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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

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!  This event has quickly become one of the absolutely do-not-miss annual celebrations on the coast.

​Be sure to check out "Hot Spots" 100 Men D.B.A. Hall (303 Union St.) and Bijoubel (136 Main St.).  Read more about these featured businesses below! ​​
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​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 People’s Bank. Make sure to visit Bijoubel as a “hot spot” all month!
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He's proud to represent his clients and is working to improve life in Bay St. Louis through improving our court system.

- story by Dena Temple

“Our job is to clarify and then handle the immense amount of paperwork to expedite their claims."
 
“I get paid for helping people. What could be better?” says Brehm with a smile.

​Brehm met his future wife, Jenny, while in college. Jenny is a Methodist, and Brehm is a member of the Mormon Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

In another family this difference of faith might cause problems, but the Bells’ beliefs comfortably co-exist through mutual respect and understanding. The couple even attends each other’s church services once a month. Jenny runs a respected advertising agency and is a graphic designer.
 
The Bells raised three sons and a daughter in Bay St. Louis. The pride is evident in Brehm’s voice when asked about their current lives.

​“Our eldest recently moved back to Bay St. Louis and is pursuing a career in printing,” he begins. “My second son graduated from Emory University with a divinity degree and is working as a Methodist youth minister in the Atlanta area.”
 
He pauses, then continues with a smile. “My third son is a senior at Mississippi State University studying business, and he intends to be an entrepreneur. Our youngest child, my daughter, is currently attending Southern Mississippi University.”
 

​ 
Volunteerism keeps Brehm Bell very busy. He is active in the Young Men Organization, an auxiliary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which promotes the growth and development of young men ages 12-18.
 
In addition, Brehm is still involved with the Hancock Chamber of Commerce Education Committee and its Teachers’ Appreciation Dinner, and the Bookworms program, in which volunteers read books to elementary-school classes to help engage students in books and reading.
 

A particular source of pride for Brehm Bell is Hancock County’s Youth Court system. Ten years ago Bell served as a Youth Court judge. At that time the position was part-time, and support staffing was inadequate to properly manage the case load.

Bell was instrumental in establishing a full-time Youth Court judge for Hancock County. Today, Judge Trent Favre holds the position full time, supported by a fully staffed DHS office. Backlogs are gone, and the public is far better served.
 
Bell and others sought to create the local County court system for reasons related to not only the Youth Court. Previously, Hancock County employed the Circuit Court System for handling all civil and felony criminal cases.

​Bell explains, “We have four circuit court judges. Two spend three weeks in Hancock County each year, and the rest of their time is spent serving other counties. The other two circuit court judges serve here twice a year for three-week stints. These are all fine judges, but they have other duties serving Stone County and two separate courts in Harrison County, one in Biloxi and one in Gulfport.”

​Bell pauses. “It was their responsibility to hear all the criminal and civil cases in the county. If there were more cases than there was room on the docket, the cases were postponed, sometimes for months or years. That wasn’t efficient, and it wasn’t fair to people who look to the courts for help with civil claims.”
 
Today, a full-time and fully staffed County Court judge can hear most civil cases without having to burden the Circuit Court judges. Hancock County Judge Trent Farve can hear most civil cases and youth court cases. This is helping to relieve the system of its logjam.
 
Improvements in the courts system help make life in Bay St. Louis a little better for its residents, and Brehm Bell is proud to have been partially instrumental in the creation of a full-time County Court judge position for this purpose. What else paints a bright future for BSL? Bell says smart downtown development will bring more visitors – and more tourism dollars – to our town.
 
What does the future hold for Brehm Bell? He says he has no plans to retire, but when he does, he is not leaving Bay St. Louis. “My home in Old Town will be my last,” he says.

​“We love living here. We have everything we need –beaches, galleries, restaurants, and most of all, family and friends.” And Bell is working to make Bay St. Louis a better place, thanks to his tireless advocacy and desire to serve the community. 

Silver Slipper’s Smokehouse Cafe is serving some summertime favorites in a tropical setting.
- story and photos by Lisa Monti

A stage and chairs are set up on one side for the mostly local live entertainment offered weekly to customers. It’s generally a mix of locals along with hotel guests who have access via an elevator that delivers them right to the center of the Beach Bar and Smokehouse Cafe seating.
​

Some guests from Louisiana grabbed seats recently at the small beach bar before deciding what to order off the Smokehouse menu. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t their first visit to the Silver Slipper, which has a loyal following. They said they were back to enjoy the summertime events and food and drink offerings.
 
The Smokehouse’s meat-centric menu actually is an offshoot of the popular barbecue selections offered in the casino’s Jubilee Buffet. “We had such great response to the smoked meats on the buffet,” Chuck Anger, Food and Beverage Operations Manager, said, the casino crafted a small menu of barbecue classics.
 
There’s no one particular standout that the Smokehouse prepares on its custom grill and smoker, he said. All the food is served with a smoky, slightly sweet sauce made in Biloxi. And if you believe that barbecue goes especially well with beer, you may want to go for a Lazy Magnolia Easy Breeze. The Kiln brewery created Easy Breeze specially for the Silver Slipper.
 

The top item listed on the menu is the smoked rib platter, a half rack of fall-off-the-bone goodness that satisfies the craving for the hearty dish. The generous portion of Smokehouse Loaded Nachos are definitely shareable.

Anger said tables will order one, then follow up with two or three more portions. The chips are covered in slightly sweet pulled pork, baked beans and loads of rich cheese. You can customize these nachos - add jalapeños maybe - or stick with the basics. Either way, it’s all good.
 

For those who prefer a sandwich, there’s the Smokehouse brisket, always a favorite, and that delicious pulled pork. The fish taco selection features grilled trout, two tacos to an order, for a special seafood treat. 
 
The one burger choice is a deluxe cheeseburger, and the dogs come in two varieties - the standard hot dog and the Gator Dog. All the items come with your choice of the classic barbecue sides: baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw or chips. 

Prices for Smokehouse items range from $10 for the rib platter and sandwiches to $4 for a hot dog.
 
The Smokehouse Cafe is a place where you can go to enjoy a bite, a drink and some music in a relaxed atmosphere that’s definitely kid friendly. The place gets really busy on summer holidays, Cruisin’ the Coast and special events like the recent Jeepin’ the Coast, which drew a huge crowd. It’s also available for private parties. ​ ​

Quirky, compulsive, lovable - and oh, those eyes - Frank climbed his way into Ann Weaver's heart.
- Story by Denise Jacobs, photos by Ann Weaver

​For Heidi, it was love at first sight. She adored Frank right from the start. Penny noticed Heidi’s attraction and hoped the street dog might have found his forever home.
 ​

 
Weaver was unconvinced. “Taking him in seemed overwhelming,” she says. Still, she couldn’t quite forget about the street urchin.
 
By the time Weaver decided she would take Frank into her home, it was too late. Frank had been adopted by a first-time dog owner in her 70s. But being just a year and half old and 40 pounds, Frank proved to be too much for his senior rescuer. He was, as Weaver puts it, “high maintenance.”
 
Frank was returned to foster care again at Penny’s Pampered Pets in 2008. This time around, Weaver was ready and willing to open her heart to the cocker with the big blue eyes. Frank had found his forever home.
 ​

From the beginning, Frank was “food insecure,” probably from living on the street without a family for the first year of his life. Regardless of how well Weaver fed Frank, he would still occasionally climb on the dining room table and even, on occasion, the kitchen counters. Weaver learned to keep crumbs at bay.
 
“I exercised him a lot,” she remembers, “because he would eat all day every day if I would have let him.”
​

 
Frank was also obsessed with tennis balls. A chaser of anything that moved, rabbits and squirrels above all, Frank would chase a ball until he couldn’t run anymore. If he couldn’t coerce a human to toss him a ball, Frank would gently nurse a fuzzy tennis ball, chewing it and whimpering all the while. Weaver speculates that Frank may have been separated from his mother too early.
 ​

 
At home in Bay St. Louis, Frank shadowed Heidi. As she aged and went blind a few years after his arrival, following Heidi around the house became a full-time occupation. Later, Frank companioned Heidi through the loss of her hearing and the onset of dementia. When Heidi died, Weaver didn’t have to grieve alone; Frank was right there beside her.
 ​

 
Frank’s passing came more abruptly than Heidi’s, and his obsession with food factored in. One night he helped himself to an unopened box of dry, unsweetened cocoa powder that Weaver had left on the dining room table as part of a science kit. She planned to use the cocoa the next day at work to demonstrate how dirt interacts with water.
 
Frank consumed the entire box of cocoa powder and died of toxic food poisoning. Weaver hadn’t even thought of the cocoa as food - just part of a science experience - otherwise, she would not have left it on the table.
 ​

Frank was a senior himself at the time, after enjoying ten years of a lush life and lavish care by Ann. Nevertheless, Weaver remembers it taking many months to come to terms with the loss of Frank. Things that helped were allowing herself to feel the grief, to reminisce over pictures, and to talk about Frank - a lot - to her friends. Her advice for surviving the loss of a pet?
 
“Don’t go home to an empty house,” Weaver says.
 ​

 
At the time of Frank’s death, Weaver was lucky enough to be fostering four-year-old Willie, another cocker—a “sweetheart of a dog.”
 
“All my dogs in heaven must have looked down on me with compassion and decided to send me a really well-behaved and healthy dog,” Weaver says of Willie.
 ​

​Why does Weaver gravitate toward cockers? The energetic dogs are a good fit for Weaver’s active lifestyle.
 
“I can play with them,” she says. “Cockers are always up for something, like if I pulled out a leash right now, even though we’ve already been out, Willie would jump at the chance to go again.”
 
“And they’re always happy - their tails wag constantly. They always crack me up!” 

If Weaver is such a fan of Cockers, why doesn't she buy one from a breeder? 

"I prefer to adopt," she said. "There are so many dogs that need homes, and although they come with their challenges, fosters are so unique and great companions!"
​

The dogs below are available at the Hancock County Animal Shelter as of June 12, 2019.  Call the shelter at (228) 466-4516 for availability.
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​BUZZ has the "head tilt" down pat, doesn't he?! This adorable 8-month-old Labrador Retreiver mix puppy is innately sweet, craves attention and affection, and despite being a baby among mostly adult dogs, he is incredibly confident and upbeat. He loves going for walks and looks forward every day to playing in our exercise yard. We find that he does best when walked using a harness. Buzz would be an awesome addition to any family large or small, or fill the role of BFF for a single person/couple or active retirees looking for a fun-loving buddy to share adventures. This little guy will likely require both house and crate training, but the rewards of the love and companionship this fella will bring you, are worth the responsibilities of puppy training. We hope you'll consider giving Buzz his forever home... he promises to love you "to infinity and beyond!"
 ?❤
Buzz's adoption fee is $75, which includes worming, neutering, vaccines, microchip, and a free vet check with one of our participating veterinarians. An approved adoption application always applies.
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CAP has taken little Colette under his paw; they share a kennel and since doing so, she has blossomed and is no longer a fearful, trembling pup. Despite his stature, Cap is very gentle with small dogs and kiddos.
​

Cap is an affable, goofy, sweet-as-pie 4-yr-old Hound dog, who if he could, would likely sing a song about the woods, squirrels, and "the one that got away!" He is most definitely a country boy! He is quite content to hang out with his many doggie pals at the shelter, romp around our play yard, and follow our kennel techs around as they clean. He will pick up toys and carry them around, and then "zoom-zoom" around the courtyard, amusing himself. Cap is likely not house or crate trained, but he walks fairly well on a leash/harness. He truly loves people, and he is quite gentle with children. 

