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With misinformation and conflicting information bombarding us, it’s hard to know what to believe – or who. Waveland Alderman Jeremy Burke offers assurance that the current precautions won’t last forever – and why it’s important for all of us to follow them today.
 
- Photo courtesy Shoofly archive

The City of Waveland has enacted social distancing practices to keep our community as healthy as possible. Waveland has closed public spaces, allowed city personnel to telework, and have worked with many local businesses to help stop the spread of COVID-19 virus. All of this has taken place alongside the recommendations coming from both our federal and state governments.
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I know this is a hit for small businesses and those who rely on these businesses. As a small business owner myself I have seen a slowdown for sure. Waveland will get through this. It is a bit inconvenient now, but it is a whole lot better than becoming infected or infecting others.
 
The people who live in Waveland are parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, neighbors and friends. We have lives intertwined throughout our community, and Waveland wants everyone to be alive, safe and healthy at the end of this pandemic. Everyone’s goal should be to prevent transmission of the COVID-19 virus, and as a result keep our community safe, healthy and hopefully back to normal activity soon.

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I hear some people are upset because they believe this pandemic is being blown out of proportion. Maybe Waveland is putting in too many safeguards in place, but what would happen if Waveland didn’t put any safeguards in place? Is being inconvenienced for a short time worth saving a life? To me it is, and I hope it is to you, also.
 
To all of you out there: this is the time for all of us to come together, become informed, and take swift and courageous action. As much as I would love to get back to work (and as much as my wife would love for me to get back to work), I’m going to enjoy every minute spending time at home with my wife and kids and continue ordering take-out from local restaurants until life returns to normal.

Spring is a beautiful time of year here on the Gulf Coast. This is the perfect season to spend time at home, especially outdoors – even if it’s not by choice. If you will be “sheltering in place” because of the coronavirus, is your yard as beautiful as you’d like it to be?
 
- Story and photos by Dena Temple

​Pine Hills Nursery
7434 Cuevas Rd
Pass Christian, MS 39571
(228) 255-9645
http://www.pinehillsnursery.net/
​

The day starts with a pleasant drive to Pine Hills Nursery, located just 0.4 miles north of I-10 at Exit 20 (Kiln-Delisle Road). A large sign at the corner of Cuevas Road beckons us to turn left and follow to the “end of the road.” The lane meanders through rolling pastures and ends, as promised, at the sprawling nursery and garden center.
 
Pine Hills is a family-owned business that started in 1986 as a small nursery with one greenhouse, selling flowering and vegetable bedding plants to other garden centers in the region. Today, owners Billy and Loraine Cuevas’s thriving nursery features eight greenhouses, a shrub and tree area, and a retail shop selling just about everything to ensure gardening success. 

​The location is much like the road that brought us here, meandering and peaceful. It’s fun to stroll past all the fruit trees, playing “guess that fruit” (the kumquats stumped me). The endless expanses of greenhouse contain impossibly beautiful flowers like petunias, salvia and begonias, stalwart marigolds, and sunny little zinnias, all promising bigger things to come.

But look a little deeper and you’ll see some more exotic and interesting offerings. We found an enormous shrimp plant, as big as a globe in a Presidential library, throwing shade over an entire row of plants. This tropical shrub, so named for its flowers that resemble those curvaceous crustaceans, is great for patio planters. Since shrubs are the foundation of most gardens, Pine Hills also offers a selection of the best shrubs for our climate.
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Gardeners know that success is all about selecting the right plant for its intended location, and the staff at Pine Hills will be happy to offer knowledgeable advice. Signage in the nursery also helps with plant selection – including finding plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds, a delight for most gardeners and a popular trend. Butterflies in particular are drawn to salvia, pentas and lantana; tubular-shaped flowers like petunias, coral honeysuckle and Mexican flame vine attract hummingbirds.

 
There is truly something for everyone here, even an area for the kiddies where they can see some of the Cuevas’s animals, including rabbits, goats, chickens, birds, tortoises, and even iguanas!
 
Scattered around the retail shop and the various sales areas are displays of funky and very fun garden art. From metal animal sculptures to brightly colored ceramic birdbaths, they have something to brighten up any dark corner in your garden.

 
Polly Cuevas, manager of Pine Hills, tells us that she is seeing an upsurge in interest in container gardening for seasonal color. “It’s easy to switch out plants so your containers always look fresh and fantastic,” she explained. Another current trend is toward more interest in organic gardening, she said.
 
Pine Hills also offers landscape services, floral designs for weddings and special events, children’s birthday parties and “Snip and Sip” floral design classes. Doesn’t that sound like fun?
 
If you simply can’t decide and order more than your SUV will hold, you can take advantage of their delivery service, which covers all of Hancock and Harrison Counties. This is particularly good if you need a truckload of compost or mulch.
 
We could seriously spend an entire day here enjoying the sound of birds in the trees and the intoxicating smell of all these flowers and plants, but we have more stops to make. We will return – oh yes, we will return.

Beatline Nursery
7091 Beatline Rd
Long Beach, MS 39560
(228) 863-1119
https://www.facebook.com/beatlinenursery/
​

 
We head south on Kiln-Delisle Road back onto I-10 and drive east to Exit 28. Our second stop, Beatline Nursery, is just a few miles south of I-10 on the right.
 
Beatline Nursery has been owned by the Stasulis family for most of the past 44 years. Georgia Stasulis and her husband, Al, run the large, well organized garden center. To access the greenhouse area, you walk through a large, well-lit and fun gift shop area that certainly bears a browse. Off to the right is a separate room featuring pots, planters, fertilizers, chemicals, fountains and other garden art, some hand-made. As much as the greenhouse beckoned, we couldn’t pass up a trip around the store.
 
We met with owner Georgia Stasulis on our visit, and it’s clear she is proud of what their family has built.
 
“We offer tropicals, annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees and house plants,” Georgia explained. “Succulents and house plants are really seeing a surge of interest today. They haven’t been this popular since the 70s.” She also noted the continuing interest in butterfly and hummingbird gardens.
 
Beatline also rents green plants for special events like weddings.
 
But Mecca was calling (“Mecca” being the greenhouse), so we thanked Georgia and made our way behind the gift shop. While there were large numbers of most common flowers and plants, what was most notable was the selection of less common offerings. Pinpricks of white brilliance floated above a row of feathery euphorbia plants. This is a terrific bedding plant, and one that is not easily found at the big-box stores.

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Another exotic looking plant we found was Duranta “Sapphire Showers,” is a cultivar with very dark, blue toned purple flowers. The dainty flowers are followed by hanging clusters of golden berries that are great bird food.  Excellent signage around the greenhouse helps gardeners select the right plant for any yard conditions.

 
Hanging baskets of Creeping Jenny (moneywort) adorned one row, with rounded golden leaves on long tendrils reaching beyond the baskets’ edges. This plant can also be used as a vigorous ground cover in damp areas with part-shade. Speaking of shade, we found several varieties of coleus around the greenhouse. This shade-loving workhorse is perfect for very shady spots, its colorful foliage brightening up even the darkest corner of your yard.
 

Another highlight was the first true red petunia we’ve seen – this is a color seldom seen in petunias. If your location is too hot for petunias in the summer, you can opt for a very similar looking plant, calibrachoa. The plant features plentiful flowers similar in shape to petunias but smaller, and the plants are very heat- and drought-tolerant.

 
For the butterfly gardener, their butterfly weed offers Monarch butterflies both a food source, and a host plant. The butterflies lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves, where they hatch, grow as caterpillars, then enter the chrysalis stage and emerge as butterflies. This is a particularly great way to teach children about the importance of our gardens to wildlife.
 

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Off the parking lot is an area with fruit trees and a variety of healthy-looking, hearty shrubs. Of particular interest was a robust-looking yellow anise shrub that, according to plant grower Monrovia, can be a good substitute for rhododendrons where “rhodies” will not grow (such as in hot, humid Mississippi). We may return for that one!

Garden Spot Nursery
770 Robert Blvd, Slidell, LA 70458
(985) 641-3600
Website
 

​Wait, what? Louisiana? Absolutely! State boundaries won’t stop us from finding the best garden centers in the area, and just a few minutes off the very first exit from I-10 West in Louisiana (Exit 266) takes us to a real gem, Garden Spot Nursery.

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We met with Kathleen Parr. She and her husband, David, along with their son and daughter-in-law, currently own and manage the Garden Spot. Kathleen tells us this is definitely a family affair – and they are grooming the next generation, Kathleen’s three grandchildren (ages 12, 11 and 3) to become the fourth generation of Parrs at Garden Spot!
 
