 
Woodville Main Street, USM Trent Lott Center partner on successful Deer and Wildlife Fest
Woodville Main Street, USM Trent Lott Center partner on successful Deer and Wildlife Fest
The fourth annual Woodville Deer and Wildlife Festival was recently held on the Wilkinson County Courthouse Square in Woodville, Miss.
The festival was awarded “Best Special Event” by the Mississippi Main Street Association in 2009. Through this festival, which has grown and improved each year, people celebrate the cultural, culinary, artistic and outdoor heritage of Woodville and Wilkinson County.
This year, the USM Trent Lott Center and USM College of Business partnered with Woodville Main Street on enhancing its marketing plan for the festival.
"We were slammed!" said Polly Rosenblatt, manager of Woodville Main Street. "We grew by 60%, according to our CPA, in admissions wristbands sold."
"We also doubled the number of vendors and Wild Game Cook Off Teams! she said. "And, the festival was on the same day as LSU v. Florida just an hour down the highway!"
Food vendors ran short on food which drove traffic into the newly opened restaurant on the Square. Woodville's new Art Gallery opened just for the occasion and displayed local as well as regional artists' work.
"The music, the art, the cook off, the dugout canoe demo were all were popular, but the Snake Show drew the largest crowd - 457 (I counted)," Rosenblatt said.
The 4-H Club volunteers completed more than 200 surveys, and more than 1,000 names were collected for information that will help with future planning.
"When [the Trent Lott Center and College of Business sent an E-newsletter out in Woodville, magic happened!" she said. "People started calling to see if they could volunteer!"
"Facebook help was wonderful, and we are on the high of success today," she added. "The impact made from the collaboration [with USM] was huge."
Featured events of the festival
The Wild Game Cook-Off awarded prizes in the categories of venison, fowl, hog and other wild game. The cook-off was judged by area professionals and chefs, and the public could sample the food as well.
Art Under the Oaks, a juried arts exhibition, was made up of more than 20 artists, including photographers, print makers, ceramic artists, wood carvers/sculptors, basket-makers, glass artists and mixed media/assemblage artists will compete for cash prizes and have an opportunity to display and sell their art. Also, there will be several artist demonstrators: Mary Liberty, quilting fabric works of art; Dunbar McCurley, hand-hewing beautiful wooden bowls; Dorothy McQuarter, weaving unique pine needle baskets; and Kenny Scoggins, using a chainsaw to create animals out of local wood.
In addition, Mike Clark of St. Louis carved a cypress dugout canoe, which will become a commemorative canoe to celebrate Woodville’s 200th birthday.
Deer and wildlife mounts were exhibited and also mounts of turkeys and wild hogs.
Kevin Windham, area resident, professional supercross racer and sportsman, also had a booth on the square.
For those interested in reptiles, herpetologist Terry Vandeventer was in town with his snake show, and Mississippi’s Natural Science Museum’s hands-on, interactive reptile exhibit will also be set up.
Other activities and exhibits included a wildlife photo exhibit, a pumpkin patch (carving), face painting, pixie the clown, laser target shoot, beading art, leaf print art and a photo booth where you can have your picture made with Smokey the Bear or Miss Mississippi.
The food court area was very popular with several area vendors, and throughout the day there was be live music by Robert Cage, Waylon Mills, Mojo Mud, Lil Poochie, Donnell Sullivan and the Veal Brothers.
For more information, call 601-888-3998 or visit http://www.deerandwildlifefestival.com.
Adapted from the Natchezdemocrat.com.
Pascagoula Main Street honors champions of revitalization
Pascagoula Main Street honors champions of revitalization
By Kaija Wilkinson
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Main Street Director Rebecca Davis remembers a time less than 10 years ago when an unsightly canopy covered the downtown shopping plaza.
Pitched as an urban renewal tool to keep businesses from migrating to suburban strip malls, the canopy, Davis said, ended up being more like a destroyer of the city's unique historic character.
The city has come a long way since then, she said, thanks to a continued effort by the people who invest in their city to make it more attractive and, in turn, improve quality of life.
In the early 2000s, shortly after Davis was hired, and then-City Manager Kay Kell came on, the canopy came down. Since then, numerous people have poured their creative and financial resources into revitalization projects.