While he is happy here at the shelter, he deserves to have a home and family of his own. He would do best in a home with a (privacy) fenced yard or with lots of acreage to explore. This agile boy can climb a 4-ft chain-link fence with ease. Cap would love to join active kiddos in their outdoor adventures, so please consider adding him to your family.

Cap's adoption fee is $37.50 ("Lonely Heart"), which includes worming, neutering, vaccines, microchip, and a free vet check with one of our participating veterinarians. Heartworm status is unknown. An approved adoption application always applies.

SIX MONTHS AND COUNTING...
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That is how long beautiful, sweet DOTTIE has been hoping for her "second chance" family to come her way. Why doesn't anyone want her? We just can't figure it out. She is one of the sweetest, easiest, most loving dogs to come through the shelter. PLEASE come meet our sweet Dottie soon!
 ?
She came to us as a stray, so although we don't know much about this beautiful girl's past, her body gives us a few clues. Motherhood is behind her now, and we hope her future will be one of love and family. This 4-yr-old Pointer/Hound mix has a gentle nature and a sweet spirit about her. Dottie just wants to be loved, and she seeks out the affection of our staff and volunteers.

We think her "dots and spots" are unique and beautiful, and so is her personality. She is friendly with other dogs and seems oblivious to our shelter kitties. Her calm nature would make her an ideal companion for active retirees, a single person/couple, or even a family with children. She is just that well-socialized and trustworthy.

​We do not know, however, if Dottie is house trained or crate trained, but she does keep her kennel clean and "goes potty" as soon as we take her outside. She looks forward to going for walks with our volunteers, who equally look forward to hanging out with her. She is pure joy and happiness! Please consider adding this mature, curvaceous gal to your family. She has so much love to give her forever family!

Dottie's adoption fee is $37.50 ("Lonely Heart"), which includes worming, spaying, vaccines, microchip, and a free vet check with one of our participating veterinarians. Dottie is heartworm positive, but she is currently on a heartworm preventaive and doing great. An approved adoption application always applies.
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This handsome boy is MATT, a 2 yr old Treeing Walking Hound, with a stellar personality who never meets a stranger. He can often be found lending a paw to our kennel techs as they clean kennels and make their rounds. He has many doggie pals here at the shelter, and he loves to play with kiddos of all ages. Matt would love to join an active family or single person/couple, seeking a fun-loving canine partner and friend. Matt walks well on a leash/harness, and although he keeps his kennel clean, we are unsure yet if he is 100% house or crate trained. This sweet boy exudes all of the wonderful qualities for which the Hound Group is known and beloved... except for the trademark "hound dog" barking. Matt is kind of quiet and prefers the company of people to raising a ruckus. If you've never had the good fortune to share your life with a hound, well, here's your chance! ?

Matt's adoption fee is $75, which includes worming, neutering, vaccines, microchip, and a free vet check with one of our participating veterinarians. Matt is heartworm negative. An approved adoption application always applies.
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ZESTA is as sweet as she is lovely! This 1-year-old Calico loves to be rubbed behind her ears and settle into the first available lap for cuddles. She has very discerning tastes, which includes listening to country music, dining on yummy fish dinners, and relaxing on a comfy bed (when not in your lap). Zesta would be a welcome addition to any family large or small. She is great with other friendly cats, too. She is litter box trained and utilizes a scratching post. Go meet this beautiful, gentle cat, and you're sure to fall in love.

Zesta's adoption fee is $30, which includes worming, spaying, vaccinations, microchip, and a free vet check with one of our participating veterinarians. An approved adoption application always applies.
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SEAL loves people, and can't get enough of his BFF here at the shelter... our dedicated volunteer Nancy Dahlgren, who volunteers her time working with our doggies. She is especially fond of this sweet 2-year-old Labrador Retriever mix with lovely light green eyes and reddish-blond fur.

While Seal is friendly with the other dogs in his living area, he can be dog selective when choosing new pals. So, we recommend a meet-and-greet at the shelter with existing family dogs, if he is to join a home with multiple pets. He is great with older children, and would also be a fun companion for a single person/couple, or active retirees.

​He enjoys being outdoors, so a home with a fenced yard and daily walks are a must. Seal is very affectionate and will reward your attention with lots of kisses. We are unsure yet if he is house or crate trained, but he does keep his kennel clean. Please give this fella the chance to show you the same love and affection with which he showers our staff and volunteers.

Seal's adoption fee is $37.50 ("Lonely Heart"), which includes worming, neutering, vaccinations, microchip, and a free vet check with one of our participating veterinarians. Heartworm status is unknown. An approved adoption application always applies.
​

​This happy, loving boy is LANE, a 3 yr old American Pit Bull Terrier mix, who is not only handsome, but very charming as well. He gives great hugs and kisses, and never meets a stranger. He a pretty calm fella with other dogs, and makes friends easily. He is a super friendly and loving boy! Lane came into the shelter in very good physical condition and is very well-socialized, so we feel he was part of a family very recently. He walks well on a leash and never seems in a hurry. Lane is a very content and obedient dog, and is best described as having a medium energy level. He sits for treats, and seems eager to please, so it may a great bonding activity to continue Lane's learning of new commands. If you've been seeking a buddy for companionship and to share in your adventures, then Lane is your dog. He would also be a great choice to join a family with children of any age because he dotes on even the smallest of kiddos. We hope you'll stop by and meet this terrific boy. 

Lane's adoption fee is $37.50 ("Lonely Heart"), which includes worming, neutering, vaccines, microchip, and a free vet check with one of our participating veterinarians. Heartworm status is unknown. An approved adoption application always applies.
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​PRINCESS is a lovely one-year-old American Pit Bull Terrier mix, who possesses a gentle spirit and sweet nature. She is very quiet and would rather impress you with her good manners than with "showy" barking and silly antics. Instead, our Princess is quite regal, as her name implies, but very warm and appreciative of affection. Our techs are observing her kennel habits in hopes of determining if she may be house trained; thus far, she has kept her kennel very clean. She behaves cooperatively in her kennel and walks cautiously on a leash/harness, but she does not pull.

Princess is great with other friendly dogs, and enjoys the company of calm-natured children. We are unsure yet how she feels about cats. As soon as we know more about this sweet girl, we will update her profile. But, in the meantime, please stop by and meet her. She may be the perfect addition to your family, whether it be a single person/couple, active retirees, or a family with children.
?
Princess's adoption fee is $75, which includes worming, spaying, vaccines, microchip, and a free vet check with one of our participating. Princess is heartworm negative. An approved adoption application always applies.

The list of needed repairs was long - but the dedication of the designers, carpenters, craftsmen and artists returned this house of God to its former glory.
- Story by Lisa Monti,
​photos by Nina Cork and Drew Tartar 
​

 
The parish footprint has been in the same beachfront spot for almost 175 years. The current brick church was completed in 1908 after a devastating fire the year before that also destroyed St. Joseph Academy and other buildings on the beach road. It withstood many storms over the years and rebounded from the damage. When Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, the church’s roof was torn off, the interior flooded and the marble altar rail was broken into pieces.
 

​ 
Major repairs were made after the storm, including a new roof, but problems persisted. “We had leaks in the roof for the last 12 years, and termite damage,” said Joe Monti, a lifelong parishioner. After those issues were finally resolved, the parish was able to move ahead with plans to restore the church interior with new paint and lighting and other needed improvements.
 
The project was a year in the making, said Wikoff, who selected the new color scheme for the church.
 

 
In January, church services were moved to the adjacent Community Center as paint contractors set up scaffolding to prep and paint the ceiling, walls and columns. Parishioner Rick Martin directed the scaffolding placement, wall restoration and the painting contractors.
 
There was so much scaffolding, the work being done wasn’t visible from below. “It was like the Sistine Chapel,” Monti said. “You didn’t know what it looked like until the scaffolding was gone.”
 
Parishioner Nina Cork, an artist, used her talents and background in iconography to restore the canvas murals depicting Mary as Our Lady of the Gulf attached to the dome and the ceiling panels of saints. That required her to work 50 feet up in the air and without the benefit of seeing her progress from the vantage point of a pew. She also added the gold leaf throughout the sanctuary and on top of the columns. “I spent my entire 10 weeks on scaffolding,” she said. “I’d never done that before.”
 

​ 
Cork repainted the top third of the image of Mary to keep it as close to the original image as possible and to keep the church’s namesake as the focal point above the main altar. It’s not known who originally painted the church’s murals.
 
To brighten up the church’s interior, LED lights were installed to illuminate the space and highlight the stained glass windows, the Stations of the Cross and to put the focus on the altar. The LED lights on the side aisles now match those in the large center aisle and new lighting has been added to the various niches around the church.
 
The church’s stained glass windows, some of which were crafted in Germany decades ago, were outlined in dark blue paint and cleaned up so the colors and features were enhanced.
 

 
The Stations of the Cross along both sides of the walls date back to the 1920s and were taken down for the church renovation. Parishioner Joann Hille hand painted the plaster, three dimensional Stations some months ago and did some retouching where it was needed after the stations were hung back on the church walls.
 
Parishioners got to see their renovated church on Easter weekend, after volunteers cleaned and dusted, all the Carrara marble statues were uncovered and the artwork was back in place. “It was a long process but it came together at the last minute,” Monti said.
 

​ 
Cork called the renovation “a wonderful team effort, with everybody using his or her skills. We all had our own vision but to see it all pulled together, it’s just amazing.”
 
There’s still some work to be done, most notably the return of the original altar rail severely damaged by Katrina and a redesign of cabinets in the sacristy behind the altar.
 

​ 
Father Mike said that OLG has always been recognized as a beautiful church and that made the prospect of changing some interior features a bit daunting.
 
“Due to the research, hard-work and talent of so many, I believe we have really made almost everyone happy. I feel truly blessed by the results of the renovations, and I am happy for the parishioners of OLG and the many visitors we host here,” he said.

​“Going all the way back the Temple of Solomon, we recognize that the beauty of ‘God’s house’ should raise the mind and heart to contemplate the beauty of God’s truth and presence. I believe OLG does that as good as ever. I could not be more grateful for the team of professionals and volunteers that made this renovation a success.” 

Over a lifetime, an author's signature may change, or evolve. But a book signing is still an intimate experience between the writer and an appreciative reader.
- Story and photos by Scott Naugle (unless noted)
​

For many, an author’s signature on a book is both a momentarily intimate personalization as well as an opportunity to briefly connect with a favorite writer. A signature signifies that for at least a moment the writer held your copy in his or her hands, underscoring and reaffirming, perhaps, the connection and impact that the work itself left with the reader. 

With an effective work of fiction or nonfiction, a bond forms between the reader and writer during the many quiet hours of reading. Often, a reader, if the prose is elegant and insightful, will connect emotionally, enhancing the perception of a personal connection with the author. A signature is a physical manifestation of this intellectual bond.

A successful author may sign thousands of books over the span of a career, sometimes hundreds within the span of an hour or two at a well-attended book-signing event. Would a writer, and who would blame him or her, grow weary of the repetitiveness of signing, eventually cutting corners with less precision, not crossing the “t” nor closing the loop of the “o”?

