What's Up, Waveland - July 2018

Waveland Alderman Jeremy Burke reports a celebration of Ernest Hemingway's birthday to benefit the Ground Zero Museum, the MS Municipal League Conference and Waveland capital improvements. 

Hemingway look-alike competitors in 2017, photo by Brenda Comer for the Shoofly Magazine

HemFest

Do you like a fun birthday party? Well, I have a birthday party for you.
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On Friday, July 20th at the Waveland Ground Zero Museum starting at 7 p.m., Waveland will celebrate Ernest Hemingway’s 119th birthday with a patron party. “HemFest in Spain” patron party is hosted by the Hancock Chamber and the Rum Kitchen.  The patron party will feature Spanish-inspired food and specialty cocktails made by the Rum Kitchen, a mobile cigar bar, and music with a lot of fun.

And, ATTENTION! HemFest is looking for a few stocky bearded men to participate in the Hemingway look-a-like contest.

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This patron party event is limited to 250 guests. Advance tickets are $66 per person or $119 for two and tickets at the door are $75 per person and $140 for two. The proceeds of the sales of the tickets go to benefit the Ground Zero Hurricane Museum fund of the Hancock Community Development Foundation.

Ernest Hemingway's 119th birthday celebration will continue on Saturday, July 21st with the "No Bull Fun Run".   This event is a 1K Fun Run for HemFest and begins at Central Avenue and Coleman at 6:00PM. The bulls will be roller derby ladies on roller skates and runners are encouraged to wear your best whites and red scarf!  The race entry is $25 per person in advance and $35 per person on-site. During and post-race refreshments include paella, sangria, and cold brew courtesy of Rum Kitchen.

To purchase your tickets for either event, contact Linda Aiavolasiti at 228.216.0561 or [email protected].

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MML Conference

During the week of June 25th to June 27th Mayor Mike Smith, Alderman Charlie Piazza and I attended the 87th Annual Mississippi Municipal League Conference in Biloxi. The MML Conference has over 2,500 attendees and is a great opportunity for public officials to get professional training and to network with other public officials from all over Mississippi.

I am delighted to report that Mayor Mike Smith was able to satisfy the graduation requirement for the advance level of the Certified Municipal Official (CMO) program.

I was also able to complete the final level of the Certified Municipal Official program, the professional development level at the conference.  Although I have no more level to complete, I will continue to attend classes because I never want to stop learning.

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

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

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Waveland Projects

In the past month, the Waveland Board of Alderman submitted a number of applications for  capital improvements.

Waveland's goal is to make transportation for pedestrians more safe. The Board has applied to construct a bike/walk lane on Central Avenue from Waveland city limits to Waveland Avenue.  I will report back in a few months to inform everyone if the project will get funding from MDOT.

The Board of Alderman also applied for 3 Tideland Trust projects.
The project we applied for are as follows:
1. Handicapped accessibility ramp to the water's edge
2. Beach pagodas
3. Parking bay along Beach Blvd with electric car charging station

Waveland will learn which Tideland project will be funded in early 2019.