Garden Spot was founded in Boutte, Louisiana, in the late 1960s by Margaret “Mae” Parr in front of the family’s home. The business moved to their 3.7-acre Slidell location in 1971 and has been providing the local community with high-quality plants and garden supplies ever since. They also offer landscape design services as well as hardscaping, irrigation, drainage mitigation and exterior lighting design. Bottom line: if it makes your outdoors more beautiful and functional, Garden Spot can provide it.
 
Seeing our interest in the greenhouse, Kathleen explained that they carry a wide assortment of annuals, perennials, tropicals, house plants, and succulents. They also offer some native plants (plants native to our area, great for wildlife), plants for shade gardens, and of course, camellias (Slidell is “The Camellia City,” after all).
 
The variety is impressive, to be sure. What sets a gardener’s heart a-flutter are endless rows of healthy, well cared-for plants – and that’s exactly what you’ll find at Garden Spot. The nursery is 3.7 acres of wall-to-wall beauty. Showy annuals like petunias greet the giddy gardener near the entrance, but of course we want to get past the expected and look for some cool stuff. Beyond the imposing entrance display is a vast expanse of vigorous trees and shrubs – then Mecca: the greenhouse. We proceed, anxious with anticipation!

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Garden Spot does not disappoint. Because of its size, the greenhouse holds great quantities of each variety displayed. If you are looking for a few dozen snapdragons for a bright spring display, they can accommodate – in multiple colors! Showy pink dianthus offers a striking contrast to other plants nearby. Fluffy beds of alyssum entice the gardener to share the joy of these flowering wonders.

 
A big trend today is pollinator gardening – that is, plants that attract bees and butterflies (and to some extent, hummingbirds). Plants suitable for pollinator gardens, like butterfly weed and gazania, are clearly marked, and quite abundant.

 
We found a number of unusual plants here as well. While irises are a common and much-loved garden addition, this “Orange Drop” butterfly iris was quite unique. Irises’ penchant for “wet feet” make them well suited for poor drainage areas.
 

 
Plants for shady spots are clearly marked, like these pretty begonias and these dwarf cast iron plants. By mixing plants of differing heights, colors and textures, a wonderfully pleasing effect can be achieved.
 

 
As we said our goodbyes to Kathleen and the Garden Spot Nursery, we vowed to return here, too, with a big truck and a full wallet!
 

 
If you’re new to the gardening hobby, it is easy to become overwhelmed by all the choices at these beautiful garden centers. Don’t fret – the employees here are happy to help you select plants, share advice, and offer encouragement. With these three great resources and a little “sweat equity,” your garden will be beautiful in no time – and you’ll be spending many a happy hour digging, planting, nurturing and just plain enjoying your Southern garden this year and for years to come.
 
And who knows – maybe even I can have a beautiful garden again!

Born from a hurtful incident, the “Love All” campaign aims to inform, and heal.
 
- Story and photos by Rachel Dangermond

Some claim the beads around the doll’s neck were also around the necks of other dolls and stuffed animals handed out, but certainly beads looped around a stuffed Sponge Bob neck looks very different from beads around the neck of a black slave doll.

​While this incident rippled through our community, dividing some and uniting others, there was a cry from a small group to address what happened. It started with a public statement issued by The Arts, Hancock County, Smith & Lens and 100 Men Hall decrying the incident.

​Then the Bay Ratz Marching Battery asked Mariah to ride with them on Lundi Gras. Next the 100 WOMEN DBA, an organization under the 100 Men Hall, invited Mariah to be Queen of their inaugural march with the Krewe of Real People, Next Generation on Fat Tuesday.

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The feel-good glow of turning Mariah’s Mardi Gras experience into a positive was short-lived, as daily, she continued to be bullied at school by students after the incident.

Then the Bay St. Louis Police Department issued a news release on Facebook, saying investigators had found “no intent of hatred,” and no violation of state or city law. The department would turn over the information it gathered to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
 
Like all good efforts, the LOVE ALL stickers sprang from the kitchen table organizing of women who could not sit back and wait for others to determine a path forward. The design is by Ann Madden, and they are a touchstone to use what happened as a catalyst to bring the community together and to shine a light on the blind spots that separate us.

​So, at the end of the day, we all understand that this incident was not a one and done event, but instead represents a lifetime of incidents and slights that need to be addressed now. We can no longer mask in Southern politeness our need for real progress.
 

The stickers are being sold for a suggested $5 donation. The money will be used to help facilitate racial healing in our community. We have invited the Winter Institute to the 100 Men Hall to host a community dialogue where everyone has a chance to express their thoughts about this incident. The stickers and the dialogue are stepping stones to bring our community together through understanding and action.
 
The date for this first dialogue is currently on hold as we await the outcome of our response to the COVID 19 outbreak. While we are caught in this moment of social distancing, please bear in mind we belong to a unique community that has a long history of helping neighbors through troubled times. When we are able to safely gather again, let it be to learn how to Love All.
 
The following venues have the stickers available for purchase: 100 Men Hall, Align Massage Therapy & Yoga, Mockingbird Café, Smith & Lens and Studio Waveland. 
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The current COVID-19 crisis isn’t the first time Bay-Waveland has faced an epidemic. Read about the 1897 Yellow Fever epidemic and how the community staged an organized fight.
 
- Story by Jerry Beaugez

Three Bay St. Louis doctors who were on the Board of Health oversaw the treatment and quarantine to help keep this deadly illness from spreading further. These men were Dr. L.H. von Gohren, owner and director of a local health resort named Villa Quisiana, which was on Beach Boulevard; Dr. Rhomer, the physician at St. Stanislaus and St. Joseph‘s Academy, who had previously treated Yellow Fever patients in New Orleans; and Dr. R.J. Turner, who was basically the “town doctor” and was trusted by local residents. Dr. Turner was also the coroner of Hancock County at the time.
 

 
People were outside getting fresh air in hopes of remaining safe from germs and stale air of the houses of the time. It was not known then that Yellow Fever is spread by mosquitoes, and as they were being bitten it was causing more harm and infection.
 
Residents tried to find anything they could in order to disinfect their homes and businesses to keep their family and customers safe. With the local drugstore suffering from low supplies people would have to leave the area to purchase more, which caused additional fear of the spread of the disease. Those leaving the area were subject to fumigation procedures upon returning.
 
Visitors were not allowed to enter the city. Trains were not permitted to stop, and people were not allowed on the depot grounds. All public gatherings and entertainment were prohibited. The Board of Health issued a strict resolution for fumigation and disinfecting of homes to combat the spread. Despite all of their efforts and preventative measures, the Yellow Fever epidemic in Bay St. Louis continued. 
 

 
Because of the fear and not knowing how the fever was spread, it was ordered that the victims be isolated and drenched with disinfectants, and the bodies of the dead were to quickly be burned. In October 1897, all doctors in Bay St. Louis were to report the case number by 4 pm daily to Dr. Turner, who would then compile an official list for the State Board of Health.
 
The number of victims continued to climb higher and higher, causing the State Board of Health to issue a new ordinance for Bay St. Louis, which was to be enforced by Dr. Turner. The ordinance declared, “The remains of parties dying of Yellow Fever shall be wrapped in a sheet with solution of bichloride of mercury and burned within four hours of death. Rooms in which persons have died of Yellow Fever shall be fumigated as soon as the remains are removed therefrom. No person from an infected point shall be admitted into the city, except upon certificate of immunity and disinfection by authorized state authorities or the marine Hospital.”
 
By mid-November the death tolls finally began to dwindle due to less activity of mosquitoes – although people weren’t aware of that fact then. Fewer cases were recorded, the Bay St. Louis public school resumed classes in December and “normalcy” began to return in stages. By Christmas of 1897 the horrific experience of the Yellow Fever Epidemic in Bay St. Louis was over.
 

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Today, not only Bay St. Louis, but the entire world is facing another deadly attack. The COVID-19 / Coronavirus pandemic which surfaced in China in December 2019 has now spread to more than 140 countries. At the publication of this story, more than 200,000 cases have been confirmed, and 8,000 deaths are attributed to it worldwide.
 
Just as with the Yellow Fever epidemic in 1897, this new threat is causing fear from the unknown. The global economy has been tossed into a frenzy as entire cities have gone into total quarantine.
 
Restaurants and bars have been ordered to close in some areas. Sporting events, schools, church activities and other gatherings have been canceled in order to slow the spread of the virus. Business and industry has ground to a halt in some places and countries all across the globe have taken extreme measures, such closing their borders and either limiting or prohibiting travel into or out of the area. 
 
A buzz of conflicting opinions accompany this new killer. Some view this as no big deal and have said influenza kills more people each year than this has, and people are overreacting. They feel they are being inconvenienced by guidelines and rules which are being implemented.
 