I looked first to Eudora Welty to analyze two of her signatures, one done early in her career and the second at the very end.

​Eudora Welty was born in 1909 and lived most of her life quietly in Jackson. In 1941, her first work of fiction, "A Curtain of Green," was published. Welty won the Pulitzer Prize for "The Optimist’s Daughter" in 1973. She died in her Jackson home near Belhaven College in 2001.   
​
In August of 1949, Eudora Welty signed a copy of her recently published short story collection, "The Golden Apples." Her signature is small, taking up very little space on the free front endpaper of the book.  It is 4 inches long and 1.5 inches high.  The letters are rounded, not sharp, and the full signature is somewhat illegible. 
​

Advancing to 1991, Welty signed a copy of "Photographs," a 1989 collection of her black and white photos from the 1930’s taken during her employment by the federally funded Works Progress Administration. Undoubtedly, she had signed thousands of her books from the time of "The Golden Apples."

The signature again measures 4 by 1.5 inches. The letters remain loosely connected, flowing as if part of an undulating wave. She crosses the “t” in Welty differently than before. 

From "To Kill A Mockingbird," Harper Lee’s 1960 tale of race and class in the mid-twentieth century Deep South, the author’s signature is straight, neat, and underscored with a dash. Each letter is clear, nearly perfect in execution.   

​Just prior to her death in 2016, HarperCollins published Lee’s second novel, "Go Set A Watchman." She signed very few copies of either of her books. Lee’s signature in Watchman is exceedingly scarce.
​
Health took its toll on her autograph, not repetitiveness, since she rarely signed her books or appeared in public. By 2015 when Watchman was published, she had suffered a stroke and resided in an assisted living facility in Monroeville, Alabama. 
​

​It is painful to look at Lee’s later signature when compared against an earlier version forty years prior. It is a scrawl, jagged and uneven. Slow and deliberate, determined, I assume, to push through and finish, it is an act of will on Lee’s part to sign her name. Still, it is lovely, when one thinks of all she has survived. “I’m still here, damnit,” it announces. 

I detect little difference in best-selling author Walter Isaacson’s 2003 signature between "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life" and his 2017 "Leonardo Da Vinci." He is a studious, accurate, and gentlemanly scholar and it is reflected in his graceful and elegant signature. ​
​

But, back to Jesmyn’s original question: had her signature changed over the years? I believe it has.

In 2008, "Where the Line Bleeds" was published by Agate Publishing in a trade paperback format. The initial print run was small and Jesmyn, a first-time author, was relatively unknown. Her signature is rolling, free, fresh, unbounded, gushing across the page.
​

After dozens of national and international honors, including two National Book Awards, seemingly endless book tours, and several thousand autographs, Jesmyn’s signature on her 2017 novel, "Sing, Unburied, Sing" is somewhat shorter in length. It is a bit more bold, sure-footed, proud, resting on the page, I feel, as a literary placeholder in American Letters. It is in motion as if it wants to run off the page into the liminal space where Jesmyn sources her creativity. 
​

I’ve watched hundreds of authors sign their work. My sense is that each is proud that a reader cared enough to ask for a personalization of his or her novel or non-fiction work. The author is in the moment with the reader taking pride in signing. Art, including literature, is about connecting us through an imaginative work. A signature brings it into the tangible moment, fleetingly, yet ironically, eternally.             

“Our first teachers are our feet, our hands, and our eyes. To substitute books for all these is but to teach us to use the reason of others." Jean-Jacques Rousseau

- Story by James Inabinet, PhD

​ 
Somehow, though, we are comfortable with these conflicting views.
 
Trouble begins, I think, when we privilege what we think and know from books or screens at the expense of experience. Ordinary third-graders are now expected to learn about trees by reading about them or by gazing at photographs in a book or computer.
 

 
Effectively removed from actual trees, these students come to know them devoid of sensual experience, without ever looking closely, without feeling the difference in texture between magnolia and beautyberry leaves, without smelling the difference between crushed bayberry and red bay leaves, without smelling the root beer scent of sassafras roots. Inside sterile rooms these students sit with their books, bored to death, engaged not in their own reason, but in Rousseau’s “reason of others.”
 
In many ways the whole of modern culture has given over experience in favor of thinking. We have learned more from books about how trees grow and make leaves and feed squirrels and birds and bugs than we know about the tree in our front yard – if we even have one anymore [it might fall on my house in a storm].
 

​ 
Oh, but the living green world that I see outside my forest home is more vivid than any words can convey. I wonder how much we have given up sitting in classrooms, looking at books, staring at screens?
 
Nature beckons me; it calls me home, to the direct experience of moving suns.
 

 
The natural world is directly experienced with a body first – feet, hands and eyes – the initial basis for any knowledge. I am sitting here at the edge of the forest looking at a red bay, its lance-shaped leaves deformed by galls; crossing branches hold a squirrel nest; a bevy of pines loom behind it. No book can tell me this, no screen can convey the whole of it; the smell of the leaves – try to describe that.
 
In these ways and myriad others, a body first comes to know a tree tacitly. Tacit means silent, without recourse to words or why or how. Tacit knowing is like typing. If we think, we can no longer do it.

We experience the world first with our bodies: feet, hands, and eyes.  The very act of living in a body necessitates experience — that’s what it’s there for! In this way, my body is more a means for communion with the world than a boundary that separates. 

​ 
So, what does the world of hands, feet, and eyes actually tell me? From far above I might experience the earth as kind of flat. Were I to gaze down like a soaring eagle, I might see brown and green earth, blue Gulf. I might see a bay-side city-scape dotted with houses, painted-on like a pointillist might put onto canvas.
 
This flat circle earth is a mandala world of rich color-in-motion. The winds of the four directions nourish me as I soar at its center. The morning sun on this stationary earth rises everyday without fail, arcs steadily overhead, and finally sets late in the afternoon. This moving sun is our experience, based on the inner workings of a life-world that’s actually lived.

 
The very concept of motion, of rest, of time, of space, is derived from Earth, is relative to Earth. I can watch the dome of the sky on any night turn around Polaris until the light of the sun obliterates the view. I can feel its movement as Orion descends below the horizon and Cassiopeia moves upward into view.
 
Experience is the birthplace of meaning. A nameless aborigine said: “Whatever one sees is a reflection of oneself.” What kind of reflection does a disembodied mind see? What meaning is derived? Is that what we want… or does it leave us hungry?
 
He continues, “this is not taught in schools; this is what the cuckoo taught me on the cliffs of Cornwall.” 
​

Waveland Alderman Jeremy Burke reports on a special program at the Waveland Library; and a special art exhibition and party at Studio Waveland & Gallery.
- Photos by Ellis Anderson
​

This program is sponsored by the NAACP, as an adjunct to its Reading Buddies tutoring program during the school year in the Bay St. Louis and Waveland elementary schools. No fee or advance sign-up is required.
​

​2nd Annual Summer Solstice Party
 
Celebrate the summer solstice and the opening of the 25 WOMEN Art Exhibition with Studio Waveland & Gallery on Saturday, June 22 from 5-10 pm. 
​

The event will feature the opening of the 25 Women Art Exhibition, ART FILMS by Women FilmMakers, and music. Studio Waveland invites you to "Bring Your Own Dinner Party” to set up under the sunset and evening stars. Yes, that’s right. Gather your neighbors, family and/or friends and bring the party to us. Bring tables, chairs, colorful tablecloths, food, drinks and any other party enhancements and set up on the street.
 
For more information please visit The Shoofly Magazine's Upcoming Events page!

Event Date: Saturday, June 22, 5-10 pm
25 Women Art Exhibition Dates: June 22 - August 17
Location: Studio Waveland & Gallery
            228 Coleman Ave., Waveland, MS 39576
            504-914-9618
 
Free to the Public

The Arts, Hancock County produces a visionary full moon art gathering in a natural setting on Bayou La Terre.

- Story by Steve Barney, photos courtesy of TAHC

Madden said, “The most important thing Milton conveyed to me was to not over-plan, and to let the artists have complete freedom to express in any way.”

For The Arts, Hancock County, producing an event like this was uncharted territory. None of the art would be for sale; it is a temporary experience of art in nature. How many artists would want to participate? Would anyone drive 30-plus minutes to the wilderness to experience it? It turns out that 27 artists and over 250 visitors wanted to take part.

Led by Ann Madden, Kristie Buddenbaum and Bernie Cullen, the planning committee’s first task was to find the right venue – one that would allow visitors to experience nature while simultaneously allowing for the logistics of handling a large event.

​On their first visit to La Terre Bioregional Center and Art Studios last fall, the “dream team” knew immediately they had found the perfect place. Property owners James and Peggy Inabinet were excited about the opportunity to share where they live, work and provide a multitude of programs to the community. 
​

This magical space was the perfect setting for this event. Located on Bayou La Terre about 15 miles north of the coast, La Terre is an amazing collection of handcrafted structures, walking paths, creek bluffs, permaculture gardens, art studios, ceremonial lodges and so much more.

James and Peggy are multi-talented artists, craftsmen, healers, farmers and educators. The Inabinets extend art to life’s journey itself – again, the invisible made visible. Emerson called this journey the “life of a poet.” Kandinsky called it a “life of art.”

Editor's note:  James Inabinet also writes the "Nature Notes" column for the Shoofly Magazine.  These "unexpected explorations" take readers to a place where philosophy meets nature.  Click here for his current column and scroll down for archived columns. 
​

James specializes in weaving and dyeing shawls, rugs, and belts of natural fibers. Some dyes are grown in the garden [indigo] while others are wild-crafted [walnut husks, Osage orange]. La Terre co-proprietor Peggy is also an amazing multimedia artist.

​Peggy says, “I love the forest in which I live. The flowers and leaves are so stunning that I just have to watercolor them. The creatures I see tucked inside a flower or nibbling on a leaf intrigue me. But when I create in clay it's expressing my beliefs that seem to come forth from within. Hence, I create nativities, angels, Sacred Hearts, and petrogylph plaques using terra cotta clays.” 
​

For James and Peggy, this life as art includes an inquiry into how it might be accomplished within a culture that makes it difficult [if not nigh impossible].

​ It also includes the bootstrapping of techniques that enable the art of becoming fully human, that enable the art of human flourishing within a flourishing ecosystem and enables the art of acting in the service of Gaia, in communion with the life-producing biosphere as an integral and functional component.

The Inabinets were enthusiastic to host a large event which incorporate the utopian principles of the Burningman global movement: Inclusion, Gifting, Immediacy, Leave No Trace, Self-Reliance, Self Expression, Civic Responsibility and Communal Effort.
​

On Saturday, May 18, on an amazing moonlit night, it all happened… and for the 250 people who participated, it was a magical evening beyond anyone’s expectations.

27 artists, all members of The Arts, Hancock County participated, coming from New Orleans and across the Gulf Coast. Local Jazzabilly favorites, Heather and The Monkey King, performed in the carport, which became a central gathering spot featuring tasty food by Savage Skillet.

​Later in the evening visitors experienced the hypnotic performance of Hancock Arts regulars Pandorium Belly Dance Troupe and Priestess Sisters Fire Dance.

Participating artists included:

Ann Madden produced an installation using gel transfers of family photos as well as heirlooms and lights.

Cynthia Mahner and Karen West created Moonlight at the Oasis filled with sculpture, cushions, treats and magic elixers.

