fish’s body to ensure a good print off the fish.”

In May 2019, Holly participated in the “Under the Flower Moon” experience at La Terre Bioregional Center and Art Studios in Kiln, Mississippi.  Along with her fish prints and live Gyotaku demonstration, Holly created a site installation bringing the ocean to the woods.

“When jellyfish are swimming together it is called a bloom,” she said. “I wanted to create a magical scene with jellyfish bobbing in the wind.”

To create the jellyfish sculptures, Holly “upholstered” plastic bowls and used ribbons and beads as tentacles attached to mini Slinkies with battery powered fairy lights. The installation was breathtaking.
​
Ann Madden, vice president of The Arts, Hancock County, said, “Holly’s illuminated jellyfish were so dreamlike and magical, it made you wonder if you were on land or undersea. Her artistry, composition and colors are so beautiful and interesting.” 

Madden added, “Holly marries art and science in a simple but sophisticated way that creates a wide appeal. She is generous with her time and expertise and is one of the loveliest, most approachable artists I know.”
​
In 2014, Holly purchased Lil’ Tuggle II, a tugboat rumored to have sunk in Lake Pontchartrain during Hurricane Katrina. For the last four years, Holly has done a full rebuild and restoration, doing a large portion of the work herself, figuring it out along the way. 
​

Holly is passionate about bringing the boat back to life and making it her mobile art studio. Ultimately, Holly’s dream is to take Lil’ Tuggle II on “The Great American Loop”, making a big circle from Mobile Bay up to Chicago, through the Great Lakes, to the Hudson River, and down the eastern seaboard through the intercoastal waterway.
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Along the way, Holly plans to catch fish, paint them (and eat them), then sell her artwork on Etsy. Meanwhile, she’ll be logging hours toward her Captain’s license while living her water world dream. 

Waveland Alderman Jeremy Burke reports on Waveland Taco Fest 2019; HemFest in Paris; and the recent MML Conference in Biloxi.
​
- Photos by Lionel Haynes, Jr

​Ernest Hemingway's 120th birthday celebration will continue on Saturday, July 20 with the 1K "No Bull Fun Run."  The Fun Run begins at the intersection of Central Avenue and Coleman, and registration opens at 5:00. The "bulls" will be roller derby ladies on skates, and runners are encouraged to wear your best whites and a red scarf!  The race entry is $25 per person in advance.

To purchase your tickets for either event, contact Joanne Boyd at (985) 249-1103, or reserve your tickets at wavelandgroundzero.com.

Waveland Taco Fest 2019 will take place on Saturday, July 27 from 3:00-8:00 pm on Coleman Avenue.

This is an event to help support Madison Dobson. Madison, the 8-year-old  daughter of Joe and Mindy Dobson of Waveland, was recently diagnosed with CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome). CRPS /RSD is a disease of the central and autonomic nervous systems. It is the most painful medical condition known to man at 45/50 on the McGill Pain scale. Since January, Madison has battled pain, numbness and loss of mobility in both legs and feet. She also struggles with nerve pain internally in her stomach, esophagus, spleen and liver. 
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This disease progresses rapidly, and there is no cure. We have sought treatment over the last few months through many of the south’s best doctors and pediatric specialists with no luck. She is in Stage 1 of full body CRPS, and we are hoping to seek treatment before the disease progresses any further.

Before this illness, Madison loved gymnastics and lived for competitions and watching Olympians on YouTube. She is a very self-motivated and determined little girl, always excelling in everything she tries, best described by her parents and siblings as the overachiever of her family of nine.

Waveland Taco Fest will feature a taco cookoff competition, unlimited taco tasting, live music, craft vendors, limbo competition and much more. Taco Fest will be a fun event for a worthy cause. If you think you have the best tacos in South Mississippi, prove it and enter a team.

Please visit Taco Fest’s website for additional information and to purchase advance tickets for the event.

During the week of June 24-26, Mayor Mike Smith, Alderman Charlie Piazza and I attended the 88th Annual Mississippi Municipal League Conference in Biloxi. The MML Conference has over 2,500 attendees and is a great opportunity for public officials to get professional training and to network with other public officials from all over Mississippi.

Mayor Mike Smith was recognized at the conference for completing his Advanced Level Certified Municipal Official of the Certified Municipal Official (CMO) program. Mayor Smith is currently working on fulfilling the requirement for the final level of the CMO program, the Professional Development level. 

​I completed the final level of the Certified Municipal Official program, the Professional Development level in 2018 and was recognized at this conference for my accomplishment. Although I have no more levels to complete, I will continue to attend classes because I never want to stop learning.

Although the certification course is voluntary, receipt of the designation of Certified Municipal Official requires completion of core courses: Municipal Organization, Municipal Law, Municipal Finance, Municipal Land Use and Community Development. The CMO program provides the participants training to become more effective leaders for Waveland.

Established in 1931, MML represents 295 city, town and village governments in Mississippi. The mission of the MML is helping cities and towns excel through training, lobbying at the state and federal level, and providing resources and networking opportunities with state, federal and private entities. For more information about the Mississippi Municipal League, visit www.mmlonline.com.
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