Others are taking a more serious and cautious approach, calling for people, especially elected officials, to pay closer attention to the threat and to take all the necessary precautions to end this before it worsens.
 
At this point, no one knows how long COVID-19 will last. Currently, there is no cure for it. Regardless of what your feelings are about the current situation at hand, be respectful of your fellow man. Take the steps to protect yourself, your family and friends and yes, those you don’t know also. Wash your hands frequently. Avoid crowded places. Practice “social distancing.” Sneeze or cough into your elbow, and if you’re having severe aches and or flu-like symptoms, seek medical assistance.

The unknown is here and the fear is real. In time, this too shall pass. We may never know if we “overreacted” and did too much. But it will be quite evident if we under react and do too little. 
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Looking back at our city’s history offers us a lesson. We have made it through storms and epidemics by working together to make a difference - here in Bay St. Louis and in the world at large.

Confined to a cottage in a countryside village, the writer gives an on-the-ground report of drastic changes in a timeless place.

- Story and photos by Rheta Grimsley Johnson
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Yet our village has everything: a great restaurant, a post office, a boulangerie, charcuterie, a bistro with live music on weekends. Did I mention the castle, and that a river, the Charente, runs through it? 

When I rented a cottage called "Sunrise" for three months here, it was meant as an experiment to see if I would love this country as much in the winter, warts and all, as I do the rest of the year. I’ve visited many times and always believed I could live here year-round. But my only winter experiences were the run-up-to Christmas in Paris.
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I chose this location on the recommendation of a friend who once lived in a large town in the Charente. He loved it.

​I now love it, too. Despite some disagreeable winter weather, for six weeks my husband and I – and one New Orleans visitor, here for 10 days – put a million miles on the rental Yaris and saw everything from ancient abbeys to Oradour-sur-Glane, the ghost town left just as it was after the Nazis butchered 600 people in a few hours, many of them women and children.

We drove to the Atlantic seashore twice, ate amazing French meals that look as good as they taste and walked around in bliss, looking forward to more meals, more visitors, more day trips, more time. Our passports were good till the end of April. We intended to suck them dry.
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Then the virus hit, except it didn’t exactly “hit.” It oozed into our lives like that old horror movie, “The Blob.” At first it seemed as far away as China. Then it was next door, in Italy. And, then, it was here. And France was closed for business. 

For the last couple of days our cozy village suddenly has been eerily empty, and for the first time seems a long way from help should I, or my husband, need it.

​Tonight, for the first time, there is a curfew at 6 pm, and 100,000 police and soldiers are set to enforce it. You may leave your house for emergencies, but only if you fill out the paperwork and carry it with you. There are fines if you do not.

​Hotels and other “nonessential” businesses are being requisitioned for hospital space, for suddenly the real hospitals are at capacity. When did that happen? In the blink of an eye, that’s when.

I decided to do what I normally do in stressful times: I laid in a supply of food and spirits. The grocery store six miles away in Ruffec was doing a brisk business yesterday. Word was out that President Macron might announce more stringent measures, which he did last night.

It was somewhat of a comfort to see that boulangeries, where the French buy their daily baguettes, are considered “essential.” Thank God. And pharmacies are open. We went to one for some ibuprofen, and I got a swift tongue-lashing for stepping in front of a barrier of blue plastic boxes that were protecting the “hostess,” as the French call cashiers, from her customers. Even tongue-lashings sound pretty in French.
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But closed are all schools and universities, restaurants and bars plus most businesses except grocery stores and newsstands that sell tobacco and stamps. From what I saw today, going to shop for groceries might soon be a waste of time anyhow. Oddly enough, one aisle still full was the one with toilet paper, much of it in the signature Parisian pink. Maybe it’s because a lot of French folks have bidets.

If you have to hunker, I am in a good place. I am in a rural setting in a department not yet ravaged by virus cases. I have nearly a month and a half left on my passport. The rent is paid through April. I have tickets to fly home then, if the airline is still in business.

My French is elementary, and when I ask a question in the native language I dread getting an answer. I can understand only when people speak slowly, which they rarely do. 

Last night President Macron said repeatedly, “We are at war.” I understood.

​This country knows about war, fought on its soil, and about the inconveniences of fighting it. A lot of Americans, myself included, are about to find out for the first time what it means to be inconvenienced. We are about to learn how to queue up and shut up and act for the greater good.
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In this series of photo essays, the Shoofly Magazine showcases the work of professional photographers.  Their only instructions?  Show us the coast through your lens.  This month we feature the work of photographer P. Chris Christofferson. 

P. Chris Christofferson: Nature photography was birthed as a new passion when I had the opportunity to call Waveland, Mississippi, home in 2012 and joyfully cast aside my previous life as a Louisiana medical malpractice attorney.

Exploring on foot or bike, my camera lens eagerly captures the kaleidoscope of imagery in the beckoning bay, wetlands and our own nurturing garden. Evocative statuary in our old cemeteries also draws my eye and heart. This vision translates into cards and canvases available at Gallery 220 (220 Main Street) in Bay St. Louis and my website, www.pchris.net.

The Bay, with its white sand beach, has a fresh vibrancy every day. It can be appreciated in no better a place than on the iconic swing at the foot of Nicholson Avenue in Waveland which has serenely absorbed the soul of that corner for decades. ​​

The swing casts a benevolent eye on glorious sunsets, birds feeding and lazy, languid Sunday afternoon sailing.​

From the shore one can gaze out and reflect on memories past. 

Dropping into this niche are a stunning variety of birds which I eagerly photograph. A few of the year round denizens are Great Blue Herons, Brown and White Pelicans, gulls, terns, cormorants, Bald Eagles, and sandpipers like Sanderlings and Willets. 

During the winter, I watch for the migrants; Killdeer, plovers, Black Skimmers, some gulls and ducks. During the summer, the exquisite Least Terns pick a Pass Christian beach spot to nest which the Audubon Society immediately ropes off.  There I spend endless hours in photography heaven. 

The Hancock county wetlands, especially behind the railroad tracks in Clermont Harbor, are teeming with wildlife. Here, patience is rewarded with images of exquisite beauty.

Alligators, turtles, Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, Green Herons, Bald Eagles, several species of hawks, woodpeckers, egrets and blackbirds, as well as cormorants, Anhingas, Eastern Kingbirds, Eastern Phoebes, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Blue-grey Gnatcatchers, are just a few I’ve framed.

​Our wetlands are also refuge for a long list of seasonal ducks and ibis which pose as if dreamscape paintings in mesmerizing fall and winter light. 

A lovely dividend of Waveland coastal living is a home with flower gardens to attract bees, butterflies and birds, thus hour upon hour of blissful photography.

​Our well-stocked feeders, suet bricks, and mealworm casts entice a wide variety of daily diners and migrants. Our yard alone hosts Downy, Red-headed, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. 

And so many others; Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, Carolina Wrens, sparrows, House Finches, Eastern Towhees, Eurasian Collared-doves, Mourning Doves, Northern Mockingbirds, American Robins, Brown Thrashers and Red-winged Blackbirds. 

In the spring, with camera at the ready, I gleefully capture poses of Eastern Bluebirds, Prothonotary Warblers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Indigo and Painted Buntings. 

Every spring and fall our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds soar and fight amid our nectar-filled flowers, bottlebrush trees and feeders. 

The gardens my husband and I plant focus on butterfly magnets with nectar-laden flowers and on hosts for their caterpillars. So far, I’ve memorialized for cards and canvas the following; Black, Giant, Spicebush and Eastern Swallowtail, Gulf Frittilary, Painted Lady, Clouded and Cloudless Sulphur, Common Buckeye and Monarch. 

Old cemeteries on the coast, some long-forgotten, can hold statuary evoking powerful emotions. To capture the dignity, serenity and strength as memories of the sacred souls resting therein, is supremely gratifying. One such statue is in Bayou LaCroux Cemetery. 

Another dominates in Log Town Cemetery.

​Our coastal living feeds my heart.

March 19 is St. Joseph's Day and as part of the tradition, special  - and edible - altars are built.  Learn more about how locals celebrate in Bay-Waveland.
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Although as of this March 12 publication, Our Lady of the Gulf and 100 Men Hall have cancelled their St. Joseph's Day altars, while St. Clare's is open for viewing on March 19 from 9am - 5pm.  

- story by Lisa Monti

The annual altars or tables are covered with symbolic representations, such as bread baked in the shape of hammers and other tools in honor of the carpenter Joseph. There are cookies symbolizing pine cones and made with figs, which are plentiful in Sicily. 