Danielle Inabinet fabricated a collection of delicate porcelain forms arranged within the sanctuary of the forest.

Deb Schwedhelm produced a video projection and printing of photographs onto a large piece of white fabrics delicately hung in the branches of trees.
​

Dharma Gilley displayed abstracted paintings and wrote poems for visitors on her typewriter.

Elisa Desilva made a collection of faeries under the garden arbor.

Gregory Matusoff created a surreal cityscape intertwined with nature.

Holly Garvin created an underwater fantasy of jellyfishes and Gyptaku fish rubbing.

Hunter Cole created a nature-themed installation of Petri dishes with bioluminescent bacteria.

Jaqueline Mongoose and Eve Eisenman created Enchanted Night: A Wish Upon a Cloud, filled with wish faeires, whimsical paintings and sculptures.
​

James Inabinet created Mother Earth, a partially buried torso birthing spring flower lights.

Jane Clair Tyner made mobile sculptural pieces made of found bones, prayer sticks and flags. 

Joby Bass and Jessica Dark fabricated a driftwood tree with ceramic flowers.

Kerr Grabowski and Micky Arnold created enlarged creatures of the night!

Lisa Keel and Donna Martin made lighted shrine Art of dazzling glass, fabric and tree branches. Night blooming Flowers - fairies and Moons. 
​

Lucinda D’enfant Live painting amidst display of masks.

Margaret Inabinet An installation of King Cake babies in the context of nature.

Mark James did a spontaneous groundhog impersonation in midst of an extraterrestrial research area.

Monica Kelly Studio displayed a series of paintings about the divine feminine and the healing properties of flowers. Additionally, Monica’s team bodypainted designs inspired by the Flower Moon.
​

Nathan Rodriguez built a collection of masks and sculptures and light boxes made from leather, glass, wood, and paper.

Samantha Shannon made a 12 inch high porcelain cast statue internally lit.

Steve Barney created a water sculpture made from broken pottery.
 
Look for more collaborative events between The Arts, Hancock County and LaTerre Bioregional Center and Art Studios in the future. For more info check out our websites: hancockarts.org and laterreintegralcenter.org.
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Click here to join The Arts, Hancock County!

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" The Porch (112 South 2nd Street) and Pop Brothers (111 Main Street).  Read more about these featured businesses below! 
​
- stories by Caroline St. Paul, photos by Caroline St. Paul and Ellis Anderson

The Porch
Shops at Century Hall
​112 South 2nd Street 
Bay St. Louis ​
504.858.8574
Website

The Porch is an eclectic “farmhouse/industrial/beach” shop located in Century Hall on Second Street.
 
JoAnn Saucier opened The Porch in Bay St. Louis on June 1, 2017. She previously owned The Porch in New Orleans for twelve years. After selling their house in New Orleans, they “were trying to decide what to do next.”
 
After visiting friends in Bay St. Louis on several occasions, JoAnn said, “we just fell in love.” They saw a house under construction and decided to buy it. They moved here three years ago, and the rest is history.
 
JoAnn began with a small space in The French Potager. Soon, Century Hall sold and there was space available. She “rented it on the spot, and that was the beginning.”
 

​“The people here have been so welcoming,” JoAnn says, citing the community as “kind, and giving.” As for her favorite part about being in Bay St. Louis, she says she enjoys the fact that “there’s just always something going on for such a small place… it's almost overwhelming sometimes!”
 
Her merchandise at The Porch is “a little bit further out there.” Nevertheless, this unique shop is where you can find something to decorate your home for every occasion, gifts, and other lovely things. 
​

​ 
Her goals for the future of The Porch include continuing “to try to find new lines and new things… newer and better options” as well as “continuing to build the business and help people find us.” The Porch has a bright future indeed.
 
For June 8 Second Saturday, enjoy refreshments and a sale at The Porch! Music will be sponsored by Hancock Whitney Bank, The First, and The People’s Bank. Enjoy The Porch as a hot spot for the entire month of June. 

Pop Brothers
111 Main St.
Bay St. Louis
228.304.0024
Website

The summer months are approaching, which means the warm temperatures will be here before we know it. Cool off with gourmet popsicles at Pop Brothers located on Main Street.
 
Shannon Arzola, her husband, Octavio, and brother, Chuck Kelly, own Pop Brothers, which has locations in Gulfport, Ocean Springs, and most recently, Bay St. Louis. “We’re in downtowns in every city - that’s where we feel the most comfortable,” she said.
 
Pop Brothers “evolved from a big desire to be back on the Coast,” Shannon explained. After having been gone for ten years due to her husband’s job, she was “ready to come home.” Shannon asked her husband if they could quit their jobs and open up a popsicle store, which is something that they had previously talked about.
 

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Shannon’s reasoning for coming home to open the store had to do with her reliable resources here, including a strong connection of friends and family, to be there for them if the business failed. She asked her brother to be in on Pop Brothers, and they quit their jobs the next day. The Arzolas were determined to make it work, and that is just what they did.
 
Now, looking back, Shannon reflects on the decision to open Pop Brothers saying, “I don’t think it could have worked any better than it worked… we really love what we do and we really love our stores, our employees, our customers.”
 
Along with three retail stores, they also “sell at a majority of the casinos, Shucker Stadium, the airport, Memorial Hospital, Hattiesburg Zoo, Convention Center, Saenger, Lazy Magnolia, Murky Waters in Hattiesburg” and gas stations.
 
They also have ten event carts which they use for festivals, catering, weddings, and school and corporate events. Delivery on dry ice is also available for offices. This month, expect to see their website open with information about shipping.
 

 
Her husband, with a background of 20 years in the restaurant industry, is the brains behind all of the unique popsicle flavors. Some of their best-sellers include Oreo Cheesecake, Berries and Cream, and Barq’s Rootbeer Float.
 
The Bay St. Louis location, which has been open for about a year and a half, is “where we tried our out-of-the-box flavors in the beginning,” Shannon said. “I knew that the people in Bay St. Louis were far more open in the beginning to try those flavors.”
 
They first tested their signature out-of-the-box flavor, Strawberry Basil and 25-Year-Old Balsamic Glaze, at Second Saturday before they had their storefront, “and it took off.” There are also mainstream flavors available year round, as well as seasonal flavors, such as pumpkin pie and white chocolate peppermint bark.
 
Shannon’s goal for the business in the future is to “stay interesting enough to get people to come in the door.” They plan to do this by changing the menu up every so often so that there is always something new for people to try. “People are happy all the time…,it’s a popsicle - it’s a happy thing on a stick!” You will not be disappointed in the popsicles you can get at Pop Brothers!
 
For June 8 Second Saturday, enjoy a gourmet pop from Pop Brothers, and music sponsored by Hancock Whitney Bank, The First, and The People’s Bank. Visit the shop as a hot spot for the entire month of June. 

 It was a tough job, but someone had to do it - sample beer at all of our area's craft breweries. 
​
- Story and photos by Dena Temple (unless otherwise noted)

​ 
I had an idea. In New Jersey where I used to live, people were absolutely obsessed with the craft brewing scene. Twenty-something hipsters in flannel swapped growlers (glass jugs) from remote breweries the way children swapped baseball cards in years past. I wondered: How does the craft beer scene here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast compare?
 
Here in Mississippi the craft brewing craze is just starting to catch on, but our Gulf Coast breweries are attracting the attention of beer lovers nationwide, who incorporate brewery visits in their travel plans. Several local restaurants even create menu pairings with our local brews – in fact, the Savage Skillet just announced a beer dinner on June 7 featuring pairings with beers from around the region, including Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
 

​The challenge started with some research. There are six craft breweries within Mississippi’s coastal counties. One of them does not brew their own beer and doesn’t have a tasting room or retail facility. We covered the other five active breweries with tasting rooms or brewpubs:

• Lazy Magnolia Brewery in Kiln
• Chandeleur Island Brewing in Gulfport
• Biloxi Brewing in Biloxi
• Hops and Growlers in Ocean Springs
• Crooked Letter Brewing in Ocean Springs

 
I programmed my GPS and hit the highway.  Let the tastings begin!
​

Lazy Magnolia Brewery, Kiln
 
Inconspicuously located in the complex surrounding the Stennis International Airport just off Highway 43/603 lies the Lazy Magnolia Brewery. The brewery opened in 2005 and is the oldest packaging brewery in the state.
 
Their tasting room, known as The Porch, is divided into two sections. The main area is smartly fitted with rustic wood tables and chairs set up for small and large groups, with a stage at one end for live entertainment on Friday nights and during special events. Barrels line one wall, a hint to aging techniques used for some of their small-batch beers.

​ 
A smaller room houses the service counter, where you can order a pint or a “flight” - four small samples of beer. Also available is a modest menu of finger foods, featuring pub favorites like Bavarian-style pretzels, seafood dip, flatbread pizzas, and other light fare. All bread is from Serious Bread in Bay St. Louis, which hints at the quality of the offerings here.
 
A winding stairway leads to a second-floor loft, where visitors can play pool, toss a little cornhole, or just watch the goings-on below. This is a great place for a date night, to people-watch, or to make new friends over a friendly cornhole match.
 
The main event at Lazy Magnolia is held on the first Friday of each month. Huge crowds turn out for the live music and great conversation, and they leave with a “First Friday” souvenir glass.
 

​ 
I met Anna Giles, manager, who greeted me with a big smile. She led me to the service counter, where she suggested I try a flight of their beers. I chose two beers that I’d had before, Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale (their flagship brew) and Timber Beast (a rye double IPA).
 
Since I favor IPAs, Anna suggested that I try their new High Pitch Cavitation, a hazy New England-style IPA, and finally the Grapefruit Radler, a light shandy. Lazy Magnolia’s beers are all very drinkable, and most aren’t too strong, which I appreciate when taste-testing more than one.
  

​The High Pitch Cavitation is notably less bitter than most IPAs and is very drinkable. The Grapefruit Radler, a shandy, is as light as lemonade, slightly sweet, and would be great very cold on the beach.
 
Anna disappeared briefly. I approached the counter with a question about growlers, and a very pleasant worker greeted me with a smile. He's Mark Henderson, founder and “Head Peon,” as he likes to say. When he learned that I’m working on a Gulf Coast brewery article, he knew he’d found an audience. Doors flew open, and we began a private, backstage tour of the brewery!
​

​ 
Mark and his wife Leslie founded Lazy Magnolia in 2005. They currently employ 20+ workers, plus another 20 or so distributors who keep their product on supermarket shelves and in local taprooms.
 
Lazy Magnolia is the only local brewery that has their own bottling equipment on-site, and it’s fun to watch the conveyor fill, seal and label hundreds of bottles per hour. But while this part of the process is automated, it’s clear in the aging room that the Hendersons take seriously the “craft” in craft beer.
 

​ 
Barrels line the walls containing finely crafted small-batch beers. There’s the Belgian trippel aging in Chardonnay barrels; “Southern Gentleman,” which is the brewery’s Southern Pecan beer aged in bourbon barrels; and a sour beer aging in maple syrup barrels.
 
Mark knows that they owe their success to the community, so it is important to him that Lazy Magnolia give back as well.
 
“We’re proud of our work with the community,” Mark began. “This year our charity partner is Extra Table, an organization that delivers food to shelters and food pantries around the state. We hope to be able to donate $10,000 by the end of the year to further their great work.”
 
