If you're already enrolled in Medicare, a window for making changes in your plan closes December 7. Find out your options and also: What you need to know if you're approaching age 65 and aren't enrolled yet.
- by Kristine Gurley, Gurley & Associates (this is a reprint of an article which originally ran in The Shoofly Magazine in October, 2019.) 
(and why is it in the Shoofly?)
Yes, it’s a real event. Take some of the country’s leading naturalists, cram them into cars together for 24 hours, and challenge them to find more birds than the other big guns. It’s one of the country’s most intense competitions – it’s all for charity – and we flew to New Jersey to play. - By Dena Temple 
Great Egret flies through fog | Pixabay
Mindfulness, the practice of learning to control one’s attention, is coming to Bay St. Louis, thanks to Christ Episcopal Church and Sullivan Breathworks.
- by Wendy Sullivan 
pixabay.com
Taking a cruise conjures up a sensory palette of warm sun, the scent of the sea and the relaxing sound of splashing waves. What is it like today, in the world of masking, testing and distancing?
– by Dena Temple 
Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas rests next to a sister ship, Mariner of the Seas, at the dock in Cococay, Bahamas. All photos by Dena Temple.
Are you Cruisin’ the Coast this weekend? “Ragtop” rookie mistakes can ruin your good time. Follow these five simple tips for maximum top-down fun!
- by Dena Temple 
September is officially National Suicide Prevention Month, but at the Veterans Administration, every month is Suicide Prevention month.
- by Wendy Sullivan 
Wearing a yellow ribbon symbolizes support for suicide prevention
Pearl River Community College now offers students unique opportunities to train for rewarding high-tech hydrographic careers.
Above (l-r): Ryan Dodd, - Hydrographer, NVision Solutions, Inc. | Associate Professor, NOARC; Joel Lawhead – Vice President, Nvision Solutions, Inc. Associate Professor, NOARC; PRCC Students: Caleb Spence, Heather Dinger, Wesley Parker, Alex Moon, Billy Snowden; Raymunda Barnes- Assistant Vice President, PRCC
In an open letter to 2nd Ward voters and other Bay St. Louis citizens, Wendy McDonald points out that the ability to put aside differences and work together toward a common goal is our community’s strongest asset.
Wendy McDonald speaks at the completion of Bay-Waveland Habitat for Humanity's 100th house.
Hate those ugly storm water drainage pipes on our beach? They're called "outfalls." Now a more environmentally-friendly – and more attractive – option is slated to replace one in a pilot project.
Here are more details from Robbie Wilbur, Communications Director for the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. 
A typical outfall on the Bay St. Louis beach (not necessarily the one slated for the pilot program). Google Maps.
When it’s right, they say, you know it. And Andy Parker knew that his path included a satisfying career shaping education on the Gulf Coast.
-- Story by Elizabeth Stranga 
Andy Parker: "My favorite thing about the Bay is its people."
Carefully harvesting wine grapes from well-tended vines quite literally provides the fruits of a gardener’s labor – and a satisfying Zen experience.
- Story by John Dumoulin 
Southern muscadine grapes | GAFRO, CC BY-SA 3.0 | Wikimedia Commons
A new state law puts some teeth in the penalties for animal abuse and might help prevent loss of life. Read the laws and find out what you can do to help.
- story by Dena Temple 
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of the Hancock County Library System. But they were determined to continue serving the community.
- Story by Natalie Daspit, photos by Ellis Anderson 
The Bay St. Louis branch of the Hancock County Library is offering curbside pickup.
With small businesses gearing back up for business this week, the Hancock Chamber of Commerce is helping promote the area’s “Grand Reopening” in a big way.
– Story and photos by Anne Pitre 
The author endeavors to model his home garden after the greatest home gardener of all time: Mother Nature.
- Story and photos by James Inabinet 
Born from a hurtful incident, the “Love All” campaign aims to inform, and heal.
- Story and photos by Rachel Dangermond 
Partial image from "Love All" sticker.
Passenger rail service between New Orleans and Bay St. Louis is one step closer aftera vote by Mobile to support it! When it's restored, there's a great, big world out there to explore, and the author provides a fine example of the adventures possible.
- Story and photos by John M. Dumoulin 
The author and his wife, Rosie, enjoying the view of the Pacific at the Santa Monica Pier.
A behind-the-scenes look at Hancock County Chamber of Commerce's program to ensure continued business growth in the region.
-- Story and photos by Steve Barney 
This year's class of participants in the Leadership Hancock County program visit Lazy Magnolia Brewing for a tour.
For more than 40 years, GCCN has been helping victims of violence across South Mississippi. In 2016, they opened a Bay St. Louis office, making assistance even more accessible for Hancock County residents in need. Director Kelly Hawkins explains what services the center offers, and how it’s changing lives.
The Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence offers many services to Hancock County residents, including counseling.
One of the emergency shelters operated by the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence.
The Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence hopes to raise awareness in the Hancock County community about the victims they continue to serve and the programs available to meet the victims' needs, including:
The GCCN offers a number of education programs.
While the Center offers all of these services to Hancock County residents, the agency’s Hancock County office allows for a Court Advocate to be readily available in Hancock County Justice Court, Waveland Municipal Court and Bay St. Louis Municipal Court. The Court Advocate presents in these courts to advocate for victims of domestic violence by sitting with them in their emotional space, giving them support, and making sure they feel safe while facing their abusers. 
Hancock County Prosecutor Olen Anderson poses with Jamie Boyer, GCCFN Court Advocate.
Counseling and case management services are also offered through the Nonresidential Program at this Hancock County office. The Center has an Outreach Adult Counselor and an Outreach Children’s Counselor who meet clients right in Bay St. Louis, so that they do not have to travel to access services - which is essential in making sure these professionals are available to clients on their schedules. Additionally, the Center’s Court Advocates and Counselors in Hancock County work directly with staff across the agency’s six-county service area providing referrals to emergency shelter, counseling, and legal services. This connection in Hancock County is crucial to educating community members, as well as victims of violence on what meaningful services are available to them during their time of need. The Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 800-800-1396. The direct number for the Hancock County office (during business hours) is 228-252-1999. Their services are confidential, and safety is their top priority. If you or someone you know may be in need of services following a violent relationship, a sexual assault, or you have lost someone to homicide, please know you are not alone. GCCN is there to help and to advocate for justice and your rights as a victim of crime. You deserve to feel safe in your home. You deserve safety for your children. You deserve a violence-free life. They can help.
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. 
Steve Barney
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. 
James and Margaret Inabinet
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. 
Click here to join The Arts, Hancock County!
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