My Ocean Springs: 2007 in Pictures

Once featured in Southern Living, Aunt Jenny’s Catfish Restaurant is a local legend. Overlooking five-hundred year old oak trees and the Bay of Biloxi, waitresses Christina Scaturro and Domonique Homann serve up the all-you-can-eat catfish, shrimp, and chicken fare to enthusiastic diners from all over the world. Aunt Jenny’s location is filled with history, ranging from being home to the last known flowing springs that gave the city its name to its 1852 home that served as a health resort in the days prior to the Civil War. And legend has it that Elvis Presley frequented the site during the times he spent in Gulf Hills!

Ocean Springs is the cover picture of a “bed and breakfast community,” and one of the delightful options resides on General Pershing Avenue where Bruno and Linda Schroeder welcome guests to “The Eaves” near downtown Ocean Springs. Their remodeled bungalow from the 1930s reflects the elegant simplicity of their tastes and lifestyle. Guests to the bed and breakfast descend the stairs after a quiet night’s sleep to the Schroeder’s backyard where they encounter beautiful flowers, an ample deck, and a variety of birds enjoying their spacious property. The Schroeders have entertained guests from all over the world since opening “The Eaves” in 1998.

Jennifer Marshall, Advertising Consultant for the Ocean Springs Record, works hard at the newspaper’s Cox Avenue office to keep the advertising dollars coming in. The Record is the only newspaper devoted completely to Ocean Springs; in fact, it is the only locally-owned newspaper on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The first edition of the Record was published on August 5, 1965, and after forty years of reporting the news, the staff continues to publish a weekly edition every Thursday.

In the days following Hurricane Katrina, as relief trucks poured supplies into downtown churches, Ocean Springs’ city officials shot the lock off a vacated warehouse on Government Street simply to have a place to unload the supplies. The “old Swingster building” (as it is locally known) has been in business ever since. Eventually, the multi-church site gave way to Lutheran Social Services under the local care of Christus Victor Lutheran Church, and “Camp Victor” emerged. Suzie Harvey, assistant site director, stands in front of one of the beautiful murals painted by volunteers on the front of the formerly unoccupied building. Eighteen months after Hurricane Katrina, Camp Victor still serves 150 families per day on average, giving away an estimated $10,000 in supplies each day.

The staff at Lucia’s Hallmark Shop pauses from their Valentine’s Day rush to pose for a picture. Lucia Baublits (second from the right) has been a fixture in Ocean Springs since opening her store in July of 1984, saving countless husbands (in particular) by providing the best in cards and gifts for every occasion. Lucia’s vibrant personality creates a loyal customer base that returns time and time again.

Gayle Petty-Johnson, Executive Director of the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, stands in “The Little Room,” Walter Anderson’s inner sanctum discovered behind a padlocked door after his death in 1965. Travel guides featuring Ocean Springs begin their list of what makes Ocean Springs special with the museum, opened in 1991 to celebrate the works of Walter Inglis Anderson, and his brothers, Peter Anderson (master potter) and James McConnell Anderson (noted painter and ceramist). The watercolors, drawings, oils, block prints, ceramics, and carvings by the three Anderson brothers are all represented in the museum’s permanent collection, while traveling exhibits also are featured throughout the year.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast is famous for its shrimp, and one of the local luxuries is the ability to stop on the side of the road on the way home and pick up a few pounds for a shrimp boil from Gia Ngyuen. Gia parks her truck on Highway 90 near the Wal-Mart Supercenter when in season and sells "Gia's Fresh Shrimp" from the bayou to a steady stream of customers.