By the end of my visit, I’d certainly gotten more than I bargained for – and I vowed to return, because while it was a fantastic visit, a trip to Lazy Magnolia is best served with friends.
 

Chandeleur Island Brewing, Gulfport
 
A quick zig-and-zag off Highway 90 in Gulfport lands you at Chandeleur Island Brewing, a large, attractive building in a semi-industrial area.
 
Weathered double doors and contemporary music outside welcome visitors into the taproom, with rustic-looking floors, a large aquarium on one end, barrels for aging, and an enormous bar down the length of one wall. With large windows overlooking the brewing area it is meant to look industrial, but it is clearly designed for social interaction: The music’s not too loud, and the bistro tables are small and conducive to good conversation.
 

​ 
There is a definite nautical theme not only in the taproom, with its spar-varnished bar and the fish fighting chair (for cool souvenir photos), but also in the gorgeous artwork that adorns the cans holding their flagship brews. Chandeleur Island beers are served at many area bars and restaurants and are also available in most grocery stores in our area.
 
The brewery was founded in 2013 by brothers Cammack and Cain Roberds. Their love of beer began as homebrewers, and they dreamed of one day opening their own microbrewery. Changes in Mississippi laws in 2012 allowed the brothers to move forward with their dream, and in 2013 they purchased a historic building in downtown Gulfport and created Chandeleur Island Brewing Company. They named the brewery after one of their favorite barrier islands off the Mississippi coast.
 
I met with David Reese, partner and brewmaster for Chandeleur Island Brewing, at the brewery last week. David is an Advanced Cicerone, one of about 100 people in the U.S. with this designation. A cicerone is to beer what a sommelier is to wine, and the “advanced” designation means he has an encyclopedic knowledge of brewing, tasting and serving beer.

​ 
David said that fully 40% of their customers are tourists. “We find more and more people are making breweries part of their travel plans,” he said.
 
There’s a lot for locals to love, too. The taproom features live music on Friday nights all year, and a local sub shop provides sandwiches on weekends. Other times snacks are available. Special events including “doggy speed dating” (adoption days) and Chandy Fest on June 8 featuring live music, food, a Kid Zone and specialty beers.
 
But even if there is nothing special going on, Chandeleur Island Brewing is a very worthwhile stop on a date night, with friends, after work – or just because you crave a finely crafted beer, and you want to be part of their journey.

Biloxi Brewing, Biloxi
 
In a residential neighborhood just off Esters Boulevard nearly in the shadow of I-110 is a rather nondescript, sand-colored concrete building. The only clue that this was my destination was the logo that features the iconic Biloxi lighthouse. Welcome to the home of Biloxi Brewing Company and the Coastal Life Taproom.
 
Founded in 2014, Biloxi Brewing produces the #1 selling craft beer in the six coastal counties of Mississippi, Biloxi Blonde. In addition to supermarkets, Biloxi Blonde is available at local restaurants, bars, and even in at MGM Park, home of the Biloxi Shuckers minor-league baseball team.
 

  
The taproom is smaller than my first two destinations, but what Biloxi lacks in size, it makes up for in personality. The taproom feels like a neighborhood bar – TVs showing the game of the day, and lots of happy conversation from long tables next to the bar. My server this Saturday afternoon was Hunter Murray, the nephew of one of the brewery’s owners, and he was enthusiastic and personable. There were a total of 8 beers to choose from, including a special, Captain Black, their “Black Gold” stout aged in Captain Morgan barrels.
 
Hunter recommended five beers for my flight, so I sampled Biloxi Blonde, their flagship Kölsch; it’s light and refreshing with a slight effervescence. I also tried a light Pale Ale; Salty Dog, a sour beer with blood orange; Black Gold, a stout that smells like chocolate and coffee; and Libre de Mojito, a sour Kölsch with lime and mint.
 

​ 
I spied a popcorn machine near a group of guys watching an afternoon game and enjoying a pint of their favorite Biloxi beer. While the popcorn was a great complement to the beer, I inquired about other food options.
 
Hunter explained that True Wings, a local food truck, provides food at the taproom on Tuesday and Saturdays. He also mentioned that the brewery has extended hours in the summer months.
 

​ 
After my flight Hunter took me on a quick “behind the scenes” tour, obviously very proud of his family’s accomplishments and happy to be working there. With staff as pleasant as Hunter, good, drinkable beers and a comfortable atmosphere, I’d say Biloxi Brewing has a bright future, indeed.
 

Hops & Growlers, Ocean Springs
 
Crossing the Highway 90 bridge into Jackson County took me into Ocean Springs, the location for my last two stops. John, my husband and fellow beer lover, joined me for this final leg of the adventure. Our first stop was at Hops & Growlers.
 
Located on the tracks on busy Government Street, the exterior of the Hops & Growlers building is a little nondescript. Okay, it’s a white concrete cube with dark-tinted windows. But cross that threshold, and a world of great beer awaits.
 

​ 
Scott Hixson’s brewery is alive with boisterous people when I arrive. The wisecracks flew between Scott and his customers as he drew flights and snifters from one of the 20 taps. His beers, which feature conventional IPAs and lagers as well as creative sours (Dewberry is one of the more unusual flavors), draws fans from all over, who rave over his beer and his good nature. The atmosphere is homey and dares visitors to linger, or better yet, become regulars themselves.
 
Scott started Hops & Growlers almost five years ago but has been at the Government Street location for about two years. He’s got lots of regulars, he says, and a lot of tourist traffic as well. Brew tourists have heard what he’s doing, and they want to taste what’s going on here.
 

​Food is available sporadically from local food trucks, and South Coast Seafood next door will pack you a meal to enjoy at H&G. Recent special events have included “Barks and Brews” (sort of a “bring your doggie to the brewery” day) and “Science on Tap,” when local naturalists lecture on such diverse subjects as sharks, fish conservation and rising ocean levels. This is one of the most creative and enriching programs I’ve heard of at a brewery, anywhere. Hops & Growlers also sells home brewing supplies, for those who want to try their hand at the craft.

​ 
John and I shared a flight here, and we tried four different beers: a blood orange IPA that’s tart and flavorful; OS Haze Boi, a hazy New England IPA; a salted caramel stout; and “Wise Man Says,” a cognac-aged Weizenbock. All four brews were delicious, complex and worthy of additional sampling, but we had one more stop before we were through, so we bade farewell to Scott and his rowdy customers and vowed to return – soon.
 

Crooked Letter Brewing, Ocean Springs
 
The last stop on my beer adventure was Crooked Letter Brewing. Also located in Ocean Springs, Crooked Letter is housed in a 120-year-old house and former restaurant. The exterior is rustic wood with a sprawling deck and cozy fireplace outside.
 
Upon our arrival a sign on the door announced, “Class in Session – Use Other Door.” Class?
 
“A dance class,” explained owner and brewmaster Paul Blacksmith as he greeted us. “We have special events here all the time.”
 
There’s a lot that’s unconventional about Crooked Letter. They do brew beer – and quite good beer, too – but they also serve cocktails and wine, and they serve food, so you could say they are a brewery inside a restaurant/bar. Or a restaurant and bar inside a brewery. Whatever you call it, Crooked Letter is striking the right note here in the O.S.
 

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The bar area was dimly lit and felt like a neighborhood hangout – bottles, photos, souvenirs and other tchotchkes made the bar feel homey. While there were plenty of regulars that evening, Paul said that tourists account for nearly 50% of his clientele.
 
When asked who his customer is likely to be, Paul replied, “Beer lovers come in all shapes and sizes, all ages, all races, and both sexes. We’ve really gone mainstream.”
 
Paul takes pride in the brewery’s growler-filling capabilities and said that they are the only brewery with a growler de-oxygenation system, which removes oxygen from the jug before filling. This keeps the beer fresher, much longer.
 

 
Like other breweries in our tour, Paul also likes crafting innovative sours, so we sampled several varieties – but the highlight of our beer tasting was their Tension Break Edge, a “milkshake IPA” just released on the day of our visit.
 
This beer was developed by apprentice brewer Casey Mclain, who’s been brewing for just 13 months. The beer is balanced, smooth and not bitter, very drinkable and worth the premium price. Paul calls Casey “amazing.”
 
“I taught him the mechanics of brewing, but he’s just got a real natural ability to build flavors, a real intuition for it,” claimed Paul. “I’m so proud of what he created here.”
 
Crooked Letter (named for the children’s song that spells out Mississippi: “M,I, crooked letter crooked letter…”) features live music several nights per week and other entertainment such as fire dancers and fusion dance on weekends. Wednesday is live Celtic music. They offer a limited menu on Thursday and a full menu Friday through Sunday.
 
But even with all the goings-on, the best reason to check out Crooked Letter Brewing is still the beer – and the people who are brewing it.

Colorful butterflies, tasty herbs and serenity - all thrive at this city sanctuary, where volunteers raise vegetables and community spirit.

- Story by Denise Jacobs, photos by Ellis Anderson
​

If you’ve never gardened before and are wondering what all the fuss is about, check out Ruth’s Roots, 130 Court Street, Bay St. Louis, an art space with a magical collection of butterflies, bees, bunnies, wheel barrows, sculptures, chickens, a fish pond with running water, a food pantry, and rows and rows of raised flower and vegetable beds.

The garden is 100 percent funded by private donors/grants. No municipalities support the garden, and it flourishes under the green thumbs of volunteer staff: Elise Epperson Deano, the founder; Rachel Ramsey in charge of vegetables and planting; and Stephanie Daigle, the resident butterfly expert (129 monarchs have been released to date, and the butterflies are laying more eggs — more to come).
 
On the one hand, Ruth’s Garden has the feel of a restorative sanctuary—on the other hand, the whimsical backyard garden you might build yourself if you only had a large enough yard. Deano laughingly calls it a “no judgment zone.”

​Observant visitors will find both a statue of Buddha and a shrine of Mary. On any given day, someone might be practicing or teaching yoga or tai chi on site. All are encouraged to take what they need — from a slip or more of Rosemary to a can of butter beans from the food pantry.
 
At Ruth’s Roots, community sprouts up alongside the zinnias. From its beginning, the garden has provided an opportunity for residents of all ages to come together and work toward a common goal — from its earliest roots as a resource for the Hancock County Drug Court to its current metamorphosis as a farm-to-table community garden — and help people do.

​After one of the recent big storms — there have been so many — Deano received a phone call notifying her that a big tree had fallen on the chicken tractor — a chicken coop on wheels. She was out of town, but when volunteers Ramsey and Daigle arrived on site, they found the chicken coop buried beneath the fallen tree. The chickens were nowhere in sight.
 
City workers soon appeared with chain saws alongside a host of volunteers with work gloves. Within hours, the fallen tree had been carted away, log by log, under the masterful organization of Ramsey and Daigle.
 
As luck would have it, the chickens had been roosting in a corner and thus survived. As of this writing, they are sharing lodging with the rabbits.
 

Deano says this kind of community action makes her heart happy. It’s also the kind of thing that illustrates the community of Bay St. Louis: at its best, we are a place where neighbor helps neighbor, a lesson learned — an outgrowth, you might say, of rebuilding — re-seeding, if you will, a community in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane.
 
There are many ways to support Ruth’s Roots. Some do so with garden gloves, others with financial contributions.
 