Some of them were honored Tuesday night during the seventh annual Pascagoula Main Street Awards Gala at the Grant Magnolia Ballroom.
The winners:
Revitalization award (retail space): Frets.
Best creative fundraiser: Fete La Pointe.
Heritage award: Johnson Bros. Jewelry.
Pascagoula Main Street Board Member of the Year: Belinda Dammen.
Pascagoula Main Street Volunteer of the Year: Norma Sue Byrd.
Community award: In honor and memory of Ms. Betty Bensey.
Source: Pascagoula Main Street
Among them were a young entrepreneur who parlayed his love for music and nightlife into a bar and eatery worthy of any hip large city; a philanthropist whose annual fundraiser is helping restore one of the region's oldest buildings; and a jeweler who has remained in the same location with the same name for well over half a century.
"Everybody I know is either sporting a wedding band or pearls from (Johnson Bros. Jewelry)," Davis said of the recipient of the Main Street Heritage Award.
Johnson Bros. also is participating in the city's façade grant program, which uses grant money to help subsidize improvements.
Also among this year's winners was Fete La Pointe, an elegant gala featuring French cuisine, period costumes, and music to benefit the nearly 300-year-old La Pointe-Krebs House, formerly known as Old Spanish Fort.
The gala was honored as best creative fundraiser, with Melanie Moore -- who Davis said poured countless hours of effort, energy and creativity into the event -- accepting the award.
Davis said it's a testament to people's love for the community that, even when the economy is down, they have continued to invest in new projects.
A prime example is Frets downtown bar and eatery, which won the retail Revitalization Award. Musician Charlie Cook and his partners have created a cool, urban space with exposed brick walls, a soaring tin ceiling and food that is "smack your mama good," according to Davis.
Cook, Charlie.jpgCook
She said that while some decisions were easy, such as Frets for the Revitalization award, the board faced quite a challenge with others, such as board member and volunteer of the year.
"I wanted to give it to all of them," she said. There are so many people in this community, she said, "who volunteer because they love Pascagoula, they love tradition, they love family."
"But mostly they want to see Pascagoula grow into what it should be and can be."
Evelyn McCarty, widow of the late Jolly McCarty, was also presented a plaque to let her know that the community has not forgotten how much the efforts of her and her husband have meant, and continue to mean.
© 2011 gulflive.com. All rights reserved.
Foy elected to Mississippi Main Street Board
FOY ELECTED TO MISSISSIPPI MAIN STREET BOARD
By Jeannie Waller
JACKSON, Miss. -- A new member has been added to the board of directors of the Mississippi Main Street Association (MMSA). Lise Foy of Canton has been elected to serve a two-year term as a Managers' Representative on the statewide board of directors.
Foy of Canton is the executive director of the Canton Chamber Main Street Association. She was nominated and elected to serve on the MMSA board by fellow Main Street managers and members.
MMSA has traditionally designated two positions on the board of directors for managers' representatives.
Foy replaces Lynn Ryals of Tunica, who has served two terms on the board, and joins Mickey Howley of Water Valley, who was elected to serve on the 2011-2012 board.
A native of Winona, Foy graduated from Mississippi State University with a BS in Agricultural Pest Management in 1997 and earned a MS in Agronomy at the University of Wyoming in 2002. Foy also has a degree in Landscape Design from the Anna Gresham School of Landscape Design.
She is currently executive director of the Canton Chamber Main Street Association and served as executive director of Main Street Greenwood, Inc. from 2006-2010. In both positions, Foy was responsible for development, implementation and administration of revitalization programs, securing more than $350,000 in grant funding for building restoration and incentive projects.
She is a co-chair of the Madison County Farm Bureau-Women’s Committee, a member of the Canton Lion’s Club, Canton Rotary Club, Professional Women’s Association and Mississippi Economic Development Council.
Foy is a member of the Leadership Madison County Class of 2012 and selected as a Top Business Leader Under 50 by The Delta Business Journal 2008.
"I am thrilled to serve in this position for the statewide Main Street program," Foy said. "Having directed Main Street programs in two Mississippi cities has prepared me to represent the voices and ideas of our many Main Street communities. I look forward to my next two years of service on the Mississippi Main Street board."
