This month:
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The Big Buzz
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Country Roads Magazine Features Bay St. Louis
The reopening of the inn is largely credited with igniting the spark that has driven the recovery of the old town and beachfront communities. Retail shops, restaurants, and bars now dot the not-so-long-ago barren frontage, and more are on the way. There’s palpable pride and ebullience among the members of the close-knit community as they enthusiastically greet visitors, many of them alighting from yachts and boats docked in the $21 million harbor glistening across Beach Boulevard from the Bay Town Inn.
Welcome back to “A Place Apart.”
Mississippi Coast in Running For Country's Best Seafood
Easy Online Voting Ends August 17th!
The Readers' Choice contest allows easy online voting (without registration). Voters may cast a ballot once a day. Click on this link to go directly to the page to vote for Mississippi.
The Mississippi Seafood Trail is up against national heavy-hitters, like Alabama's BBQ Trail, the Wisconsin Cheese Tour and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
Local Artist and Businesswoman Tapped for State Advisory Panel
Since Governor Phil Bryant’s “Year of the Creative Economy” was announced in 2014, members of the Bureau of Creative Economy & Culture have been working to build a program that supports creative endeavors throughout the state. With the formation of the Mississippi Creative Economy Advisory Panel, the Bureau intends to develop programs that foster the relationship of the creative sector to economic development and better living in Mississippi.
Butler moved to Bay St. Louis in 2009, after accepting a job at the Alice Moseley Folk Art Museum. She opened The French Potager in 2012, an antique/collectibles show and floral design studio located at 213 Main Street in Old Town. Her floral art projects range from fashion accessories to dramatic floral installations. She also creates sculpture and collage from found objects, often on commission. She writes a popular monthly column on antiques and collectibles for the Cleaver, "Vintage Vignette."
Butler serves on the board of The Arts, Hancock County, is a major organizer for The Arts’ annual “ArtsAlive” and "Tarts and Tramps” events, and is a recent graduate of the Hancock Leadership program. She also runs the Big Sleazy Speakeasy, an invite-only dinner club, and founded the Raw Oyster Marching Club, a dance performance group.
“I was driving around last month getting ready for Frida Fest,” Martha says, “and realized it was a perfect example of the creative economy at work. I was going to Froogel's, stopping at the hardware store, going places to buy things we need to have a good time. At the French Potager, I sold all kinds of Frida-themed items for the event."
"Frida Fest attracted people from as far away as Dallas, while locals came out in droves. There’s sales tax from those exchanges, and revenue coming in. Everyone is making money, and we’re all putting that money back into the local economy. That’s the creative economy.”
Waveland Resident Places in National Sprinting Competitions

Impson, who competed in the men’s 75-79 age group, ran in the 50 meter preliminaries, qualified for the finals and finished in 7th place with a time of 8.52 seconds, just nine-tenths of a second behind the first place runner. In the 100 meter, Impson ran in the first of five heats along side the national record holder, which he admitted was intimidating at first, but ultimately found challenging. Again, Impson qualified to go on to the finals, where he placed 8th overall.
The 200 meter proved to be his best event. Impson not only qualified to go to the finals, he went on to place 5th overall in a photo finish. His wife, Gwen, was filming the race and remarked proudly “You should have seen the grin on John’s face as he edged out his nearest opponents. I am so proud of him!”

A Celebration of Athletes was held at the St. Paul Saints Stadium. Impson was chosen to be the Mississippi state flag bearer as he, Kelleher and other Mississippi athletes marched onto the field with thousands of other senior competitors. The event ended with music, entertainment and the passing of the NSG flag to a representative of the 2017 National Senior Games host city, Birmingham, AL.
New Voter Empowerment Website Launched by Cleaver Volunteers
According to ServeHancock.com, the community project aims to help voters “make decisions based on information instead of advertising.”
In addition to offering lists of candidates, district maps, and voter information, the mobile-friendly website features an online forum. Twenty-eight local candidates running for office in the Gulf Coast county were given a free opportunity to reach voters through the site.
The forum consists of two parts. Part One gave candidates a chance to introduce themselves. Part Two offered forum participants an opportunity to answer a list of questions. Part Two responses were posted on July 21st.
Serve Hancock was created by volunteers associated with The Fourth Ward Cleaver, including Ana Balka, Karen West, Larry Jaubert, and in the conceptual phase LiLi Stahler and Donald Murphy. Read more here!