Supporters can also donate items to the Rummage Sale to benefit Ruth’s Roots, which will be held on Saturday, June 8, from 9am to 3pm at the law offices of Elise Epperson Deano at 10199 Highway 603, Bay St. Louis. Donations will be received through Wednesday, June 5. Call Deano at 228 466-9597 to make arrangements.
 
Ruth’s Roots is a 501c(3) under the Hancock Community Development Foundation, which has established a Go Fund Me account. If you would like to help rebuild the chicken coop or make possible a wooden fence, a graffiti wall, or any number of enhancements, your contributions are welcomed. Donations can also be made directly to the Foundation at 100 South Beach Blvd., Suite A, Bay St. Louis (39520) above the Hancock Whitney Bank Building. 

A driving force behind some of the community's most dynamic organizations, Dina Rosetti has found her "giving place" in Bay St. Louis

- story by Denise Jacobs

That “giving place” has been a theme in Rosetti’s life. One of those lucky young women who know exactly what they want out of life, Rosetti made a conscious decision upon graduation from the University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg) in 1990 to live a life that would make a difference. But where?
 
At university, Rosetti put her volunteer skills to work for the Ronald McDonald House via the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority in which Rosetti held a number of offices while earning her bachelor’s degree in clothing merchandise and marketing.
 ​

 
By the time she graduated, Rosetti—then Dina Hitt—understood her giving place was her own hometown, Bay St. Louis.
 
The Princess Dress Shoppe was the first job Rosetti worked after turning to Bay St. Louis. She later moved on to the insurance industry and worked for two local agencies. Now, Rosetti and her husband John own and operate Rosetti’s Liquor Barrel on Highway 90.
 
Rosetti’s “volunteer career” track has also evolved through the years. When she first returned to the Bay after college she volunteered with the Hancock County Exchange Club, where she held more than one office and twice received the member-of-the-year award. During the same period, she was on the advisory board for the Family Child Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse.
 
In the mid 90s, Rosetti’s volunteerism became personal when Scott Demboski, the husband of her best friend, lost his life in a train accident. Seeking to memorialize Demboski, Rosetti dedicated herself to creating what is now known as the Bay Area Youth Soccerplex but was then christened the Scott Demboski Memorial Soccerplex (on Longfellow Drive). If she wasn’t busy securing the grounds, raising money, or purchasing equipment, she was bringing lunch to the trustees who were clearing the property.
 

 
Through the years, Rosetti became a key member of the Bay-Waveland Yacht Club. She remembers the club as a haven for her family after Katrina—“a place that felt like home.” It was there that her son, Luke, developed the sailing skills he needed to later win high school national championships.
 
In 2017, Rosetti became the venerable club’s second female commodore. As commodore, she had no manager or assistant manager, so she was just as likely to be found bussing tables as making executive decisions.
 
Bay resident and club member Liz Maio remembers passing the yacht club after a serious storm and finding Rosetti clearing debris from the club grounds. “As commodore, Dina could have tasked any number of people with the job,” Maio says. “Yet there she was – the first one on the job.”
 
Rosetti also has served as the Junior Yacht Club coordinator from 2008-2016 and currently volunteers on the Food and Beverage Committee and the Entertainment Committee, in addition to serving as secretary for the Past Commodore Society.

​ 
Krewes and clubs have played a large role in Rosetti’s life. While the Mystic Krewe of the Seahorse is front and center now, Rosetti has been a member of the Krewe of Nereids for 26 years and was an officer for 21.
 
While no longer a casting member, the parking lot of Rosetti’s Liquor Barrel is ground zero for one of the biggest Nereids’ pre-parade parties in town.  
 
Rosetti’s business is as active as its owner. In early May, Rosetti’s Liquor Barrel organized Bourbon on the Bay, its second benefit for the Starfish Café’s experiential education program. The business has also sponsored benefits to help allay the expenses of individuals in need of hospitalizations, etc.

 
Besides bettering and boosting the Bay/Waveland community, Rosetti has found volunteering a great way to meet new people or, alternatively, introduce new people to the community.
 
She credits her involvement with the Mystic Krewe of the Seahorse with friendships she’s established with transplants from parts far and wide, and she loves sharing her knowledge of Mardi Gras and the Bay/Waveland festival scene with newbies.
 
Dina’s husband, John Rosetti, is current president of Mystic Krewe of the Seahorse. While it’s true that Krewe members don their most swashbuckling outfits, Pirate Day in the Bay is not about the costumes. The event was created to help foster local economic development—and revelry, of course.
 
As the Krewe’s biggest fundraiser, Pirate Day garnered well over $10,000 in revenue last year, all of which was returned to the local community via various nonprofits.
 
The Krewe supports local business throughout the year, as well. Just a handful of Krewe members six years ago, now anywhere from 70-125 of its 300 members meet once a month at a different local business.
 ​

 
Like many Krewe members, Rosetti has a closet full of costumes—a closet and a half, actually, filled with pirate wear, Mardi Gras outfits, and wigs in every color of the rainbow. She has come a long way since her first Pirate Day in the Bay outfit—one of those “thin, store-bought Halloween pirate costumes.” If you look at my Facebook page, you will see that I will dress up in anything,” Rosetti says.  
 
Rosetti’s suggestion to wannabe pirates is to start with one or two pieces—a simple white blouse, for example, or a gaudy coin necklace, and build from there. “Be creative,” she says. “It grows on you.” Now, after six years as a pirate, Rosetti sees costume possibilities everywhere she goes.
 
Rosetti offers the same sort of “start small” advice to residents who want to get involved. “Find an organization that supports your passion and start there,” she says.
 
As a person who has served in all aspects of volunteer spectrum—from delivering lunches to managing the finances to bussing tables, Rosetti has found that even the seemingly smallest efforts have big consequences. 

There are many Fido-friendly establishments in Bay St. Louis - and we've compiled a comprehensive list for our furry friends.

- story by Denise Jacobs
​

 While Mississippi coast is not known for its dog-friendly beaches, the beaches of Bay St. Louis and Waveland are an exception to the rule. Enjoy your romp in the water. Then, when surf time is over and Rover has shaken the salt from his coat, simply snap a leash on your canine companion and enjoy a walk along our sandy beaches, where dogs are welcome, day or night.
 
When you’ve exhausted the surf and sand, and your ice bucket is empty, head into town for some refreshment, and bring Fido along.
 

 
At the Mockingbird Café, a favorite watering hole at 110 Second Street, guests can enjoy Coast Roast coffee specialties, extraordinary biscuits, the award-winning Mockingburger, or hearty pub fare — all on the shady outdoor wrap-around porch and patio. Dogs are also welcome in the outdoor stage area, home of the Atticus Finch Night Market, nestled between the Mockingbird Café and Smith & Lens.
 

The back patio at the Parrot Head Bar & Grill (inside Bodega at 111 Court Street), where beloved chef Rickey Peters serves up Cajun favorites, is another favorite hangout you can share with your pooch.  Pop Brothers (111 Main Street), the go-to place for gourmet popsicles, even makes pops for pups.

The Buttercup on Second Street (112 North Second Street), the popular local breakfast/lunch eatery, welcomes dogs on the porch and patio, and your server is always happy to bring a bowl of fresh water for Fido. At 200 North Beach, patrons can enjoy food, drinks, and a beach view while dining with their dog on the deck.
 

The motto of the historic Sycamore House Restaurant (210 Main Street) is “Come casual, we supply the elegance.” “Casual” includes your dog at this fine dining establishment if you sit on their oak-shaded patio in back, where you can order up gourmet pizza.
 
Lulu’s on Main (126 Main Street) is a breakfast and lunch spot with a large screened-in side porch that welcomes dogs; The Ugly Pirate (144 DeMontluzin Avenue) and The Blind Tiger (119 North Beach) are also dog-friendly, with outdoor seating and, at The Blind Tiger, a lovely marina view.
 

When in doubt about a shop’s openness to dogs, it is best to poke your head inside and ask if it’s alright to bring your dog inside. In my experience as a dog owner here in the Bay, most shops try to accommodate.
 
In fact, while shopping for antiques, art, home decor, apparel, or gifts, beachcombers and landlubbers alike will most likely be pleasantly surprised by the welcome their four-legged friends receive.
 
Gallery 220 (220 Main Street), keeps a full bowl of fresh water on hand for the pooches. If you’re lucky, Egypt, the shop dog at California Drawstrings (216 Main Street), may greet you at the door. In December, California Drawstrings offers photos with Santa and your dog as a benefit for the Hancock County Animal Shelter.

​Just across the street, The French Potager (213 Main Street) welcomes pups, while at Social Chair (201 Main Street), doggie treats are kept behind the counter and shared with canine customers.  Magnolia Antiques (200 Main Street) is dog-friendly, with two local dogs and their owner dropping in each day to visit, making their daily Old Town rounds. 

Thirsty pups can always count on a bowl of fresh water at The Shops at Century Hall, 112 South Second Street. Janice Guido, shopkeeper at Bay Life Gifts, is one of several pet-loving proprietors within Century Hall with two shelter cats at home. JoAnn Saucier, The Porch, also at Century Hall, owns four shelter puppies.
 
“We love our pets at Century Hall,” she says.
  
Bay Town Inn (208 North Beach Blvd.) comes highly recommended as a dog-friendly place to stay. The realtors at H. L. Raymond Properties, 529 Ulman Avenue, let dogs weigh-in on the properties considered by prospective buyers (owner/broker Holly Lemoine Raymond is known for her work on behalf of the Hancock Animal Shelter).
​

 
Bay Hide Away RV Park and Campground, 8360 Lakeshore Road, recently installed a fenced-in dog park for its campers.
 
Not everyone appreciates the dog-friendly trend. With that in mind, I include this Chicago Tribune article for the rules it provides for shopping with Fido. Good behavior can be a dog-lover’s best defense.
 
One of the best pieces of advice I ever found on the topic of dogs in traditionally human spaces — source long forgotten — is to always remind our pets to keep their voices down while talking on cell phones.

An author acknowledges how a small town, its people and a storm freed her to create her first novel.
​
​- story by Elizabeth Bartasius
​

​Before I landed in Mississippi, I felt like debris whipped around in the emotional hurricanes of anxiety, “shoulds,” and expectations. When I moved to the Bay in 2003, my first marriage disintegrated; life was in chaos. Then Katrina (the literal hurricane) hit. 
​

 
All seemed lost, yet all around me I discovered a different way to approach life. People cared for each other, despite differences. They laughed over meals served by volunteers in tents. The Coast’s collective rallying cry — we will rebuild; and it will be bigger and better! — bolstered me. 
 
I learned that if I wanted something done, I was the one to step up and do it. Close-knit Bay Saint Louis offered each person the space and opportunity to share their unique gifts, to be heard, and, then to rise. In the Bay, I found an underlying current of support and a celebration of my own voice.
 
I also stopped being in such a hurry. The beat of small-town life became my metronome. I paced myself accordingly with morning strolls to the ‘Bird for a take-out cup of tea, then to the long stretch of white beach.  At the town’s shoofly deck, I took a moment under the oak to admire the dripping Spanish moss.
​

 
 In the slowness I began to appreciate the moment, to listen, to look, to observe all that was around me, all the while discovering who I was inside.  Away from the frenzy of urban life, Bay Saint Louis gave me pause to think and the energetic space to write.
 