​Fava beans, symbols of sustenance, are blessed by parish priests on altars and carried by believers in a pocket or purse for good luck. Because St. Joseph’s feast day falls during Lent, there is no meat on the altars, only seafood and vegetables, but everything is in abundance to share.

At Our Lady of the Gulf, the ceremony this year has been postponed due to coronavirus concerns. In past years, the altar opened for viewing early in the morning.  After the 10 am Mass, three children portraying the child Jesus, Mary, and Joseph led everyone from the church next door to the Community Center. Following tradition, they knocked and were turned away on two doors.  When they reached the third door, they were allowed to enter.

​The presiding priest then blessed the altar,  laden with thousands of cookies and other sweets and casseroles prepared by parishioners. Everything is always handmade, again following tradition.

As of this story's publication on March 12, the St. Clare Catholic Church’s St. Joseph Altar celebration is still planned.  The altar will be open at 9am and it will remain open to the public until 5pm. Following the closing of the altar there will be a children’s skit re-enacting the life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. This will be followed by a meatless meal.  All are invited to attend this event. ​

As of this writing, the 100 Men Hall’s St. Joseph Altar is still slated open to the public for viewing at noon on March 19. Owner Rachel Dangermond said the altar is being spearheaded by new Bay resident Linda Belou, a New Orleanian of Sicilian descent. She and Nick Scramuzza created many memorable St. Joseph Altars at the Love Lost Lounge in the city.

“Nick was kind enough to let Linda use most of the icons he collected over the years,” said Rachel. “St. Rose de Lima’s Father Agustinus will bless the altar at 5pm, and all monetary donations will benefit St. Rose de Lima.”
 
The Hall hosted a cuccidota baking workshop in February, and some members of the local Italian Society joined in. The fig cakes will be baked and put on the altar. The altar will have lemons that symbolize love, and dried pasta, cooked pasta and other dishes. Tomatoes and olives typically adorn the altars.

 “This is truly a community cultural event for everyone to experience,” said Rachel. “The community is invited to bring items for the altar, food that could be shared at room temperature (no meat dishes, please), and to enjoy the feast. Whatever is left at the end is packaged and donated to the community.”

A few times a year, the iconic Second Saturday Artwalk event in Old Town Bay St. Louis adopts a theme.  The “Souper Mudfest Second Saturday Artwalk" - one of the most popular events of the year in Bay St. Louis - will take place March 14, rain or shine.

​- Stories by Caitlin Bourgeois
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As usual, two Hot Spot businesses will be featured:  the PJ's Coffee of New Orleans, 207 Main Street,  and Bodega Spirits and Liquor, 111 Court Street. Read more about them below!

PJ’S Coffee of New Orleans
207 Main Street
Bay St. Louis
(228) 231-1942
​Website

PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans came onto the Old Town scene in October of 2018 bringing some big New Orleans love along with it. There is truly a little bit of something for everyone to enjoy – flavored coffees, café au lait, smoothies and the ever-delicious, freshly baked goods.

 
PJ’s Coffee will be hosting their Second Saturday Hot Spot by promoting March as Reading Month. Bring a book into PJ’s at any time on March 14 and get a free cookie. Books that are new or gently used will be given to local school libraries.
 
PJ’s also will be hosting story nights every Wednesday in March to encourage parents to get their children interested in reading. Character readers will be engaging with the children and reading multiple books to them from 5pm - 6 pm.
 

​ To finish out the Second Saturday evening on the 14th, Philip Drake will be playing on the patio from 4pm - 7pm. There will be a glitter bar for all ages to enjoy while sipping one of PJ’s new spring drinks and listening to the music. Join PJ’s for all of the fun at 207 Main Street.

Bodega Spirits and Liquor
111 Court Street
Bay St. Louis
(228) 363-1290
Website

 
A bodega almost in the true sense of the word, Bodega Spirits and Liquor is a well-stocked, quiet shop in the heart of Old Town. The only liquor store in downtown Bay Saint Louis, this small store hosts a healthy supply of just about any wine or liquor one might need.

​ 
Located within the building of BODEGA, Bodega Spirits and Liquor sits on the north end of Court Street. One can go into BODEGA for a yoga class upstairs, decide to get a bite to eat at Parrot Head Bar and Grill, rent a golf cart for a tour of Old Town, then visit Bodega Spirits and Liquor to top off the day.
 
Bodega Spirits and Liquor will be hosting a free wine tasting event for their Second Saturday Hot Spot beginning at 5 pm. Stop in to try a new blend or brand and to visit with Mr. Larry, who can be found there all days that liquor is sold. Bring your dogs along so they can be spoiled with a little treat while you enjoy a treat of your own.
 

​ 
Kelsey Moran will be playing on the back patio from 6-10 pm that day. Settle in, order a delicious meal from Parrot Head Bar and Grill and enjoy the ambiance of another beautiful day in Bay Saint Louis! Bodega Spirits and Liquor is open Monday to Saturday. 

Alderman Jeremy Burke shares the details of Waveland's upcoming St. Patrick's Day parade, always a great time.

- 2019 parade photos courtesy of the Shoofly Magazine archives
​

The route will start on Waveland Avenue, travel down Central Avenue, turn right onto Coleman Avenue, right on Beach Boulevard, then disband at Waveland Avenue. The Waveland Police Department decided this route is logistically the best route for the parade.

I hope to see everyone lined up along the route ready to catch beads, cups, and, of course, cabbage!
​

At Papa B's Tamales, Tammie and Tony Burch's passion for humble Mexican street food offers their customers fun food to eat-in or drive-thru.

- Story by Lisa Monti

Tamales are easy to love but not easy to make, and certainly not quickly. Tony calculates that it takes two and a half hours just to cook the Boston butt and another four and half hours to make 25 dozen of the masa-wrapped, meat-filled tamales.
 ​

 
“To make tamales, you have to have a passion for it, especially because it takes a lot of time and effort,” Tony said.
 
Fortunately for local tamale fans who just want to enjoy the dish, they can get a plate of tamales with the fixings at Papa B’s Tamales & More. You can dine in the small restaurant or fill your tamale craving at the drive-through window.
 
Actually it was the drive-through window that got Tammie and Tony’s attention when they looked at the space a little over a year ago. They had been making and selling tamales and other items to customers in and around Diamondhead via Facebook and decided to try operating a tamale- and taco-focused restaurant.
 
When they saw the drive-through at the available spot on Highway 90, that sealed the deal. The Burches say customers love being able to call in their orders and drive through to pick up their meals.
 ​

 
Tony wants everyone to know that Papa B’s is “not fast food and not a Mexican restaurant.” The smallish menu lists spicy and mild made-fresh-daily tamales, along with nachos, burritos, quesadillas and tacos. The tamales, served with house-made chili gravy, come out steaming from their corn husk wrapper. The texture of the pork isn’t too fine or too chunky; it’s somewhere pleasingly in between.
 
For taco fans, Papa B’s makes the traditional beef version served with lettuce and cheese and also serves a street-style taco on a fried corn shell. The London Broil steak version I had was super tender, spiked with lime and topped with fresh cilantro and onion. You can get a single street-style taco or three to a plate with rice and pinto beans, “cooked to order, nothing canned,” Tammy said. The same is available for the regular tacos, and there’s a chorizo taco that’s very popular. (If you prefer a chicken tamale, you can order in advance.)
 
Tammie concocted the Mama’s Macho Nachos, which has a bed of chips topped with nacho cheese, chili gravy and bite sized pieces of tamales finished off with shredded cheese. “It’s a meal,” she said.
 ​

 
Chips are served with house-made salsa, not too spicy but with enough of a kick to suit those who like a little heat.
 
Papa B’s has daily specials including 99-cent tacos in addition to the fresh-made, along with burritos, quesadillas, a taco salad and grilled chicken version. You can also get lettuce wraps with taco, chicken or steak.
 
To end your meal, or take home for a treat for later, pick up some fresh made pralines, brownies, shortbread cookies and other delicious sweets made locally by Brooke Allen for Papa B’s.
 
If you’re craving tamales or tacos, check out Papa B’s. Prices are reasonable, with a dozen tamales at the upper end of the scale at $11, a tamale plate for $7.99, and a street-style taco at just $2.50.
 
Papa B’s Tamales & More
1060 Highway 90
Bay St. Louis
(228) 344-3096
 Open Tuesday-Saturday 11 am-7:30 pm

Like the wind, passion can be soothing and persuasive - or relentless and destructive.

- Story by James Inabinet
​

Wind-prodded bushes vibrated. Marsh grass swayed in gentle waves, prompting each to caress the other. A haze had formed out over the water. A storm brewed. Soon the breeze turned into a gale, no longer from the east but south. I wanted to see it, feel it, and know firsthand the Gift of the Wind.