The 2011-2012 Board of Directors are as follows: Board President Randy Burchfield, BancorpSouth; Immediate Past President Chuck Ueltschey, Mississippi Power Company; Board President-elect Barry Plunkett, B. Plunkett and Associates; Treasurer Joey Hudnall, Neel-Schaffer; Leland Speed, EastGroup/Parkway Properties and Interim Executive Director, Mississippi Development Authority; Suzanne Smith, Renasant Bank; Steve Kelly, Entergy; H.T. Holmes, Mississippi Department of Archives and History; Hibbett Neel, Neel-Schaffer; Jim West, College of Architecture, Art and Design at Mississippi State University; Billy Wiseman, Board Member Emeritus; Bill Scruggs, St. Dominic Health Services; Kenneth Ross, Port Gibson Main Street; Mickey Howley, Water Valley Main Street; and Mark Loughman, Mississippi Power Company.
Designated Representatives to the Board are Ken P'Pool, Mississippi Department of Archives and History and John Poros, The Carl Small Town Center at Mississippi State University. Ex Officio Members incude Joy Foy and Alex Thomas of the Mississippi Development Authority.
Ghosts will walk and talk in three Coast cemeteries
Ghosts will walk and talk in three Coast cemeteries
By MARY PEREZ
Sea captains and city fathers, long ago buried in South Mississippi cemeteries, will come back to tell their stories for Halloween.
Historic Cemetery Tours will bring crowds to three Coast cemeteries to retell the stories of the people buried beneath the old tombstones.
Admission is free and the tours are historical rather than frightening, making them educational and entertaining for all ages. Donations are welcomed, organizers say, to help with the restoration of the cemeteries.
The organizers suggest Coast residents “put some authenticity into your Halloween experience this year.”
The first tour will be in Harrison County at the Old Biloxi Cemetery, just west of the Biloxi Lighthouse, on Oct. 25. The second will be Oct. 27 at Krebs Cemetery in Pascagoula, near the Old Spanish Fort. The final tour will be in Hancock County on Halloween night at Cedar Rest Cemetery on Second Street in Bay St. Louis.
“Sailors, Shrimpers and Schooners” is the theme of this year’s tour in Biloxi, said Kay Miller, director of Biloxi Main Street.
Brought to life by their descendants and actors from Biloxi local theater and area high schools will be eight Biloxians whose lives depended on the Gulf.
Portrayed this year will be Captain George Duggan and his wife, Mary Ella; John Helm; Thomas Esposito; Anson Holly; Martin Fountain; Ulysse Desporte; Valerie Eleuterius; Luke Dubaz; and Jean Guilhot and his wife, Pauline Lemein Guilhot.
After the opening ceremony at 4 p.m., the reenactments will continue until 7 p.m.. so people who arrive later can still see all the graveside presentations.
Parking will be available at the adjacent Elks Lodge, just west of the cemetery.
The Biloxi tour is presented by Biloxi Bay Chamber, Biloxi Main Street, city of Biloxi and the Genealogy and Local History Department of the Biloxi Library.
In Jackson County, the haunting of Krebs Cemetery involves several groups that re-create the characters and stories of those buried there.
Officials from Pascagoula Main Street, the Pascagoula Historic Preservation Commission, the Jackson County Historical and Genealogical Society and the Pascagoula Library Genealogy and Local History Department joined forces to research and re-enact their lives.
The cemetery is behind the Spanish Fort Museum. From U.S. 90 in Pascagoula, turn north onto Pascagoula Street. Drive one mile and turn left on Lake Avenue. Turn right on Spanish Street and right on a dead-end street behind Spanish Fort Museum.
Those who dare to enter a cemetery on Halloween night will find company at Cedar Rest Cemetery on South Second Street in Bay St. Louis. This is the 18th year for the tour, sponsored by the Hancock County Historical Society.
For those who want a Halloween treat, a reception follows at the Kate Lobrano Houseat 108 Cue St., adjacent to the courthouse.
Photo: A military man ‘haunts’ the Old Biloxi Cemetery for the Historic Cemetery Tours. This year re-enactors will bring back those whose lives were centered on the sea.
Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2011/10/14/3508675/ghosts-will-walk-and-talk-in-three.html#ixzz1bAL2XWKj
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Viking Showroom
The establishment of Greenwood as a tourist destination came with the revitalization of Howard Street in historic Downtown Greenwood including the home of The Alluvian Hotel and The Viking Cooking School. |
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