And, there is much to write about! With drama, grit, beauty, character, and color around every corner; Bay Saint Louis offers so much sugar for a writer looking for ideas. Rumbles of a train. Sticky hands after crawfish. Long, lazy porches for impromptu hellos. Morning dew and sweat falling from trees like the drizzle of rain. Crab Fest, Pirate Fest, Bridge Fest, Second Saturday. Heat rising from an August midnight. The yellow light of the 100 Men Hall on a foggy night. Candied bacon from the Sycamore House.
 
And, of course the whirring of an espresso maker as Laura or Whitney, still ten years later, greet you from behind the counter of the Mockingbird. (While not one single scene in "The Elegant Out" was set at this iconic establishment, many first drafts were written here.) 
 
All the bits and pieces I picked up around town began to inform the novel, from the blue house on Carroll Avenue to the carpool line at North Bay Elementary to Hairworks, where vines choked the outside A/C unit and sparked an idea for the protagonist in "The Elegant Out."
 
Want I wanted to achieve didn’t seem so impossible wrapped in the down comforter of Bay Saint Louis. Over the years, our life in the Bay became a beautiful rut. I had resisted that dependable structure for so long; thinking I was only interesting, or likeable if I was moving and shaking. In the end, the laid-back, daily rhythm of this charming coastal town became my salvation and my transformation. When I stopped to acknowledge how much that rut stabilized and sourced me, the words unraveled; I rushed home to write them.

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" Bay Books (131 Main Street) and Creole Creamery (209 Main Street).  Read more about these featured businesses below! 
​
- stories by Caroline St. Paul, photos by Caroline St. Paul and Ellis Anderson

Bay Books
131 Main Street 
Bay St. Louis ​
228.463.2688
Website

Bay Books, located on Main Street, is the quintessential small-town book store. That is just what owner, Jeremy Burke, wanted to open in Old Town.
 
Burke and his wife purchased the store in 2011. He recalls, “When we found out it was for sale, we knew we just had to buy it because we didn’t want our community, or county, without an independent bookstore.”

​ 
Unlike large chain and online bookstores, at Bay Books there is a real sense of community and personalized service. The most satisfying aspect of owning the bookstore is “being an asset to the community.” He maintains a good relationship with the local schools, and he ensures that the store carries the books that the students need.
 
Children’s literacy played a large part in inspiring Burke to open Bay Books. “Literacy is an important issue for us, especially children’s literacy,” he said. After opening, his first order of business was expanding the children’s section. There, you will find options for newborns to teenagers.
 
Another best-selling category are the local books. Burke strives to “stock as many local books, as well as local authors, as we can.” You will find independent and self-published authors here as well. “We want to be able to have something that nobody else has.”
 

​ 
Also available in this charming shop located on “Main Street USA” are local history books and used books at affordable prices. For the upcoming summer months, you will find required summer reading for students, as well as enjoyable, light-hearted summer reads for the beach.
 
Burke holds a book-signing every Second Saturday. On May 11, come meet author Shelby Harriel, who will be signing copies of her book, “Behind the Rifle: Women Soldiers in Civil War Mississippi”. Enjoy live music sponsored by The People’s Bank, Hancock Whitney Bank and The First.
 
Burke’s customer service and dedication to his customers is incredible. Make sure to visit his quaint shop and find your next great read! 

Creole Creamery
209 Main Street 
Bay St. Louis ​
228.363.2881
Website

Everyone loves ice cream! Experience New Orleans flavor at Creole Creamery on the Bay. The happy little ice cream shop was opened by Jim MacPhaille just in time for Cruisin’ the Coast in October, 2018. MacPhaille chose to open a location in Bay St. Louis, as he saw it as a great spot that is growing every day.
 
Located on Prytania Street in New Orleans, The Creole Creamery has become an iconic part of the city. Now, this New Orleans favorite can be experienced in Old Town, as the ice cream is homemade and shipped into town every Friday. The interior of the shop was also purposely designed to resemble the popular spot in New Orleans.
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Pink and white checkered floors and the smell of freshly made waffle cones welcome you into the shop, where you’ll be greeted by manager, Hannah McRainey, or another delightful employee.
 
Taste some of their best sellers, Black & Gold Crunch, Cookie Monster, Creole Cream Cheese, or Lavender Honey. You will not be disappointed in the unique flavors here, with options changing with the seasons.
 
Hannah’s favorite part about managing the shop is “interacting with people and the kids” as well as the tourists, and answering any questions they have. “We’ve been here for a short amount of time, but we have a lot of regulars, and I look forward to seeing them,” she says. “Who can be mad in an ice cream shop?” You are guaranteed to walk out of The Creole Creamery happy and satisfied.
 

The shop's hours are currently 1 pm-9 pm Monday through Thursday; 1 pm-10 pm Friday; noon-10 pm Saturday, and noon-9 pm Sunday, with extended hours for the summer months. Visit today and experience delicious ice cream at Creole Creamery on the Bay!
 
Entertainment for May 11 Second Saturday Art Walk is sponsored by Hancock/Whitney Bank, The People’s Bank, and The First. Enjoy them as a hot spot all month. 

Avast, ye swabbies and scurvy dogs - don your swashbuckling finery and enjoy the parrrr-ty in the Bay St. Louis historic district! 

- story by Lisa Monti, photos by Ellis Anderson and Lionel Haynes, Jr.

 
The event includes fireworks, the Pirate Play Zone kid’s playground and costume contest, a pub crawl and riverboat cruise for adult pirates, belly dancers, live music and craft vendors. The fest has become so popular that it has earned a spot in the Top 20 events in the Southeast. Organizers expect 3,000-plus people over the May 17-18 weekend. “Pirate Central” will be anchored at the corner of Beach Boulevard and Court Street, with vendors set up across Court Street.
 
As you might expect from the Seahorse Krewe, this bunch of pirates knows how to throw a party. The celebration starts on Thursday night with a special party for sponsors and members. The $25 ticket price includes drinks and food.
 
The general public festivities kick off at 4 pm on Friday, May 17 with the arrival of the pirates. On Friday evening you can buy a $20 ticket to the Pirate’s Pub Crawl, with a dozen local businesses participating, a scavenger hunt, and the Castaways playing music at 8 pm. This adults-only event requires tickets, which can be purchased in advance or at Pirate Central that day.
 

​ 
On Saturday, the Lil’ Buccaneers’ Parade starts at 11 am. Led by the Bay Ratz Marching Battery, the parade will begin at the corner of Main and Second Streets and end at Pirate Central. The costume contest, complete with prizes, begins at 1 pm. Kids can also enjoy the Pirate Play Zone, open from 11 am until 7 pm (fee required for entrance).
 
Saturday’s Pirate Cruise on the Betsy Ann riverboat is sold out, but you can enjoy the Pirate Invasion Parade when they come ashore around 5 pm.
 
Free non-ticketed activities in and around Pirate Central include performances by two local dance studios: Arabesque and the Studio of Classique Vibe and belly dancing by Amira. Vendors will be selling crafts all day, and Dr. Rock and the Interns will perform from 7 to 11 pm. Pirate Day wraps up at 9 pm with fireworks over the harbor, sponsored by the Silver Slipper Casino.
 
The event sponsors are Silver Slipper Casino, ABC Rental, Bayou Caddy Utility South, Rosetti’s Liquor Barrel, Vintage Lighthouse and Beacon Theater.
 

Rosetti said the Seahorse Krewe stays active all year and continues to grow, signing up locals and residents from Louisiana and north of I-10 as members on a weekly basis. Total membership stands at nearly 300.

Besides Pirate Day there’s the Seahorse Open, held the third weekend in October, the fun-packed Lundi Gras golf cart parade, and the Inspection Ball in June to announce the Krewe’s king and queen. “Then once a month we have a membership social at a business in town that has anywhere from 75 to 125 people,” Rosetti said.
 
Krewe members also take part in the Biloxi Shucker Halfway to Mardi Gras celebration and recently took second place in the Dancing with the Relay Stars in the fundraising division.
 
“Overall we went to continue to grow each year so we can give more and more back to the community,” Rosetti said.
 

 
The Krewe’s debut five years ago was part of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bay St. Louis, which featured a rousing reenactment between two Biloxi schooners. Look for another reenactment Dec. 12-13 for the 205th anniversary of the battle. Details can be found on the Krewe’s website or their Facebookpage.

​

In the writer's open letter to the author of this compelling book, he explains why he cannot review it.
- story by ​Scott Naugle, photos by Patrick O'Connor

Dearest Margaret,

It was almost fifteen years ago that I first reviewed and wrote about one of your books, “How I Found the Strong,” for a literary magazine. Your family’s history, on your father’s side, was the impetus for the young adult novel.

While we were friends at the time, we’ve become closer. I consider your family an extended family – your mother Madeleine, husband Pat, and your son James, whom I still can’t believe the years have passed so quickly that he is graduating from college next weekend. You’ve hung up on me during phone conversations and slapped a cellphone out of my hand when I was texting and driving (you were right to do this, even underscoring it with adult language).
​
For these reasons, I struggled with whether I would have the professional distance to review and discuss “Where the Angels Lived”. How could I pass judgement on the intensely personal and compelling work of a close friend? Transparency is always the correct approach, so if I am asked to review your most recent work, I’ll be transparent about our long friendship. I wanted you to know this.

Your love for your family, past and present, and their histories appear to be a consistent motivation for your intellectual work.

“How I Found the Strong” was inspired by a long-lost manuscript, “The Life and Times of Frank Russell.” Frank Russell was the great-uncle of your grandmother on the McMullan side and dictated his remembrances of life in Smith County, Mississippi.

As you recollected in the novel’s afterword, “the part of Frank’s story that interested me the most, however, was what he did not talk about.”

A historical detective, you used the facts at hand and created the story of the young fictionalized Frank Russell into an award-winning novel.

A few years later, in 2008, you visited the Holocaust Museum and learned of a relative you had never heard of – “Richárd.” The museum archivist looked at you and declared, “Look at me, you are the first to ask about him. Do you understand? No one has ever asked about this man, your relative, Richárd. No one ever printed out his name. You are responsible now. You must remember him in order to honor him.”

As the curious and impassioned intellectual I know you to be, you had no choice but to learn more about Richárd Engel de Jánosi. 
​

Like the nonfiction manuscript of Frank Russell that you spun into a beautiful novel, you were presented again with a previously unknown, and hidden, piece of your family’s history. The story of Richárd Engel de Jánosi is so incredible, though, that a nonfiction exhumation of your family’s story through research is the appropriate platform. Life is stranger, and far more brutal, than fiction.

But against what may be the safe or prudent thing to do, in a Hungary that remains deeply anti-Semitic, you traveled to ask questions about a Jewish uncle that you never knew existed nor was ever acknowledged in any way. You met resistance, both official and subtle. As I turned the pages of the advance copy of “Where the Angels Lived” that you were kind enough to give me a few months ago, I feared for your safety.

As you recollect in “Where the Angels Lived”, “Never heard of him,” your mother snaps when you ask about Richard. “You must have it wrong. I don’t have time for this.” Madeleine McMullan hangs up.
​

Richárd was the son of your great-grandfather, Adolf, as your research in Hungary revealed. Adolf created a vast business empire of land-holdings, lumber, and coal by his mid-thirties. He started without a penny and succeeded despite the anti-Jewish legislation in Hungary. He had to pay “tolerance taxes.” You speculate, “Maybe he was granted immunity as a Jew because he took such good care of his mostly Catholic workers. He built them homes, schools, bathhouses, and churches. He paid for their teachers and priests.”

