My Ocean Springs: 2007 in Pictures

Since 1984, The Lord Is My Help has actively pursued its noble goal that no one in Ocean Springs should be hungry. Every weekday, you can find manager, Barbara Ruddiman (background), overseeing the volunteers who come to dish up a hot meal to anyone in need, with absolutely no discrimination. In addition to providing lunch to about 60 people every weekday in the Desoto Street facility, the nonprofit organization also delivery around 140 meals a day to elderly, disabled, and ill citizens in Ocean Springs, St. Martin, D’Iberville, and Biloxi. And to top it off, The Lord Is My Help also maintains a food pantry that provides around 400 emergency grocery bags every month.

Few cities know how to throw a Homecoming Parade like Ocean Springs, and the 2007 version was the biggest ever, with over fifty units participating. The parade route began at Front Beach, traveled down Washington Avenue, and finally Government Street, scattering beads, candy, and toys to the large crowd that turned out for the event. Local realtor, Chester Harvey, sponsored the float for the Senior Class, as the entire community came together to cheer on the Hounds as they prepared to face Hancock County, the school that produced legendary quarterback, Brett Favre.

My name is Al Sturgeon, and it is my pleasure to welcome you to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. I moved to Ocean Springs in 1999, three full centuries after the first Europeans made their landing to establish their presence on the North American continent, and it didn’t take me long to realize that I was in a very special place. Every town has a unique character, but there is something extra special about Ocean Springs. I had the idea of taking a hundred pictures in 2007 to introduce you to the people, places, events, and institutions that gives my hometown its special flair, and I have had the best time meeting the faces that make this community such a beautiful place. So without further adieu, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Ocean Springs, Mississippi, the City of Discovery.

Father Henry McInerney gives a watchful eye to the reading of the Gospel at a special Grandparent’s Day Mass at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in downtown Ocean Springs. No offering of Ocean Springs would be complete without including the largest religious community in town, and the five-thousand people that populate the St. Alphonsus parish makes it the biggest by far. Historically, Mississippi has been considered a mission field by the Catholic Church, and for many years now priests from Ireland have left their native country to live and serve on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, with Father McInerney continuing that long tradition. St. Alphonsus Catholic Church was named for an early 18th Century priest from Naples, known for preaching the Gospel to the poor.

The Ocean Springs High School Blue-Grey Pride Band, under the direction of Joe Cacibauda, performs in the first quarter of the football home opener versus Gautier. The Blue-Grey Pride has been performing at the highest level for many years. During seasons when the football program was down, many Ocean Springs citizens would attend the football games simply for the half-time band performances! The Blue-Grey Pride has been making Ocean Springs proud all over the country, performing most recently at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Coach Todd Mangum welcomes his Greyhound football team to their brand new $600,000 turf to warm-up before their home opener against the Gautier Gators in early September. Ever since the 2004 season, when the Greyhounds made it to the 5-A state championship game against South Panola, the city of Ocean Springs has come out in full force to support its football program. Coach Mangum assumed the role of head coach in 2006, and with the top recruit in the state of Mississippi on his 2007 roster in senior DeAndre Brown, he is excited about the team’s prospects. In their home opener, the Greyounds shut out the Gators, 42-0.

The Reverend Wayne Ray has been the Rector of St. John’s Episcopal in Ocean Springs since early 1999, but the beautiful building that houses St. John’s has adorned the corner of Porter and Rayburn Avenues since 1892, making it the oldest church building in town. The building is listed in the State Register held by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and is described on their commemoration plaque as the finest example of a High Victorian Gothic structure, built entirely of wood, in the state. The famous architect, Louis Sullivan (who taught Frank Lloyd Wright) was a winter visitor to Ocean Springs in the early 1890s, and some claim that his influence is evident in the design.

Melanie Allen, President of the Historic Ocean Springs Association, stands at the entrance of Marshall Park, which her organization proudly maintains. Marshall Park has provided a beautiful green space in downtown Ocean Springs since 1911 when the park was completed and named in honor of the railroad superintendent who provided the land. The original covered band stand resides in the center of the park, where a local brass band provided music on summer evenings in the park’s early days. The band stand was relocated to Fort Bayou in the 1920s, but due to the generosity of local citizens, it was restored to its original location in 1989. Marshall Park and its beautiful band stand hosts a variety of civic events in addition to numerous weddings.

Sherie Sekul arranges jewelry she designs for Wolface Designs in front of Lovelace Drug Store. Lovelace changed owners in 2007, but its classic sign maintains it’s solid spot as the anchor of the popular downtown businesses. The building has stood at the junction of the two most popular streets in Ocean Springs – Washington Avenue and Government Street – since Dr. Oscar Bailey built the building in 1926. Dr. Bailey and his daughter, Beryl, opened Ocean Springs Drug Store then, and although owners have changed hands a few times since 1926, the location has met the pharmacy needs of Ocean Springs citizens ever since.

Norma J. Seward, a local artist, paints a beautiful scene in front of Bayou Belle the first day of September during Art Walk ’07. The Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce puts on Art Walk every year to feature local artists and promote even more traffic to the already popular downtown area. Scores of artists set up shop in front of downtown businesses, and interested shoppers from all around descend on Washington Avenue and Government Street for a delightful, art-filled stroll.

Tour guides direct travelers to beautiful downtown Ocean Springs for its quaint shops and delightful shopping, but tourists aren’t the only ones to enjoy a stroll down Washington Avenue. Miranda Mize, and her son, Andy, are among the many locals who regularly enjoy meandering through the downtown shops to pass the time on a lazy afternoon.