My Ocean Springs: 2007 in Pictures

Chloe Daves enjoys a beautiful November afternoon at the Seaman’s Memorial on Front Beach. The memorial is dedicated to Merchant Mariners who have served their country in peace and in war, with a special section devoted to those seamen who were lost or buried at sea. Chloe’s great-grandfather, Robert L. Hoomes, was instrumental in establishing the memorial which was dedicated in September of 1994. Mr. Hoomes passed away in January, 2000.

My daughter, Hillary Sturgeon, stands on the site of Fort Maurepas imagining what it was like for the French explorers that landed here in 1699. The French, under the command of Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville, built Fort Maurepas to discourage Spanish and English presence in the area LaSalle had claimed for France. Although the fort was abandoned in 1702 and the French eventually concentrated their efforts in New Orleans, Fort Maurepas remains an important historical site in the history of the Gulf Coast. A marker was placed at the site in 1949. A replica of the fort was constructed on-site in 1982. In 1993, the Fort Maurepas Society began hosting annual re-enactments of the landing of d’Iberville until Hurricane Katrina destroyed the structure in August of 2005. Plans are underway to rebuild the replica bigger and better to preserve the important history the fort represents.

Ocean Springs is truly the City of Discovery. If you visit, you’ll discover why.

Leah Chevalier, Market Support Manager at AT&T, talks on her cell phone outside the Ocean Springs Call Center. The Call Center opened in the old Wal-Mart building in 2001 and instantly became the largest employer in Ocean Springs. The business was known at the Cingular Call Center until 2007 when the corporate merger made it a part of the “new” AT&T. The Call Center specializes in customer support for the nation’s largest wireless network.

The Ocean Springs Chorale, under the direction of Mary Elizabeth Sawyer, is an intergenerational and interdenominational musical ensemble that has literally shared their faith in song around the world. The Chorale began rehearsals in 2005 shortly before Hurricane Katrina, but the storm didn’t dampen their spirit. In 2006, they performed at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Plans for 2008 include a summer tour in France and the United Kingdom.

The Martin family enjoys a sunny day at Marble Springs off Iberville Drive overlooking Fort Bayou. The historical marker at the park claims that Marble Springs was probably used by the Native American population prior to the arrival of European settlers, and between the 1850s and 1920s it was popular for its medicinal properties. Marble Springs was also known as Mineral Springs, and it was the best known nationally of Mississippi’s many mineral springs resorts.

Becky Dennis set up her Art in Clay tent in front of Hancock Bank on Washington Avenue amid several of her fellow artists. The biggest event in Ocean Springs every year is the Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival, and the 2007 version did not disappoint the 700+ artisans who set up shop for the estimated 100,000 visitors that poured into the city. Absolutely gorgeous weather accompanied this year’s early-November festival, with blue skies, bright sunshine, and a high in the mid-70s.

Ashley Merriam gives a facial to owner, Laurie Authement, at Cleopatra’s Secret on Government Street. Ocean Springs is famous for its variety of spas, and Cleopatra’s Secret has been carving out its unique niche over its twelve years in existence. In addition to the normal spa treatments such as hair, nails, and massages, Cleopatra’s is the only salon on the Mississippi Gulf Coast that offers full body wraps. Laurie also specializes in artistic tattoos and other permanent cosmetics.

Kelsey Reid, captain of the Ocean Springs High School volleyball team, checks out the competition in the beach volleyball tournament during the festivities surrounding the reopening of the Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge. Normally, the Peter Anderson Festival is the biggest event in Ocean Springs, but it was upstaged just two days before the Festival in 2007 by the bridge reopening. Katrina destroyed so much when it blasted the Mississippi Gulf Coast in August 2005, witnessed most dramatically by the bridge devastation, so its reopening twenty-six months later came with great fanfare, including live music and a massive fireworks display. The reopening of the bridge served as a metaphor to many Ocean Springs residents, representing in effect the healing of the city.