​ 
On the beach, I faced the wind. It seemed to search for me. Leaning into it, I let it find me, feeling its power on my chest. I fancied that the wind desired that I bend to its will, more seduction than force. I fancied that it was luring me, leading me to believe that I was safe even as it sought weakness.
 
Moving behind a waving rattlebox to partially get out of the wind, I again sought its origin above the frothing waves. The wind embraced me, leaving no part untouched. I listened as the waves tore at my ears. I felt the spray of surf and light rain tingling on bare skin.
 
I turned away from the wind to watch the torment of the marsh grasses. Toyed by the wind, they surrendered fully, swaying rhythmically in waves of power like a field of wheat. I noted the wind’s wave nature as round upon round of pulsing wind raked across the grasses, now gently, now violently. I became mesmerized by the dance of the grass.
 
Awakening as if from a dream, I found myself sitting obliviously in the face of power and beauty in its most elemental form. I remembered having read that it is the predilection of all beings to surrender to power and beauty, to lose themselves in it.

 
I stood to re-gather my wits. I moved around a bit and sat back down. Later, awakening again, I found myself swaying, rocked backed and forth by the wind, not unlike the marsh grass.
 
I moved further back and lay down near an adjacent hammock of trees to watch, listen to, and feel the storm while sheltered a bit from the raw wind. I watched the wind move through the pine tops, its roar of a different quality than on the beach. Unlike grasses, it is not the predilection of trees to surrender completely to the wind. They may move with it, but remain upright. Watching the wind move through the trees I could see it, like fingers searching all possible paths and taking them all. I could see gusts tearing at tree tops as needles and tufts fell all around.
 
I returned to the beach with difficulty. A gale drove a steady, light rain. The waves of wind declared its unique voice, one unlike any other. This is its medicine, its gift, one that can only be known through experience at the height of its power when it cannot be ignored. I witnessed the voice of this wind. With closed eyes, I began to shiver; the raindrops stung. Now I felt the wind waves. Its voice of passion had became corporeal.
 
Even a small breeze exudes an unnoticed passion. Ever around us, the breeze, the wind, is always caressing us, probing us, embracing us. The wind’s passion is the sun’s passion, a product of heat and moving air, a heat that destroys even as it creates. All passion destroys and creates at the same time.
 
The sun’s passion is in the wind, a voice that speaks this passion. The wind probes, the invisible made visible by what it does, not what it is. The wind is a terrible power or a benign influence. As a terrible power, passion drives dictators, violent husbands, and schoolyard bullies. Like the Greek god of death, Thanatos, it can become a source of un-doing.
 
But passion is also a benign influence, an Eros that drives creation, a fire that burns in the heart of artist and innovator, pushing them to create. Like the wind, it pursues them, forcing them out into the world to create. It wells-up; they cannot hide. No innovation or great art has come into being without passion’s drive behind it. There is no rest. Artists who cannot cope are destroyed.
 
Like the wind, a “seeker” uses passion to search for her path, searching everywhere. Upon finally finding it, she walks that path to the end, fully experiencing its brunt, because those are paths that lead to meaning, that lead to a life that is as much a work of art as any painting. A path that requires passion, these are paths that have heart.
 
In the human body the heart is the seat of this passion. Carl Jung declared that such a path must be taken if one wants to live at all:
 
All passion is a challenge to fate ... it is incalculable, immeasurable, full of unknown dangers. The perpetual hesitation ... to launch out into life is readily explained by [a] desire to stand aside so as not to get involved in the dangerous struggle for existence. But anyone who refuses to experience life must stifle his desire to live.

Whether advising her customers on Medicare solutions or caring for at-risk children, Kristine Gurley and her staff are in the business of helping people.

- by Dena Temple

 
She continues, “We’re there for the whole Medicare process. Our goal is to educate and share our knowledge with our clients.”
 
In fact, Gurley penned an article for the Shoofly Magazine last October that included an easy-to-understand introduction to Medicare basics. It covers the different components of Medicare coverage, when to enroll, and how. Click here for a great read.

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Originally from Alton, Illinois (near St. Louis), Ms. Gurley attended Lewis & Clark Community College before moving to Diamondhead in 1997. Her decision to get into the insurance field was a matter of practicality. “In 2004 I was newly single with children, and I needed a career that allowed me time to be a mom. Insurance allowed me that freedom.”
 
As important to Gurley as her work with seniors is her work with children. “As a former teacher and foster parent, children’s welfare is very important to me.” Gurley & Associates sponsors CASA, also Hope Haven Children’s Advocacy Center. “We sponsored the first annual Hope Haven poker run this past summer, which was a lot of fun,” she says. “We also sponsor monthly potlucks at the Senior Center of South Pearl River County, and we provide food and decorations for dances there as well.”
 

​ 
In 2019 Gurley served as an ambassador with both the Picayune and the Hancock Chambers of Commerce – reinforcing her commitment to our business community.
 

 
Kristine Gurley and her husband of 14 years, Steve, still love the Coastal lifestyle. “Now that my children are grown I don’t get to spend much time with them anymore, but Steve and I enjoy getting out and taking advantage of everything life on the Gulf Coast has to offer.”
 
Gurley & Associates
10381 Hwy 603, Suite C
Bay Saint Louis, MS 39520
228- 344-3126

This month, our D-I-Y diva helps a friend brighten up a bathroom with the addition of a super-simple hanging rack.

- Story and photos by Holly Lemoine-Raymond

• Drill with proper bits
• Screws to secure the wall hanger to the wall and hooks to the wood
• Hooks of your choice
• Wood pencil
• Tape measure
  (Remember, measure twice, cut once!)
• Screwdriver
• Sanding block

Step 1: Find the wood

Find the piece of wood you want to use. I started with two fence boards and chose the better of the two. The old fence board will give it the rustic look I really like and it’s FREE. Make sure you wipe the wood down with a damp rag. The piece(s) of wood I used were really dirty! If you are going to hang your towels or bathrobe on the hook, you’ll want to be sure to clean that wood really well! I mean, who wants dirty wood on their clean white, terrycloth robe?

Step 2: Cut the wood
 
Measure and cut your wood to size, remembering my DIY mantra:  Measure twice, cut once. The one I made is 1” x 6” and 24 inches long. When you cut your fence or deck board, make sure to cut the ends off flush – no dog ears allowed!
 

 
Step 3: Sanding and (optional) staining the wood
 
I did sand but did not stain my wood. If I were to stain the wood, I would use an Espresso stain. That’s my go-to stain color. I love the rich color it gives the wood. It’s usually a good complement to earth tones or soft gray. If staining, give it a few hours to dry. Drying time depends on the air temperature and humidity. A good test to see if it is dry is to touch the wood. If it feels tacky, let it sit a little longer, otherwise, you are ready for Step 4!

Step 4: Mount the hooks
 
To mount your hooks, you will want to measure to ensure they are evenly spaced. No one likes an unevenly spaced hook! I started one inch from the edge, spaced 5 inches apart, and had room for four (4) hooks.
​

Step 5: Mount the wood to the wall
 
Once you’ve mounted your hooks, decide on your wall hanger’s location and fasten it to the wall.  Use a stud finder first to make sure you’ll be fastening it into solid wood to support the weight of the hanger.

 
Now that your wall hanger is mounted, it’s ready to use. Hang up a towel, your coat, or even a mug depending on the location. Super easy and inexpensive!
​

A sure sign of spring in Bay St. Louis is the annual Arts Alive festival, getting bigger and better every year. Here's a preview.

- Story by Steve Barney, photos by Ellis Anderson

In 2019, Arts Alive expanded to two days and was a huge success for local merchants and exhibiting artists, attracting thousands of visitors from across the Southeast. The festival received extensive national media coverage in USA Today, Yahoo! News and other news sources, citing Arts Alive and Bay St. Louis as “the best hidden gem destination in Mississippi.”
 

 
Janice Guido, owner of Bay Life Gifts and Hancock Chamber Board tourism liaison, stated, “Arts Alive has become one of the most important and profitable events of the year for retail shops and restaurants in Old Town Bay St. Louis – even better than Cruisin’ the Coast.“ Guido adds, “Many visitors are so captivated by Bay St. Louis that they choose to relocate here.”
 
Festival-goers aren’t the only ones to take notice. Arts Alive is gaining a national reputation among exhibitors, and artists from as far away as Maryland, Florida and Texas are signing up to make Bay St. Louis a stop on their spring tours of the best art shows in the Southeast.
 

 
New artists’ applications are coming in daily, with many local artists returning from last year exhibiting and demonstrating work in every medium and genre imaginable, filling the streets of Old Town BSL. (Click here to register for an artist booth.)