All of this began to fall apart in the years leading up to 1944. And while many members of the Engel de Jánosi family sent their money to Swiss bank accounts, converted to Catholicism, changed their names, or took the opportunity to leave the country early, Richárd, strong and quietly defiant, resisted.

One of the most beautiful passages in your book is when you use your considerable talents as a novelist to bring Richárd to life for us from the few facts about him: “He looks to be the kind of relative I would have loved – tall, distant, cool. The quiet type, pensive and precise. I would have tried to make him laugh… He looks so sure of himself, even a little defiant, stubborn. Maybe too proud. Maybe he believed too much in his own decency, maybe that’s what got him killed.”

What you later learn is that your mother, at the age of ten in April 1939, was spirited from Hofzeile, the family estate, at night with her mother, your grandmother, Carlette. “My mother wore a dark blue coat several sizes too big so that she could grow in to it. My mother had the red measles, which had spread into her eyes. [My grandmother] told my mother not to look back, to never look back.”

Later, as the train was stopped at the border crossing, “the German fear of germs” prevented the officers who boarded the train from entering the cabin where your mother suffered. “Carlette slid the papers under the door… They kept their gloves on… held the documents at the corners” and quickly stamped them.

Learning all of this was too much for you. Against your grandmother’s advice to your mother eighty years ago, you had looked back. “Sitting there in the pew carved of Moravian oak, I start to shake. I curse every last Hungarian who deported or murdered my family. See, Look at me. My mother got out and she had me and I had a son. You didn’t end us.”

Richárd, as you learned, stayed and administered the family businesses until he was met at his front door “by a black car with swastikas on the doors.” He was loaded onto a cattle car and taken to the concentration camp in Mauthausen.

Your mother never discussed the Hungarian side of the family, instead selectively acknowledging the French lineage of her mother’s side. You found and communicated with the only other living member of the Engel de Jánosi family of your mother’s generation, Anna Stein. Recovering from your father’s death and healing from a new hip, your mother was willing to return to Europe in 2013.

As your mother and Anna meet, you reflect that “Keeping secrets kept them alive, but that’s also how they lost contact with their families… They both know how to suffer and they both know how to worry… It’s the living they sometimes have trouble with.” 

After the visit with Anna Stein, you boarded a bus with your mother and she begins to cry, “Her weeping becomes guttural, the same sound she made the day my father died. Her slight shoulders shake and she puts her head into the crook of my arm. She is crying for everything and everyone – her dead husband, her father, her mother, her lost family and country. She is crying for herself and for all those in her family she knew and never knew.”

And this Margaret, my dear friend, is what I have to tell you in this long letter – I won’t be able to review “Where the Angels Lived” if asked. It’s too close. It’s emotional – and yet, in the end filled with hope and love and leaves me with a sense of a future for humanity because of what you did. I cannot add words or commentary to something so beautifully lived and written.
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With much love,
-Scott  
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Books may be ordered (and shipped, if requested) here. 

Our local music historian waxes nostalgic about the Bay St. Louis of his youth, and how local bands influenced his life.
- story by Pat Murphy

​As a teenager, live music and dances became a regular part of my world in small-town Bay St. Louis .The venues where these were held varied. They included the Bay Youth Center (behind S.J. Ingram Elementary on Ulman), The Jaycee Hall (upstairs in the 200 North Beach building), upstairs in Main Street's KC Hall, the National Guard Armory (on Longfellow), the St. Stanislaus big rec hall, Bay Catholic Elementary cafeteria (on Second), and the Bay Waveland Yacht Club.
 

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People have told me about a band named The Nomads. They supposedly were the first rock ‘n’ roll band around the Bay. This band included Mickey Demoran, Harry Ward, Long Beach car dealer Chuck Ryan, Greg Necaise and Steve Saucier. I never saw the band perform because I was still too young, but it's said that they were very good.
 

 
There were country bands around with The Dixie Revellers being the oldest and most established. This band went back to the early 1950s, but in my youth the band included Dalton "Blackie" Sones, Tommy Moran Sr. and George Day, among others. Jay Heitzmann even played drums with the band later in the sixties. As a youngster I didn't hear much live country music, but it was definitely around. (Read about country musician Tommy Moran here.)
 

​During my early teen years there were two bands that played at the local dances. They were Isaac "Bo" Darensbourg (known as Guitar Bo even back then) with the Claudettes Combo, and Henry Jay and the Starfires. Later in high school more of the legendary New Orleans entertainers were featured at yacht club and CYO dances in the Bay St. Louis/Pass Christian area. Performers like Art Neville, Irma Thomas and Deacon John would later become regulars in the area, but in the early 1960s the Starfires and the Claudettes owned Bay St. Louis. 

The Claudettes Combo
 
I'll talk about Guitar Bo and the Claudettes first because I have known and been friends with Bo since I was five years old. Bo was about fourteen at the time and did yard work and odd jobs for Ms. Susie Weston a couple of houses over from us. I would walk over and hang out with Bo while he worked, and he looked out for me.
 
The Claudettes Combo was very popular and featured Bo on guitar, Charlie Laneaux on vocals and sometimes drums (he was a janitor at St. Stanislaus, known and liked by all of us), James "Bro" Baker from Pass Christian on drums, and his younger brother Irvin Baker on saxophone.

​Named for the Everly Brothers song, “Claudette,” the Claudettes played for dances downstairs in the recreation hall at St. Stanislaus. They also played 100 Men Hall as well as wedding receptions and house parties in the Bay/Pass Christian area.
 
Bo later married Miss Dee and became the performing duo that we all have come know and love. Bo has been a lifelong friend to me, and I care for and respect this man a great deal.
 

​Bo performed countless times in Bay St. Louis's 100 Men Hall through the years. In a wonderful, lasting tribute to this lifelong Bay St. Louis musician, an image of a young Guitar Bo has been prominently featured in the new mural recently painted on the exterior of this historic structure.

Henry Jay & the Starfires
 
My mother's father, George Stevenson, was best friends with Bennie Hille, the local Oldsmobile-GMC dealer on South Beach Boulevard. His dealership was located next to the Star Theatre. Irwin "Squeeky" Hille was the youngest of the Hille boys and a year or two older than I was. As kids, we had always been friends. Squeeky was also a member of the St. Stanislaus marching band, playing snare drum.
 
My story of Henry Jay & the Starfires begins with a Christmas morning tradition. As a youngster we would visit the Hille family every Christmas, and the adults would share a little Christmas cheer.
 
I remember walking into the Hille living room that Christmas (1960, I think) to find that Squeeky had received a set of champagne sparkle Gretsch drums as his Christmas present. It was a magical moment for me – and definitely for Squeeky Hille.
 
Henry Jay says that he had only been playing guitar for about a year when one Martin "Squirrel" Morreale showed up at his house and told him that Squeeky and Martin wanted to form a band. They initially named the band the Scavengers.
 
I liked the name at the time, and I still like it. During this time it was very popular to name bands after cars (the Corvettes, the Triumphs, the Stingrays, the GTOs, the Mustangs, etc.). Seeing as how Squeeky's dad, Mr. Bennie, was the local Oldsmobile dealer, the band was renamed the Starfires after the Oldsmobile Starfire, and later as Henry Jay & the Starfires. 
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Also included in the original band was Squeeky's cousin Rhett Maynard on baritone sax, and Howard Carver on trumpet. A short time later guitarist Robert Bourgeois from Waveland joined the band on bass, and Jan Marks replaced Howard Carver on trumpet.
 
Early on Rhett Maynard left the band, and later Jan Marks moved away. Whitney "Stinky" Carvin joined the band playing trumpet, and my future bandmate Mike Willumitis began playing electric bass with the Starfires. Both saxophonist Squirrel Morreale and Stinky Carvin were St. Stanislaus bandmates of mine, and these two guys were responsible for starting me on my path in the rock ‘n’ roll business.
 
The St. Stanislaus band hall always had an old grand piano up front, and one day when I walked in, Martin and Stinky were plinking out chords on the piano. I badgered my way into having them show me some stuff on the piano.
 
That day I learned the piano intro to Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill" and how to play a circle 6th progression. I went home and practiced over and over on the old upright at our house, and I was on my way.
 

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One of the biggest events occurred in about 1963 when the band released a 45 RPM record locally. The band drove up to Picayune and recorded "My Lynda" and "Shoestrings" at the WRJW-AM radio station with BJ Johnson, one of the station's DJs, engineering. "My Lynda" was penned by Henry Jay, who was dating a girl named Lynda at the time.
 
Jay tells me that the flip side, "Shoestrings," was composed at the recording session with Martin Morreale saying, "What about something like this?" and playing the intro. To be perfectly honest, I have always really liked "Shoestrings." The name came when Morreale looked down at his shoes and asked, "What about naming it ‘Shoestrings?’"
 
Everyone in town just knew that the Starfires were on the way to being the next big thing! I remember Mr. Bennie Hille walking into my grandfather's store with a box of records under his arm and hawking records to all of my grandfather's customers. My grandfather finally gave him a five-dollar bill and received six records, which he gave to me as soon as Mr. Bennie left the store. The band bankrolled and released the record on their own.
 

Jay Heitzmann tells me that the Starfires were the first non-black act to perform in Bay St. Louis's legendary 100 Men Hall. This was way back in 1964 or 1965, and Heitzmann says that they really had the joint jumping and that everyone really enjoyed the band. He said that he thinks it might have been Wilbert "Bro" Dorsey who booked the band into the hall.
 
By 1966 the Starfires were no longer performing. Jay played drums with the Dixie Revellers and later went to Nashville and played drums on the road with Charlie Louvin, of the legendary Louvin Brothers. Later he would also play solo and duo gigs locally. Jay has been involved with video production for years and still lives locally. 
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​Squeeky later performed with Speedo & the Rocket 88s (another Oldsmobile name!) and is retired, living in the Bay. Martin Morreale left music and now resides in Las Vegas. Howard Carver lives quietly in Waveland.
 
Mike Willumitis and I went on to play together in bands like the Subway Prophets and Tomorrows Dawn into the early 1970s. Mike served with the Bay fire department for many years but relocated to North Carolina after Katrina. Whitney "Stinky" Carvin went on to a law enforcement career in Harrison County. Both he and Rhett Maynard are now deceased.
 
Guitar Bo and his wife Ms Dee continued to work and be involved in the music business until 2018, when Bo's health began to decline. I visited with Bo not long ago, and we always enjoy seeing each other.
 
In truth, the Bay St. Louis music scene of the early 1960s was probably no different than 500 other small towns across the United States. Most small towns did have some type of live music scene. I guess the fact that I got my start growing up, listening to and being influenced by these bands makes the experience all the more special to me. I do look back on these times with a great fondness.
 
POSTSCRIPT from Pat: When I began putting this story together, I started thinking about the Starfires' record. It would be my guess that no more than 500 of these records were ever pressed. My copies are all long gone. I would say that "My Lynda" is about as rare as records come. On the obscurity scale of one to ten, the record is probably a solid thirteen. Imagine my astonishment when a casual Internet search returns both "My Lynda" and "Shoestrings" on YouTube! I have included the links to these below. Enjoy.

Link to "My Lynda" on YouTube
Link to "Shoestrings" on YouTube