The 2020 festival continues to grow and evolve, with a slate of new activities and events:

• Through a partnership with the Main Street United Methodist Church, many new activities will be hosted on the church’s property.
• Join Captain Longbeard and Lady Claiborne from BSL’s own Mystic Krewe of the Seahorse for some mini-golf and pirate-themed crafts.
• Look for live demonstrations of popular dishes by local celebrity chefs.
• Instagram phenoms The Traveler Broads will be back with their whimsical artist awards. 

• Make sure to bring your lawn chair to the Shoofly Magazine Community Stage and sing along with local favorites Kelsey Moran, Hadley Hill, the Electric Sheep, Hattiesburg based artist and singer-songwriter Thomas Jackson and others. On Sunday, you never know who might show up for the Open Mic session; last year, Delta Blues icon Lucious Spiller captivated the crowd.

• An expanded Makerspace is geared toward the next generation of artists, with activities designed to integrate Art into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), creating STEAM. Youths are invited to try their hands at throwing a pot on the wheel, programming a 3D printer, making a drum, learning about organic gardening and participating in hands-on art activities hosted by local organizations.
• Bring a blank T-shirt or other fabric to screen print your own Arts Alive t-shirt or banner on our four-screen press. 

​

• At Ruth’s Roots community garden, help paint more public trash receptacles for the beachfront and throw some tags on the graffiti wall, try a yoga/meditation workshop and help paint rocks for the pathway.
• Join in a live painting throw-down with the Coast’s best: Lucinda L’Enfant, Micky Arnold, Andrew Switzer, Greg Noll and Scheronne Herrington.

 

 
Look for more detailed information and festival schedule in the Shoofly Magazine in March. For more information on sponsorship, volunteering and general festival information visit www.hancockarts.org.

Sycamore Street, formerly home to several popular juke joints, used to hum with music and good times.  Take a spin around the dance floor in this look back in time. ​

- Story by Rachel Dangermond

The juke joints began opening in the late 1930s and early ’40s against a backdrop of segregation and Jim Crow laws. For African-Americans, there were no public spaces other than church to socialize and celebrate, except the ones they created. ​

Here in Bay Saint Louis there were dozens of these bars, but at the top of everyone’s list was the Krack Bar & Lounge, owned and operated by Floyd Moseley, Sr. and his family for an extended period of time. 

​
​Claudette Henley remembers that her grandmother owned the property and her dad turned it into a bar a few years after marrying her mother (1935). Her younger brother, Floyd “Martin” Moseley, Jr., worked alongside his father. 
 
“My dad couldn’t read or write, but he could count money,” said Martin. 
 
The building was one large room, and it had a small crack where you could see inside, hence the name. Over time, the Krack grew to have a restaurant on one side and a pool hall on the other. 

In the black community, the Krack was the place where you started and where you ended.

​“The Krack never closed,” said Golden Fairconnetue, whose mother ran a restaurant on Sycamore Street . “No matter where you went, you always wound up back at the Krack.” 
 
According to Calvin Smith, whose grandfather Oswald Gilbert took over after Floyd retired, the Krack was known far and wide and frequented by many people from New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. 
 
“It had an aura that attracted many customers who liked the atmosphere. Good music, good food and beer by the barrel flowed from behind the bar there,” said Smith. 

​Blanche Godfrey operated the restaurant and served memorable hamburgers and fries to adults and kids. Oswald Gilbert ran the bar until his death in 1957, and then his son, Anthony, better known as “Gil,” took over. Although Hurricane Camille ravaged the area in 1969, the Krack withstood, and after being patched together with tin, it reopened to a welcoming crowd. The Krack was an ongoing institution until Hurricane Katrina devastated it in 2005. 

The Big 5 Club, at 437 Sycamore Street, opened in the ’50s and was owned for a decade by Nathan “Sweetie” Little with Thomas Lahland. The bartender was James Smith.
 
“James worked for Mr. Mark, a white guy, servicing pool tables, juke music boxes, and vending machines. This gentlemen helped James purchase the building in the 1960s,” said James’s wife, Pinky Lee. 
 
The Big 5 was open seven days a week, and on most weekends didn’t close until way after the sunrise. According to Pinky, James would get a couple hours of sleep and open right back up. The bar sold pig's feet, pig lips and hot links with crackers. The choice of beer was Schlitz, Falstaff and Miller High Life ponies, and Miller Lite. You could always bring in your own half-pint of hard liquor and purchase a setup, which was two Cokes or 7Ups with a bowl of ice.

​Two years after James’s death in 1996, Pinky Lee sold the property to Jordan Bush, who eventually made it a church. 

​Also in the ’50s, Mama Harriet’s Snack and Bar opened at 435 Sycamore Street. Mama Harriet mainly ran a rooming house for men who worked on the railroad. Business was good, so she soon added a bar, restaurant, and sweet shop. Children were not allowed inside but instead went to a window to buy candy, chips, drinks and homemade freeze pops. 
 
After Mama Harriet lost her eyesight, her daughter-in-law, Olivia, ran the window. When her son, Clarence, and Olivia both passed away, Clarence’s daughter, Ann Evans, came home from New York and renamed it Tavern on the Green, which was short lived due to her health. The place sat abandoned until Hurricane Katrina destroyed it. 

​Social life flourished along Sycamore Street and the surrounding neighborhood for African-Americans, and many more juke joints opened. The Onion was soon another hotspot in the area. It was owned by Frank Lewis, who operated three clubs: Lewis’s Bar on St. Frances Street in the ’50s, the Big Four in Waveland, and the Onion, which opened in the ’60s. 
 
“My dad really loved his businesses because he wanted to socialize and be among his friends,” say Lewis's daughter, Ollie Mae Lewis. In the ’70s, the Onion changed its name to the Red Machine Lounge, and Ollie and her sister, Rose, took over the management. 
 
These bars provided places for the African-American community to gather, socialize, and enjoy themselves. The businesses also served the black community's need to engage in activities that were otherwise closed off to black people. According to Calvin, the Krack sponsored an adult football team called the Bay Wildcats that played against other black teams from along the coast, New Orleans, and Mobile. 
 
“Patrons flocked to the bars before and after the basketball and football games. Football was played on the St. Stanislaus athletic field and basketball at the St. Rose de Lima gymnasium (aka the 'Cracker Box').” The Big 5 sponsored a baseball team and the Onion sponsored the Red Machine, a softball team. 

​On the corner of St. Francis and Sycamore Streets sat the Connection, a home turned into a bar by Willie C. Acker (aka "the Poor Slave"). Willie was a schoolteacher, and his wife, Eartha, ran the club. Willie wanted a place where people could meet and connect by having a cold beer, listening to good music, and enjoying friendship. On any given Saturday at the Connection, you could throw a game of horse shoes and have a plate of good, fresh fish straight off the grill. 

​Nearby on Sycamore, Daisy Bell bought the former Sam Compretto’s grocery store with the dream of opening a restaurant and bar, which she intended to call Bell’s Restaurant and Lounge. Her children were going to run the business, but her son, Sullivan, took a job with MAPP Head Start and soon became the regional director in Picayune. Her other son, Sterling, pursued his own dream to be an electrician at Ingalls Shipyard, where he became electrical supervisor, so her daughter, Sharon, and her husband, Bobby McGown, took over, and the name became Bobby’s Lounge instead. 
 
Bobby’s favorite line was, “Juke right now only if you are ready,” which earned him the nickname “Juke.” Bobby’s Lounge became the club of the ’80s, where young people felt right at home. The beers of choice were Miller Ponies, Miller lite, Bud and Bud Lite, Heineken and Corona. A host of birthday parties were held there, as was a big New Year’s Eve party every year. The club was later renamed M.C.M. (Making Cash Money). 

In the early ’60s, Harry Leroy Lyons (aka "the Greedy Man") turned the old Ice House, at 308 Blaize Avenue, into a bar by the same name. His idea was to have a good time with drinking, dancing and some gambling in the back.

​His customers favored Jax, Dixie, Schlitz and Falstaff beers, along with some homemade moonshine. There was a jukebox where for 25 cents you could play three songs. They would listen to music by Al Green, Otis Redding, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye, Etta James, Ray Charles, Diana Ross and so many other legends of the era. 
 
“If only the walls could talk, they would have a lot to say,” his daughter, Dianne Lyons, said. The adult bar was upstairs and there was a teen center on the bottom floor where teenagers could hang out in an ice cream shop under adult supervision. 
 
In 1969, Hurricane Camille devastated the area and destroyed the Ice House. In 1990, The Greedy Man wanted to get back to his passion of music and dancing, so he asked his daughter, Janet Lyons Coe, to help him finance a new business. Janet enlisted her sisters Dianne, Sandra and Connie, and the Lyons Den was created as a family affair. 
 
Each month the Lyons Den hosted fashion shows, car shows, talent shows, horseshoe tournaments, pool tournaments, shrimp and crawfish boils, swing out dance contests, battles of the DJs, and even costume parties and birthday parties. 
 
“We weren’t on Sycamore Street like the other clubs, so we had to be creative,” Dianne said. “Every weekend we had a DJ to keep the music fresh. We had William (Joe Willie) Washington, Damien Maurice, Alton Benoit Jr., Dennis Favre and me (DJ Melo-D).” 
 
The Lyons Den was a roaring success, according to Sandra and Dianne, but after awhile the business took its toll on everybody because all of the sisters had day jobs, too. 

The juke joints no longer exist on Sycamore Street and the surrounding area. They provided a sense of belonging for the Black community - places where there was freedom to listen to music created by Black musicians, to dance without judgment, and to engage in social activities that strengthened the ties to the community. These places provided a welcoming atmosphere not tainted by racism. 
 
The word juke traces its roots to an African word “jook,” which means disorderly or wicked conduct. In the Bay Saint Louis juke joints, there was a freedom to do as one pleased which provided a tremendous release from the Jim Crow blues. 

An incomplete list of Bay St. Louis juke joints:
The Krack – (1940s) Sycamore Street, first lot on right after railroad track
The Big 5 – (’40s) 437 Sycamore Street
The Breeze Inn – (’50s) 309 Keller Street
Lewis’ Bar – (’50s) St. Francis Street
Mama Harriett’s Snack & Bar – (’50s) 435 Sycamore Street
The Onion – (’60s) Sycamore Street
Sister & Verna’s Place (’60s) – The Bottom
The Hideaway – (’60s) 524 Main Street
Ice House Bar – (’60s) 308 Blaize Avenue
The Connection – (’70s) Corner of St. Francis & Sycamore Street
Bobby’s Lounge – (’80s) Sycamore Street
The Lyon’s Den – (’90s) 211 Central Avenue

​In this series of photo essays, the Shoofly Magazine showcases the work of professional photographers.  Their only instructions?  Show us the coast through your lens.    

Armand Douroux:  I spend as much time outdoors as possible, which is much more frequently now I've retired to Bay St Louis. My love of nature comes from  my childhood memories of exploring the bayous and waterways surrounding my New Orleans home. Revisiting the boyhood bayous and life in ‘da bay’ inspired me to pick up a camera and capture day to day life on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

You can see more of my work at Gallery 220 (220 Main Street, Bay St. Louis), please stop in!  Contact me at douroux.armand@gmail.com.

What wonderful memories of my childhood flash back as I watch my granddaughter and her girlfriends play in the tidal pools on low tide.

The ruins on the bay - even now, you can still see the splendor that once was and the power of Hurricane Katina as the sun sets.

The Beauty and the Beast of the sea - as you can see by the fallen tree deposited 150 inshore from the sallow waters edge, where it will lie until another stormy night takes it away.

 Sunset on A BayouByMe, I see them as portals of light.

Blue Heron in the surf, lookin' for dinner in the Pass.

Sunset, Washington Street pier beach, capturing a moment as my canvas changes at the speed of light.

Feeling the memories of what once was.

Sunrise Waveland

Mouth of Jourdan River, where reflections of light close out the day.

Coming home after a day of fishing with a smile on my face.

Our Lady of The Gulf Church - protecting  the shoreline and those at sea.

One of my ByouByMe series - Fire on Da Bayou.

Coastal Bonsai:  this mighty oak shows the signs of time as it has endured centuries of the forces of nature.

Sunrise at the St. Stanaslus pier -  part of the fabric of Bay St. Louis.

Gallery 220 with David Holt, Joe Cushionberry and Lawrence Cotton. Mr. Cushionberry plays every Sunday morning at Mr. B's Bistro in the French Quarter. Mr. Cotton was just given a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Preservation Hall Foundation, and is the oldest piano player still performing at Preservation Hall.  Their performance at the gallery made the December Second Saturday Artwalk a memorable one.  

Jimmy Rutherford Fishing Pier in Bay St. Louis,  looking at the rebirth of downtown.

Natalie Guess is one busy lady, and her dedicated service to making Hancock County a great place to live - and work - makes her a Shoofly Magazine Good Neighbor.

- by Lisa Monti

​ 
Natalie is a Southeastern Louisiana University graduate with a background in business and marketing, which fits perfectly with the organization she leads. The Magnolia Business Alliance is a 501(C)6 not-for-profit corporation that supports the advancement of small and medium businesses in the southeastern U.S.
 
MBA provides mentorship, training, logistics, and other support to facilitate the development of new companies and a better environment for existing companies. MBA also fosters community and national awareness of issues that affect small businesses.

​ 
In October 2018, Gov. Phil Bryant appointed Natalie to the Commission on Marine Resources, representing Hancock County as well as environmental interests and nonprofit organizations. As a commissioner she works with scientists to make educated decisions affecting the state’s marine environment.
 
“The governor asked me to take all the science and make decisions without an outside interest,” she says.
 
With the recent salt water intrusion from the Mississippi River and oil spills in recent years, Natalie says, “It feels like there are so many negative impacts on the Gulf now. If there is anything I can do to keep the Gulf healthy for the future and for my son, I will support those efforts. We want future generations to appreciate the Gulf and be able to enjoy it.”
 
Natalie has been deeply involved with CASA almost from the time she moved here.
 

​ 
“When we moved to Mississippi, I would see in the news about the number of foster care cases in Hancock County but I didn’t see how I could get involved,” she said.
 
CASA, or Court Appointed Special Advocates, is a national association that supports and promotes court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children and eventually gets the children into safe, permanent homes.
 
At the first meeting of the 2014 Class of Leadership Hancock County, Natalie met Cynthia Chauvin, CASA’s local executive director. The two spoke at a break in the meeting, and Cynthia invited Natalie to become a volunteer. Not long afterward she joined the CASA board, and from 2016 to 2018 she was board president.
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“The people who work for CASA work so hard, day and night, and the advocates are such amazing volunteers, she said. “I would love to be an advocate someday – but for now, this is my way of serving and making sure the employees and advocates get what they need to keep going, to make a positive impact in the community.”
 
Natalie uses her marketing experience to highlight the work CASA does and the sponsors who support it. She recently posted sponsor information on the CASA website, thanking them for their contributions to the annual Krewe of CASA Mardi Gras Gala and arranged publicity for the fundraiser.
 

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Natalie also served on the steering committee of Leadership Hancock County from 2015 to 2017 and was a board member of the Hancock County Tourism Bureau from 2017 to 2019.
 
She’s a member of the Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain, the Arbor Day Foundation and this year joined the Coast Young Republican Women. She is among the volunteers with the PROP program, which gives individuals with disabilities the opportunity to experience aviation and aircraft at Stennis International Airport.
 
Aside from her job responsibilities and volunteer activities, Natalie is passionate about food. “I’m a big foodie and I love good food,” she says. But once she and her family started backing off eating chicken and red meat, she began researching plant-based eating as a healthy alternative.
 

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“My husband and I enjoy cooking and finding new ways to make plant-based foods,” she says. “I love researching recipes and ideas for cooking with beans, chickpeas and tofu.”
 
Natalie sings the praises of her air fryer to prepare French fries and other foods in a healthier way. “We absolutely love it,” she says. “We use it daily.” The “fried fish” tofu, though, goes into hot peanut oil. Natalie swears you can’t tell the difference from the real thing.
 
Wanting to dig deeper into plant-based options, Natalie completed a yearlong online nutrition program and became a certified health and wellness coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She says she was able to help her first student turn her health “completely around” with a plant-based diet.
 
In everything that she does, Natalie puts her passion to work. As CASA’s Cynthia Chauvin says, “Natalie is an incredible leader, friend and parent. She works tirelessly for the things she cares about, and Hancock County is a better place with her in it.”

In honor of Black History Month, the author looks back at three BSL residents whose character and service helped shape our community.

- Story by ​ Jerry Beaugez
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Valena Cecilia MacArthur Jones

​Valena Cecilia MacArthur Jones was born in 1872 and began teaching African-American children here in rural south Mississippi in 1890 at the age of 18. She was the principal of the Bay St. Louis Negro School from 1892 to 1897 and was a public school teacher in New Orleans from 1897 to 1901.
 
In 1901, she met and married Reverend Robert E. Jones, who was the resident Bishop for the Methodist Episcopal Church in the New Orleans area. After her marriage Mrs. Jones no longer taught school, but she remained actively involved with the education of African-American youth. In 1917, the year of her death, a public school in New Orleans was named and dedicated to Jones.
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Here in Bay St. Louis, the Valena C. Jones United Methodist Church can be found on Sycamore Street. The Valena C. Jones School was established in the early 1900s honoring her work and dedication. The original school was destroyed during the Hurricane of 1947 but was rebuilt and became a hub for the black community. The school, located at 310 Old Spanish Trail, remained in operation until 1972 after the desegregation of schools in 1969 began to bring students of all races together.
 

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From 1972 until 2005, the City of Bay St. Louis used the facility for senior citizen activities, as well as the home of City’s fire, police and public works departments. After receiving damage in 2005 from Hurricane Katrina, city departments were moved, and the Valena C. Jones School gained new life with children filling its halls once again. The multi-million dollar restoration project funded by the Mississippi Development Authority and Community Block Grant funds gave birth to the Boys & Girls Club, which is now housed at this location.
 

Louis J. Piernas

​Louis J. Piernas, a “free man of color,” served Bay St. Louis and Hancock County for many decades. Born in 1856 here in Bay St. Louis, Piernas was educated both locally and in New Orleans before attending Straight University.
 
A forward-thinking and innovative man, Piernas established the first colored Benevolent Association which would provide assistance to its members to pay for doctors and medicine, a small pension when in distress, and to bury the dead. Held in high esteem by whites and people of color alike, Mr. Piernas held several offices during his lifetime. He served on the Bay St. Louis School Board, was secretary and auditor of Bay St. Louis, and was elected as Hancock County Supervisor of Beat 5 - defeating some prominent white candidates of the time. 

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Piernas was appointed Bay St. Louis postmaster, becoming the first black postmaster in the state. He served under the administrations of Presidents Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. His longest position was that of chairman of the Republican Party of Hancock County which he held for over 60 years.
 
At the time of his death in 1954 at the age of 98, Piernas was the oldest living Bay St. Louis resident. He and his wife, Marie Louise Barabino, did not have children of their own but had many nieces and nephews from the four original Bayou families, the Labat, Prudeaux, Barabino and Piernas families.
 
A street just off of the Old Spanish Trail is named in honor of Piernas and his home, which was built in 1880, is located at the corner of St. John and South Toulme Streets. Mr. Piernas is buried at the Cedar Rest Cemetery.
 

Douglas J. Williams

Douglas J. Williams, an honest and fair man to all, reluctantly accepted a part-time police officer position in 1965 at the urging of then-Bay St. Louis-Mayor John Scafidi. For several years Williams worked the night shift keeping the city protected. That’s where he had an encounter with the new head of the city, Mayor Warren Carver.
 
Mayor Carver would later recount the story of being stopped by Williams for running a stop sign late one night while on his way home. He said he did a “rolling stop,” and Williams pulled him over. After the two spoke, Williams told the mayor he would have to write him a ticket, to which Carver told him to go ahead because he was in the wrong.
 
Carver paid the fine for the ticket and stated, “If Williams was not afraid to give the mayor a ticket, I know he’ll enforce the laws to the best of his ability and won’t give any special favors.”
 

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Williams rose through the ranks and was appointed as assistant chief of police in 1972, and he was named chief of police in 1976 by Mayor Carver and unanimously approved by the City Council. In early 1977 he would be reappointed by Mayor Larry Bennett and hold that position until his retirement due to health issues in 1984.
 
Chief Williams is believed to be one of the earliest African-Americans in Mississippi to rise to the top law enforcement position in a predominantly white community and the first here in Bay St. Louis. He had the respect of young and old, black and white because of his integrity and how he treated others. He said he remembered his mother, Rosine, telling him, “Don’t let nobody be nicer to you than you are to them. Treat people the way you want to be treated.”
 
Although Chief Williams passed away in 1985, his name and legacy live on. In 2009 the city named and dedicated the police department to him and just a few years ago, Sycamore Street where Williams lived and raised his family was given a memorial status.
 
The history of Bay St. Louis is long and deep, with many more people who have made impacts here. As a community, it is our duty to learn from them and preserve their memory. You never know what you’ll find when looking “back in the day” here in the Bay.

More campsites, improved trails and an amphitheater are a few of the improvements slated for this hidden gem.
 
– Story and photos by Dena Temple

 
McLeod Park has long been known as a great campground, and a recent expansion only reinforces that standing. There are 120 cozy RV campsites with sewer, water and electric hookups, with many sites overlooking the serene Jourdan River. Prices are affordable, and reservations can be made through the park’s website. But the park is much more than a campground, with lots of amenities for both campers and day-trippers to enjoy.

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The park is accessed through its entrance of Texas Plank Road. After paying a small access fee at the gate ($4 per carload), you are free to explore. Near the entrance is a large children’s play area and splash pad, where the little ones will be entertained for hours. Older kids will enjoy the 10-hole (par 3) disc golf course, said to be a great course for beginners. Two picnic pavilions are available to rent for family functions or any large group event.

 
With the river as the park’s curvaceous centerpiece, it’s no surprise that boating is among its most popular activities. Two well-maintained boat ramps are free for boaters to use, and trailer parking is provided.
 

 
You don’t own a boat, you say? Canoes are available to rent for either a half-day (4 hours, $15) or all day (8 hours, $25) so you can explore the Jourdan River Blueway Trail, which winds along the river from Bayou Bacon to the west to the Bayou Talla boat launch to the east. It’s one of two Blueway Trails in Hancock County and ten on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
 

 
To learn more about Mississippi Gulf Coast Blueways, visit the website for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Natural Heritage Area. This website offers dozens of locations where outdoor enthusiasts can find adventure, culture and fun.
 
Even if you’re not in the mood for a placid paddle, there is plenty of nature to discover on land. First, a well-maintained 1.25-mile nature trail offers a peaceful woodland setting where hikers may encounter wildlife, including a wide array of birds. Spring migration is prime season for birdwatching, but with food available year-round, a surprising number of bird species can be found here all year.
 

 
In fact, McLeod Park is part of the Mississippi Coastal Birding Trail, a collection of historically prime birding locations in the six southernmost counties of Mississippi. Learning the seasons of the park and its inhabitants can add to the overall appreciation and enjoyment of your time in the park.
 
Wildlife is not confined to the nature trail, however, and birds and other critters can be found around any turn, or under any rock. On a cool January morning turtles can be spotted sunning themselves on a log, and Bald Eagles soar overhead, checking the river for an unwary fish.
 
Big changes coming

 
The big news at McLeod Park is the recent announcement of a bevy of changes and additions to make the park better than ever.
 
Kevin Ladner, Hancock County Recreation Director, sat down with us recently to review all the coming improvements and additions. He is clearly proud of the park as it is now, and he’s very excited at what’s to come.
 
“We couldn’t be more excited,” said Ladner. “These changes will breathe new life into the park and attract people who never knew we were here.”
 

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Planned changes include

• A second bathhouse;
• 30-35 additional campsites;
• A spectacular pedestrian bridge that will cross the Jourdan River to allow access to a section of the park formerly restricted to boaters only;
• A second nature trail and picnic area;
• Enhancements to the existing nature trail, including a handicap-accessible scenic overlook at an oxbow lake; and
• A new amphitheater, which will enable new programs and even musical performances in the park.

 
Architect Allison Anderson of unabridged Architecture has been charged with the design of the amphitheater and the dramatic bridge over the River Jourdan.
 
“Campers have been coming here for years, and we’re hoping that these improvements will bring lots of new people and out-of-towners to McLeod Park for the first time as well,” notes Ladner. “What’s most exciting is that all these improvements come at no cost to Hancock County taxpayers.”
 
The $1.7 million project is funded through GOMESA revenue sharing (the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act shares oil and gas leasing revenues with Gulf producing states and the Land & Water Conservation Fund for coastal restoration projects) and the Tidelands Trust Fund (funds derived from the lease of tidelands and submerged lands, dedicated to the conservation, reclamation and preservation of Mississippi’s tidelands, and enhancing its current public access areas).
 
Because of design restrictions within the buffer zone, all facilities had to meet stringent design requirements. It may come as a surprise, however, that of all the new structures, the bath house was the most challenging, says Ladner.

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“Because we are within the acoustical buffer zone for Stennis [Space Center], there are severe restrictions to what we can build – and we’re basically not allowed to construct anything with a roof and four walls. No structure can be built that can technically serve as living quarters. It took a special variance to get approval for the new bath house. It was touch and go for a while there.” This is the reason, too, that there are no cabins within the park.
 
Ladner is looking forward to the project’s completion some time this year. “We can’t wait to welcome new visitors and campers to the park after the improvements,” he said.
 
“We’re especially anxious for locals to see the changes. This will really be something for them to be proud of. ”